Hello from my little part of the world! Today is Av 23, 5770...this month is passing as quickly as all the others have! On the world calendar it is August 3 and school will be starting back up. I remember that I used to get very excited about school starting but I don't see this excitement around here....I guess they are too smart for it!

I have so many thoughts going thru my head....keep thinking about all the Christian preachers and evangelists, some good some bad....but for me, I keep thinking.."If they know Him as they say they do, then why are they not living in truth? Why are they still preaching only half of the Gospel?"

These men and women preach and teach yet do not live by the Word of Elohim. They do not follow His Commands. They do not keep His Sabbath or any of His Feasts. Ok, yes I have seen some who are instituting His Feasts into their programs but it just seems to me they are doing this to attract new money. They are showing their followers about the blessings in keeping these Feasts and then asking for money so they can receive their blessings.

The last two Parshas....the weekly readings from Torah....are all about His instructions and what He expects from US...NOT JUST THOSE WHO WERE IN THE DESERT WILDERNESS....because we are in a wilderness...each one of us has our own....and the only sure way to live and live in accordance to our Elohim's Way is to follow His instructions.

PARASHAH 45: VA' ETCHANAN....I PLEADED 3:23-7:11

Deut.3....23 "Then I pleaded with ADONAI, 24 'Adonai ELOHIM, you have begun to reveal your greatness to your servant, and your strong hand - for what other god is there in heaven or on earth that can do the works and mighty deeds that you do? 25 Please! Let me go across and see the good land on the other side of the Yarden, that wonderful hill-country and the L'vanon!' 26 But ADONAI was angry with me on account of you, and he didn't listen to me. ADONAI said to me, 'Enough from you! Don't say another word to me about this matter! 27 Climb up to the top of Pisgah and look out to the west, north, south and east. Look with your eyes - but you will not go across this Yarden. 28 However, commission Y'hoshua, encourage him and strengthen him; for he will lead this people across and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.' 29 So we stayed in the valley across from Beit-P'or.

Deut. 4.... 1 "Now, Isra'el, listen to the laws and rulings I am teaching you, in order to follow them, so that you will live; then you will go in and take possession of the land that ADONAI, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 In order to obey the mitzvot of ADONAI your God which I am giving you, do not add to what I am saying, and do not subtract from it. 3 You saw with your own eyes what ADONAI did at Ba'al-P'or, that ADONAI destroyed from among you all the men who followed Ba'al-P'or; 4 but you who stuck with ADONAI your God are still alive today, every one of you. 5 Look, I have taught you laws and rulings, just as ADONAI my God ordered me, so that you can behave accordingly in the land where you are going in order to take possession of it. 6 Therefore, observe them; and follow them; for then all peoples will see you as having wisdom and understanding. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, 'This great nation is surely a wise and understanding people.' 7 For what great nation is there that has God as close to them as ADONAI our God is, whenever we call on him? 8 What great nation is there that has laws and rulings as just as this entire Torah which I am setting before you today? 9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves diligently as long as you live, so that you won't forget what you saw with your own eyes, so that these things won't vanish from your hearts. Rather, make them known to your children and grandchildren - 10 the day you stood before ADONAI your God at Horev, when ADONAI said to me, 'Gather the people to me, and I will make them hear my very words, so that they will learn to hold me in awe as long as they live on earth, and so that they will teach their children.' 11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain; and the mountain blazed with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, clouds and thick mist. 12 Then ADONAI spoke to you out of the fire! You heard the sound of words but saw no shape, there was only a voice. 13 He proclaimed his covenant to you, which he ordered you to obey, the Ten Words; and he wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 At that time ADONAI ordered me to teach you laws and rulings, so that you would live by them in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. 15 "Therefore, watch out for yourselves! Since you did not see a shape of any kind on the day ADONAI spoke to you in Horev from the fire, 16 do not become corrupt and make yourselves a carved image having the shape of any figure - not a representation of a human being, male or female, 17 or a representation of any animal on earth, or a representation of any bird that flies in the air, 18 or a representation of anything that creeps along on the ground, or a representation of any fish in the water below the shoreline. 19 For the same reason, do not look up at the sky, at the sun, moon, stars and everything in the sky, and be drawn away to worship and serve them; ADONAI your God has allotted these to all the peoples under the entire sky. 20 No, you ADONAI has taken and brought out of the smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of inheritance for him, as you are today. 21 "But ADONAI was angry with me on account of you and swore that I would not cross the Yarden and go into that good land, which ADONAI your God is giving you to inherit. 22 Rather, I must die in this land and not cross the Yarden; but you are to cross and take possession of that good land. 23 Watch out for yourselves, so that you won't forget the covenant of ADONAI your God, which he made with you, and make yourself a carved image, a representation of anything forbidden to you by ADONAI your God. 24 For ADONAI your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25 "When you have had children and grandchildren, lived a long time in the land, become corrupt and made a carved image, a representation of something, and thus done what is evil in the sight of ADONAI your God and provoked him; 26 I call on the sky and the earth to witness against you today that you will quickly disappear from the land that you are crossing the Yarden to possess. You will not prolong your days there but will be completely destroyed. 27 ADONAI will scatter you among the peoples; and among the nations to which ADONAI will lead you away, you will be left few in number. 28 There you will serve gods which are the product of human hands, made of wood and stone, which can't see, hear, eat or smell. 29 However, from there you will seek ADONAI your God; and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and being. 30 In your distress, when all these things have come upon you, in the acharit-hayamim, you will return to ADONAI your God and listen to what he says; 31 for ADONAI your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them. 32 "Indeed, inquire about the past, before you were born: since the day God created human beings on the earth, from one end of heaven to the other, has there ever been anything as wonderful as this? Has anyone heard anything like it? 33 Did any other people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and stay alive? 34 Or has God ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from the very bowels of another nation, by means of ordeals, signs, wonders, war, a mighty hand, an outstretched arm and great terrors -like all that ADONAI your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35 This was shown to you, so that you would know that ADONAI is God, and there is no other beside him. 36 From heaven he caused you to hear his voice, in order to instruct you; and on earth he caused you to see his great fire; and you heard his very words coming out from the fire. 37 Because he loved your ancestors, chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt with his presence and great power, 38 in order to drive out ahead of you nations greater and stronger than you, so that he could bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is the case today; 39 know today, and establish it in your heart, that ADONAI is God in heaven above and on earth below - there is no other. 40 Therefore, you are to keep his laws and mitzvot which I am giving you today, so that it will go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land ADONAI your God is giving you forever." 41 Then Moshe separated three cities on the east side of the Yarden, toward the sunrise, 42 to which a killer might flee, that is, someone who kills by mistake a person whom he did not previously hate, and upon fleeing to one of these cities might live there. 43 The cities were Betzer in the desert, in the flatland, for the Re'uveni; Ramot in Gil'ad for the Gadi; and Golan in Bashan for the M'nashi. 44 This is the Torah which Moshe placed before the people of Isra'el - 45 these are the instructions, laws and rulings which Moshe presented to the people of Isra'el after they had come out of Egypt - 46 beyond the Yarden River, in the valley across from Beit-P'or, in the land of Sichon king of the Emori, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moshe and the people of Isra'el defeated when they came out of Egypt; 47 and they took possession of his land and the land of 'Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Emori, who were beyond the Yarden toward the sunrise; 48 from 'Aro'er on the edge of the Arnon Valley to Mount Si'on," that is, Mount Hermon, 49 "with all the 'Aravah beyond the Yarden eastward, all the way to the Dead Sea at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.

