Glory Be!

Be Glorified! That really should be our heart's desire towards our Heavenly Father. Matthew 5:16 says, "In like manner, let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in the heavens." The Bible mentions letting people see our good works so that they will glorify our Father in Heaven. Notice the focus is not to magnify ourselves by doing kind deeds! Yeshua was quite clear about that when he said not to let our right hand know what our left hand is doing. Still when people do see our good works, if such are from the heart and without pretense, God will receive the glory. We are to be the light of the world, a city on a hill for all to see. (Matthew 5:14)

Given the temporal nature of the things of this world, the wise course is to do what we can each day to bless Yah. Serving others and bringing the Gospel of the Messiah to those who have not yet heard is a wonderful investment in future riches. These treasures can not be destroyed by rust or stolen by thieves because they are with Almighty God! Yeshua honors his Father everyday and encourages us to do likewise. Psalm 86:9 says, "...all nations shall glorify thy name." Hebrews 2:12, Yeshua is shown in the scriptures to lead his brethren in the praise and worship of the Father. "saying, 'I will declare Thy name to my brethren, in the midst of an assembly I will sing praise to Thee;' and again, 'I will be trusting on Him;' He glorified his God on earth and does so in heaven now. Yeshua will return and call all of his faithful from the grave and those still alive on earth to rule the nations from Jerusalem. He is still looking for new recruits to fill these administrative offices! His Kingdom rule will glorify and honor the One True God. So perhaps we can ask, "Gracious Father, how may I honor you today? Be glorified!"

PRAYER: Gracious Yah, use my voice, my talents and my possessions to glorify Your name today! You are great and worthy of all my praise so let me join with the Lord Messiah to magnify You before all the nations. In Yeshua's authority, Amen.

Feeling Jealous?

Jealousy! Oh that's a bad one. It usually precedes covetousness. The media is very much geared to making us want what someone else has. The fashion savvy feel they need a specific uniform in order to fit in. This is stressful because if we can not afford what someone else has, we can feel envious. Don't go down that road!

Our Heavenly Father has given YOU exactly what you require to make Him happy and proud. If we take our eyes off ourselves and others but then focus on the shining example of a perfect life, we will see Yeshua. He didn't envy the rich man who came to him with the question on how to gain everlasting life. He didn't say, "Wow, that dyed silk sash would look GREAT on me! What's he doing with it?" Yeshua looked beyond the surface and saw that man's true need. That his riches were a snare but he still had the potential to be one of his talmidim or disciples. A truer translation of what Yeshua said is from the Hebraic Roots Version Scriptures. "It is easier for a large rope to enter through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Eloah (God)". Mark 10:25 The word for "camel" in the Aramaic manuscripts can mean the animal but it can also refer to a large rope which is certainly the meaning here. If you sew by hand you'll surely agree!

There are all sorts of things that we think we need to make us happy. Truth is, once we get them are we then content? Most of the time not! Worse still is when we are jealous of someone else because of their: talents, possessions, spouse, station in life, etc. Just pick one. This is so wrong because God gives freely to all but if He has especially blessed someone, who are we to be angry? Rather than curse that person, (as Cain did and worse), why not turn things around and ask Yah to make to us a blessing? Notice I didn't say give us a blessing. There is a big difference and once we see that, we can expect to be favored ourselves.

PRAYER: Gracious Father, renew my heart and the spirit within me to remove any jealousy and covetousness therein. You are my hope and do fill me with good things each day. Make me a blessing Oh Yah, that others might see my good works and glorify You in heaven. In Yeshua's way, Amen.

The Art of Being Gracious

My father's favorite proverb was "Time and tide wait for no man, (or woman)." When I was a child, I could not wait for anything! It seemed that time dragged on until my birthday, Christmas or that trip to the lake we were promised. What I loved about my father is that he was spontaneous. Many times he would announce that day we were going to the zoo or leaving for Long Island to the house on the beach for the weekend. So to this day I love surprises!

When we do something unexpected or undeserved for others, we can actually imitate our Heavenly Father. If we do something for someone who can return the favor well, that's fine but no bonus points! If we do something for someone who is not in the position to pay us back, then that is when we will have stored up a reward in heaven. He or she who gives to the poor lends to Yah Almighty. Think of that! Lending to God whose resources are already inexhaustible. That is how much He values our giving and doing for others. He loves people and wants us to be charitable like Him. That's what mercy and grace truly are...undeserved kindness and favor.

