How to Prepare for a Day of Disorder
Posted: 27 Feb 2009 06:41 AM PST
Joseph Herrin (02-27-09)
With the multitude of witnesses being given of the disintegration of America as a nation, many Christians are waking up to the nearness of the very dark days which are at the door. A normal reaction to the dawning of this understanding is to want to know what things might be done to prepare for days of great disruption.The days ahead for America will include a complete and devastating economic collapse. The dollar will be rendered worthless. Those people who have their life savings in dollar denominated assets will see them disappear suddenly, in a manner akin to the US Airways flight that disappeared from radar as it descended with Bank of America executives aboard to a splash landing in the Hudson River. Those on board escaped with only the clothes on their backs, being grateful to be alive. So too will the banking system of America crash in the near future, and with this event the entire infrastructure of the nation and the world will be experience severe disruptions.
A sister in Christ shared recently that the Lord had told her that even the electricity supply would become unreliable. At times it would be available, and other times it will be unavailable. I shared a similar revelation some months back as the Spirit of Christ brought me to understand the character of coming days.Along with economic collapse there will be great interruptions to transportation. Stores will run out of food and supplies. Gas stations will run dry and find that re-supply is sporadic at best.
Civil unrest will be a natural consequence, and multitudes will find it expedient to flee from the cities, many of which will be ablaze with fires and unruly gangs and rioters.All of these things, and much more, has been prophesied for the days which are near at hand. How then should a Christian prepare for such days?
I have pondered some of the difficulties that will be part and parcel of those days. Food and shelter are critical needs, but the normal provision for these things will be altered drastically. Most houses in America are only comfortable to live in when there is a reliable supply of electricity. Here in Georgia where I live, the summertime heat and humidity would render most houses uninhabitable if electricity and air conditioning were unavailable.
The Lord has been preparing me for such a time. Last summer I lived in my small van/motorhome that I parked on the property of the Macon Rescue Mission. At times I was able to run a small fan to blow air across me as I slept, but I never used the air conditioner. Even with a small fan I would be awake until midnight or 1 to 2 A.M. waiting for the van to cool off enough to make sleep possible.
Most houses today are not designed to be lived in without electricity. The high ceilings and large screened windows, the open space beneath the floors that allowed air to circulate, and the vents and windows that could be opened and shut over doorways to aid circulation, are no longer built into homes. Homes are now tight, with little air circulation. They are made to be energy efficient, but are unsuitable for life without electricity.
With intermittent electricity there would also be the problem of loss of refrigeration and food spoilage. People no longer have root cellars, or coolers that utilize block ice as they once did. Many who have electric stoves would be unable to cook, and even water supply will be intermittent in coming days. It will become difficult to wash and dry clothes without electricity. Few people today have wash basins and wash boards, or outdoor clothes lines to dry their clothes.One of the most pressing needs will be food and water.
Many prophecies have been given about the stores being emptied of food in one hour. In this day there are few people who have any store of canned goods. The practice of canning food out of a garden has fallen by the wayside.
Few people have a source of food other than the grocery store. The pressing need of food and water will foster much unrest, and violence will spill over in the towns and cities of America.
I have considered what it would take to make provision for all of these needs, as well as many others. People who wear contact lenses (like my daughter) would need to get glasses to insure against a lack of contact availability. People who rely upon prescription medications for their health would face their own set of problems.
A community of people could go back to living “off the grid” similar to what some of the Amish people have done for years. They could become self-reliant, producing much of their own food, making their own clothes, pumping their own water from a well. The transition from a wealthy, energy dependent society that utilizes the banking system for all things, to a third world nation that is contending with economic collapse, political and civil instability, terrorist threats, natural disasters, and health emergencies all at the same time will be an exceptionally arduous predicament that will not be solved quickly.
Yet, this is God’s intent. He has sent many prophets to the nation and the church over a long period of time. He has sent judgments, and warned the nation to repent time and again, but they did not want to repent. Even today as the financial systems are collapsing, the government and the people of the nation are unrepentant. They are giving themselves to ever greater abominations, and the judgment now will be exceedingly grievous and will not be remedied in the near future.
In a recent radio interview that I provided a link unto, one of the men speaking suggested that Christians do what they can to repair, but he added that the Lord had shown him that whatever Christians do, it will be woefully inadequate. I doubt there is one family out of a thousand among the Christians in America who have made any preparation for coming days. They have not stored up food or water. They have not prepared for power outages, for food preparation, growing their own food, raising chickens, washing clothes by hand, or any of a number of other things that will be needful in coming days.
The few who have made preparation have for the most part only done so in part, and only that which will carry them through a brief period of time. When they have hundreds of other hungry, needy people asking them to share with them, what they have will be depleted very quickly.
As I pondered these things this morning I began to pray and ask the Father what should be done. I asked Him if there were something He would have me to do in order to prepare for my little corner of the world. The same sister who said the Lord had spoken to her about the electricity becoming unreliable said the Lord told her to stock up on paper products; toilet paper, paper plates, paper towels, etc.. When the stores are suddenly emptied, and there are no trucks making deliveries, such things will be hard to come by. I would not personally care to do without toilet paper.
Considering all that would need to be provided in order to prepare for myself and a large number of Christians that I know to be in this area, I was soon daunted at the enormity of what would be required. Even should I convince all of the Christians I know to begin to make preparation, it will all inevitably prove to be very inadequate in a very short space of time. I prayed and asked the Lord if I should even speak anything to His people about making preparation. I asked Him to guide me and give me wisdom.
As I listened for His voice I sensed the leading of the Spirit to pick up the devotional book Streams in the Desert, and read the entry for the day (February 26).
I have not been reading this book regularly, but I had it sitting nearby on a table. I picked it up and, upon opening, it turned directly to the day’s date. This was very unusual and the Lord used it to get my attention even more. I read carefully what was written for the day.
My grace is sufficient for you. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
The other day I was riding home after a hard day’s work. I was very tired and deeply depressed, when quickly, and as suddenly as a lightning bolt, the verse came to me: “My grace is sufficient for you.” When I arrived home I looked it up in the Word, and it finally came to me this way: “My grace is sufficient for you.” My response was to say, “Yes, Lord, I should think it is!” Then I burst out laughing.Up until that time, I had never understood what the holy laughter of Abraham was. This verse seemed to make unbelief totally absurd. I pictured a thirsty little fish who was concerned about drinking the river dry, with the Father saying, “Drink away, little fish; My stream is sufficient for you.” I also envisioned a mouse afraid of starving after seven years of plenty, when Joseph says to him, “Cheer up, little mouse; my granaries are sufficient for you.” Again, I imagined a man on a high mountain peak, saying to himself, “I breathe so many cubic feet of air every year, I am afraid I will deplete all the oxygen in the atmosphere.” But the earth says to him, “Breathe away, filling your lungs forever; my atmosphere is sufficient for you.
”O people of God, be great believers! Little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your souls. Charles H. Spurgeon His grace is great enough to meet the great things -The crashing waves that overwhelm the soul,The roaring winds that leave us stunned and breathless,The sudden storms beyond our life’s control.His grace is great enough to meet the small things - The little pinprick troubles that annoy,The insect worries, buzzing and persistent,The squeaking wheels that grate upon our joy.
Annie Johnson Flint
There is always a large balance credited to our account in the bank of heaven. It is waiting for us to exercise our faith to draw upon it. Draw heavily upon God’s resources.[End Excerpt]With these words, I had my answer to my query to the Father. The banking system of America is about to fall, but the bank of heaven knows no disturbance. The largest draw upon the grace of God will never leave His vast resources diminished one iota.
There was a time some 3,500 years ago that God led a people out from all they had known. Their comfortable homes in Egypt were left behind. The Nile River with its bounty of fish, and abundant flow to supply water to drink and to irrigate the land was to be left behind. The people, millions strong, a vast mixed multitude, all departed from that which they had known. Their lives were altered as greatly as will be the lives of millions of Americans, yet God did not strain to meet all their needs.
Yahweh led an entire nation into a wilderness where there was lack everywhere. It was a very inhospitable place to take a people who needed daily food and water and shelter, yet they found all they needed under the shadow of God’s mighty wings. The God who created the Universe spoke and water poured from a rock, bread rained down daily from heaven and quail were scattered upon the ground all about the camp.
What seems daunting and even impossible to man does not even strain God’s little finger. The load of responsibility and care did not tax His omnipotence then, and it will not do so in the days ahead.
Numbers 11:18-23"Therefore Yahweh will give you meat and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month...” But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, 'I will give them meat in order that they may eat for a whole month.' Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?" And Yahweh said to Moses, "Is the Lord's power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not."What a question to consider! “Is the Lord’s power limited?” The answer is a resounding “NO!” There is no limit to the power of Yahweh God. He is omnipotent; literally “ALL POWERFUL.”
The Lord has testified through many witnesses that He will have a place prepared for His people in the wilderness.
Revelation 12:6And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Who has prepared the place for the woman who stands as a symbol of the people of God? It is Yahweh, and He has said that she will be nourished.The entire nation of Israel followed the Lord in the wilderness. They carried what food they had on hand, and nothing more. Very soon, even in a matter of a few days, there food was gone. Then they cried out to God and He sent them the bread of heaven. Oh yes, He tested the people with hunger and thirst to humble them and to see what was in their hearts, but He always had a provision for them. He looked for a people who would manifest a strong confidence in Him.
For a moment I looked at the wind and the waves. I saw the storm rising with mighty fury. I saw the multitudes of God’s people and the inadequacy of man’s ability to meet the challenge. But then God showed me His omnipotence. Where we are weak, He is strong. His GRACE is perfected in our weakness.If the Father has shown you something to do in order to prepare for the coming day, then do it speedily and with an excellent spirit.
Seek Him now, and ask Him to direct your steps and to lead you to those things He would have you to do. But when all is said and done, know that all you can do is insufficient.In the wilderness period ahead all must learn to lean heavily upon the Father. The weight pressing against Him will seem not so much as a feather.
Can a fish drink the ocean dry? Can a man exhaust the stores of air in the heavens by his breathing? Neither will you, or I, or a great multitude of men, women and children begin to diminish the resources He has set aside for the help of His people in a day of need.
Song of Solomon 8:5Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?In the wilderness the people of God learn to lean upon Him. When the lesson is well learned, then He will bring them up.May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
Mailing Address:Joseph HerrinP.O. Box 5546Macon, GA 31208
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
3 Adar, 5769
SHALOM! This evening at sunset is Shabbat. I am amazed at how fast it seems to come. It seems like it was just last evening we lit our candles and said the blessings. Wow! Shabbat is to be looked forward to. It is the Queen of the week. It is as though all the days of the week are lined up and one thru six bow down before the seventh. This is how precious we should see Sabbath.
Almost everyday, my granddaughter, Arrin, will ask me if it's Shabbat. This is how it should be...the anticipation of His rest. The celebration of His giving us something so wonderful!
Before I became Shabbat observant, I had no idea..I did not comprehend what this day meant. And, it can be so many things. If one is very observant, as in Hasidic Jews and some Messianics, you would not cook, or drive or do many other things on Sabbath. For some, this is a day of rest, complete rest. Taking a walk, napping for some, for some it is a day, even more than others, to study His Word, and for some it is a family day..having a wonderful family meal and doing things together.
For us, we are kind of in middle ground. When the lighting time is very early, we light a candle and then around six or sometimes a little later, we use its flame to light our Shabbat candles. Sometimes we have challah and then other times we use matza during the blessings. We sometimes order food or we prepare something. Some evenings we study and then others we may have a TV show we watch or maybe a movie to go to.
On Seventh day or Saturday, I try and make sure Arrin watches all the kids shows on TBN or the other Christian channels. I have a service I watch and participate in over the internet, from Texas, that is Messianic. We have a Messianic Congregation near us, Or HaOlam, but I don't have a car so we are waiting upon the LORD about it. Do I think its ok to drive? I will drive on Sabbath to go worship the LORD or drive if there is an emergency. I will ride in a car if I am with someone and they desire me to be with them.
I do cook on Sabbath and will clean up some....this is a blessing to others when food is prepared and they are filled. I make sure the dishes are out of the dishwasher on Friday afternoon, though, and then we just fill it up. We don't turn it on till after Shabbat is over. If I had a lot of company come and I needed the dishes, yes, we would get them done. It is just a matter of priorities.
Now, I am not saying I won't change my attitude about these things if the LORD convicts me but it is all relative to what is going on and the need at the time. Did Jesus heal on the Sabbath? YES! Did David and his men travel and do things on the Sabbath? YES!
You might be someone who has to work on the Sabbath. If you do, at least make sure you recognise the importance of the day and totally give it to the LORD as an offering...He sees your heart and when your heart is right He sees that your obedience is there and that you are one who fulfills your duties.
We all need to come under the truth...the understanding of the Way of God because Yeshua is coming soon and when He has established Himself upon the throne, Shabbat will be very important.
He is the same yeasterday, today and forever!
Below is the link to a Parashah study from Or HaOlam......I hope you enjoy it and the Word becomes a part of you..that it sustains you and brings life to you.
http://orhaolam.com/uploads/Ex_25_T_rumah_09.pdf
SHALOM! This evening at sunset is Shabbat. I am amazed at how fast it seems to come. It seems like it was just last evening we lit our candles and said the blessings. Wow! Shabbat is to be looked forward to. It is the Queen of the week. It is as though all the days of the week are lined up and one thru six bow down before the seventh. This is how precious we should see Sabbath.