Deut. 5....
1 Then Moshe called to all Isra'el and said to them, "Listen, Isra'el, to the laws and rulings which I am announcing in your hearing today, so that you will learn them and take care to obey them. 2 ADONAI our God made a covenant with us at Horev. 3 ADONAI did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us -with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 ADONAI spoke with you face to face from the fire on the mountain. 5 At that time I stood between ADONAI and you in order to tell you what ADONAI was saying; because, on account of the fire, you were afraid and wouldn't go up onto the mountain. He said, t 6 "'I am ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves. c 7 "'You are to have no other gods before me. 8 You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline - 9 you are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, ADONAI your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents, also the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but displaying grace to the thousandth generation of those who love me and obey my mitzvot. 11 "'You are not to misuse the name of ADONAI your God, because ADONAI will not leave unpunished someone who misuses his name. 12 "'Observe the day of Shabbat, to set it apart as holy, as ADONAI your God ordered you to do. 13 You have six days to labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Shabbat for ADONAI your God. On it you are not to do any kind of work - not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your ox, your donkey or any of your other livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property - so that your male and female servants can rest just as you do. 15 You are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and ADONAI your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore ADONAI your God has ordered you to keep the day of Shabbat. 16 "'Honor your father and mother, as ADONAI your God ordered you to do, so that you will live long and have things go well with you in the land ADONAI your God is giving you. 17 "'Do not murder. 18 "'Do not commit adultery. 19 "'Do not steal. 20 "'Do not give false evidence against your neighbor. 21 "'Do not covet your neighbor's wife; do not covet your neighbor's house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.' 22 "These words ADONAI spoke to your entire gathering at the mountain from fire, cloud and thick mist, in a loud voice; then it ceased. But he wrote them on two stone tablets, which he gave to me. 23 When you heard the voice coming out of the darkness, as the mountain blazed with fire, you came to me, all the heads of your tribes and your leaders, 24 and said, 'Here, ADONAI our God has shown us his glory and his greatness! We have heard his voice coming from the fire, and we have seen today that God does speak with human beings, and they stay alive. 25 But why should we keep risking death? This great fire will consume us! If we hear the voice of ADONAI our God any more, we will die! 26 For who is there of all humanity that has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and stayed alive? 27 You, go near; and hear everything ADONAI our God says. Then you will tell us everything ADONAI our God says to you; and we will listen to it and do it.' 28 "ADONAI heard what you were saying when you spoke to me, and ADONAI said to me, 'I have heard what this people has said when speaking to you, and everything they have said is good. 29 Oh, how I wish their hearts would stay like this always, that they would fear me and obey all my mitzvot; so that it would go well with them and their children forever. 30 Go, tell them to return to their tents. 31 But you, stand here by me; and I will tell you all the mitzvot, laws and rulings which you are to teach them, so that they can obey them in the land I am giving them as their possession.' 32 "Therefore you are to be careful to do as ADONAI your God has ordered you; you are not to deviate either to the right or the left. 33 You are to follow the entire way which ADONAI your God has ordered you; so that you will live, things will go well with you, and you will live long in the land you are about to possess.

Deut.6.....1 "Now this is the mitzvah, the laws and rulings which ADONAI your God ordered me to teach you for you to obey in the land you are crossing over to possess, 2 so that you will fear ADONAI your God and observe all his regulations and mitzvot that I am giving you - you, your child and your grandchild - as long as you live, and so that you will have long life. 3 Therefore listen, Isra'el, and take care to obey, so that things will go well with you, and so that you will increase greatly, as ADONAI, the God of your ancestors, promised you by giving you a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 "Sh'ma, Yisra'el! ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad [Hear, Isra'el! ADONAI our God, ADONAI is one]; 5 and you are to love ADONAI your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources. 6 These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart; 7 and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, 9 and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates. 10 "When ADONAI your God has brought you into the land he swore to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov that he would give you - cities great and prosperous, which you didn't build; 11 houses full of all sorts of good things, which you didn't fill; water cisterns dug out, which you didn't dig; vineyards and olive trees, which you didn't plant - and you have eaten your fill; 12 then be careful not to forget ADONAI, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves. 13 You are to fear ADONAI your God, serve him and swear by his name. 14 You are not to follow other gods, chosen from the gods of the peoples around you; 15 because ADONAI, your God, who is here with you, is a jealous God. If you do, the anger of ADONAI your God will flare up against you and he will destroy you from the face of the earth. 16 Do not put ADONAI your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah [testing]. 17 Observe diligently the mitzvot of ADONAI your God, and his instructions and laws which he has given you. 18 You are to do what is right and good in the sight of ADONAI, so that things will go well with you, and you will enter and possess the good land ADONAI swore to your ancestors, 19 expelling all your enemies ahead of you, as ADONAI said. 20 "Some day your child will ask you, 'What is the meaning of the instructions, laws and rulings which ADONAI our God has laid down for you?' 21 Then you will tell your child, 'We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and ADONAI brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. 22 ADONAI worked great and terrible signs and wonders against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household, before our very eyes. 23 He brought us out from there in order to bring us to the land he had sworn to our ancestors that he would give us. 24 ADONAI ordered us to observe all these laws, to fear ADONAI our God, always for our own good, so that he might keep us alive, as we are today. 25 It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to obey all these mitzvot before ADONAI our God, just as he ordered us to do.'"