Visiting the sick and the poor to show them kindness is a wonderful expression of spontaneous giving. Most people living in such facilities are not expecting anything special that day. It really brings sunshine to their life when people come to visit. James 1:28 says, "True religion which is undefiled in the eyes of God the Father is this, to be visiting orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep one without spot from the world." Notice visiting orphans and widows comes even before keeping ourselves spotless from the world! We don't know how much time we have left among the living. It makes sense then to make everyday count and not invest infinite amounts of time in temporal things. In the picture, these musician's are playing in a cemetery behind a church. Do you think any of the people buried there can hear them? As my father said, time waits for no one. It is so good to do what we can today, to bless others by reaching out to those in need.

PRAYER: Almighty Father, please help me to be rich towards others as You are so rich towards me in Messiah. Give me a heart for those who are hurting and hands to reach out in love. In Yeshua's faith and authority I pray.

Giving Thanks is Good!

O let us come before His Face with thanksgiving, with the sounds of strings, let us shout aloud to Him. (Psalms 95:2)

Oh yes, giving thanks is good...very good! These days it is so easy to give voice to our dissatisfaction with things. After all, this is America and it is our right! Perhaps but there is One to Whom we should always be giving thanks. He is Almighty God and the Bible tells how He is the giver of every good and perfect gift. Life, with all its difficulties and trials is still inherently wonderful. Still, do we grumble more about our bills, aches and pains than give praise to God for life itself? Don't fall into that trap! The Israelites did. They thought that Yahweh could not hear their murmuring in the dessert or maybe they didn't care.

When we spend more time complaining than giving thanks we are showing an ungrateful spirit. Satan had such a spirit. It wasn't enough that God made him a guardian over His creation. No! He wasn't satisfied with that and felt he deserved more. If we carry that same spirit, we will come to have the same rebelliousness as Satan. See, the Creator of the Universe does not owe us anything. By grace He gives us rain from heaven so that we have crops in season and even a cup of wine now and then to lift our spirits! In fact, everything we have is ultimately provided by Him. So why not give thanks? Why not bless His name every day for our life? When we do this, we will have joy and peace knowing that God truly cares for us. What He wants is our gratitude and trust. He is worthy of all the thanks and praise we can offer. Lift your hands and bless Yah right now!

PRAYER: Almighty Yah, I have no good thing apart from You! Thank You for my life now and that is which to come. Thank You for Yeshua Ha Messiah through whom You have brought all good things in my life. Bless You Father, in Yeshua's name!

I am the True Vine

Yeshua, (Jesus), says in John 15:1, "I am the true vine and my Father the husbandman."

Husbandman is also translated as vinedresser because in the next verse Yeshua goes on to tell how his Father prunes off the dead branches. Better still, the Father cuts back those branches which are bearing fruit so that they will bear more! Now it is clear that the vinedresser is greater than the vine he prunes. This is showing the superiority of Yahweh over all of his creation, the Lord Messiah included. It also shows that unless we remain in Yeshua's teachings, that is connected to him as off-shoots of the main supporting vine, we can bear nothing on our own. John 15:5 Yeshua reiterates this for us, "I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; because apart from me ye can bring forth nothing."

If you feel as if your life is stalled or that you are not making the progress you have hoped for, do you think it could be a connection problem? It is so easy to connect ourselves to someone else's ministry, church, cause or teaching. How about making sure we are attached to the TRUE vine? We can get so wrapped up in someone else's agenda that after a while, we find ourselves living to please others around us. Like the Pharisees we can become more concerned with looking good rather than actually being holy or set apart for God's use. The course of wisdom is to go to the source, the true vine. Obeying Yeshua's words helps us to bear that fruit. Letting them sink down into our very marrow the way rain revives a parched plant. Our showing love for Yeshua is contingent on obeying his commands even as he has obeyed his Father's commands. Yeshua's joy is made full in us when we do this and thus ours is made full in him! We can ask whatever we wish in his name, (that is his teachings and authority), and know we will receive it from his God and Father, Yahweh.

