Friday, May 25, 2012

Sing and Celebrate: Shavuot

Shavuot begins tomorrow.  I hope you have a blessed holiday.

(this is repost from the past) 


Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Matthew 24:35

Our long awaited package from Israel had finally arrived! Eyes glistening with tears, Rabbi Jem’s hands shook as he opened the carefully wrapped package. Tenderly, he lifted the precious 350-year old Torah scroll from its’ wrappings. Rabbi Jem and I unrolled the scroll and marveled at the soft dear skin parchment and the beautiful precision of the Hebrew letters. We both were overjoyed because the scroll arrived just in time for our Messianic synagogue’s celebration of Shavuot. How appropriate.

Shavuot celebrates two things. First, we thank God for His blessings on the first of the summer grain crops (barley). The festival reminds us that without Him and His provision of sun and rain, we would not have food. Second, we celebrate the giving of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) to the Jewish people. When this festival comes, there is great celebration because of our love and gratitude for the Scriptures. The giving of the Torah is God’s blessing, for the Word of God is our spiritual food. On the first day of Shavuot, we read the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20 to remind us of the Laws that give us Life. On the second day of Shavuot, we read the book of Ruth, which is the beautiful picture of Yeshua (Jesus), as our Kinsman Redeemer.

As Messianics (believers in Yeshua as Messiah), we also celebrate Shavuot as the day when the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit) descended on the believers in Yarushalem (Jerusalem). In Acts 2, you will see how Jews from all over the world were assembled for Shavuot. The Spirit came down, appearing as tongues of fire upon their heads, and they all spoke with other tongues (languages). Thus, the Good News about Yeshua was given to people in their own language. Believers received the indwelling of God, and His Word was written on their hearts. He came inside the believers, and gave them power to be witnesses all over the world and to spread the Gospel (Good News). Thus, these believers were the First Fruits of the Ruach Hakodesh.

As Messianic believers, on Shavuot, we celebrate the giving of God’s Holy Word, physically, and the coming of the Word into our hearts, spiritually. Shavuot is a powerful, visual reminder that God’s Law is important to our lives, and that the power to live that Word has been given through the Ruach Hakodesh. No longer does it need to be hard to follow and obey God, because He, Himself, indwells us to give us the desire and the power to follow and obey.

That night, at our synagogue, we celebrated Shavuot and God’s blessing us with our own Torah scroll. Rabbi Jem explained how many years it takes a person to prepare to write a scroll, and how it can take an entire year or more to actually write. We were in awe to learn that a modern day scroll compared to a 1000 year old scroll would be exactly the same. Not one jot or tittle (the very tiniest Hebrew letters) would be different. We thanked God for His Word, and for the faithfulness of Jews who have preserved it for us.

Later, the scroll was carried on the shoulder of our very first congregation member. We followed behind, dancing and singing with joy, waving flags and banners, and rejoicing that God favored us by giving us His Torah, and that He lives within our hearts. 


I'm linking up with:

31 Days of Praying For Our Children - Day 31

For Blessing

May Adonai bless you and keep you.
May Adonai make his face shine on you and show you his favor.
May Adonai lift up His face toward you and give you peace.
(Numbers 6:24-26... The Aaronic Blessing)

Father, thank You for blessing me with children.  I prayed to conceive them and You answered my prayer.  My prayer for them has always been to be blessed with Your blessings.  Not with wealth or fame or worldly acclaim.  I want them to know the riches of Your grace and the joys of Your Secret Place.  For them to know the depth of Your love and the tender sound of Your voice.

During every Erev Shabbat Service when we place the little children under the tallit and bless them, I think of my children, their spouses, and my grandson and pray for them to be blessed also.

Father, I will not have earthly riches to leave my children.  My wealth is in You alone, so I am a very rich woman.  I pray to be remembered as a woman who lived for You and who loved people.  Prayer will be my legacy, and I am confident of Your answers to these prayers for my children and for future generations.  May You and You alone be glorified forever.

In joy I lift these prayers to You in the Mighty Name of Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.


Thursday, May 24, 2012

31 Days of Praying For Our Children - Day 30

To honor your Feasts and Festivals


And the L-rd spoke to Moses, saying,
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, Concerning the Feasts of the L-rd, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my Feasts.
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; you shall do no work on that day: it is the Sabbath of the L-rd in all your dwellings.
These are the Feasts of the L-rd, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their seasons.
(Leviticus 23: 1-4 and following to the end of the chapter)

Father, I thank You for leading me to the root onto which I am grafted as a believer in Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.  You are that root.  You are the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The G-d of Israel.  You are the G-d of the Old and the New Testament of the Holy Scriptures.  You are the same yesterday, today and forever. 