Almost everyday, my granddaughter, Arrin, will ask me if it's Shabbat. This is how it should be...the anticipation of His rest. The celebration of His giving us something so wonderful!
Before I became Shabbat observant, I had no idea..I did not comprehend what this day meant. And, it can be so many things. If one is very observant, as in Hasidic Jews and some Messianics, you would not cook, or drive or do many other things on Sabbath. For some, this is a day of rest, complete rest. Taking a walk, napping for some, for some it is a day, even more than others, to study His Word, and for some it is a family day..having a wonderful family meal and doing things together.
For us, we are kind of in middle ground. When the lighting time is very early, we light a candle and then around six or sometimes a little later, we use its flame to light our Shabbat candles. Sometimes we have challah and then other times we use matza during the blessings. We sometimes order food or we prepare something. Some evenings we study and then others we may have a TV show we watch or maybe a movie to go to.
On Seventh day or Saturday, I try and make sure Arrin watches all the kids shows on TBN or the other Christian channels. I have a service I watch and participate in over the internet, from Texas, that is Messianic. We have a Messianic Congregation near us, Or HaOlam, but I don't have a car so we are waiting upon the LORD about it. Do I think its ok to drive? I will drive on Sabbath to go worship the LORD or drive if there is an emergency. I will ride in a car if I am with someone and they desire me to be with them.
I do cook on Sabbath and will clean up some....this is a blessing to others when food is prepared and they are filled. I make sure the dishes are out of the dishwasher on Friday afternoon, though, and then we just fill it up. We don't turn it on till after Shabbat is over. If I had a lot of company come and I needed the dishes, yes, we would get them done. It is just a matter of priorities.
Now, I am not saying I won't change my attitude about these things if the LORD convicts me but it is all relative to what is going on and the need at the time. Did Jesus heal on the Sabbath? YES! Did David and his men travel and do things on the Sabbath? YES!
You might be someone who has to work on the Sabbath. If you do, at least make sure you recognise the importance of the day and totally give it to the LORD as an offering...He sees your heart and when your heart is right He sees that your obedience is there and that you are one who fulfills your duties.
We all need to come under the truth...the understanding of the Way of God because Yeshua is coming soon and when He has established Himself upon the throne, Shabbat will be very important.
He is the same yeasterday, today and forever!
Below is the link to a Parashah study from Or HaOlam......I hope you enjoy it and the Word becomes a part of you..that it sustains you and brings life to you.
http://orhaolam.com/uploads/Ex_25_T_rumah_09.pdf
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood...
3 Adar, 5769....Yom Ha shee'shee...Sixth Day
We serve a wonderful God..Praise Elohim..He is so good, His love and mercy endures forever! Everyday He makes His presence known.
I see more and more that His desire for us is to conform to the true Way.
He had me go thru Ephesans 6...and write down what it all meant to me.
Then to my surprise, Pastor Ronald Powell sent an email out, teaching on Ephesians 6. It is so good that I have included it here.
Enforcing the Victory
Today's Scripture Text:"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" Ephesians 6:12.
Jesus came into the world to destroy Satan's power (1 John 3:8).
Satan is called "the prince of this world" (John 14:30; 16:11),
"the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2)
And "the enemy" (1 Peter 5:8).
Satan rules through a network of demon spirits called "principalities and powers."
God has now called us to be actively involved in the battle with Satan."
...On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" Matthew 16:18.
The Victory of the Cross
"And having disarmed the [principalities and powers], he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" Colossians 2:15.
Before we can play our part in the battle for people's lives, we must understand what Jesus has already accomplished. If we do not first have a revelation of the finished work of the Cross, we will end up struggling to do what has already been done.
Spiritual warfare is not trying to complete the work of the Cross. Spiritual warfare is enforcing a victory already won. We are not fighting for victory; we already have the victory.
Just before Jesus went to the Cross, He made this declaration: "Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out" John 12:31.
The Cross was God's answer to breaking Satan's power. When Jesus died, God counted His death as the death of the whole of mankind (2 Corinthians. 5:14).
The basis of our victory over Satan is the Cross of Christ! Ever since Adam, the "old self" -- everything that stood opposed to God (Colossians. 1:21-22; Ephesians 4:17-19; Romans. 1:18-32) -- has given Satan the right to rule on two levels:
We are now called to enforce the victory already won on the Cross:
through prayer (Ephesians 6:12-18; 1 Timothy 2:1-2),
the preaching of the Gospel (Acts 26:18)
and the display of God's power over the enemy (Luke 10:19; 1 Corinthians 2:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:5).
Our Position "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know...his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion..." Ephesians 1:17-21.
The Bible declares that Christ is now seated in a position "far above" principalities and powers. Not only that, we have also been seated with Christ in the same position (Ephesians 2:6). It is from this position that we wage warfare against the power of the enemy that holds people's lives in bondage. "
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church" Ephesians 1:22. Tearing Down Strongholds"The weapons we fight with...have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God..." 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.
Even though he has been defeated at the Cross, Satan seeks to hold out against God's authority by building spiritual strongholds. These strongholds are the lies which blind people's minds and oppose the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). They are the strongholds of dead religion, philosophies and self-centeredness -- everything that is the opposite of the Gospel.
The Bible tells us that God "will soon crush Satan under your feet" (Romans. 16:20), but the previous verse says, "I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil." We do not need to discover every secret of Satan's kingdom in order to tear down spiritual strongholds (Revelation. 2:24). Even in battle, our focus must remain fixed on the Lord (Hebrews. 12:2).
Binding and Loosing "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" Matthew 16:19.
When we bind (restrict the power and activity of Satan) and loose (set free that which has been bound by Satan), we are exercising authority that comes from God's throne. In the original language of the Bible,
Matthew 16:19 means: "Whatever you bind on earth will have already been bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will have already been loosed in heaven."
The directives flow from God's throne to us, not the other way around. We enforce God's will "on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
When Jesus returns, the structure of Satan's kingdom will be totally dismantled (Isaiah. 24:21-22; Revelation. 20:2-3). Until then, God's purpose is that "now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 3:10).
In your community, God plans to "crush Satan under your feet" (Romans 16:20).
"May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands...to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the Lord" Psalm 149:6,8-9.
We serve a wonderful God..Praise Elohim..He is so good, His love and mercy endures forever! Everyday He makes His presence known.
I see more and more that His desire for us is to conform to the true Way.
He had me go thru Ephesans 6...and write down what it all meant to me.
Then to my surprise, Pastor Ronald Powell sent an email out, teaching on Ephesians 6. It is so good that I have included it here.
Enforcing the Victory
Today's Scripture Text:"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" Ephesians 6:12.
Jesus came into the world to destroy Satan's power (1 John 3:8).
Satan is called "the prince of this world" (John 14:30; 16:11),
"the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2)
And "the enemy" (1 Peter 5:8).
Satan rules through a network of demon spirits called "principalities and powers."
God has now called us to be actively involved in the battle with Satan."
...On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" Matthew 16:18.
The Victory of the Cross
"And having disarmed the [principalities and powers], he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" Colossians 2:15.
Before we can play our part in the battle for people's lives, we must understand what Jesus has already accomplished. If we do not first have a revelation of the finished work of the Cross, we will end up struggling to do what has already been done.
Spiritual warfare is not trying to complete the work of the Cross. Spiritual warfare is enforcing a victory already won. We are not fighting for victory; we already have the victory.
Just before Jesus went to the Cross, He made this declaration: "Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out" John 12:31.
The Cross was God's answer to breaking Satan's power. When Jesus died, God counted His death as the death of the whole of mankind (2 Corinthians. 5:14).
The basis of our victory over Satan is the Cross of Christ! Ever since Adam, the "old self" -- everything that stood opposed to God (Colossians. 1:21-22; Ephesians 4:17-19; Romans. 1:18-32) -- has given Satan the right to rule on two levels:
Over the individual (Ephesians 2:1-2; 1 John 3:8)
Over the community (1 John 5:19; note Luke 4:5-6)
At the Cross, God dealt decisively with Satan's claim for rulership on both these levels. Not only did my old self die with Christ on the Cross (Romans. 6:6; Galatians.2:20). The whole world -- the corporate "body of sin" -- was also crucified in Christ
"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" Galatians 6:14.
We do not need to try to break the power of principalities over communities. That power has already been broken at the Cross. The "strong man" has been bound and we are now plundering his goods (Matthew 12:29).We are now called to enforce the victory already won on the Cross:
through prayer (Ephesians 6:12-18; 1 Timothy 2:1-2),
the preaching of the Gospel (Acts 26:18)
and the display of God's power over the enemy (Luke 10:19; 1 Corinthians 2:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:5).
Our Position "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know...his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion..." Ephesians 1:17-21.
The Bible declares that Christ is now seated in a position "far above" principalities and powers. Not only that, we have also been seated with Christ in the same position (Ephesians 2:6). It is from this position that we wage warfare against the power of the enemy that holds people's lives in bondage. "
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church" Ephesians 1:22. Tearing Down Strongholds"The weapons we fight with...have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God..." 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.
Even though he has been defeated at the Cross, Satan seeks to hold out against God's authority by building spiritual strongholds. These strongholds are the lies which blind people's minds and oppose the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). They are the strongholds of dead religion, philosophies and self-centeredness -- everything that is the opposite of the Gospel.
The Bible tells us that God "will soon crush Satan under your feet" (Romans. 16:20), but the previous verse says, "I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil." We do not need to discover every secret of Satan's kingdom in order to tear down spiritual strongholds (Revelation. 2:24). Even in battle, our focus must remain fixed on the Lord (Hebrews. 12:2).
Binding and Loosing "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" Matthew 16:19.
When we bind (restrict the power and activity of Satan) and loose (set free that which has been bound by Satan), we are exercising authority that comes from God's throne. In the original language of the Bible,
Matthew 16:19 means: "Whatever you bind on earth will have already been bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will have already been loosed in heaven."
The directives flow from God's throne to us, not the other way around. We enforce God's will "on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
When Jesus returns, the structure of Satan's kingdom will be totally dismantled (Isaiah. 24:21-22; Revelation. 20:2-3). Until then, God's purpose is that "now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 3:10).
In your community, God plans to "crush Satan under your feet" (Romans 16:20).
"May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands...to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the Lord" Psalm 149:6,8-9.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
1 Adar, 5769....Yom Revee'ee....Fourth Day
Wednesday....Feb.25, 2009
Good Blessed Wonderful Day to YOU! Halelu Yah! I praise His Holy Name! He is so good...His love and mercy endures forever!
The sun is shining and the sky is blue and the clouds are floating along. It is glorious! Am I being too exicted? I don't think so! We must see the beauty around us....it might not be around very much longer.
My thoughts go to an article in National Geographic concerning the animals who are near extinction and the ones who already are extinct. I can't imagine what our Father feels each time one of His creations is totally gone from the earth....extinct. I get a very hollow feeling, as if, by their being gone, a part of us is missing also. Because of the desire to try and stop this countdown to extinction many of earth's creatures have been counted and some have even been counted down to the very last one.
In the January article from National Geographic, there's a picture of a jar and inside is the body of a Dusky Seaside Sparrow...it slipped into extinction almost unnoticed. It lived mainly on Florida's Merritt Island and declined from 3,000 to none when its salt marsh habitate was sprayed with DDT and taken over by the space program. The last one died in 1987.
I know man has made great strides in trying to keep more animals and even plants from becoming extinct but it is a sad thing to know that we, as human beings, are the main cause of so many of God's creations that are no longer here.
But, we do have hope. The LORD is coming soon and He will restore the earth to grandure and these animals and plants will have life again.
We serve an awesome God Who's amazing love and forgiveness for us is shown to us everyday. He looks beyond our sin and selfish ways. We truly are so blessed!
Wednesday....Feb.25, 2009
Good Blessed Wonderful Day to YOU! Halelu Yah! I praise His Holy Name! He is so good...His love and mercy endures forever!
The sun is shining and the sky is blue and the clouds are floating along. It is glorious! Am I being too exicted? I don't think so! We must see the beauty around us....it might not be around very much longer.
My thoughts go to an article in National Geographic concerning the animals who are near extinction and the ones who already are extinct. I can't imagine what our Father feels each time one of His creations is totally gone from the earth....extinct. I get a very hollow feeling, as if, by their being gone, a part of us is missing also. Because of the desire to try and stop this countdown to extinction many of earth's creatures have been counted and some have even been counted down to the very last one.
In the January article from National Geographic, there's a picture of a jar and inside is the body of a Dusky Seaside Sparrow...it slipped into extinction almost unnoticed. It lived mainly on Florida's Merritt Island and declined from 3,000 to none when its salt marsh habitate was sprayed with DDT and taken over by the space program. The last one died in 1987.
I know man has made great strides in trying to keep more animals and even plants from becoming extinct but it is a sad thing to know that we, as human beings, are the main cause of so many of God's creations that are no longer here.
But, we do have hope. The LORD is coming soon and He will restore the earth to grandure and these animals and plants will have life again.
We serve an awesome God Who's amazing love and forgiveness for us is shown to us everyday. He looks beyond our sin and selfish ways. We truly are so blessed!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
This word is so important.......
NOW is the Time to Be Ready
Posted: 24 Feb 2009 09:37 AM PST
Joseph Herrin (02-23-09)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,Yesterday (the 23rd) the Lord sent forth His provision which enabled me to get the last things done to my van to make it ready to go out on the road. As I write this the van is in the shop having new brakes put on it.As soon as I received money in the mail yesterday I went to the bank and deposited. Before I had driven away from the bank I called the mechanic to schedule to have the work done.
