Middle East Peace Update Report

The Passover and The Resurrection

Every year I delve into this subject and sometimes it upsets some Christians. Please keep in mind that this year my goal is to highlight the awesome fulfillment of the Jewish Celebrations by our Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus Christ).

Today the Christian church as a whole has lost, in most cases, it's awareness of it's Jewish roots. After all, most of the early believers were Jews and they practiced and observed the Jewish holidays. We need to also keep in mind, just because a Jew, like me, asks Yeshua into their lives, doesn't mean we stop being Jewish. In fact, once we put our faith in Yeshua (Jesus Christ) our Jewishness is more solidified than it was previously. This is why many of us who are Jewish and believers in Yeshua refer to ourselves as Messianic Jews. I would like to conclude this thought with this...those of us who are Jewish Believers in Yeshua, do not hold to our Jewishness as a way to elevate ourselves or to separate ourselves from our Gentile brethern, we hold fast to who God created us to be from birth because it brings honor and glory to the Lord Jesus because He is fulfilling His promises to the people of God just as He promised. We are part of that remnant that God has said He would establish in the Last Days. We praise Him for His kept promises to His Covenant People! 

We serve the greatest Jew that ever lived and is alive to this day!

Today we will highlight the meaning of what Yeshua accomplished through the Jewish Feast Days:

1. Exodus 12:3-6; April 10 the day the lamb without blemish was to be brought into the home of all Jewish households. Per the Jewish calendar and according to scripture Passover always ocurrs in the month of Nisan which is March-April. The sequence above is what we are stressing not the actual month. 
2. The Passover (Day of Preperation)
3. Feast of Unleavened Bread
4. The Feast of First Fruits

The image that I included above is a type of timeline of the progression of events we will discuss in this report.

We begin our journey with the report I wrote a few days ago about the Passover Lamb. On April 10th according to Exodus 12:3-6 all Jewish households were to choose a lamb without blemish and observe the lamb and interact with it for four days or until April 14th. For more details on this please click the link above.

Sin Series: Tolerating Sin

This is the third message in my series on sin in the church. Last week, I talked about not slandering our brothers and sisters who are caught in sin. I believe the reason many Christians are in bondage to sin is because we’ve tolerated sin by allowing the world to influence us.

Jesus said:

“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.”

Luke 6:39-40

We’ve allowed the blind to lead us. We’ve allowed the world to be our teachers. We’ve invited in their morals and viewpoints by listening to their music, and watching their movies, their televisions shows, and their news programs. We’ve invited in their wisdom by learning from their schools, their counselors, and their books. As a result, we’ve carried their viewpoints and morals into our churches, our ministries, our books, our music, and our movies.

A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.

Galatians 5:9

 

Your Word For Today: I Will Praise The Lord

Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.

Psalm 103:2-3

If you're like me, when you read the scripture above your first response might be, "Lord, but wait, I'm not healed?" 

Your second response may be, "I know Lord that one day I will be healed."

The reason I personally picked up on the healing aspect of this scripture is because I suffer from chronic debilitating health issues. I would imagine that anyone who is suffering with any thing that is chronic in their life, will have a similar response with respect to that issue. It could be a chronic health, financial, relationship or spiritual issue, chronic is chronic no matter what it is and it can and will wear you down over time if it persists! There are things we can do to maintain our witness while suffering.

The Most Precious Gift-What Is the Lord Saying To You?

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Philippians 4:13

"Father, I don't feel well.  I've been asking You for so long just to take this sickness from me!  Why, Lord, will You not take this from me?  You could if You wanted to!"  I was frustrated, not understanding why the Lord seemed to answer almost all of my prayers, except for this one thing.

"Because I have given you the power to do it yourself.  If I do everything for you when I have given you the power through My Spirit to rise up and be strong, and defeat the enemy, then the enemy laughs mockingly as he stands before Me accusing you, saying, 'I see once again You've come to the rescue for Your unfaithful daughter!  The daughter who does not love You enough to treat Your gift with respect--You've saved the day once again!'"