I pray, Father, for my children to accept the blessings of Judaism.  I pray they will learn the beauty of Your Feasts and Festivals and observe them.  I pray they will teach these things to future generations.  As a child in a little Baptist church, I wondered and questioned why we were not with the Jews, and why we did not observe the Sabbath.  No one had an answer that satisfied my mind.  Thank You for leading me to Messianic Judaism and for the blessings You've poured into my life as I have embraced the roots of my faith.  My only regret is that I did not seek Your wisdom on these things until I was in my late 40's. 

Father, You commanded these times be observed in Leviticus 23 and said they were to be honored forever.  I pray for my future generations to obey You in this.  I pray for them to understand how Yeshua is portrayed in each of the Feasts.  I pray they will understand that Yeshua observed the  Feasts and Festivals himself, and told us to keep His commandments.  I pray for them to receive the blessings of obedience to Your commands. 

Father, I have received great blessings, insight, wisdom, and peace through observing Your Sabbath and  Your Feasts and Festivals. I desire these same blessings for my children, grandchildren, and future generations. The Feasts and Festivals are beautiful visual aids for understanding You and Your Ways.  Thank You for Your Ways and Your Blessings.  They are Life!!!

I praise You and thank You, and offer these prayers in the Mighty Name of Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.

 
 I'm linking up today to Faith Filled Friday
and Spiritual Sundays

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

31 Days of Prayer For Our Children - Day 29

Your sovereignty

I know that You can do everything, that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. 
(You asked,) Who is this, hiding counsel, without having knowledge?
Yes, I spoke without understanding,of wonders far beyond me, which I did not know.
Please listen while I speak.  
(You said) I will ask questions, and you give Me answers.
I had heard about You with my ears, but now my eye sees You; therefore I detest myself
and repent in dust and ashes.  (Job 42:1-6)

Oh Father, we all must be humbled as Your servant Job was.  We must all come to the point where we know to the depth of our souls that You are sovereign.  You allow things to happen we do not understand.  You ask us to do  or not do things that don't make sense to us.  But we must ultimately bow the knee to You.

Thank You for showing me this passage today:

You bring frail mortals to the point of being crushed, then say, "People repent". (Psalm 90:3)

As I pray for myself, I pray for my children to recognize that You are Adonai. You made the world and You made us.  We are mortals, while You are eternal.  We are inherently foolish, while You are all wise.  The world will tell us we can do anything we want to do and sets us up as little gods.  That is the same thing the evil one told Eve.

I pray for my children to understand Your sovereignty and to always be humble before You.  I pray for them to recognize that everything they have comes by Your hand.  It's easy to think that our jobs (money) comes by our efforts.  But may they recognize that they would not have a job apart from Your hand.

My prayer today and always is for my children to be able to say, "You give and take away.  Blessed be the Name of the L-rd."  May they bless You in the good times and bless You in the bad times, for You are Adonai, our sovereign L-rd.

I pray these prayers in the blessed Name of Yeshua, Ha-Mashich.


I am linking up today with Women Living Well Wednesdays
and  Word Filled Wednesday



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

31 Days of Praying For Our Children - Day 28

Pure Religion and Undefiled

 Pure religion and undefiled before G-d and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep ones self unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)

Father, I pray for my children to understand that most of the trappings and practices of religions today are vanity.  A few years ago when I went to a local church and  walked into an auditorium in darkness, with lights only on the stage, and smoke coming up from the pulpit, I felt like I was in a nightmare.  The entertainment was called worship and the sermon was a tickle your ears pep talk.  I discerned an evil spirit in that place and You showed me it was a spirit of vanity and lust. I never went back.  I know of other churches where homosexuality is not only condoned, but their Bible omits the word from the Scriptures.  Oh, Father, I know it is Your Spirit in me that recoils from such as this.  I am so saddened at  how far many of the churches have strayed from Your pure religion.

Thank You Father for people in my life who taught me by example to care for orphans and widows.  And  thank You for those believers who know their neighbors and help them when they are in need.   Thank You for those who support charities and open their purses when crisis happens in their communities.  This is loving You and loving their neighbors, and I pray my children and future generations will practice this part of pure religion. 