The Spirit has impressed upon me that this is a parable. All the people of God must act quickly in this hour. They must press in to know the will of the Lord. As soon as He indicates we are to move, we must not hesitate, but act quickly. Those who do not do so will surely suffer loss because of the delay. For some the loss will be profound.Vehicles are symbolic of ministry, and with this last repair being made to my van it is signified that all has been done to be made ready to go wherever the Lord would send me. I have not complained of the cost of the preparation, which has been considerable both in the type and the anti-type. The vehicle repairs have not been cheap, and neither has the cost of the preparation the Father has led me through in the past years. It has cost me much, but all was exceedingly necessary to make ready for very difficult days ahead.
I spoke to my friend and brother in Christ Randy Simmons last night. We talked about many of the experiences of the past years and how they have been necessary to make the people of God ready to endure a day of great difficulty. I was led in 1999 to quit my job and minister full-time while looking to the Father to provide for all of our needs.
In the years that followed my family and I met with endless trials. We faced many fears as we were brought to extremities time and again. Yet God was always faithful. He had a provision that never failed, though it was seldom what we would have chosen for ourselves. Indeed, we chose much more comfortable and bountiful provision when our lives were more self-directed in the years that I worked in the computer field.
The past years have included reproaches, reviling, condemnation, rejection from brothers, humble circumstances, loss of family and friends, and particularly in the past 5 years since I have been walking alone there have been seasons of hunger and thirst, of exposure and lack. But in all things I have learned to be content.
Philippians 4:11-13Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
People of God, the Spirit testifies that there will be days of famine and hunger ahead for America and the nations. Many Christians have never gone a day without food, and when they miss their first meal in coming days they will grumble and complain. When they go one day without something to eat, fear will grip many as they think they will surely perish.
During recent years the Father led me to extended periods where I was living in the forests of Georgia with little food and water. At the end of the last 40 day period I had no food at all during the last 17 days, and very little water. It was winter and I was exposed to cold and had only one fleece pullover and some summer clothes. I wondered then at the reason for the experiences, but I can see now that it was to toughen me up and to get me ready to endure the days which are at hand.I am grateful for the Father’s preparation process. Every bit of it. Endurance is something that is developed. We are not born with it. We become hardened by embracing difficult circumstances without grumbling or complaint.
When many people in coming days are falling apart for having gone one day without food, those who have been submitting to the Lord’s hand by embracing fasting and humble provision will remain at peace. Those who have gone day after day without two nickels to rub together, but have found the Father faithful to provide every necessity of life will not fall apart when everyone’s money fails them. They will have learned the practice of looking to the Father in all things.Undoubtedly, many will learn these things for the first time in coming days, and God will have seasoned leaders after the pattern of Moses to guide them. But many who could have been better prepared will rue the fact that they did not actively surrender to the leading of the Spirit in a day of peace that they might be prepared for a day of trouble.The time is now exceedingly short. There is no more time to delay.
You need to be crying out to God today to make you ready. You need to ask Him what He would have you do, and do not hesitate to obey. Survival in days ahead will depend on discerning the voice of God’s Spirit and quick obedience.
II Timothy 4:5But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship...
II Timothy 2:3-4Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Yahshua. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
The days ahead will be hard. Those who survive, and even thrive, will be those who do not quail at hardship. It will be those who have confidence in their God, and fortitude to stay the course with patience. Many have grown weary while contending with the footmen. How then will they run with the horses?
I want to pass on some very important information that bears witness of the lateness of the hour. The first is a short 4 minute video on YouTube revealing some words of Alan Keyes on the peril facing the nation. Alan Keyes was a candidate for president in 2008 and has held government posts, including being an ambassador during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqkMfToY9Pk
Today, I was sent more than once, a link to a TruNews radio broadcast that is excellent. I was impressed by how closely the things shared parallel the symbols and message brought out in the recent plane crashes. Some of the same symbols and words were brought forth by the Spirit, albeit without any reference to the plane crashes. Swans, four-corners, great judgment to the nation, economic collapse, among other things, were mentioned. It is a sobering and anointed interview, and I highly recommend it. Look for the radio broadcast on 2-23. It is an hour long, but a very present word for the hour we live in.
http://www.trunews.com/listen_now.htm
That there are four men on the radio broadcast all receiving similar testimonies of that which is at hand, is itself sobering. One of the men declares clearly that the Lord spoke to him saying that Christians must seek Him NOW, or they and their families will suffer great loss.
Our children must be prayed for or many will perish. It is time to turn off the television and put away the entertainments and seek the face of God.I know there are those who have been saying that they believe judgment is coming to America. They have been seeing the signs, and agree with their meaning. Yet they are living their lives as they always have. They are not pressing into the Father to know what they can do now. They are not praying for children who are walking apart from the Lord. They are not interceding, asking that in judgment God might remember mercy.
Do not wait for the heaven to part and God to appear to you telling you to do something now. Go to Him acknowledging that days of exceedingly great trouble are at the door, and plead with Him to show you what you might do to prepare now to help others survive in that hour. It is now very close.
Many who read these words, and have heard the warnings of others, are doing nothing different. Their money will vanish in the day of calamity. They will rue the fact that they might have submitted all to God that preparation might have been made, but it will be too late.
Some might have sought the Lord and been led ahead of time to move their family out of harm’s way, but the opportunity is being missed by many. Many have had opportunities to endure some hardship to toughen them up for the days ahead, to lose weight, or begin to exercise. Some will have missed opportunities to get their vehicles in order, or to acquire camping gear, or lay in some provision, and they will rue the fact that they did not seek the Lord to know His will.
Yet, the most tragic lack is simply the lack of spiritual preparation. Many have not been taking up their cross daily and following Christ. They will find the cross a very uncomfortable fit in coming days. In a day that requires a strong faith, they will find that theirs is weak. In a day requiring patience, they will find they are impatient. In a day of needing quietness of soul, they will find that they are not able to quiet the raging storms within. These things are learned and developed by experience.
It is a terrible thing to take an elementary school child and throw him into advanced college courses. It is hard to take a toddler and put him on a Marine Corp obstacle course.
The people of God should have been growing in the years of quiet, but many have not. It will now be with difficulty that the righteous will be saved, and what will become of the godless man and the sinner?
If I might do one thing in these blogs, it would be to lead you to a soberness of spirit that you might make yourself and your family ready that you might not suffer unnecessary loss in the days ahead.
Please don’t write to me and ask me what specific preparation you should make. You must receive this knowledge from the Lord Himself. It is much easier for many to write to a man asking for direction than to get down on their knees before God asking Him the same. Yet it is God that all people must hear from in this hour.Seek God while He may be found.
Press into Him. Pray on behalf of your family, your children, your loved ones. Hesitation has already proved costly. Any further delay may well be disastrous.
Seek Yahweh today.
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
Mailing Address:Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 5546
Macon, GA 31208
NOW is the Time to Be Ready
Posted: 24 Feb 2009 09:37 AM PST
Joseph Herrin (02-23-09)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,Yesterday (the 23rd) the Lord sent forth His provision which enabled me to get the last things done to my van to make it ready to go out on the road. As I write this the van is in the shop having new brakes put on it.As soon as I received money in the mail yesterday I went to the bank and deposited. Before I had driven away from the bank I called the mechanic to schedule to have the work done.
The Spirit has impressed upon me that this is a parable. All the people of God must act quickly in this hour. They must press in to know the will of the Lord. As soon as He indicates we are to move, we must not hesitate, but act quickly. Those who do not do so will surely suffer loss because of the delay. For some the loss will be profound.Vehicles are symbolic of ministry, and with this last repair being made to my van it is signified that all has been done to be made ready to go wherever the Lord would send me. I have not complained of the cost of the preparation, which has been considerable both in the type and the anti-type. The vehicle repairs have not been cheap, and neither has the cost of the preparation the Father has led me through in the past years. It has cost me much, but all was exceedingly necessary to make ready for very difficult days ahead.
I spoke to my friend and brother in Christ Randy Simmons last night. We talked about many of the experiences of the past years and how they have been necessary to make the people of God ready to endure a day of great difficulty. I was led in 1999 to quit my job and minister full-time while looking to the Father to provide for all of our needs.
In the years that followed my family and I met with endless trials. We faced many fears as we were brought to extremities time and again. Yet God was always faithful. He had a provision that never failed, though it was seldom what we would have chosen for ourselves. Indeed, we chose much more comfortable and bountiful provision when our lives were more self-directed in the years that I worked in the computer field.
The past years have included reproaches, reviling, condemnation, rejection from brothers, humble circumstances, loss of family and friends, and particularly in the past 5 years since I have been walking alone there have been seasons of hunger and thirst, of exposure and lack. But in all things I have learned to be content.
Philippians 4:11-13Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
People of God, the Spirit testifies that there will be days of famine and hunger ahead for America and the nations. Many Christians have never gone a day without food, and when they miss their first meal in coming days they will grumble and complain. When they go one day without something to eat, fear will grip many as they think they will surely perish.
During recent years the Father led me to extended periods where I was living in the forests of Georgia with little food and water. At the end of the last 40 day period I had no food at all during the last 17 days, and very little water. It was winter and I was exposed to cold and had only one fleece pullover and some summer clothes. I wondered then at the reason for the experiences, but I can see now that it was to toughen me up and to get me ready to endure the days which are at hand.I am grateful for the Father’s preparation process. Every bit of it. Endurance is something that is developed. We are not born with it. We become hardened by embracing difficult circumstances without grumbling or complaint.
When many people in coming days are falling apart for having gone one day without food, those who have been submitting to the Lord’s hand by embracing fasting and humble provision will remain at peace. Those who have gone day after day without two nickels to rub together, but have found the Father faithful to provide every necessity of life will not fall apart when everyone’s money fails them. They will have learned the practice of looking to the Father in all things.Undoubtedly, many will learn these things for the first time in coming days, and God will have seasoned leaders after the pattern of Moses to guide them. But many who could have been better prepared will rue the fact that they did not actively surrender to the leading of the Spirit in a day of peace that they might be prepared for a day of trouble.The time is now exceedingly short. There is no more time to delay.
You need to be crying out to God today to make you ready. You need to ask Him what He would have you do, and do not hesitate to obey. Survival in days ahead will depend on discerning the voice of God’s Spirit and quick obedience.
II Timothy 4:5But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship...
II Timothy 2:3-4Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Yahshua. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
The days ahead will be hard. Those who survive, and even thrive, will be those who do not quail at hardship. It will be those who have confidence in their God, and fortitude to stay the course with patience. Many have grown weary while contending with the footmen. How then will they run with the horses?
I want to pass on some very important information that bears witness of the lateness of the hour. The first is a short 4 minute video on YouTube revealing some words of Alan Keyes on the peril facing the nation. Alan Keyes was a candidate for president in 2008 and has held government posts, including being an ambassador during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqkMfToY9Pk
Today, I was sent more than once, a link to a TruNews radio broadcast that is excellent. I was impressed by how closely the things shared parallel the symbols and message brought out in the recent plane crashes. Some of the same symbols and words were brought forth by the Spirit, albeit without any reference to the plane crashes. Swans, four-corners, great judgment to the nation, economic collapse, among other things, were mentioned. It is a sobering and anointed interview, and I highly recommend it. Look for the radio broadcast on 2-23. It is an hour long, but a very present word for the hour we live in.
http://www.trunews.com/listen_now.htm
That there are four men on the radio broadcast all receiving similar testimonies of that which is at hand, is itself sobering. One of the men declares clearly that the Lord spoke to him saying that Christians must seek Him NOW, or they and their families will suffer great loss.
Our children must be prayed for or many will perish. It is time to turn off the television and put away the entertainments and seek the face of God.I know there are those who have been saying that they believe judgment is coming to America. They have been seeing the signs, and agree with their meaning. Yet they are living their lives as they always have. They are not pressing into the Father to know what they can do now. They are not praying for children who are walking apart from the Lord. They are not interceding, asking that in judgment God might remember mercy.
Do not wait for the heaven to part and God to appear to you telling you to do something now. Go to Him acknowledging that days of exceedingly great trouble are at the door, and plead with Him to show you what you might do to prepare now to help others survive in that hour. It is now very close.
Many who read these words, and have heard the warnings of others, are doing nothing different. Their money will vanish in the day of calamity. They will rue the fact that they might have submitted all to God that preparation might have been made, but it will be too late.
Some might have sought the Lord and been led ahead of time to move their family out of harm’s way, but the opportunity is being missed by many. Many have had opportunities to endure some hardship to toughen them up for the days ahead, to lose weight, or begin to exercise. Some will have missed opportunities to get their vehicles in order, or to acquire camping gear, or lay in some provision, and they will rue the fact that they did not seek the Lord to know His will.
Yet, the most tragic lack is simply the lack of spiritual preparation. Many have not been taking up their cross daily and following Christ. They will find the cross a very uncomfortable fit in coming days. In a day that requires a strong faith, they will find that theirs is weak. In a day requiring patience, they will find they are impatient. In a day of needing quietness of soul, they will find that they are not able to quiet the raging storms within. These things are learned and developed by experience.
It is a terrible thing to take an elementary school child and throw him into advanced college courses. It is hard to take a toddler and put him on a Marine Corp obstacle course.
The people of God should have been growing in the years of quiet, but many have not. It will now be with difficulty that the righteous will be saved, and what will become of the godless man and the sinner?
If I might do one thing in these blogs, it would be to lead you to a soberness of spirit that you might make yourself and your family ready that you might not suffer unnecessary loss in the days ahead.