Deut. 7.....1 "ADONAI your God is going to bring you into the land you will enter in order to take possession of it, and he will expel many nations ahead of you -the Hitti, Girgashi, Emori, Kena'ani, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi, seven nations bigger and stronger than you. 2 When he does this, when ADONAI your God hands them over ahead of you, and you defeat them, you are to destroy them completely! Do not make any covenant with them. Show them no mercy. 3 Don't intermarry with them -don't give your daughter to his son, and don't take his daughter for your son. 4 For he will turn your children away from following me in order to serve other gods. If this happens, the anger of ADONAI will flare up against you, and he will quickly destroy you. 5 No, treat them this way: break down their altars, smash their standing-stones to pieces, cut down their sacred poles and burn up their carved images completely. 6 For you are a people set apart as holy for ADONAI your God. ADONAI your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his own unique treasure. 7 ADONAI didn't set his heart on you or choose you because you numbered more than any other people - on the contrary, you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 Rather, it was because ADONAI loved you, and because he wanted to keep the oath which he had sworn to your ancestors, that ADONAI brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from a life of slavery under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 From this you can know that ADONAI your God is indeed God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot, to a thousand generations. 10 But he repays those who hate him to their face and destroys them. He will not be slow to deal with someone who hates him; he will repay him to his face. 11 Therefore, you are to keep the mitzvot, laws and rulings which I am giving you today, and obey them.

PARASHAH 46: EKEV..BECAUSE 7:12-11:25

Deut.7....12 "Because you are listening to these rulings, keeping and obeying them, ADONAI your God will keep with you the covenant and mercy that he swore to your ancestors. 13 He will love you, bless you and increase your numbers; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground - your grain, wine, olive oil and the young of your cattle and sheep - in the land he swore to your ancestors that he would give you. 14 You will be blessed more than all other peoples; there will not be a sterile male or female among you, and the same with your livestock. 15 ADONAI will remove all illness from you - he will not afflict you with any of Egypt's dreadful diseases, which you have known; instead, he will lay them on those who hate you. 16 You are to devour all the peoples that ADONAI your God hands over to you - show them no pity, and do not serve their gods, because that will become a trap for you. 17 If you think to yourselves, 'These nations outnumber us; how can we dispossess them?' 18 nevertheless, you are not to be afraid of them; you are to remember well what ADONAI your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt - 19 the great ordeals which you yourself saw, and the signs, wonders, strong hand and outstretched arm by which ADONAI your God brought you out. ADONAI will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, ADONAI your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left and those who hide themselves perish ahead of you. 21 You are not to be frightened of them, because ADONAI your God is there with you, a God great and fearsome. 22 ADONAI your God will expel those nations ahead of you little by little; you can't put an end to them all at once, or the wild animals will become too numerous for you. 23 Nevertheless, ADONAI your God will give them over to you, sending one disaster after another upon them until they have been destroyed. 24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their name from under heaven; none of them will be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 You are to burn up completely the carved statues of their gods. Don't be greedy for the silver or gold on them; don't take it with you, or you will be trapped by it; for it is abhorrent to ADONAI your God. 26 Don't bring something abhorrent into your house, or you will share in the curse that is on it; instead, you are to detest it completely, loathe it utterly; for it is set apart for destruction.

Deut,8....1 "All the mitzvot I am giving you today you are to take care to obey, so that you will live, increase your numbers, enter and take possession of the land ADONAI swore about to your ancestors. 2 You are to remember everything of the way in which ADONAI led you these forty years in the desert, humbling and testing you in order to know what was in your heart - whether you would obey his mitzvot or not. 3 He humbled you, allowing you to become hungry, and then fed you with man, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that a person does not live on food alone but on everything that comes from the mouth of ADONAI. 4 During these forty years the clothing you were wearing didn't grow old, and your feet didn't swell up. 5 Think deeply about it: ADONAI was disciplining you, just as a man disciplines his child. 6 So obey the mitzvot of ADONAI your God, living as he directs and fearing him. 7 For ADONAI your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams, springs and water welling up from the depths in valleys and on hillsides. 8 It is a land of wheat and barley, grapevines, fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food in abundance and lack nothing in it; a land where the stones contain iron and the hills can be mined for copper. 10 So you will eat and be satisfied, and you will bless ADONAI your God for the good land he has given you. 11 "Be careful not to forget ADONAI your God by not obeying his mitzvot, rulings and regulations that I am giving you today. 12 Otherwise, after you have eaten and are satisfied, built fine houses and lived in them, 13 and increased your herds, flocks, silver, gold and everything else you own, 14 you will become proud-hearted. Forgetting ADONAI your God - who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves; 15 who led you through the vast and fearsome desert, with its poisonous snakes, scorpions and waterless, thirsty ground; who brought water out of flint rock for you; 16 who fed you in the desert with man, unknown to your ancestors; all the while humbling and testing you in order to do you good in the end - 17 you will think to yourself, 'My own power and the strength of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.' 18 No, you are to remember ADONAI your God, because it is he who is giving you the power to get wealth, in order to confirm his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as is happening even today. 19 If you forget ADONAI your God, follow other gods and serve and worship them, I am warning you in advance today that you will certainly perish. 20 You will perish just like the nations that ADONAI is causing to perish ahead of you, because you will not have heeded the voice of ADONAI your God."

Deut.9....1 "Listen, Isra'el! You are to cross the Yarden today, to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, great cities fortified up to the sky; 2 a people great and tall, the 'Anakim, whom you know about and of whom you have heard it said, 'Who can stand before the descendants of 'Anak?' 3 Therefore understand today that ADONAI your God will himself cross ahead of you as a devouring fire; he will destroy them and bring them down before you. Thus will you drive them out and cause them to perish quickly, as ADONAI has said to you. 4 "Don't think to yourself, after your God has pushed them out ahead of you, 'It is to reward my righteousness that ADONAI has brought me in to take possession of this land.' No, it is because these nations have been so wicked that ADONAI is driving them out ahead of you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness, or because your heart is so upright, that you go in to take possession of their land; but to punish the wickedness of these nations that ADONAI your God is driving them out ahead of you, and also to confirm the word which ADONAI swore to your ancestors, Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov. 6 Therefore, understand that it is not for your righteousness that ADONAI your God is giving you this good land to possess. "For you are a stiffnecked people! 7 Remember, don't forget, how you made ADONAI your God angry in the desert. From the day you left the land of Egypt till you arrived at this place, you have been rebelling against ADONAI. 8 Also in Horev you made ADONAI angry -ADONAI was angry enough with you to destroy you! 9 I had gone up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets on which was written the covenant ADONAI had made with you. I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights without eating food or drinking water. 10 Then ADONAI gave me the two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God; and on them was written every word ADONAI had said to you from the fire on the mountain the day of the assembly. 11 Yes, after forty days and nights ADONAI gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then ADONAI said to me, 'Get up, and hurry down from here, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt. So quickly have they turned aside from the way I ordered them to follow! They have made themselves a metal image!' 13 Moreover, ADONAI said to me, 'I have seen this people, and what a stiffnecked people they are! 14 Let me alone, so that I can put an end to them and blot out their name from under heaven! I will make out of you a nation bigger and stronger than they.' 15 I came down from the mountain. The mountain was blazing fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 I looked, and there, you had sinned against ADONAI your God! You had made yourselves a metal calf, you had turned aside quickly from the way ADONAI had ordered you to follow. 17 I seized the two tablets, threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. 18 Then I fell down before ADONAI, as I had the first time, for forty days and nights, during which time I neither ate food nor drank water, all because of the sin you committed by doing what was evil in the sight of ADONAI and thus provoking him. 19 I was terrified that because of how angry ADONAI was at you, of how heatedly displeased he was, that he would destroy you. But ADONAI listened to me that time too. 20 In addition, ADONAI was very angry with Aharon and would have destroyed him; but I prayed for Aharon also at the same time. 21 I took your sin, the calf you had made, and burned it up in the fire, beat it to pieces, and ground it up still smaller, until it was as fine as dust; then I threw its dust into the stream coming down from the mountain. 22 "Again at Tav'erah, Massah and Kivrot-HaTa'avah you made ADONAI angry; 23 and when ADONAI sent you off from Kadesh-Barnea by saying, 'Go up and take possession of the land I have given you,' you rebelled against the order of ADONAI your God - you neither trusted him nor heeded what he said. 24 You have been rebelling against ADONAI from the day I first knew you! 25 "So I fell down before ADONAI for those forty days and nights; and I lay there; because ADONAI had said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed to ADONAI ; I said, 'Adonai ELOHIM! Don't destroy your people, your inheritance! You redeemed them through your greatness, you brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand! 27 Remember your servants Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov! Don't focus on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or on their sin. 28 Otherwise, the land you brought us out of will say, "It is because ADONAI wasn't able to bring them into the land he promised them and because he hated them that he has brought them out to kill them in the desert." 29 But in fact they are your people, your inheritance, whom you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.'