So the next time you need to be energized so that you may bear more fruit, make sure that you are firmly attached to the true vine. Then ask the Father in Yeshua's name and it shall be done!

PRAYER: Merciful Yah, my Elohim! You set Your Son as the true vine through whom your love and blessings flow. Help me to forsake all others and cling to his words only so that I may offer a bumper crop to your glory!

Will You Go?

Barlowgirl ministering to the crowd at the Rev Gen music festival.

Yeshua, (Jesus), said "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations;" (Matthew 28:19). When I think of going out in obedience to this command, what I can't begin to think about is what I don't have or can't do. If I look to my own power, resources, abilities, etc., I would probably just stay in bed! That's not what Yeshua wanted his talmidim or disciples to do then and it is surely not what he wants now. Paul had the right idea when he declared in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul goes on to clarify the importance of God's grace through His gift of the Messiah, "And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."

If we are already "filled up" with our own strength, what place is there left for Christ to dwell?
Many times we may wake up with aches and pains which might have kept us up most of the night or with nagging anxietes that don't seem to go away. We can feel worthless and depressed if we look at what we ourselves have to offer. However, our Heavenly Father and His Son Yeshua are not concerned with outward appearances or even what we can personally bring to the table. Take for example a team of two women, one blind and the other needing a cane. They faithfully visited senior centers in their community, even serving cups of cold water to the residents during their musical program. Now if these women were to stop and say, "I can't do this! I'm blind and my friend is barely able to walk!", God would have never had the opportunity to show His immeasurable strength. He is glorified in that our own abilities may fail but His never does.

So when Yeshua says "Go", keep in mind that you are not taking the journey alone. He is in the yoke and pulling hard along side you. Yahweh has given him the authority to empower us. He is the head of his body but is not the head still part of the body? Absolutely! That is why he is our helper, comforter and mediator. The ISV version of the Bible makes it so clear: "There is one God. There is also one mediator between God and human beings-a human, the Messiah Jesus."
Yeshua is our big brother packing all the strength we need so....."Go"!

How's Your Vision?

This is the oldest house on Nantucket Island which is off Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

We are facing truly tough times with the economy, world stability as well as environmental and energy issues. The problem is, no one seems to have an answer to any these problems. More time is used discussing the issues than finding solutions! Someone said that if we would just lift our eyes a bit higher and away from the problems, we can redirect our focus to God.

James 1:5 says "But if any of you is coming short of wisdom, let him be asking Yahweh, Who giveth unto all freely and upbraideth not and it shall be given him;"

Now there don't seem to be restrictions on the sort of wisdom that is available. It can be help in making decisions on how to be more effective in one's ministry which appears to be the original context, but we can ask for anything that concerns us. Notice the verse says that Yahweh gives to all freely and does not upbraid or scold us for asking. God wants us to ask Him! The following verse tells us that the main ingredient is faith: "But let him be asking in faith, nothing doubting..."

God nor His Son, Yeshua (Jesus), wants us to be so preoccupied with the thorns and thistles of this life that we fail to bear fruit for the Kingdom. Yeshua spoke a very true parable recorded for us in Luke 12:16. It was about a rich man whose crop offered a very high yield one season. He began to make plans to bank his profits and retire early as it were! He had all the angles calculated except one. Verse 20 begins..."But Yahweh said unto him, Simple one! on this very night they are asking thy soul from thee; the things then, which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?"

Well, it's pretty clear he wasn't taking them with him! There was nothing wrong with being rich for obviously God blessed this man with a bumper crop. The point is that he was self absorbed and not rich towards Yah. Ecclesiastes 10:10 says "...there is no work nor calculation nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, (the grave), whither thou art going." In verse 11 of that same chapter it says, "... not to the swift was the race nor to the strong the battle, nay! nor to the wise the food nor yet to the intelligent riches nor even to the well informed comeliness, for time and accident happened to them all."

Reality check right? No matter how things may appear, the outcome is not always as we think it would be. That's why we have to ask for wisdom to get our eyes off of how things appear and look to God for a clearer vision of what's really important. In the end, it is what we do for God and His Son Yeshua as well as others that matter.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please give me a wise heart and a clear vision to see what is really important in life. Lord Messiah, let me keep my eyes fixed on you, the Author and Perfecter of my faith.

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