Please don’t write to me and ask me what specific preparation you should make. You must receive this knowledge from the Lord Himself. It is much easier for many to write to a man asking for direction than to get down on their knees before God asking Him the same. Yet it is God that all people must hear from in this hour.Seek God while He may be found.
Press into Him. Pray on behalf of your family, your children, your loved ones. Hesitation has already proved costly. Any further delay may well be disastrous.
Seek Yahweh today.
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
Mailing Address:Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 5546
Macon, GA 31208
Rosh Chodesh Adar
Yes, its that time again, the end of another month. Today is the last day of Shevat. This evening begins the month of Adar.
I get very excited when a new month begins because I know this is God's cycle of new beginings. He is so good to us. He makes a way for us and because of the world around us, we don't even appreciate it. I keep thinking and saying, in a better world, if the 'church' had not taken the road of pretending...if the 'church' had stayed on coarse, all believers would have followed the Way of God and not the way of man. But, there was a fork in the road and man did what he wanted to do. He decided to interpret scripture as he saw fit and changed it so that it became something that Yeshua nor His early followers would have recognised. I am thankful that God stayed faithful to those who desired to walk with Him and He was there to reach out to those who were diligently seeking Him.
All down thru the years, even after the Great Pretender church reared its big ugly head and became the 'only way to God' in its own mind....God had a people. He always had His chosen ones...Israel...and no matter what has been done to them, He never forsakes them because when He makes a covenant, He keeps it. And thru His Son, He had people who stayed the true coarse. They were muddled in among the pretenders and on the outskirts, too. Men and women who dared to believe by faith instead of doctrines and sacrements and lies. They were the ones who did not believe in the idols and in their hearts knew that God was alive and still not hanging on a cross and that no matter what, the Son was the only way to the Father.
I have thought so many times on the Festivals...how, if we had not been turned away from His Way, all believers would celebrate with God, His times. Instead of a pagan christ mass tree to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we would have our Succas and they would be decorated and have lights and we would spend eight days in celebration. And..there would be no halloween.....no.....our children would all get excited about Purim..a time to dress in costumes and have parties and get treats and they would learn it is alsoa time to give out food and other things to the poor and needy. But, as I have been learning this way of God, I have found that in all of God's Festivals..Holy Times, He always wants us to remember others. there is no time in His calendar that says..Me! Me! Me!
If you are reading this and don't understand what I am saying or this angers you, please, I was just like you! I didn't understand so I really thought that what I had been brought up to believe was ok...that christmas and easter were Godly. But, if you study and you search out the truth, you find that it is manmade by the pretender church. And this goes with sunday sabbath, too, as I have said before. There cannot be a true preacher who truly does not know the truth but because money is so important they will not even try and teach the truth. All the 'church' holidays bring money into their hands. And what would the world's economy do without the manmade holidays of christ mass and easter, halloween, velentine's day and all the rest? Anything to make a buck!
BUT, if you want holiness in your life. If you are seeking God. If you know there is something missing from your walk with Him. Try His Holy Days. This would be a good time, right now, to search it out. Passover is coming...get away from easter! Try Pasover and Resurrection Day and Shavuot..it's all waiting for you!
I only write these things because I want the best for you. Be blessed today.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
28 Shevat...Yom Reeshone/ First day
Feb. 22....sunday....(This is a hard day for me to write as it gives its praise to the sun..being named for it. So I will never capitalize it.)
Desperate times make people do desperate things. My daughter Maria got a letter in the mail yesterday. In this letter was a check for $2,950.oo. The letter said she had been accepted to be a 'secret shopper'. All she had to do was call a number, talk to a man named Dave and have the security code lifted from the check and deposit the check into her bank account. Then she was to spend $100.00 at Walmart, $100.oo at Sears, $50.oo at McDonalds and give herself $255.00 in payment. The rest of the money was to be transferred. I called our local police and an officer came out...and just as I thought, it is a scam. Unfortunately, some people are so desperate that they have fallen for it and then, after transferring the money, which by-the- way, goes to Canada...they are left holding the bag...err...empty bag..because they are responsible for the $250.oo that they spent and their own pay of $255.00 and the $2,695.00 that was sent to Canada.
As the old saying goes...'If it looks too good to be true...it probably is!'
We are in perilous times..hard times. Harder times for some than for others. I can say that I am ok for now but I cannot say that I will be ok financially in the future BUT I can say that I have One Who has said He will never leave or forsake me. He is my high tower and He shelters me in the shadow of His wings. If we put our trust in Him then we have nothing to fear. We may allow worry to sneak in but then we must call upon Him and allow Him to comfort us and bring us under His authority. For Who is He but the LORD God Amighty.! He is Adonai Yir'eh..The Lord Who provides!
Today I KNOW that God has looked after me in the past, and when things happen that cause me to have fear, I will find security in the knowledge that God will not forsake me in the future.
There is something else, let me say this again, we are living in perilous times...mixed up times. We must be careful in the things we do...in how we act..in what we say. We are not only being held accountable by the LORD but we are being watched by those around us.
The ways of man are not always compatable with the way of God. If something does not stand with the Word of God then think about it...pray about it. Even if it is something that you have done in the past and it was ok then, do not think that it is ok now. What seemed innocent then may not be now, in these times. What seemed like so much fun then may not be what the LORD would have you to do now.
Movies, TV shows, Music..these things can be a stumbling block to you and others. Going to clubs to dance and have fun may seem innocent because you say.."I don't get drunk and I'm not acting like the others do" but is it really what the LORD wants you to do? I am speaking from my heart. This is not yesterday...this is not last year....this is now and we know the LORD is coming soon. We must get ready....we must prepare. We must be doing the things that are acceptible to God. We must not be witnessing about the LORD and showing forth a facade of holiness and then doing the things of the world and thinking its ok. I am speakiing truth here and we all must seek the LORD and allow Him to show us the Way.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sabbath Rest
Sometimes its hard to enter into Sabbath rest in the LORD, especially when we are accustomed to not following our Father's Seventh Day Sabbath. It's hard sometimes, when those around us are not understanding or even trying to understand that His rest is so important. I have made compromises for family or at least felt they were at the time but now I understand that some things we do, when we do them for the right reasons are ok. When my son got married, I had volunteered to cook a lot of the food. His ceremony was on a Saturday afternoon so it meant I would have to do a lot of cooking on Sabbath. This did bother me but I knew I was doing this for him and Roxie so I felt ok about it.
I read a story about a Rabbi in a Soviet camp, he was brought in to see the comandant who told him he could be released if he would sign a paper. But, it was Sabbath and the Rabbi could not write on Sabbath so he said he would stay...even though he was told he'd be there for eight more years because he refused to write his name. While he was still in the office, another Rabbi was brought in, he was asked the same thing. Sign the paper and you will be released, if you don't you will be in here eight more years. At this the first Rabbi spoke up. "I will sign his name so that he can be released." The commandant fumed, "You will sign his name, write on the Sabbath for him, but not for yourself?" He spoke up, "I am a stronger man and can take eight more years in here, he is not so strong." The Commandant was angry but the LORD was good and a few days later both Rabbis were released.
The Sabbath is made for our rest in the LORD but when we do things that we are not necessarily supposed to do, for the right reasons, we are doing what is right in the sight of the LORD.
Yeshua was criticized for doing good works on the Sabbath...David and his men did things they weren't supposed to do on the Sabbath..but we know our Father was not angry...He sees the heart. And He sees ours and knows why we do the things we do.
Shabbat Shalom.....L'chayim tovem ul'shalom!
Sabbath peace....to a good life and peace!
SABBATH- A DAY TO STOP
From Del Smith at YahSpace
Stopping work and resting are very different things.
~Mattityahu 6:25-33, “Because of this I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you shall eat or drink, or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than the food and the body more than the clothing? 26“Look at the birds of the heaven, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into storehouses, yet your heavenly Father does feed them. Are you not worth more than they? 27“And which of you by worrying is able to add one cubit to his life’s span? 28“So why do you worry about clothing? Note well the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, 29and I say to you that even Shelomoh in all his esteem was not dressed like one of these. 30“But if Elohim so clothes the grass of the field, which exists today, and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more you, O you of little belief? 31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 “For all these the gentiles seek for. And your heavenly Father knows that you need all these. 33“But seek first the reign of Elohim, and His righteousness, and all these matters shall be added to you.~
When Yisrael were in the wilderness Yahuah often tested them by them not always having food or water. Yisrael had to learn to trust Yahuah for all things. But once Yisrael reached the Promised Land where there were plenty of supplies the manna from Yahuah stopped and Yisrael had to provide for themselves.
In this, came a temptation that after a while they didn’t need Yahuah because they could do it all themselves. We too may stop working on the Sabbath but we don’t actually rest. We may be thinking, ‘I could make more money if I worked today’, or ‘I am worried I won’t make enough because I don’t work on the Sabbath’ etc…
The Sabbath is meant to be a time when we refresh ourselves and most importantly refresh our relationship with Yahuah. Our whole being should come into a ‘resting’ in Him. This gives us a sense of reassurance that He is in our lives and leading us. This will bring true rest and peace.
Having quite times where it’s just you and Him. Turn off the music, unplug the TV, put the kids in their rooms for a nap etc... Its like ‘me’ time with my Creator. Just Him and me alone, no distractions, closing my eyes and just being quite. When you do this at times He will speak to you in a quite voice. This is your time with Him to get personal. I don’t always get to do this and to be honest I have been getting distracted many times. So with that realization I have to discipline myself to go there. Practice resting. Sounds strange but we are so caught up in this world and the ways of it, we have so many habits that draw us away from Him, that we literally have to force ourselves and organize our lives so that we can have this time. But you know what I have found out? When I make this time, when I get there I find such delightful experience. My whole being becomes relaxed as I enter into His presence. I truly begin to have rest with in and peace begins to flood my very being.
The Sabbath is a day for us to stop. It’s that simple, to stop. Where we put everything aside and spend time with Yahusha.
By doing this we not only benefit from it physically and spiritually but we are also showing our wonderful redeemer that we love by our obedience. Let us continue to follow His leadings in our lives as He takes us onto eternity.
Shabbat shalom
I read a story about a Rabbi in a Soviet camp, he was brought in to see the comandant who told him he could be released if he would sign a paper. But, it was Sabbath and the Rabbi could not write on Sabbath so he said he would stay...even though he was told he'd be there for eight more years because he refused to write his name. While he was still in the office, another Rabbi was brought in, he was asked the same thing. Sign the paper and you will be released, if you don't you will be in here eight more years. At this the first Rabbi spoke up. "I will sign his name so that he can be released." The commandant fumed, "You will sign his name, write on the Sabbath for him, but not for yourself?" He spoke up, "I am a stronger man and can take eight more years in here, he is not so strong." The Commandant was angry but the LORD was good and a few days later both Rabbis were released.
The Sabbath is made for our rest in the LORD but when we do things that we are not necessarily supposed to do, for the right reasons, we are doing what is right in the sight of the LORD.
Yeshua was criticized for doing good works on the Sabbath...David and his men did things they weren't supposed to do on the Sabbath..but we know our Father was not angry...He sees the heart. And He sees ours and knows why we do the things we do.
Shabbat Shalom.....L'chayim tovem ul'shalom!
Sabbath peace....to a good life and peace!
SABBATH- A DAY TO STOP
From Del Smith at YahSpace
Stopping work and resting are very different things.
~Mattityahu 6:25-33, “Because of this I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you shall eat or drink, or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than the food and the body more than the clothing? 26“Look at the birds of the heaven, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into storehouses, yet your heavenly Father does feed them. Are you not worth more than they? 27“And which of you by worrying is able to add one cubit to his life’s span? 28“So why do you worry about clothing? Note well the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, 29and I say to you that even Shelomoh in all his esteem was not dressed like one of these. 30“But if Elohim so clothes the grass of the field, which exists today, and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more you, O you of little belief? 31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 “For all these the gentiles seek for. And your heavenly Father knows that you need all these. 33“But seek first the reign of Elohim, and His righteousness, and all these matters shall be added to you.~
When Yisrael were in the wilderness Yahuah often tested them by them not always having food or water. Yisrael had to learn to trust Yahuah for all things. But once Yisrael reached the Promised Land where there were plenty of supplies the manna from Yahuah stopped and Yisrael had to provide for themselves.
In this, came a temptation that after a while they didn’t need Yahuah because they could do it all themselves. We too may stop working on the Sabbath but we don’t actually rest. We may be thinking, ‘I could make more money if I worked today’, or ‘I am worried I won’t make enough because I don’t work on the Sabbath’ etc…
The Sabbath is meant to be a time when we refresh ourselves and most importantly refresh our relationship with Yahuah. Our whole being should come into a ‘resting’ in Him. This gives us a sense of reassurance that He is in our lives and leading us. This will bring true rest and peace.
Having quite times where it’s just you and Him. Turn off the music, unplug the TV, put the kids in their rooms for a nap etc... Its like ‘me’ time with my Creator. Just Him and me alone, no distractions, closing my eyes and just being quite. When you do this at times He will speak to you in a quite voice. This is your time with Him to get personal. I don’t always get to do this and to be honest I have been getting distracted many times. So with that realization I have to discipline myself to go there. Practice resting. Sounds strange but we are so caught up in this world and the ways of it, we have so many habits that draw us away from Him, that we literally have to force ourselves and organize our lives so that we can have this time. But you know what I have found out? When I make this time, when I get there I find such delightful experience. My whole being becomes relaxed as I enter into His presence. I truly begin to have rest with in and peace begins to flood my very being.