Psalm 23: You Can Trust in The Lord!

YOUR WORD FOR TODAY

King David Wrote:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

When Yeshua is Lifted Up! [Edited Version]

Foundational Scripture John 12:32: And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”

As we begin a New Year we contemplate what the New Year will hold for us. We look back over the last year and we ask God to help us to learn from our failures and from our weaknesses. We also ask the Lord to help us to learn from our mistakes and not repeat the same missteps again in the New Year.

Most of us set goals. We make plans to lose the holiday weight we may have gained. Some of us promise to read and pray more. Others make business plans. All of us have this desire in our DNA to do better, be better and to make some sort of mark on society for good. All of this we do year after year until we take our last breath.

Even though there is nothing wrong with all that I have outlined above, it’s not the most important thing we could be setting our minds and hearts on as we look forward to 2013.

God Loves His People and Israel His Land

Jeremiah 31:37

"Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord."

The heavens cannot be measured nor can the foundations of the earth. Therefore based on God's Word He will not nor can He cast off Israel and His people.

Take refuge in God...

Psalm 5 (Complete Jewish Bible)
Give ear to my words, ADONAI, consider my inmost thoughts. Listen to my cry for help, my king and my God, for I pray to you. ADONAI, in the morning you will hear my voice; in the morning I lay my needs before you and wait expectantly. For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; evil cannot remain with you.Those who brag cannot stand before your eyes, you hate all who do evil, you destroy those who tell lies, ADONAI detests men of blood and deceivers. But I can enter your house because of your great grace and love; I will bow down toward your holy temple in reverence for you. Lead me, ADONAI, in your righteousness because of those lying in wait for me; make your way straight before me. For in their mouths there is nothing sincere, within them are calamities, their throats are open tombs, they flatter with their tongues.God, declare them guilty! Let them fall through their own intrigues, For their many crimes, throw them down; since they have rebelled against you. But let all who take refuge in you rejoice, let them forever shout for joy! Shelter them; and they will be glad, those who love your name. For you, ADONAI, bless the righteous; you surround them with favor like a shield.

The Day of Atonement

And so it is at this time of year we should seek to draw closer to the Lord our God and seek His forgiveness for our sins and offenses.

Please read the information and watch the video in the article below.

Though you may not understand the words listen with your spirit and your spirit will bare witnesses with this prayer.

We thank God that Yeshua our Messiah has made atonement for us once and for all! Amen.

To all of our Jewish friends have a very happy Yom Kippur!

For more on this holy holiday and the prayer that is recited click here.

Until next time God willing...

Keep looking up because Messiah's return is at the door!

'But if the  watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and  the people are  not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from  them, he is taken away in  his iniquity; but   his    blood I will require  from the watchman's hand.' Ezekiel 33:6

Peace and  Love in Jesus The Messiah,
Shalom v'ahava  b'Yeshua Ha'Mashiach
שלום ואהבה  בישוע המשיח

Bro  Stef
Watchman & Publisher

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should   overtake    you as a  thief.  You   are    all sons of light and sons of   the day. We are not of  the night nor of  darkness. Therefore let  us  not sleep,  as others do, but let us watch and be sober. ~1Thessalonians 5:1-6

Learn to Forgive and be Forgiven

In the tradition of the Bible and the Rabbi's during Rosh Hashanah if we have hurt or offended anyone we are to leave our gift at the alter, be reconciled to our fellow man and then present our gift of repentance to God.

God will forgive us after we seek the forgiveness of others for sin we may have committed against our brother. We need to learn to go to those we have hurt and/or sinned against and seek their forgiveness.  Love reaches out for the benefit of others. Love does not seek it's own. Love and faith both require "action" on our part!
 

 

Consider these scriptures:

Shana Tova! Happy Rosh Hashanah

Happy Rosh Hashanah

Jewish communities throughout the world will celebrate Rosh Hashanah as the sun sets this coming Sunday. Rosh Hashanah literally means "head of the year" and commemorates the anniversary of the creation of the world. It is celebrated on the first day of the month of Tishri, which this year starts at sundown on September 16th and ends on the 18th. 