Deut. 10....1 "At that time ADONAI said to me, 'Cut yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, come up to me on the mountain, and make yourself an ark of wood. 2 I will inscribe on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to put them in the ark.' 3 So I made an ark of acacia-wood and cut two stone tablets like the first, then climbed the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4 He inscribed the tablets with the same inscription as before, the Ten Words which ADONAI proclaimed to you from the fire on the mountain the day of the assembly; and ADONAI gave them to me. 5 I turned, came down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made; and there they remain; as ADONAI ordered me. 6 "The people of Isra'el traveled from the wells of B'nei-Ya'akan to Moserah, where Aharon died and was buried; and El'azar his son took his place, serving in the office of cohen. 7 From there they traveled to Gudgod, and from Gudgod to Yotvatah, a region with running streams. 8 At that time ADONAI set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark for the covenant of ADONAI and to stand before ADONAI to serve him and to bless in his name, as they still do today. 9 This is why Levi has no share or inheritance with his brothers; ADONAI is his inheritance, as ADONAI your God had said to him. 10 "I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as previously; and ADONAI listened to me that time too -ADONAI would not destroy you. 11 Then ADONAI said to me, 'Get up, and go on your way at the head of the people, so that they can enter and take possession of the land I swore to their ancestors that I would give them.' 12 "So now, Isra'el, all that ADONAI your God asks from you is to fear ADONAI your God, follow all his ways, love him and serve ADONAI your God with all your heart and all your being; 13 to obey, for your own good, the mitzvot and regulations of ADONAI which I am giving you today. 14 See, the sky, the heaven beyond the sky, the earth and everything on it all belong to ADONAI your God. 15 Only ADONAI took enough pleasure in your ancestors to love them and choose their descendants after them -yourselves -above all peoples, as he still does today. 16 Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart; and don't be stiffnecked any longer! 17 For ADONAI your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty and awesome God, who has no favorites and accepts no bribes. 18 He secures justice for the orphan and the widow; he loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore you are to love the foreigner, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 You are to fear ADONAI your God, serve him, cling to him and swear by his name. 21 He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things, which you have seen with your own eyes. 22 Your ancestors went down into Egypt with only seventy people, but now ADONAI your God has made your numbers as many as the stars in the sky!

Deut. 11....1 "Therefore, you are to love ADONAI your God and always obey his commission, regulations, rulings and mitzvot. 2 Today it is you I am addressing -not your children, who haven't known or experienced the discipline of ADONAI your God, his greatness, his strong hand, his outstretched arm, 3 his signs and his actions which he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to his entire country. 4 They didn't experience what he did to Egypt's army, horses and chariots -how ADONAI overwhelmed them with the water of the Sea of Suf as they were pursuing you, so that they remain destroyed to this day. 5 They didn't experience what he kept doing for you in the desert until you arrived at this place; 6 or what he did to Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av the descendant of Re'uven -how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households, tents and every living thing in their company, there in front of all Isra'el. 7 But you have seen with your own eyes all these great deeds of ADONAI. 8 Therefore, you are to keep every mitzvah I am giving you today; so that you will be strong enough to go in and take possession of the land you are crossing over to conquer; 9 and so that you will live long in the land ADONAI swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 "For the land you are entering in order to take possession of it isn't like the land of Egypt. There you would sow your seed and had to use your feet to operate its irrigation system, as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are crossing over to take possession of is a land of hills and valleys, which soaks up water when rain falls from the sky. 12 It is a land ADONAI your God cares for. The eyes of ADONAI your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. 13 "So if you listen carefully to my mitzvot which I am giving you today, to love ADONAI your God and serve him with all your heart and all your being; 14 then, [says ADONAI,] 'I will give your land its rain at the right seasons, including the early fall rains and the late spring rains; so that you can gather in your wheat, new wine and olive oil; 15 and I will give your fields grass for your livestock; with the result that you will eat and be satisfied.' 16 But be careful not to let yourselves be seduced, so that you turn aside, serving other gods and worshipping them. 17 If you do, the anger of ADONAI will blaze up against you. He will shut up the sky, so that there will be no rain. The ground will not yield its produce, and you will quickly pass away from the good land ADONAI is giving you. 18 Therefore, you are to store up these words of mine in your heart and in all your being; tie them on your hand as a sign; put them at the front of a headband around your forehead; 19 teach them carefully to your children, talking about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up; 20 and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates - 21 so that you and your children will live long on the land ADONAI swore to your ancestors that he would give them for as long as there is sky above the earth. (vii & Maftir) 22 "For if you will take care to obey all these mitzvot I am giving you, to do them, to love ADONAI your God, to follow all his ways and to cling to him, 23 then ADONAI will expel all these nations ahead of you; and you will dispossess nations bigger and stronger than you are. 24 Wherever the sole of your foot steps will be yours; your territory will extend from the desert to the L'vanon and from the River, the Euphrates River, to the Western Sea. 25 No one will be able to withstand you; ADONAI your God will place the fear and dread of you on all the land you step on, as he told you. (Complete Jewish Bible)

I SAY TO YOU TODAY.....do your best to present yourself to our Elohim as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Because as it is written....for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

The money grabbers are out there...wolves in sheep's clothing....preying on YOU AND ME...desirous for us to listen to their words. They do not lie completely....their words are full of flatteries and praises and they recite our Elohim's words eloquently but do they believe? Some believe what they want to believe...some believe what they have been taught but if they have been taught false doctrine...where does that leave you and I if we listen to them, follow them....hang on every word that proceeds out of their mouths?