The Sabbath is a day for us to stop. It’s that simple, to stop. Where we put everything aside and spend time with Yahusha.
By doing this we not only benefit from it physically and spiritually but we are also showing our wonderful redeemer that we love by our obedience. Let us continue to follow His leadings in our lives as He takes us onto eternity.
Shabbat shalom
Friday, February 20, 2009
Parashah 18...Mishpatim Exodus 21:1-24:18
We Are What We Speak
"Dreams are made of an airy stuff, they exist in a world apart.
Actions, in contrast, are mortar and brick, real for all to see.
Words are the bridge from wish to reality, they possess the power to turn thin air into great cities.
But be careful, for that bridge can be traversed in both directions and rather than help build a great city, it can destroy a beautiful dream."
Words change and affect us. They concretize that which would otherwise be ethereal ideas. They are the first step in turning feelings and thoughts into reality... wishes and desires into actuality.
"Words are to ideas what actions are to words."
Actions are 'more' than words, they affect our entire being. We can well understand that a murderer, through the very act of his killing, is a changed person. The action of cold-bloodedly ending another's life deeply affects the way one feels towards others.And while murder is an extreme example, it is clear that actions do change us.
The spoken word has a far less effect than actions, but stronger than ideas. Someone who speaks of being unkind to another, is already a different person from one who holds mere thoughts of these acts.
Once we speak of a thing, it already changes our relationship to it. Jeremiah the prophet says, "Behold you spoke and you made the evil permissible" (3:5). People don't just go out and shoot people. Rather, there is a process. First they talk about it and discuss it. And little by little, it doesn't seem so bad anymore. The first step in doing anything wrong is to talk about it.
Why do people talk about it before doing it? Because "talking" is a process of desensitizing. At first, a person may want to do the questionable act, but can't. He would feel too guilty. So he discusses it.
Feelings are very sophisticated and delicate. They are not easily acquired - but are easily removed.Talking can desensitize and dilute feelings.
An example: Try and have an open discussion on the idea of spitting in your mother's face. It's difficult even to talk about it, the feelings are so strong. Though once you can freely talk about it, you are already on the path to doing it.
This does not mean we should have a 'closed' society, banning any discussion of a pre-assigned list of subjects. But it does mean there are two ways to discuss ideas. You can talk about a despicable act in a way that expresses feelings of disgust - or you can discuss it with a sense of glee.
Man is a delicate and fragile instrument - like a powerful telescope. Properly positioned, the telescope can be used to see unbelievable distances. But a slight misalignment of a lens or mirror, or a little dirt in the wrong place, can render even the best of telescopes useless. Similarly, misplaced words and sentiments can knock off-balance a human being's perception of reality - and scramble his sensitivities.
This week's parsha states:
"...and the name of other gods do not mention, they should not be heard on your lips" (Exodus 23:13).
Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg zt"l (former Dean of Yeshiva Ner Yisrael in Baltimore) points out that some things are so dangerous that they should never be discussed. If however, they need to be mentioned, then it should be only be way of allusion. Using the name of an idol - even to its detriment - changes, affects and desensitizes us. Therefore the Torah forbids it. The power of speech is such that words influence us negatively, regardless of the intention behind them.
The Torah offers many tools for preserving our purity of speech. For instance, Judaism requires of us to speak in a "clean way." It goes without saying that our language should not include obscenities or foulness. But the Torah takes the idea much further. For example, when the Torah speaks about non-kosher birds, it says "and those that are not pure." Rather than use the negative form "impure," the Torah phrases it as a "non-positive" - not pure. It is a subtlety, but to be sensitive to the beauty of life, one needs to keep one's mind clean. The method of achieving this is a clean mouth.
"Easier it is by far, to see beauty in a rose garden than to find it in the depository of refuse."
Make your mind the "garden" through the use of clean language, rather than the "depository" through foul language.
Don't talk about people, races of people, men, women, life, your day, your work, anything, in ways that you don't want them to be actualized. If you describe life in foul terms, life becomes just a little more foul.
From Aish.com
When we look deeper into scripture, we see in James 1:21....So rid yourselves of all vulgarity and obvious evil, and receive meekly the Word implanted in you that can save your lives. Don't deceive yourselves by only hearing what the Word says, but do it! For whoever hears the word but doesn't do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror, who looks at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. but if a person looks closely into the perfect Torah, which gives freedom, and continues, becoming not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work it requires, then he will be blesseed in what he does.
Anyone who thinks he is religiously observant but does not control his tongue is deceiving himself, and his observance counts for nothing.
Are you wise and understanding? Then demonstrate it by a good way of life, by actions done in the humility that grows out of wisdom. But if you harbor in your hearts bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, don't boast and attack the truth with lies. This wisdom is not the kind thatcomes down from above; on the contrary, it is worldly, unspiritual, deminic. For where there are jealousy and selfish ambition, thee will be disharmony and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is, first of all, pure, then peaceful, kind, open to reason, full of mersy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocracy. James 3:13-17
Stop speaking against each other! Whoever speaks against a brother or judges a brother is speaking against Torah and judging Torah. And if you judge Torah, you are not a doer of what Torah says, but a judge. there is but one Giver of Torah; He is also the Judge, with the power to deliver and to destroy. Who do you think you are, judging your fellow human being?James 4:11-12.
Peter tells us to rid ourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy and envy and of all the ways there are of speaking against people. We are to be purified by obeying the truth, not giving into our old nature. We are not to repay evil with evil or insult with insult but repay with a blessing so that we may be blessed.
The New is fulfilling the Old....God set His creation into being by His Word and His commandments are His plumbline. Even the angels obey his Word....Psalm 103:20...Praise Adonai, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His Word, who carry out His orders.
It is time to light the Shabbat candles so I will close this for now, but who knows but the LORD, He may have me expound on this somemore at a later date.
Shalom aleikem....peace be upon you!
"Dreams are made of an airy stuff, they exist in a world apart.
Actions, in contrast, are mortar and brick, real for all to see.
Words are the bridge from wish to reality, they possess the power to turn thin air into great cities.
But be careful, for that bridge can be traversed in both directions and rather than help build a great city, it can destroy a beautiful dream."
Words change and affect us. They concretize that which would otherwise be ethereal ideas. They are the first step in turning feelings and thoughts into reality... wishes and desires into actuality.
"Words are to ideas what actions are to words."
Actions are 'more' than words, they affect our entire being. We can well understand that a murderer, through the very act of his killing, is a changed person. The action of cold-bloodedly ending another's life deeply affects the way one feels towards others.And while murder is an extreme example, it is clear that actions do change us.
The spoken word has a far less effect than actions, but stronger than ideas. Someone who speaks of being unkind to another, is already a different person from one who holds mere thoughts of these acts.
Once we speak of a thing, it already changes our relationship to it. Jeremiah the prophet says, "Behold you spoke and you made the evil permissible" (3:5). People don't just go out and shoot people. Rather, there is a process. First they talk about it and discuss it. And little by little, it doesn't seem so bad anymore. The first step in doing anything wrong is to talk about it.
Why do people talk about it before doing it? Because "talking" is a process of desensitizing. At first, a person may want to do the questionable act, but can't. He would feel too guilty. So he discusses it.
Feelings are very sophisticated and delicate. They are not easily acquired - but are easily removed.Talking can desensitize and dilute feelings.
An example: Try and have an open discussion on the idea of spitting in your mother's face. It's difficult even to talk about it, the feelings are so strong. Though once you can freely talk about it, you are already on the path to doing it.
This does not mean we should have a 'closed' society, banning any discussion of a pre-assigned list of subjects. But it does mean there are two ways to discuss ideas. You can talk about a despicable act in a way that expresses feelings of disgust - or you can discuss it with a sense of glee.
Man is a delicate and fragile instrument - like a powerful telescope. Properly positioned, the telescope can be used to see unbelievable distances. But a slight misalignment of a lens or mirror, or a little dirt in the wrong place, can render even the best of telescopes useless. Similarly, misplaced words and sentiments can knock off-balance a human being's perception of reality - and scramble his sensitivities.
This week's parsha states:
"...and the name of other gods do not mention, they should not be heard on your lips" (Exodus 23:13).
Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg zt"l (former Dean of Yeshiva Ner Yisrael in Baltimore) points out that some things are so dangerous that they should never be discussed. If however, they need to be mentioned, then it should be only be way of allusion. Using the name of an idol - even to its detriment - changes, affects and desensitizes us. Therefore the Torah forbids it. The power of speech is such that words influence us negatively, regardless of the intention behind them.
The Torah offers many tools for preserving our purity of speech. For instance, Judaism requires of us to speak in a "clean way." It goes without saying that our language should not include obscenities or foulness. But the Torah takes the idea much further. For example, when the Torah speaks about non-kosher birds, it says "and those that are not pure." Rather than use the negative form "impure," the Torah phrases it as a "non-positive" - not pure. It is a subtlety, but to be sensitive to the beauty of life, one needs to keep one's mind clean. The method of achieving this is a clean mouth.
"Easier it is by far, to see beauty in a rose garden than to find it in the depository of refuse."
Make your mind the "garden" through the use of clean language, rather than the "depository" through foul language.
Don't talk about people, races of people, men, women, life, your day, your work, anything, in ways that you don't want them to be actualized. If you describe life in foul terms, life becomes just a little more foul.
From Aish.com
When we look deeper into scripture, we see in James 1:21....So rid yourselves of all vulgarity and obvious evil, and receive meekly the Word implanted in you that can save your lives. Don't deceive yourselves by only hearing what the Word says, but do it! For whoever hears the word but doesn't do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror, who looks at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. but if a person looks closely into the perfect Torah, which gives freedom, and continues, becoming not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work it requires, then he will be blesseed in what he does.
Anyone who thinks he is religiously observant but does not control his tongue is deceiving himself, and his observance counts for nothing.
Are you wise and understanding? Then demonstrate it by a good way of life, by actions done in the humility that grows out of wisdom. But if you harbor in your hearts bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, don't boast and attack the truth with lies. This wisdom is not the kind thatcomes down from above; on the contrary, it is worldly, unspiritual, deminic. For where there are jealousy and selfish ambition, thee will be disharmony and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is, first of all, pure, then peaceful, kind, open to reason, full of mersy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocracy. James 3:13-17
Stop speaking against each other! Whoever speaks against a brother or judges a brother is speaking against Torah and judging Torah. And if you judge Torah, you are not a doer of what Torah says, but a judge. there is but one Giver of Torah; He is also the Judge, with the power to deliver and to destroy. Who do you think you are, judging your fellow human being?James 4:11-12.
Peter tells us to rid ourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy and envy and of all the ways there are of speaking against people. We are to be purified by obeying the truth, not giving into our old nature. We are not to repay evil with evil or insult with insult but repay with a blessing so that we may be blessed.
The New is fulfilling the Old....God set His creation into being by His Word and His commandments are His plumbline. Even the angels obey his Word....Psalm 103:20...Praise Adonai, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His Word, who carry out His orders.
It is time to light the Shabbat candles so I will close this for now, but who knows but the LORD, He may have me expound on this somemore at a later date.
Shalom aleikem....peace be upon you!
Keeping the Sabbath
26 Shevat
Feb 20
This eveing at sunset begins Shabbat/Sabbath Day. I am a Sabbath keeper...why? Because four years ago, I said to the LORD, teach me Your Way, teach me...and He said.."Do not follow the way of man, I will be your teacher."
So I began to search out the truth and I was amazed at all I found. I am now a Messianic Gentile, as you probably already know. If things had not gotten so far away from the truths of God, I could just say I am a Christian but I cannot because there is so much of man's traditions and doctrins in the Christian faith. And to just say I am a Protestant is something I cannot do because there is too much of Catholic beliefs in it.
I do not follow the way of the Catholic church....they changed God's Sabbath from the Seventh day to the first. The instituted new days/holidays by their own authority, such as Christmas...which is Christ's mass and Easter. They instituted days to give praise to numerous saints and they elevated Mary, the mother of Yeshua to a godesss..as queen of heaven..one who mediates between man and Jesus.
But my emphasis today is on Shabbat.
I observe and remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. I reverence God by doing this. I can and do worship Him on any day though. To go to church on the first day is acceptable to me because I enjoy worshipping my Elohim. I do not call the first day Sabbath...it is not the Sabbath. Only the Seventh day is God's Sabbath.
Below is from the Catholic church.....their reasons for sunday being their Sabbath. I have a lot more to say but this will suffice for today.
Just know that I care about you and want only the best for you.
Statements by the Catholic Church about the Sabbath
"Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Catholic Church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday." Rome’s Challenge www.immaculateheart.com/maryonline Dec 2003
"Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify." James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 edition), p. 72-73 (16th Edition, p 111; 88th Edition, p. 89).
"For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible." Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947, p. 9, article "To Tell You the Truth."
Who Made Sunday Holy?"Written by the finger of God on two tables of stone, this Divine code (ten commandments) was received from the Almighty by Moses amid the thunders of Mount Sinai...Christ resumed these Commandments in the double precept of charity--love of God and of the neighbour; He proclaimed them as binding under the New Law in Matthew 19 and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5)...The (Catholic) Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s Day...He (God) claims one day out of the seven as a memorial to Himself, and this must be kept holy..."The Catholic Encyclopaedia, vol. 4, "The Ten Commandments", 1908 edition by Robert Appleton Company; and 1999 Online edition by Kevin Knight, Imprimatur, John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
"Question: How prove you that the church had power to command feasts and holydays?" Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church."