How we all praise the Lord for this news! God gives us a miracle for this year's Rosh Hashanah... Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani is released from an Iranian prison after spending three years there under the threat of losing his life for his witness for Jesus Christ!
Click Here to See The Report 

The commandment to observe Rosh Hashanah is found in Leviticus 23:23-25: 

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD." It is also mentioned in Numbers 29:1: "And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you." 

God Still Answers Prayer...

So last night we shared that our air conditioning went out and that we were having a repair person come out and fix it. I first prayed over our air conditioning units in June and asked God to get them through the summer. He had a different plan. Now that they broke down, last night I prayed silently once again and asked the Lord to please help keep the cost down to a reasonable amount and I said to Him, Lord under $1500 would be really helpful. Karlyn asked more specifically for under $500. She trusts God for more than me at times.

So the repairman comes out today and he proceeds to tell us that the costs to install a new air conditioning unit would run us about $20,000 for both conditioners and around $10,000 for the downstairs. They’re 16 years old. Karlyn and I looked at one another and said no way. He said what do you mean no way? I told him, my wife and I at our Bible study group last night and we prayed and asked the Lord for His help and we believe it will cost far less than that. We told him we loved the Lord and He would take care of the situation for us. The guy says okay let’s see…

Godly Sorrow Can Save Your Life!

2 Corinthians 7:9-10:

Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.  For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

The other day my wife and I were watching Dr. Jeremiah on a Christian station. He was talking about Hebrews and Christ being our High Priest. Towards the end of his sermon he made a comment that really rang true with me because I have been screaming and yelling about this for years.

Here's what he said and I paraphrase:

In my ministry I do something that isn't very common anymore and I'll continue to do this until I die...when we call people to repentance we ask them to get up out of their seats and come forward and be counted. After all, if people can't take a stand for Christ who died for them among friends what chance do they stand among those they do not know?

I looked at my wife and I said very passionately, YES! God bless Dr. David Jeremiah at Turning Point Ministries for doing what the Bible asks us to do. Now you may be asking, so Stef, what does this have to do with 2 Corinthians 7 anyway?

In our churches today there is a trend, I speak from being an observer of church life for over 37 years, to make things easy for people today. We ask folks to bow their heads and close their eyes and in the darkness of their minds try with all their might to raise a hand, as though we are putting a huge demand on them at the raising of ones hand. Furthermore, we do all we can from our pulpits to be politically correct. After all we don't want to make anyone angry or we don't want to hurt their feelings and damage their self-esteem by exposing the sin in their lives, do we?

BILLY GRAHAM: “MY HEART ACHES FOR AMERICA”; New letter addresses nation’s declining morality and the need for spiritual revival

A message from Joel Rosenberg:

America is in grave danger. The massacre in Aurora. The child sex abuse scandal at Penn State. The scourge of abortion and pornography and runaway spending and debt in Washington. The list tragically goes on an on. In Implosion, I try to document how serious the situation is, and how a Third Great Awakening is the only answer.

In this context, I am encouraged by a new open letter to America written by Dr. Billy Graham. He makes some excellent points. Here are excerpts. Please read them, pray over them, and share them with as many as you can.  

Pastors, would you consider reading excerpts from Dr. Graham’s letter at your Wednesday service this week? Would you consider turning your mid-week service into a call to prayer, fasting and repentance, along the lines of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Joel chapter 2?

Everyone WILL Bow Down to Him

The day is coming when all of us will bow down to the King of The Universe, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach, Jesus Messiah.

The question is this. Do you bow down to Him because you love Him and worship Him as your God, or do you bow down because you have to? Willingly or by force?

The day of His return is coming. Bow down to Him now and accept Him as your Lord and Savior before time runs out!

 

Isaiah 45:21-25:
Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me.  "Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, 'Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, And all shall be ashamed Who are incensed against Him. In the Lord all the descendants of Israel Shall be justified, and shall glory.' "

Romans 14:10-12
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 

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