IT LEAVES US IN DARKNESS!

We must be careful....we must be alert. Trust in no man but put your trust in our Elohim because He will guide you. He will show you His Way. He is faithful to be with you and for you. Seek Him and He will be there for you.

Our Messiah Yeshua taught Torah. The early church was Torah observant. This IS the Way of Elohim.

Read your Bible...get to know it. Study it. Study Torah!

And please, take into your hearts.....your spirit...His Instructions that are the same today, yesterday and forever!

With love to you in and through our Messiah and soon coming King Yeshua..His Ama gloria

We Are Accountable......................

Hello my Friends.....it is the last day of Tammuz according to the calendar of our Elohim. I have deep regrets that I have not been blogging as I once did. I have been...I guess what we can call a slump? I have thoughts and desires to say something but no energy...no drive to do it but it is when we have these valleys that He speaks to us. We have to listen....listen carefully.

I have been going over the past actions I have taken about certain things in my life. I have seen and felt how allowing certain things to happen has affected me and my family....it has affected the whole spiritual mood of my house. My first action was to not heed what our Father was saying to me and then to 'speak' contrary to what he was saying. In other words....I said 'yes' when I should have said 'no'.

In the course of three years that saying 'yes' has completely turned my life upside down and I believe it also dramatically affected the lives of my whole family.

You have heard the old saying.."You are what you eat"? I say to you......YOU ARE WHAT YOU SPEAK! NOW UNDERSTAND ME, I AM NOT SPEAKING A PROSPERITY MESSAGE HERE....but you must align your words with His Word and with what He is saying to you. I also say to you it is not just the words you say outloud to others or when speaking forth a proclamation over yourself.....it is also the words we say to ourselves when we are 'talking' to ourselves. And yes, I do believe we all do it. And it is also in our mumblings...we know what we are saying...He knows what we are saying...even if those around us cannot understand!

I am the Spiritual head of my house. So if my Spiritual attitude and the words spoken from my mouth are not in line with our Elohim, His Word and His call upon my life then where does that leave my house? Just as a Captain of a ship is in charge, keeps order and gives commands so that his ship sails smoothly, I too am in charge of my house and it is my resposibility to see that it is running in a Spiritual manner that respects our Elohim, His Commands, and that all are respectful of my rules and respectful of each other.

"Let the words of my mouth be acceptable to You"

We are accountable for what we say! Yeshua says in Matthew 21:34...good things come out of the good stored within us. Our words reveal the sort of treasure stored in our hearts. He says that every idle word that is spoken will be accounted for at judgement. Our idle words do not allow us to acheive the calling that our Elohim has upon our lives.

It has been said that idle words..bring neither life nor death. They do not carry out the will of Elohim and continually push back His plans into non existence.
Our Elohim has a better life planned for us. He wants us to wake up knowing that we have a new wonderful day, each day, becasue He makes it that way.

I have had good days but I have had many bad ones because I have beaten myself up because of the words that proceeded out of my mouth which were contrary to the will of our Father. What do I do? Well continually waking up and thinking upon it does not help unless one also listend to what He is saying about the whole situation. Yes I messed up...and by my calculations I set forth a chain of events that changed the whole dynamic of my house...my family.

But...He said to me...."Go back and move forward."
WHAT? How is that possible? In the past few months since He said this I am becoming more aware of what He has meant. Maybe someone else would have gotten it right off the bat but me, well, I needed a little more time. But one consulation, time has been speeding up so from one point of time to another does not seem so far!

So I know what I did and when I did it. Why was it so bad? Well, I heard our Father telling me what to do in the situation but my mind...and my human emotions...took over and I THOUGHT I WAS DOING THE RIGHT THING. What we perceive as right is not always the right thing to do according to the will of Elohim.

So I have gone back...I repent of it....I will not allow my words to be unacceptable to Him...any words....the words I utter to others....to myself....or my mumblings.

I have rambled on but this is not over. I will be in prayer about this somemore and hopefully will get back and blog again soon.

HAPPY SHAVUOT!

Today is Sivan 10, 5770........SHAVUOT...PENTECOST!

Hello my Mishpacha, it is a humid day here in my little part of the world...,we have had many cooler days and I have enjoyed them so I must get used to it...summer is coming..again! But without it where would we be? No beautiful flowers...no growing season for our fruits and vegetables and the animals would be confused! And in general, children love summer...school is out....they can sleep in, go swimming, play...do the things kids do! I sure know I used to! BUT NOW?

I could really just live my life fine without it! I am not a summer person! I hate the heat, the sweating.....the only thing that keeps me going in the summer is air conditioning! And yes, I know we must start getting weaned off of it...I do so understand the signs of the times...we will not have this luxery in the future.

Let us enjoy what we have now to the fullest but be aware that times may change quickly....be ready..be prepared...the hour draws nigh for the very things we have been told all our lives about...the very things our Bibles tell us...are happening..and the worst is yet to come. I just sense that so many are not getting the fullness of this message. Please seek understanding!

My friends, I am in a wonderful mood...full of joy and gladness...Shavuot is here! We had a wonderful time last night...we went out and prayed at midnight because it is said by the sages that 'at midnight on Shavuot, Heaven opens up for a twinkling of an eye and all prayers are heard'. We praised our Elohim!


I talked about what happened on the two most special Shavuots. And we talked about Ruth and how important she is to Shavuot! Then Jessica got out glow sticks and she and the girls...Aletha and her friend Yvonne and Arrin, played in the yard. They ran and laughed and had such a good time under the watchful eye of our Father! We stayed up for most of the night....His presence was all around....such a joy!

And today? I still feel His presence! I am basking in it! Everyone else?...they have slept in. It is a good thing.

Seeking the Face of YHVH

Iyyar 15, 5770

Surely the arm of YHVH is not too short to save, nor His ear to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your Elohim; your sins have hidden His Face from you, so that He will not hear. Isaiah 59:1&2

My heart says of You, "Seek His face!" Your Face, YHVH, I will seek. Psalm 27:8

When we meet someone we look at their face and within that face we are able to see what they are feeling....happy, sad, mad, scared...even indifference towards us. Yes you can tell a whole lot about a person just by looking at their face.