Question: Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?" Answer: Had she not such power, she could not a done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; -she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day of the week, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority." Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism On the Obedience Due to the Church, 3rd edition, Chapter 2, p. 174 (Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York).
"Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ‘The day of the Lord’ was chosen, not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the (Catholic) Church’s sense of its own power...People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy." St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.
"Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday...Now the Church...instituted, by God’s authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made. We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday." Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About, 1927 edition, p. 136.
"Question - Which is the Sabbath day?" Answer - Saturday is the Sabbath day."
Question - Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?" Answer - We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday." Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50, 3rd edition, 1957.
"Is Saturday the seventh day according to the Bible and the Ten Commandments? I answer yes.
Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the seventh day - Saturday - for Sunday, the first day? I answer yes. Did Christ change the day’? I answer no!""Faithfully yours, J. Card. Gibbons." James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, Md. (1877-1921), in a signed letter.
"Question. - How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days?" Answer. - By the very act of changing Sabbath into Sunday which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church.
"Question. - How prove you that?" Answer. - Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power." An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, composed by Henry Tuberville, p. 58.
"Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His Church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The (Roman Catholic) Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days." John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies, 1936 edition, vol. 1, p. 51.
"Question. What warrant have you for keeping Sunday preferably to the ancient sabbath which was Saturday?" Answer. We have for it the authority of the Catholic church and apostolic tradition."
Question. Does the Scripture anywhere command the Sunday to be kept for the Sabbath?" Answer. The Scripture commands us to hear the church (St.Matt.18:17; St. Luke 10:16), and to hold fast the traditions of the apostles. 2 Thess 2:15. But the Scripture does not in particular mention this change of the Sabbath.
"St John speaks of the Lord’s day (Rev 1:10) but he does not tell us what day of the week that was, much less does he tell us what day was to take the place of the Sabbath ordained in the commandments. St.Luke speaks of the disciples meeting together to break bread on the first day of the week. Acts 20:7. And St. Paul (1 Cor.16:2) orders that on the first day of the week the Corinthians should lay in store what they designated to bestow in charity on the faithful in Judea: but neither the one or the other tells us that this first day of the week was to be henceforth a day of worship, and the Christian Sabbath; so that truly the best authority we have for this ancient custom is the testimony of the church. And therefore those who pretend to be such religious observers of Sunday, whilst they take no notice of other festivals ordained by the same church authority, show that they act more by humor, than by religion; since Sundays and holidays all stand upon the same foundation, namely the ordinance of the (Roman Catholic) church." Catholic Christian Instructed, 17th edition, p. 272-273.
"Protestantism, in discarding the authority of the (Roman Catholic) Church, has no good reasons for its Sunday theory, and ought logically to keep Saturday as the Sabbath." John Gilmary Shea, American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883.
"The Catholic church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday...The Protestant World at its birth found the Christian Sabbath too strongly entrenched to run counter to its existence; it was therefore placed under the necessity of acquiescing in the arrangement, thus implying the (Catholic) Church’s right to change the day, for over three hundred years. The Christian Sabbath is therefore to this day, the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church as spouse of the Holy Ghost, without a word of remonstrance from the Protestant World." James Cardinal Gibbons in the Catholic Mirror, September 23, 1983.
Whose Day of Worship is Sunday?"They [the Protestants] deem it their duty to keep the Sunday holy. Why? Because the Catholic Church tells them to do so. They have no other reason...The observance of Sunday thus comes to be an ecclesiastical law entirely distinct from the divine law of Sabbath observance...The author of the Sunday law...is the Catholic Church." Ecclesiastical Review, February 1914.
"The Sunday...is purely a creation of the Catholic Church."American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883.
"Sunday...is the law of the Catholic Church alone..." American Sentinel (Catholic), June 1893.
"Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles...From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first." Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August 1900.
"It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church." Priest Brady, in an address reported in The News, Elizabeth, New Jersey, March 18, 1903.
Who Do We Reverence and Pay Homage to by Keeping Sunday Holy?"From this we may understand how great is the authority of the church in interpreting or explaining to us the commandments of God - an authority which is acknowledged by the universal practice of the whole Christian world, even of those sects which profess to take the holy Scriptures as their sole rule of faith, since they observe as the day of rest not the seventh day of the week demanded by the Bible, but the first day. Which we know is to be kept holy, only from the tradition and teaching of the Catholic church." Henry Gibson, Catechism Made Easy, #2, 9th edition, vol. 1, p. 341-342.
"It was the Catholic church which...has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Therefore the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the (Catholic) church." Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, p. 213.
"Sunday is our mark or authority...the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact." Catholic Record of London, Ontario, September 1, 1923.
"Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change (Saturday Sabbath to Sunday) was her act...And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things." H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons.
"I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ The Catholic Church says: ‘No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.’ And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church." father T. Enright, C.S.S.R. of the Redemptoral College, Kansas City, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 18, 1884, printed in History of the Sabbath, p. 802.
"Protestants...accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change...But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that...In observing the Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope." Our Sunday Visitor, February 15, 1950.Conclusion and the Challenge
"The (Roman Catholic) Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday." The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p. 4.
"Sunday is founded, not of scripture, but on tradition, and is distinctly a Catholic institution. As there is no scripture for the transfer of the day of rest from the last to the first day of the week, Protestants ought to keep their Sabbath on Saturday and thus leave Catholics in full possession of Sunday." Catholic Record, September 17, 1893.
"Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:
"1) That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.
"2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws...
"It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible." Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Magazine, USA (1975), Chicago, Illinois, "Under the blessing of the Pope Pius XI"
"I am going to propose a very plain and serious question to those who follow ‘the Bible and the Bible only’ to give their most earnest attention. It is this: Why don’t you keep holy the Sabbath day?...
"The command of the Almighty God stands clearly written in the Bible in these words: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.’ Exodus 20:8-10...
"You will answer me, perhaps, that you do keep the Sabbath; for that you abstain from all worldly business and diligently go to church, and say your prayers, and read your Bible at home every Sunday of your lives...
"But Sunday is not the Sabbath day. Sunday is the first day of the week: the Sabbath day is the seventh day of the week. Almighty God did not give a commandment that men should keep holy one day in seven; but He named His own day, and said distinctly: ‘Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day’; and He assigned a reason for choosing this day rather than any other - a reason which belongs only to the seventh day of the week, and cannot be applied to the rest. He says, ‘For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it’, Exodus 20:11, Genesis 2:1-3. Almighty God ordered that all men should rest from their labor on the seventh day, because He too had rested on that day: He did not rest on Sunday, but on Saturday. On Sunday, which is the first day of the week, He began the work of creation; He did not finish it. It was on Saturday that He ‘ended His work which he had made: and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.’ Genesis 2:2-3...
"Nothing can be more plain and easy to understand than all this; there is nobody who attempts to deny it. It is acknowledged by everybody that the day which Almighty God appointed to be kept holy was Saturday, not Sunday. Why do you then keep holy the Sunday and not Saturday?
"You will tell me that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. Changed! But by whom? Who has the authority to change an express commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken and said, ‘Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day’, who shall dare to say, ‘Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of worldly business on the seventh day: but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead?’ This is a most important question, which I know not how you answer...
"You are a Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and the Bible only; and yet, in so important a manner as the observance of one day in seven as the holy day, you go against the plain letter of the Bible, and put another day in the place of that day which the Bible has commanded. The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the Ten Commandments; you believe that the other nine are still binding. Who gave you authority to tamper with the fourth? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really follow the Bible, and the Bible only you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered." Excerpts from "Why Don’t You Keep Holy the Sabbath Day?", pages 3-15 in The Clifton Tract, vol. 4, published by the Roman Catholic Church 1869.
"The arguments...are firmly grounded on the word of God, and having been closely studied with the Bible in hand, leave no escape for the conscientious Protestant except the abandonment of Sunday worship and the return to Saturday, commanded by their teacher, the Bible, or, unwilling to abandon the tradition of the Catholic Church, which enjoins the keeping of Sunday, and which they have accepted in direct opposition to their teacher, the Bible, consistently accept her (the Catholic Church) in all her teachings. Reason and common sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicism and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible." James Cardinal Gibbons, in Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893.
Feb 20
This eveing at sunset begins Shabbat/Sabbath Day. I am a Sabbath keeper...why? Because four years ago, I said to the LORD, teach me Your Way, teach me...and He said.."Do not follow the way of man, I will be your teacher."
So I began to search out the truth and I was amazed at all I found. I am now a Messianic Gentile, as you probably already know. If things had not gotten so far away from the truths of God, I could just say I am a Christian but I cannot because there is so much of man's traditions and doctrins in the Christian faith. And to just say I am a Protestant is something I cannot do because there is too much of Catholic beliefs in it.
I do not follow the way of the Catholic church....they changed God's Sabbath from the Seventh day to the first. The instituted new days/holidays by their own authority, such as Christmas...which is Christ's mass and Easter. They instituted days to give praise to numerous saints and they elevated Mary, the mother of Yeshua to a godesss..as queen of heaven..one who mediates between man and Jesus.
But my emphasis today is on Shabbat.
I observe and remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. I reverence God by doing this. I can and do worship Him on any day though. To go to church on the first day is acceptable to me because I enjoy worshipping my Elohim. I do not call the first day Sabbath...it is not the Sabbath. Only the Seventh day is God's Sabbath.
Below is from the Catholic church.....their reasons for sunday being their Sabbath. I have a lot more to say but this will suffice for today.
Just know that I care about you and want only the best for you.
Statements by the Catholic Church about the Sabbath
"Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Catholic Church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday." Rome’s Challenge www.immaculateheart.com/maryonline Dec 2003
"Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify." James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 edition), p. 72-73 (16th Edition, p 111; 88th Edition, p. 89).
"For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible." Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947, p. 9, article "To Tell You the Truth."
Who Made Sunday Holy?"Written by the finger of God on two tables of stone, this Divine code (ten commandments) was received from the Almighty by Moses amid the thunders of Mount Sinai...Christ resumed these Commandments in the double precept of charity--love of God and of the neighbour; He proclaimed them as binding under the New Law in Matthew 19 and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5)...The (Catholic) Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s Day...He (God) claims one day out of the seven as a memorial to Himself, and this must be kept holy..."The Catholic Encyclopaedia, vol. 4, "The Ten Commandments", 1908 edition by Robert Appleton Company; and 1999 Online edition by Kevin Knight, Imprimatur, John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
"Question: How prove you that the church had power to command feasts and holydays?" Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church."
Question: Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?" Answer: Had she not such power, she could not a done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; -she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day of the week, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority." Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism On the Obedience Due to the Church, 3rd edition, Chapter 2, p. 174 (Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York).
"Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ‘The day of the Lord’ was chosen, not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the (Catholic) Church’s sense of its own power...People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy." St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.
"Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday...Now the Church...instituted, by God’s authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made. We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday." Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About, 1927 edition, p. 136.
"Question - Which is the Sabbath day?" Answer - Saturday is the Sabbath day."
Question - Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?" Answer - We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday." Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50, 3rd edition, 1957.
"Is Saturday the seventh day according to the Bible and the Ten Commandments? I answer yes.
Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the seventh day - Saturday - for Sunday, the first day? I answer yes. Did Christ change the day’? I answer no!""Faithfully yours, J. Card. Gibbons." James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, Md. (1877-1921), in a signed letter.
"Question. - How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days?" Answer. - By the very act of changing Sabbath into Sunday which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church.
"Question. - How prove you that?" Answer. - Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power." An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, composed by Henry Tuberville, p. 58.
"Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His Church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The (Roman Catholic) Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days." John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies, 1936 edition, vol. 1, p. 51.
"Question. What warrant have you for keeping Sunday preferably to the ancient sabbath which was Saturday?" Answer. We have for it the authority of the Catholic church and apostolic tradition."
Question. Does the Scripture anywhere command the Sunday to be kept for the Sabbath?" Answer. The Scripture commands us to hear the church (St.Matt.18:17; St. Luke 10:16), and to hold fast the traditions of the apostles. 2 Thess 2:15. But the Scripture does not in particular mention this change of the Sabbath.
"St John speaks of the Lord’s day (Rev 1:10) but he does not tell us what day of the week that was, much less does he tell us what day was to take the place of the Sabbath ordained in the commandments. St.Luke speaks of the disciples meeting together to break bread on the first day of the week. Acts 20:7. And St. Paul (1 Cor.16:2) orders that on the first day of the week the Corinthians should lay in store what they designated to bestow in charity on the faithful in Judea: but neither the one or the other tells us that this first day of the week was to be henceforth a day of worship, and the Christian Sabbath; so that truly the best authority we have for this ancient custom is the testimony of the church. And therefore those who pretend to be such religious observers of Sunday, whilst they take no notice of other festivals ordained by the same church authority, show that they act more by humor, than by religion; since Sundays and holidays all stand upon the same foundation, namely the ordinance of the (Roman Catholic) church." Catholic Christian Instructed, 17th edition, p. 272-273.
"Protestantism, in discarding the authority of the (Roman Catholic) Church, has no good reasons for its Sunday theory, and ought logically to keep Saturday as the Sabbath." John Gilmary Shea, American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883.
"The Catholic church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday...The Protestant World at its birth found the Christian Sabbath too strongly entrenched to run counter to its existence; it was therefore placed under the necessity of acquiescing in the arrangement, thus implying the (Catholic) Church’s right to change the day, for over three hundred years. The Christian Sabbath is therefore to this day, the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church as spouse of the Holy Ghost, without a word of remonstrance from the Protestant World." James Cardinal Gibbons in the Catholic Mirror, September 23, 1983.