Father, I pray my children will keep themselves unspotted from the world.  I see so much of the world in many churches today.  They copy the ideas, entertainments and philosophies of the world, the music of the world, the often immodest dress of the world, and they totally reject Your Ways.  You have given us beautiful, meaningful, up-lifting Feasts and Festivals that bring joy and comfort to our hearts, yet these are rejected by the churches.   When I learned of these things, I felt betrayed, and like I'd been robbed.  I was deprived of so much guidance, joy, and comfort.   I am sad that I didn't know these things when my children were growing up.   I pray for my children to learn and embrace Your Ways and to keep themselves unspotted by the ways of the world taught in many of the churches today.

I lift these prayers in the Name and Power of Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.  




Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Monday, May 21, 2012

31 Days of Prayer For Our Children - Day 27

To Preach the Good News

And Yeshua went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom.   (Matthew 4:23)

Yeshua said:  The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe the Good News
 (Mark 1:15)


Father, I pray my children will understand  that Teshuva (Repentance) means turning back to Torah.   Yeshua preached the Good News before He went to the cross.  Teshuva is turning back to  and accepting Your Way and Your Word.  You are Kadosh (Holy).  Your Ways are not our ways.  I pray for my children to understand Your Kadosh.

Thank you that we can learn Your Ways through study of  Your Torah.  May my children understand that many people and churches today preach "another" gospel.  Just as the leaders during the time of Yeshua had perverted Torah and set up man-made rules, religions and churches have done the same today.  They preach another gospel.  That gospel does not include Teshuva and throws out Your Torah.  Yeshua preached Teshuva and showed us how to live the Torah.   


Father, I pray for my children to carry the message of repentance and faith in Yeshua Ha-Mashach.   I pray they will understand that your grace never changed from the Old Testament to the New.   You don't take sin lightly, and You require a blood sacrifice for the remission of sin.

My study of Leviticus taught me so much about the blood.  It sobered me to imagine having to take an animal to the priest to be slaughtered every time I sin.    Thank You, Father, that Yeshua paid the ultimate and final payment when He shed His blood.  No more do we have to sacrifice animals.    That truly is good news.  Thank You for Your blood, and may You be glorified forever through the mighty Name, Power, and Blood of Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.

I'm linking up with  Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday

Sunday, May 20, 2012

31 Days of Prayer For Our Children - Day 26

To Number Our Days

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.(Psalm 90:12) 

Whatever you do, whether it's eating or drinking ore anything else, do it all so as to bring glory to G-d.(1Corinthians 10:31)

Father, I pray for my children to be conscious of the fact that we are not promised tomorrow. The tragic death of six people in our small community last week brought this truth so close to home.   The deaths of young and old people happen every day.  We tend to think we will always have tomorrow.  It is only because of Your grace that we wake up each morning.  Every day is precious, and I pray for my children to recognize this and live their lives for the purpose of giving You glory.

I pray for my children to keep short accounts with others and to make right any strained relationships.  I pray  they will not  allow the sun to go down upon their wrath. 

Father, I pray they will confess their sins to You and ask for and receive Your forgiveness.  Thank You for the promise that You and faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

I pray for my children to be conscious that our purpose in this life is to learn and apply the wisdom of Your Kingdom, and to give You glory in all we we say and do.

I pray these things in the Name of Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.

 I’m linking to On Your Heart Tuesday

Friday, May 18, 2012

31 Days of Praying For Our Children - Day 25

Abiding

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)


Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.
 Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples. (John 15:1-8)

Father, I pray for my children to understand that the fruit you desire is obedience.  The fruit of Your spirit is a result of study and application of Your Holy Scriptures.  When we abide in You (obey You) all of this wonderful fruit just grows naturally.  When we disobey, we produce quite the opposite.  You say the wages of sin is death.  While we may not die physically immediately, our inner man dies and we are not the loving, joyful, peaceful, longsuffering, gentle, good, faithful, meek and self-controlled person You desire us to be.  


Oh, L-rd, I pray for you to protect my children from false teachers and prophets.  Many ignore or pervert Your Word to suit their lusts.  I pray for my children to recognize and discern these teachings.  They can only do this by knowing Your Word.  I also pray for them to be cautious of wrong translations of Your Scriptures.  New translations are completely changing Your Truth and leading many astray.   I pray for my children to be diligent to study and seek Your Wisdom and to understand that the New Testament does not contradict the Old.  They are in perfect union and harmony if one seeks understanding.

Father, I pray for my children to understand that Your Words and Your Ways are life, and to obey them, and teach their children to obey them.   There is wonderful promise of answered prayer in this passage, if we abide in You.  I pray for my children to recognize this treasure.

I offer this prayer in the mighty name of Yeshua, Ha-Mashiach. 


 
 I'm linking up today to Faith Filled Friday
and Spiritual Sundays