What about our Elohim's face? What are you looking for there? What are you going to find? When we seek His face, we are seeking His heart and His mind. Most of the time we seek His Hands and not His heart. "Please Father, I need this....please give, please heal, please fix this.........this is not seeking YHVH and this is definately not "seeking His face."

To truly 'seek His face' we must step out of our comfort zone...out of our daily routine. We must be willing to set aside any ideas and thoughts we already have about Him and be willing to accept anything He reveals to us.

We need to 'let go' of EVERYTHING. As long as we hol;d onto earthly things we will never ascend to the level of stepping into Heavenly things. We cannot come face to face with our Elohim unless we humble ourselves, pray, and turn from our wicked ways.

14 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 Chronicals 7:14

We need to repent...we need to be aware of our wickedness. We need to seek Him and find out what things in our lives are displeasing to Him. When we do this we find out how we have failed in words, thoughts and deeds.

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags to Him.Isaiah 64:6

He is our righteousness...we are nothing without Him.

We must seek Him in humility and be in complete dependence upon Him. for humility precedes holiness and without holiness we cannot see YHVH.

The emotional attribute of Sefirah for humility is HOD.

*It is said that humility is the silent partner of endurance. Its strength is in its silence. Its splendor is in its repose.

HUMILITY--and the resulting yielding-- should not be confused with weakness and lack of self-esteem. Humility is modesty: it is acknowledgement (from the root of the Hebrew word, "hoda 'ah"). It is saying "thank you" to Elohim. It is clearly recognising your qualities and strengths and acknowledging that they are not your own; they were given to you by YHVH for a higher purpose than to satisfy your own needs. Humility is modesty; it is recognising how small you arewhich allows you to realize how large you can become. and that makes humility so formidable.

Endurance draws its energy from th acknowledgement of humility. Human endurance goes only so far as your tolerance level. Acknowledging that your strengths come from a higher place gives you the power to endure far beyond your own perceived capacity. It gives you part of our Elohim's enduring strength.

A full cup cannot be filled. When you're filled with yourself and your needs, "I and nothing else" there is no room for more. When you "empty" yourself before something greater than yourself, your capacity to receive increases beyond your previously perceived limits. Humility is the key to transcendence; to reach beyond yourself. Only true humility gives you the power of total objectivity.

Humility is sensitivity. It is healthy shame that comes from recognising that you can be better than you are and that you can expect more of yourself.

Although humility is silent, it is not a void. It is a dynamic expression of life that includes all seven qualities of love, discipline, compassion, endurance, humility, bonding and sovereignty. Humility is active not passive, not a state of being but an interaction even in its calm and inaction.*

Those who truly desire to "seek His face" will find the time...will cancel hobbies, forsake tv, put away newspapers and magazines...we forsake everything to be in His Presence. We need to just put everything on hold and focus completely on YHVH...seeking intimacy with Him...to know His heart...and our own heart in His light.

Is there a place where we should go?

ADONAI would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.Exodus 33:11

How did Moses do this? Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp, some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting". anyone inquiring of YHVH would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.

Anyone who inquired.....who sought YHVH....went outside the camp to the tent of meeting.

What does this mean for us? Are we to pitch a tent?

Yeshua said, "When you pray, go to your closet, close the door and pray to your Father." Matthew 6:6

When deep in prayer, Jewish men will put their prayer shawls over their heads to shut out the world and be in the presence of God. This can be seen in the synagogue or at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The prayer shawls are white, representing the heavens, or the dwelling place of the ADONAI. And, the color blue represents the Ruach HaKodesh, or Holy Spirit of ELOHIM. Therefore, praying under the tallit, or prayer shawl, is covering yourself with the presence of ELOHIM. From biblical times, this custom was like a prayer closet, and it is likely this is what Yeshua was referring to in Matthew 6:6, when He told us to get into our closet, apart from the people around, and pray in secret to the Lord.

It also means to get away....completely away...away from all the noise around you. A place where no one will see you or bother you. A place where you can pray to our Father and enter into His presence and it is there in this "place" in the secret of His Presence that we grow strong in faith and intimacy with our Elohim.

Yeshua often went by Himself to a deserted place early in the morning before anyone else was up. He made it a regular practice to seek His father in the solitude of the Mount of Olives.

He is our example...let us seek the face of YHVH...let us go into our prayer closets..into a place of solitude...forgetting the cares of the world and family problems. LET US SEEK THE FACE OF YHVH and be renewed in strength and the ability to hear His voice in the coming times of strife.

If we truly seek Him...if we fast and pray we will gain much....we will have greater intimacy with YHVH and a fresh indwelling of Ruach. we will have more clarity in hearing His voice and the direction in our calling and growth. And better discernment in the matters of life.

Seeking His Face will lead us into His Rest.




*from FORTY-NINE STEPS TO PERSONAL REFINEMENT ACCORDING TO JEWISH TRADITION by Rabbi Simon Jacobson.*

The Seven Emotional Attributes

Iyyar 6, 5770

It is a beautiful day in my little part of the world. I am so thankful to our Elohim for He is so good....His love and mercy endures forever! The sky is blue, the birds are chirping and singing and the wind is blowing ever so slightly...just a wonderful day!

In yesterday's blog I talked about the counting of the Omer and I listed the Seven Emotional Attributes......these are called Sefirah. Sefirah is a Hebrew word and has several meanings...it means both, "mispar", meaning number and "sipur" as in telling a story. A third root meaning is "sapir", a sapphire stone, which is translucent crystal that shines brightly.

Counting sefirah illuminates the different aspects of our emotional lives. the days of sefirah tell us a story....the story of our souls. These seven emotions and qualities are known in the plural as sefirot.

The purpose of this day by day analysis is to give us the ability to stand back and take an objective look at our subjective emotions. Thus we will see our strong and weak points and this will enable us to have an understanding of how we can better ourselves emotionally for oursekves and our realtionships with others and in our spiritual growth and maturity.

WEEK ONE.....CHESED
LOVINGKINDNESS; BENEVOLENCE

Love is the single most powerful and necessary componant in life. Love is the origin and foundation of all componants in life. Love is both giving and receiving. It allows us to reach above and beyond ourselves; to experience another person and to allow that person to experience us. It is the tool by which we learn to experience the highest reality....GOD.

LOVE IS TRANSCENDENCE


LOVE
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Follow the way of love................(1 Corinthians 13 & 14:1)


WEEK TWO......GEVURAH
JUSTICE. DISCIPLINE, RESTRAINT, AWE

If love (chesed) is the bedrock of human expression, discipline (gevurah) is the channel through which we express love. It gives our life and love directions and focus. Like a laser beam, its potency lies in the focus and concentration of light in one direction, rather than fragmented light beams dispersed in all directions. Gevurah...discipline and measure...concentrates and directs our efforts, our love, in the proper directions.