Whose Day of Worship is Sunday?"They [the Protestants] deem it their duty to keep the Sunday holy. Why? Because the Catholic Church tells them to do so. They have no other reason...The observance of Sunday thus comes to be an ecclesiastical law entirely distinct from the divine law of Sabbath observance...The author of the Sunday law...is the Catholic Church." Ecclesiastical Review, February 1914.
"The Sunday...is purely a creation of the Catholic Church."American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883.
"Sunday...is the law of the Catholic Church alone..." American Sentinel (Catholic), June 1893.
"Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles...From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first." Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August 1900.
"It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church." Priest Brady, in an address reported in The News, Elizabeth, New Jersey, March 18, 1903.
Who Do We Reverence and Pay Homage to by Keeping Sunday Holy?"From this we may understand how great is the authority of the church in interpreting or explaining to us the commandments of God - an authority which is acknowledged by the universal practice of the whole Christian world, even of those sects which profess to take the holy Scriptures as their sole rule of faith, since they observe as the day of rest not the seventh day of the week demanded by the Bible, but the first day. Which we know is to be kept holy, only from the tradition and teaching of the Catholic church." Henry Gibson, Catechism Made Easy, #2, 9th edition, vol. 1, p. 341-342.
"It was the Catholic church which...has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Therefore the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the (Catholic) church." Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, p. 213.
"Sunday is our mark or authority...the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact." Catholic Record of London, Ontario, September 1, 1923.
"Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change (Saturday Sabbath to Sunday) was her act...And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things." H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons.
"I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ The Catholic Church says: ‘No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.’ And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church." father T. Enright, C.S.S.R. of the Redemptoral College, Kansas City, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 18, 1884, printed in History of the Sabbath, p. 802.
"Protestants...accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change...But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that...In observing the Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope." Our Sunday Visitor, February 15, 1950.Conclusion and the Challenge
"The (Roman Catholic) Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday." The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p. 4.
"Sunday is founded, not of scripture, but on tradition, and is distinctly a Catholic institution. As there is no scripture for the transfer of the day of rest from the last to the first day of the week, Protestants ought to keep their Sabbath on Saturday and thus leave Catholics in full possession of Sunday." Catholic Record, September 17, 1893.
"Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:
"1) That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.
"2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws...
"It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible." Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Magazine, USA (1975), Chicago, Illinois, "Under the blessing of the Pope Pius XI"
"I am going to propose a very plain and serious question to those who follow ‘the Bible and the Bible only’ to give their most earnest attention. It is this: Why don’t you keep holy the Sabbath day?...
"The command of the Almighty God stands clearly written in the Bible in these words: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.’ Exodus 20:8-10...
"You will answer me, perhaps, that you do keep the Sabbath; for that you abstain from all worldly business and diligently go to church, and say your prayers, and read your Bible at home every Sunday of your lives...
"But Sunday is not the Sabbath day. Sunday is the first day of the week: the Sabbath day is the seventh day of the week. Almighty God did not give a commandment that men should keep holy one day in seven; but He named His own day, and said distinctly: ‘Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day’; and He assigned a reason for choosing this day rather than any other - a reason which belongs only to the seventh day of the week, and cannot be applied to the rest. He says, ‘For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it’, Exodus 20:11, Genesis 2:1-3. Almighty God ordered that all men should rest from their labor on the seventh day, because He too had rested on that day: He did not rest on Sunday, but on Saturday. On Sunday, which is the first day of the week, He began the work of creation; He did not finish it. It was on Saturday that He ‘ended His work which he had made: and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.’ Genesis 2:2-3...
"Nothing can be more plain and easy to understand than all this; there is nobody who attempts to deny it. It is acknowledged by everybody that the day which Almighty God appointed to be kept holy was Saturday, not Sunday. Why do you then keep holy the Sunday and not Saturday?
"You will tell me that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. Changed! But by whom? Who has the authority to change an express commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken and said, ‘Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day’, who shall dare to say, ‘Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of worldly business on the seventh day: but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead?’ This is a most important question, which I know not how you answer...
"You are a Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and the Bible only; and yet, in so important a manner as the observance of one day in seven as the holy day, you go against the plain letter of the Bible, and put another day in the place of that day which the Bible has commanded. The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the Ten Commandments; you believe that the other nine are still binding. Who gave you authority to tamper with the fourth? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really follow the Bible, and the Bible only you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered." Excerpts from "Why Don’t You Keep Holy the Sabbath Day?", pages 3-15 in The Clifton Tract, vol. 4, published by the Roman Catholic Church 1869.
"The arguments...are firmly grounded on the word of God, and having been closely studied with the Bible in hand, leave no escape for the conscientious Protestant except the abandonment of Sunday worship and the return to Saturday, commanded by their teacher, the Bible, or, unwilling to abandon the tradition of the Catholic Church, which enjoins the keeping of Sunday, and which they have accepted in direct opposition to their teacher, the Bible, consistently accept her (the Catholic Church) in all her teachings. Reason and common sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicism and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible." James Cardinal Gibbons, in Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Shevat 24....Yom Revee'ee
February 18...Wednesday
Today I am feeling blessed...so blessed. Today has gone on like any other day in my life. I woke up and the LORD was on my mind, always in my thoughts. I got up, drank some coffee, read my paper, watched the news and weather. Then around 10am I got Arrin up so she could eat and then we picked out her clothes for school. We enjoy this time together because she has to be dressed 'just so'. Then she goes into her Aunt Jess' room and models todays outfit for her.
Arrin and I went out a little early to wait for her bus this morning, even though it is quite chilly today, because she put out food for the squirrels and birds. I have a big yard so she got a work out throwing the bird feed everywhere. It's a good thing, too, because not only are the small birds coming but a goose couple has been in the yard the past two days.
I am just so blessed to have her in my life and her sister Aletha, too. It is going to be very hard when their Mom gets a place to live but I know they need to be on their own. They need to be their own little family.
Yes, I've been very nostalgic today and feeling very blessed and so thankful to our Father. How else can one feel when we know of the terrible things happening to children and families here in America and all over the world?
We have abortions, abuses...poverty and the list goes on and on. What has made me think about this so much today? Yesterday I got an email from Pastor Ronald Powell and through his email I went into a site about Bhopal, India. Do you remember Bhopal? I did..I remembered the horror of it. But I had no idea that the pain and suffering is still going on today, 24 years later! I was shocked!
I know, I know, we can't take on every cause..it's just not possible but as Believers we can do one thing...we can pray. We can lift these people and their suffering up to our God. So I am asking you, read about what happened and about what is still going on and pray for these people.
THAT NIGHT, DECEMBER 3, 1984
Shortly after midnight poison gas leaked from a factory in Bhopal, India, owned by Union Carbide Corporation. There was no warning, none of the plant's safety systems were working. In the city people were sleeping. They woke in darkness to the sound of screams with the gases burning their eyes, noses and mouths. They began retching and coughing up froth streaked with blood. Whole neighbourhoods fled in panic, some were trampled, others convulsed and fell dead. People lost control of their bowels and bladders as they ran. Within hours thousands of dead bodies lay in the streets.
Here is the website...read the rest of the story......
http://www.bhopal.net/
February 18...Wednesday
Today I am feeling blessed...so blessed. Today has gone on like any other day in my life. I woke up and the LORD was on my mind, always in my thoughts. I got up, drank some coffee, read my paper, watched the news and weather. Then around 10am I got Arrin up so she could eat and then we picked out her clothes for school. We enjoy this time together because she has to be dressed 'just so'. Then she goes into her Aunt Jess' room and models todays outfit for her.
Arrin and I went out a little early to wait for her bus this morning, even though it is quite chilly today, because she put out food for the squirrels and birds. I have a big yard so she got a work out throwing the bird feed everywhere. It's a good thing, too, because not only are the small birds coming but a goose couple has been in the yard the past two days.
I am just so blessed to have her in my life and her sister Aletha, too. It is going to be very hard when their Mom gets a place to live but I know they need to be on their own. They need to be their own little family.
Yes, I've been very nostalgic today and feeling very blessed and so thankful to our Father. How else can one feel when we know of the terrible things happening to children and families here in America and all over the world?
We have abortions, abuses...poverty and the list goes on and on. What has made me think about this so much today? Yesterday I got an email from Pastor Ronald Powell and through his email I went into a site about Bhopal, India. Do you remember Bhopal? I did..I remembered the horror of it. But I had no idea that the pain and suffering is still going on today, 24 years later! I was shocked!
I know, I know, we can't take on every cause..it's just not possible but as Believers we can do one thing...we can pray. We can lift these people and their suffering up to our God. So I am asking you, read about what happened and about what is still going on and pray for these people.
THAT NIGHT, DECEMBER 3, 1984
Shortly after midnight poison gas leaked from a factory in Bhopal, India, owned by Union Carbide Corporation. There was no warning, none of the plant's safety systems were working. In the city people were sleeping. They woke in darkness to the sound of screams with the gases burning their eyes, noses and mouths. They began retching and coughing up froth streaked with blood. Whole neighbourhoods fled in panic, some were trampled, others convulsed and fell dead. People lost control of their bowels and bladders as they ran. Within hours thousands of dead bodies lay in the streets.
Here is the website...read the rest of the story......
http://www.bhopal.net/
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
I am so amazed.....
Today is Shevat 23....Yom Shlee'shee or Tuesday, February 17
I am amazed at God...so amazed......
One of my favorite songs that would be sung at church was about being amazed at God. A young talented woman named Stephany would sing it. When she would sing this song, I would become so humbled before the LORD because I am so amazed at Him. I wake up amazed each day because of Who He is and the wondrous things He does.
I will tell you, I have fretted over this blog..yes this silly blog because after deciding to do it, I became aware of my inadequacies..."Who am I to think I have anything to say to anyone? Who will read this anyway?"
But does it matter if I am inadequate?
No, because He is amazing and He will give me what I need, to do what He has set before me.
I began today by reading a daily word from Aish, 'Growing Each Day' and I am always amazed when I find truths about Yeshua in Jewish teachings, although they don't know it themselves. It is talking about a prayer that is said each morning, the Adon Olam.."Master of the world, Who reigned before anything was created". It is also said in some congregations at the close of evening services and is included in the prayer before retiring. It goes onto say 'Adon Olam's being both the opening and closing prayer is similar to the practice of beginning the reading of Genesis on Simchas Torah immediately after concluding the last chapter of Deuteronomy. There, we indicate that Torah is infinite; like a circle, it has no beginning or end. So it is with prayer, which represents our relationship with God. Since God is infinite, we never reach a finite goal in relating to Him.
Indeed, the cyclical natures of prayer and Torah not only indicate that there is no end, but also that there is no beginning. Secular studies have levels of graduation which indicate that one has completed a certain level. In Torah studies, we do not complete anything. Indeed, each volume of the Talmud begins with page two rather than page one, to teach us that we have not even begun, let alone ever finish.
Growth in spirituality has no limits. The symbolism in the cyclical format of Torah and prayer is that we cannot say that we have even reached the halfway mark in spiritual growth, much less the end. This realization should excite us, not depress us, because our potential is infinite.
Today I shall ...... try to understand that regardless of how much I think I may have advanced in spirituality, I have hardly even made a beginning.'
Revelation 1:8 "I am the 'A' and the 'Z'," says Adonai.
Rev. 21:6 "It is done! I am the 'A' and the 'Z', the Beginning and the End".
In Rev 22:13 "I am the 'A' and the 'Z', the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Complete Jewish Bible)
John 1:1-3...In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing made had being.
Yeshua, Who is the Word is Torah. He spoke the Word and All things came into being....His Word became the Commands given to Moses....He spoke thru the Prophets of the Tanakh/Old Testement. He said in the B'rit Hadashah/New Testement...Mattityahu/Matthew 5:17..."Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as one yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah until everything that must happen has happened. So whoever disobeys the least of the mitzyot (commandment) and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingddom of Heaven."
As we look to Torah and to the New Testament for Yeshua's truths, we come to see that it is a never ending circle...it flows together...there is no beginning or an end to His Word.
I often read from those who put out a Word from the LORD and I especially liked the Words from Ras and Bev Robinson today. Bev used a scripture that is dear to my heart....Yesha'yahu/Isaiah 45:3 "I will give you treasures hoarded in the dark, secret riches hidden away, so that you will know that I, Adonai, calling you by your name, am the God of Israel."
He was then and He is today....the same God of Israel, the same God of Gloria, whom He named, the same God of YOU!
"I say unto you, put your faith in Me. All of creation is in My hands. I can never fail nor will I ever forsake you. My love for you is an everlasting commitment to protect you and provide for you throughout all eternity. I invite you to test Me in this and see if you find Me to be true to My word. " Ras Robinson
YESHUA, THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER!
I am amazed at God...so amazed......
One of my favorite songs that would be sung at church was about being amazed at God. A young talented woman named Stephany would sing it. When she would sing this song, I would become so humbled before the LORD because I am so amazed at Him. I wake up amazed each day because of Who He is and the wondrous things He does.
I will tell you, I have fretted over this blog..yes this silly blog because after deciding to do it, I became aware of my inadequacies..."Who am I to think I have anything to say to anyone? Who will read this anyway?"
But does it matter if I am inadequate?
No, because He is amazing and He will give me what I need, to do what He has set before me.