Another aspect of gevurah is respect and awe. Healthy love requires respect for the one you love.


For God gave us a Spirit who produces not timidity, but power, love and self-discipline.
(2 Timothy 1:7)

When we truly love someone we expect the best for them and we expect them to do their best. We do not judge them instead we do whatever we can to help them be the best they can be.


WEEK THREE....TIFERET
COMPASSION, HARMONY, TRUTH

Tiferet....compassion blends and harmonizes the free outpouring love of chesed with the discipline of gevurah. Tiferet possesses this power by introducing a third dimension...the dimension of truth, which is neither love nor discipline and therefore can integrate the two. Truth is accessed through selflessness: rising above your ego and your predispiositions, enabling you to realize a higher truth. Truth gives you a clear and objective picture of your and others needs. The imbalance of love and discipline (and for that matter, any distortion) is a result of a subjective, hence limited perspective. Introducing truth, by suspending personal prejudices, allows you to express your feelings (including they synthesis of chesed and gevurah) in the healthiest manner.

This quality gives TIFERET its name, which means BEAUTY: it blends the differing colors of love and discipline, and this harmony makes it beautiful.


Someone once said the difference between sympathy and compassion is that the one who sympathizes, sees and feels, but does nothing. The one who has compassion, sees, feels and then does something about the need. Yeshua always had compassion on the crowd and the people He came in contact with. He did something about their needs. And so we as His followers, must also bear our cross and follow Him. Be like Yeshua!


Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.1 John 3:18

To have compassion is to be kind in all we think, do and say....

Kindness is an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want, and do.

Kindness is more than deeds. It is an attitude, an expression, a look, a touch. It is anything that lifts another person.

Kindness is the light that dissolves all walls between souls, families, and nations.

Yeshua said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." and "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34, 35).


WEEK FOUR....NETZACH
ENDURANCE, FORTITUDE, AMBITION

Endurance and ambition is a combination of determination and tenacity. It is a balance of patience, persistence and guts. Endurance is also being reliable and accountable which establishes security and commitment. Without endurance, any good endeavor or intention has no chance of success.

Endurance means to be alive, to be driven by healthy and productive goals. It is the readiness to fight for what you believe, to go all the way. Without such commitment any undertaking remains flat and empty. It is an energy that comes from within and stops at nothing to acheive irts goals. This, of course, requires that endurance be closely examined to ensure that it is used in a healthy and productive way.


Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ...James 1:12-18


Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.James 1:2-4

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. Hebrews 10:36

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,Romans 5:3-4

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, Colossians 1:11


And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:4

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, Romans 15:5


Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11


ASK YOURSELF.....How commited am I to my values? How much would I fight for them? Am I easily swayed? What price am I ready to pay for my beliefs? Is there any truth for which I am ready to give my life?



WEEK FIVE.....HOD
HUMILITY, SPLENDOR

If endurance is the engine of life, humility is its fuel. As gevurah (discipline) gives chesed (love) focus, HOD gives netzach (endurance) direction. Humility is the silent partner of endurance. Its strength is in its silence. Its splendor is in its repose.

HUMILITY...and its resulting yeilding...should not be confused with weakness and lack of self-esteem. humility is modesty; it is acknowledgment (from the root of the Hebrew word, "hoda' ah"). It is saying "thank you" to God. It is clearly recognising your qualities and strengths and acknowledging that they are not your own; they were given to you by God for a higher purpose than just satisfying your own needs. Humility is modesty; it is recognising how small you are which allows you to realize how large you can become. And that makes humility so formidable.

Endurance draws its energy from the acknowledgment of humility. Human endurance goes only as far as your tolerance level. Acknowledgment that your strengths come from a highter place gives you the power to endure far beyond your own perceived capacity. it gives you part of God's enduring strength.

A full cup cannot be filled. when you're filled with yourself and your needs, "I and nothing else", there is no room for more. When you "empty
" yourself before something greater than yourself, your capacity to receive increases beyond your previously perceived limits. Humilty is the key to transcendence to reach beyond yourself. Only true humility gives you the power of objectivity.

Humility is sensitivity It is healthy shame that comes from recognising that you can be better than you are and that you can expect more of yourself.

Although humility is silent, it is not a void. It is a dynamic expression of life that includes all seven qualities of love, discipline, compasion, endurance, humility, bonding, and sovereignty. Humilty is active not passive, not a state of being but an interaction even in its calm and inaction.




Thanks to.....
*Forty-Nine Steps To Personal Refinement According To The Jewish Tradition by Rabbi Simon Jacobson
and
The Bible

IYYAR 5, 5770

Much has been happening since I last wrote in this blog. The Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread have come and gone. We are now Counting the Omer. Counting the Omer.......it has been such a blessing this year because my daughter and I are counting together. It has become more meaningful to me becasue of this.

What is the purpose of counting the Omer....why do we do it? I have done it for several years now but did I ever really understand it? The Priests counted the Omer which was a sheaf..or a bundle of grain from the beginning of the first crop. The Priest would then wave it before our Elohim as a "Wave Offering" so that the Omer and the entire harvest would be accepted.

After the destruction of the first and Second Temples the verbal counting went on and so we 'speak' the Omer....as in day one...."Today is day One of the Omer".

My daughter and I are using two guides in our quest to 'Count the Omer'. One is.."The Counting of the Omer...Forty-nine Steps to Personal Refinement According to the Jewish Tradition" by Rabbi Simon Jacobson and "The Messianic Mo'adiym Devotional" by Kevin Geoffrey from Perfect Word.

These two studies, although very different works, enhance each other. Our lives are bing enriched by them because thru them, we are experiencing an intense character refinement..just as the Jews during the Exodus did, one step at a time to higher purity.

According to Rabbi Jacobson, Just as the Jews were slaves to Egypt,we can be slaves to our personalities, driven by forces over which we often seem to have no control.

The forty-nine days of sefirah or counting, teach us how to regain control over our emotions, showing us how to refine our characters, step by step, in a way that is based on the eternal truths of Torah."

Rabbi Jacobson also says..."Counting sefirah illuminates the different aspects of our emotional lives. The days of sefirah tell us a story--the story of our souls."

EACH DAY IN TIME HAS A LIFE OF ITS OWN. A DAY IS A UNIQUE ENERGY FLOW WAITING TO BE TAPPED AND CHANNELED INTO THE FIBER OF MAN'S BEING.

There are seven emotional attributes that in various combination make up the forty-nine qualities to be examined and developed during this period.

CHESED....Lovingkindness; benevolence.
GEVURAH.....Justice; discipline; restraint; awe.
TIFERET.....Beauty and harmony; compassion.
NETZACH.....Endurance; fortitude; ambition
HOD.....Humility; splendor.
YESOD.....Bonding, foundation.
MELCHUT.....Nobility; sovereignty; leadership

It is truly a worthy effort to study these things in your life...to allow yourself to give up the bad aspects and see where you can make changes in your life so you can come into more holiness in Him.

This evening we will be counting the Omer for Day 17.........so tonight if you wish to participate this is how you will begin......

THE BLESSING.........Blessed are You, ADONAI our Elohim, King of the Universe, who has anctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.

Today is seventeen days, which is two weeks and three days, of the Omer.

May the Merciful Holy One restore the Holy Temple to its place, speedily in our days; Amein. Selah.

Psalm 67.........
May Elohim be gracious to us and bless us; may He make His countenance shine upon us forever; that Your way be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. the Nations will extol You, O Elohim; all the nations will extol You. the nations will rejoice and sing joy, for You will judge the peoples justly and guide the nations on earth forever. The peoples will extol You. O Elohim; all peoples will extol you, for the earth will have yielded its produce and Elohim; our Elohim, will bless us. Elohim will bless us; and all, from the farthest corners of the earth, shall fear Him.

Tiferet of Tiferet
Examine the compassion of compassion; the expression of compassion and its intensity.
True compassion is limitless. It is not an extension of your needs and defined by your limited perspective. Compassion for another is acheived by having a selfless attitude, rising above yourself and placing yourself in the other person's situation and experience.


"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, reasoned like a child; but now that I have become a man, I have made useless the childish things." 1 Corinthians 13:11

*The master teaches us that unless we "turn around and become as children", we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 18:3) So why does Paul exort us to be finished with "childish things"? The answer is simple: yeshua is teaching us about being humble and innocent....Paul is teaching us about maturity.*

When we are children we do not reason or understand...but with maturity we begin to attain these things. Age does mean we are mature but in studying our Elohim's Word...His plan for our lives...we can gain the kind of maturity that allows us to show compassion towards others. We will no longer be selfish with our feelings. It is our choice...to be childish or to be the mature person our Elohim desires us to be.

Ask yourself...Am I able to rise above myself and place myself in someone elses situation?
Am I prepared to do this?
Can I express the compasion that is in my heart?
Is it true compassion or self-serving?
Does it come from guilt or is it genuine?

Compassion is the ultimate and most meaningful embodiment of emotional maturity. It is through compassion that a person achieves the highest peak and deepest reach in his or her search for self-fulfillment. --Arthur Jersild


Let us seek true compassion in our lives so that we will be a well spring from which it flows.

Father, we thank You for you are so good, Your Love and Mercy endures FOREVER!

THE ANA BI-KO'ACH...WE IMPLORE YOU

We implore You, by the great power of Your right hand, release the captive. Accept the prayer of your people; strengthen us, purify us, Awesome One. Mighty One, we beseech You, guard as the apple of Your eye those who seek Your Oneness. Bless them, cleanse them; bestow upon them forever Your merciful righteousness. Powerful, Holy One, in Your abounding goodness, guide your congregation. Only and Exalted One, turn to your people who are mindful of Your holiness. Accept our supplication and hear our cry, You who knows secret thoughts. Blessed be the Name of the glory of His Kingdom forever and ever.



*From the Messianic Mo'adiym Devonional

My Birthday

Yesterday, 22 Adar, was my birthday in Elohim. My Roman calendar birthday is today but I do not recognise it. Others around me might...and I thank them for their birthday wishes but I am satisfied that He gave me my birthdate and He named me.

A lot is brewing...a lot must be done. We are traveling at a faster pace...time is faster. NASA even reported that the earthquake that hit Chille has shortened our days.

Our Elohim is speaking...some aren't listening..they are too busy to stop and listen...there is too much noise around them. I have even been guilty of this the past year! I was following His Voice..He was guiding me...then I alloweed noise...sound noise, distraction noise, family problems noise......all to affect me. This has led me to a place where I have veered off His narrow Way and I have veered onto a side path. He has been setting up roadblocks...warning signs....stop lights...but I kept ona goin! Now the time has come to STOP!

HE KEEPS SPEAKING TO ME ABOUT THE NOISE...THE NOISE. WE MUST CLEAR THE NOISE SO WE WILL HEAR HIM CLEARLY. WE ARE GOING TO BE LED BY FAITH NOT SIGHT.

We are human and we make mistakes but when we realize we are on the wrong path..STOP! Get back onto YHVH's Path!

A Word came thru today and by someone but it is from our Abba and He alone has control over it. This person, as far as I know, is not Torah observant and is probably still in the pagan church system but if a rock had cried out and said this, I would have understood the message...and that it is something I have to heed.

Our Father gave me a few more scriptures to add to it and also said a few more things to me...but this is the Word.......

"You may think that the current spiritual environment is strange, but I am testing you and trusting you with My silence. This is to see whether or not you will stay with the leading of My Spirit. Will you be still when there is only silence, or will you continue on without divine direction? Take this opportunity to be still and be at peace even when the enemy is taunting you about being unproductive. Be resolute and do nothing until you truly hear My voice.

Come with Me on this journey into the unknown. Come with Me and depend upon Me as your guide. Come with Me and let My Spirit empower you. As you go test the spirits; lean not upon your own understanding but lean upon My wisdom; eat of the food I will give you; drink of the water I will give you. Recognize the enemy is after you, but also remember that I will lead you into victory. For it is My purpose and My choice and it is by My power and authority that you will stand in these perilous times. Most of all, I say, do not dread the journey but rather come to this understanding that if I am walking with you and if I have become your guide, this journey will be one of utmost joy.

Get ready to move to higher ground. Get ready to walk upon the path I have prepared for you. For indeed these are the days of My glory and the fulfilling of all things. These are the days of the restoration of that which has been lost among My people. I am the Lord God and I come to take you to places you have not yet been; to places you have not yet experienced. I come to give you visions and prophetic words, words of wisdom and words of knowledge that you have not yet spoken. So, I say again, come and come with joy."

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
"I will instruct instruct you and teach you in this way that you are to go; I will give you council; My eyes will be watching you." (Isaiah 30:21, Psalm 32:8)

A highway will be there, a way, called the Way of Holiness. the unclean will not pass over it , but it will be for those whom He guides...fools will not stray along it. (Isaiah 35:8)

Things that are hidden belong to YHVH your Elohim..but the things that are revealed belong to you and your children FOREVER! (Deut. 29:28)

THE SEVENTH DAY IS TO BE A HOLY DAY FOR YOU, A SHABBAT OF COMPLETE REST IN HONOR OF YOUR ELOHIM. (Exodus 35:2)


Sacrifices and grain offerings You don't want; burnt offerings and sin offerings You don't demand. Instead, You have given me open ears; so I then I said, "Here I am! I'm coming!" (Psalm 40:6&7)