I began today by reading a daily word from Aish, 'Growing Each Day' and I am always amazed when I find truths about Yeshua in Jewish teachings, although they don't know it themselves. It is talking about a prayer that is said each morning, the Adon Olam.."Master of the world, Who reigned before anything was created". It is also said in some congregations at the close of evening services and is included in the prayer before retiring. It goes onto say 'Adon Olam's being both the opening and closing prayer is similar to the practice of beginning the reading of Genesis on Simchas Torah immediately after concluding the last chapter of Deuteronomy. There, we indicate that Torah is infinite; like a circle, it has no beginning or end. So it is with prayer, which represents our relationship with God. Since God is infinite, we never reach a finite goal in relating to Him.
Indeed, the cyclical natures of prayer and Torah not only indicate that there is no end, but also that there is no beginning. Secular studies have levels of graduation which indicate that one has completed a certain level. In Torah studies, we do not complete anything. Indeed, each volume of the Talmud begins with page two rather than page one, to teach us that we have not even begun, let alone ever finish.
Growth in spirituality has no limits. The symbolism in the cyclical format of Torah and prayer is that we cannot say that we have even reached the halfway mark in spiritual growth, much less the end. This realization should excite us, not depress us, because our potential is infinite.
Today I shall ...... try to understand that regardless of how much I think I may have advanced in spirituality, I have hardly even made a beginning.'
Revelation 1:8 "I am the 'A' and the 'Z'," says Adonai.
Rev. 21:6 "It is done! I am the 'A' and the 'Z', the Beginning and the End".
In Rev 22:13 "I am the 'A' and the 'Z', the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Complete Jewish Bible)
John 1:1-3...In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing made had being.
Yeshua, Who is the Word is Torah. He spoke the Word and All things came into being....His Word became the Commands given to Moses....He spoke thru the Prophets of the Tanakh/Old Testement. He said in the B'rit Hadashah/New Testement...Mattityahu/Matthew 5:17..."Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as one yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah until everything that must happen has happened. So whoever disobeys the least of the mitzyot (commandment) and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingddom of Heaven."
As we look to Torah and to the New Testament for Yeshua's truths, we come to see that it is a never ending circle...it flows together...there is no beginning or an end to His Word.
I often read from those who put out a Word from the LORD and I especially liked the Words from Ras and Bev Robinson today. Bev used a scripture that is dear to my heart....Yesha'yahu/Isaiah 45:3 "I will give you treasures hoarded in the dark, secret riches hidden away, so that you will know that I, Adonai, calling you by your name, am the God of Israel."
He was then and He is today....the same God of Israel, the same God of Gloria, whom He named, the same God of YOU!
"I say unto you, put your faith in Me. All of creation is in My hands. I can never fail nor will I ever forsake you. My love for you is an everlasting commitment to protect you and provide for you throughout all eternity. I invite you to test Me in this and see if you find Me to be true to My word. " Ras Robinson
YESHUA, THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Empty Envelopes
Hello my friends, it is now Shevat 22...Yom Shaynee...Second day or the evening of February 15th. I was praying about what to talk about and I saw this article. We must stand up for life. The unborn cannot speak up for themselves. I sent out ten empty red envelopes....one for me, three for my three daughters, Kenda, Maria and Jess and six for my six granddaughters Angelica, Aletha, Alexandria,Noalle, Bethany and Arrin...addressed to President Obama and telling him and who ever reads it that it represents one child who's life is now empty because of abortion.
Pro-life pastor prepares for sentencing
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 2/15/2009 4:10:00 AM
An Oakland, California, pastor could face jail time for expressing his pro-life views.
Pastor Walter Hoye ran into trouble with an abortion clinic while doing an informational picket. Dennis Howard, leader of The Movement for a Better America, believes Hoye is innocent. "His approach was simply to carry a sign that said 'Jesus Loves You. Can We Help?' and offering those who wanted it some information about alternatives to abortion," Howard explains. A complaint was filed and Hoye was found guilty in spite of proof to the contrary. "There was a video taken of him doing this, and it shows that he was not harassing anybody," Howard points out. "In fact, he was being harassed by escorts from the abortion clinic." Pastor Hoye faces up to two years in jail and a $4,000 fine. Howard is calling Christians into action. "We feel that pro-life organizations around the country ought to take up this man's cause and pray and fast between now and February 19," he concludes. That is when Hoye is due to be sentenced.
Pro-life pastor prepares for sentencing
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 2/15/2009 4:10:00 AM
An Oakland, California, pastor could face jail time for expressing his pro-life views.
Pastor Walter Hoye ran into trouble with an abortion clinic while doing an informational picket. Dennis Howard, leader of The Movement for a Better America, believes Hoye is innocent. "His approach was simply to carry a sign that said 'Jesus Loves You. Can We Help?' and offering those who wanted it some information about alternatives to abortion," Howard explains. A complaint was filed and Hoye was found guilty in spite of proof to the contrary. "There was a video taken of him doing this, and it shows that he was not harassing anybody," Howard points out. "In fact, he was being harassed by escorts from the abortion clinic." Pastor Hoye faces up to two years in jail and a $4,000 fine. Howard is calling Christians into action. "We feel that pro-life organizations around the country ought to take up this man's cause and pray and fast between now and February 19," he concludes. That is when Hoye is due to be sentenced.
Friday, February 13, 2009
SHABBAT SHALOM!
Consider what Elohim has done:Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: Elohim has made the one as well as the other.Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future. In this meaningless life of mine I have seem both of these:A righteous man perishing in his righteousness,and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise - why destroy yourself?Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool - why die before your time?It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other.The man who fears Elohim will avoid all extremes.Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins. Ecclesiastes 7:13-20
Good day my friends and to anyone else who might be reading this little blog of mine. Today is Shevat 19 in the Jewish year 5769. I purposed in my heart when I began this journey into the Way of God that I needed to be connected with Father and following His days and months seemed to be the right thing to do. So I follow the Jewish calendar. I keep track of the Roman calendar because the world is run on it and everything outside my home goes by it, but here in my house, today is Shevat 19..not Feb.13.
I am sure there are those, maybe you, who are reading this who are a little afraid of this day....you know, the Friday the 13th thing. Dear One, do not be afraid....the LORD does not go by such things and He does not want you to either. Maybe you feel that you are always having bad luck...you know the saying...if I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all. Well, if you are the LORD's, if you are called by His name, then start thinking about your life and what is going on in it. Sometimes when we have 'bad luck' it is not always HaSatan the enemy, it is our Father tapping us on the head to wake us up.
My oldest son thinks he has a black cloud over his head...well, its not. when he was born, I didn't know a lot but I remembered Hannah and how she had dedicated Samuel to the LORD so I lifted Scotty up(his name is George but I have and always will call him Scotty) and I gave him to the LORD. He has a heart for God and a BIG heart it is, he'd give you the clothes off of his back but is he living for the LORD? NO. His heart is there and he enjoys going to church but he is not where he should be.
One thing I do find interesting about him and it was revealed to me....since Scotty has been grown he has let his hair grow long. Before he had it trimmed it was at the middle of his back. Many think its the biker thing in him but no, it is of the LORD. So I know the Hand of Elohim is upon him and soon he will be where he should be. I praise God for this. Thank You Yeshua!
The Word of the LORD is powerful and I find Him saying, " Get your house in order." For those who voted for Obama and the only way I can describe them is under a spell, they think he is their messiah and he is going to 'change' the world and everything is going to come up roses for them. Well, I didn't vote for him and I do not see him as anything but who he is and I know he is bringing change but not for the good. We can't worry and fret though. We must trust in the LORD and have faith in all that He is doing because He is in control. Our prayers are needed though. We must call upon Him and He will hear us.
Get Your House in Order! What does that mean? It means seek the LORD. Get out from under the world and all of its enticing ways. If you search your heart you know there are things going on in your life that God is speaking to you about. For me, it was coming out from the whole system of 'church' and all of its doctrines and to seek out what God wanted for me. This meant changing my whole perspective about how and what I
believed. Is Jesus my Savior? Yes He is! But, I now see Him as truly the One Who spoke the Word..Who spoke all things into existance...Who spoke the Commands to Moses....Who came and lived among His people and taught a more perfect way...the fullness of the Torah, to His people. I am amazed and I am in awe of one so great Who loves us so much that He willingly gave up His human self to be our atonement for sin.
The LORD is so good....His love and mercy endures forever!
Friends, I must go make challah for tonight's Shabbat so I will leave you with the prayer that is always on my heart........
Father, May my prayers be set before You as incense; may the lifting of my hands be as the evening sacrifice. therefore, in view of Your mercies, I offer myself as a sacrifice, living and set apart, holy and pleasing for You...for I am to You the aroma of Your Son, Yeshua HaMashiach.
I am sure there are those, maybe you, who are reading this who are a little afraid of this day....you know, the Friday the 13th thing. Dear One, do not be afraid....the LORD does not go by such things and He does not want you to either. Maybe you feel that you are always having bad luck...you know the saying...if I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all. Well, if you are the LORD's, if you are called by His name, then start thinking about your life and what is going on in it. Sometimes when we have 'bad luck' it is not always HaSatan the enemy, it is our Father tapping us on the head to wake us up.
My oldest son thinks he has a black cloud over his head...well, its not. when he was born, I didn't know a lot but I remembered Hannah and how she had dedicated Samuel to the LORD so I lifted Scotty up(his name is George but I have and always will call him Scotty) and I gave him to the LORD. He has a heart for God and a BIG heart it is, he'd give you the clothes off of his back but is he living for the LORD? NO. His heart is there and he enjoys going to church but he is not where he should be.
One thing I do find interesting about him and it was revealed to me....since Scotty has been grown he has let his hair grow long. Before he had it trimmed it was at the middle of his back. Many think its the biker thing in him but no, it is of the LORD. So I know the Hand of Elohim is upon him and soon he will be where he should be. I praise God for this. Thank You Yeshua!
The Word of the LORD is powerful and I find Him saying, " Get your house in order." For those who voted for Obama and the only way I can describe them is under a spell, they think he is their messiah and he is going to 'change' the world and everything is going to come up roses for them. Well, I didn't vote for him and I do not see him as anything but who he is and I know he is bringing change but not for the good. We can't worry and fret though. We must trust in the LORD and have faith in all that He is doing because He is in control. Our prayers are needed though. We must call upon Him and He will hear us.
Get Your House in Order! What does that mean? It means seek the LORD. Get out from under the world and all of its enticing ways. If you search your heart you know there are things going on in your life that God is speaking to you about. For me, it was coming out from the whole system of 'church' and all of its doctrines and to seek out what God wanted for me. This meant changing my whole perspective about how and what I
believed. Is Jesus my Savior? Yes He is! But, I now see Him as truly the One Who spoke the Word..Who spoke all things into existance...Who spoke the Commands to Moses....Who came and lived among His people and taught a more perfect way...the fullness of the Torah, to His people. I am amazed and I am in awe of one so great Who loves us so much that He willingly gave up His human self to be our atonement for sin.
The LORD is so good....His love and mercy endures forever!
Friends, I must go make challah for tonight's Shabbat so I will leave you with the prayer that is always on my heart........
Father, May my prayers be set before You as incense; may the lifting of my hands be as the evening sacrifice. therefore, in view of Your mercies, I offer myself as a sacrifice, living and set apart, holy and pleasing for You...for I am to You the aroma of Your Son, Yeshua HaMashiach.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Mom's and Babies Web Site...
Here is the web site of the Octuplet Mom..... http://thenadyasulemanfamily.com/
The purpose of the site is to send donations, if one wants to, and to send a note to Nadya and family.
I must say this, I have desired to have a place to express things that are on my mind and to talk about what the LORD is doing in my life. Right up front I want it known that I am a Believer first and for most and I stand with Israel. I am a Messianic Gentile who follows the Old Path. When I say Old Path I am talking about the way of the early church.....before the Catholic church. I observe Shabbat or the seventh day Sabbath as God commanded. I eat Biblically Kosher. I celebrate the Festivals and Holy Days of God, not the holidays of man.
I am conservative. I do not follow Obama. He is not my savior. My Savior is Yeshua. My faith and trust is in Him and Him alone.
The purpose of the site is to send donations, if one wants to, and to send a note to Nadya and family.
I must say this, I have desired to have a place to express things that are on my mind and to talk about what the LORD is doing in my life. Right up front I want it known that I am a Believer first and for most and I stand with Israel. I am a Messianic Gentile who follows the Old Path. When I say Old Path I am talking about the way of the early church.....before the Catholic church. I observe Shabbat or the seventh day Sabbath as God commanded. I eat Biblically Kosher. I celebrate the Festivals and Holy Days of God, not the holidays of man.
I am conservative. I do not follow Obama. He is not my savior. My Savior is Yeshua. My faith and trust is in Him and Him alone.
Mother and babies....
This my first blog and I want to say something that has beeen on my mind. I am quite upset over all the mean words being said about the 'octo mom'. I think that's what they're calling her. So many are saying how she should never have had the eight babies. Apparently the only ones speaking up are the pro choice people. While I will not say I agree with her choice of being an unmarried mom and having these children the way she did, she did so to preserve their lives, I heard it said that she did not want the embryos destroyed. I know sometimes one can adot them out but if they are not going to be used they are destroyed. And, I heard it said that she had a choice not to have all eight babies. Here again this is pro choice talk. Can one who believes all life is precious allow some to be killed and others live?
I am not sure how she is going to raise them but I would rather my tax dollars be spent giving these babies a chance at life than being spent on murder in abortion clinics.
I am not sure how she is going to raise them but I would rather my tax dollars be spent giving these babies a chance at life than being spent on murder in abortion clinics.
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