Elul

image via Holy Sparks

I am SO excited! Elul is upon us. Elul is the 6th month on the Hebrew calendar. Which to some that may seem like no big deal but if you know about Hashem's appointed times then you will notice that it's 1 month away from the fall feasts.

On the 1st of Tishrei (the 7th month) is Yom Teruah, more commonly known as Rosh Hashanah. Then on the 10th of Tishrei is Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Then it all wraps up with Sukkot on the 15th. These three fall feasts are a time for deep connection with Hashem. They are a time for teshuva {repentance} and getting on the right track. 

The month prior to this, Elul, is used for introspection and drawing closer to Hashem. There is a teaching isn Judaism that says during Elul "the King is in the field". Meaning that Hashem is even more accessible to us during this time. The reason for this is that we are approaching HIS appointed times for renewal and atonement. 

There so much more to say about this and much work to be done to prepare for Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah. I'm planning on taking part in an online study group on Teshuva and Rosh Hashanah, as well doing some personal Torah study and reflection. A great portion of scripture to read during this time would be the book of Nehemia. Chapters 6-8 are really appropriate for this time as they deal with the months of Elul and Tishrei, and show the preparations that took place to prepare the Israelites for  the High Holy Days. 

Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. -Ecc 5:9

Are you doing any soul searching for Elul? What are some of the ways you will prepare for the High Holy Days?

Obedience and Fear

Something I'm chewing on today...

 "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." James 2:19

Do we tremble in the face of the Almighty? Or are we flippant? Do we believe that we can do as we please despite the rules that He has in place? 

I think we can all agree the most flippant of all is hasatan himself. But even he knows to not go beyond the boundary that the Almighty set. Look at these verses in Job:

1: 12 And YHVH said unto satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So satan went forth from the presence of YHVH. 

2:6-7 And YHVH said unto satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went satan forth from the presence of YHVH , and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

The Almighty allowed the enemy to attack Job, but He gave clear boundaries. As we read we see that the enemy never once crossed those boundary lines. Are we that faithful to do as we are told or does hasatan obey better than we do?

YHVH gave many commands that are perpetual, or everlasting. Yet many today believe that those commands are done away with. Worse yet those that know and believe that the laws given by YHVH are still for us today are not diligent. We come to this truth but then still tow the line and say well its ok if I slip. When in reality we should be so far from the line there is no fear of slipping! 

I'm not pointing any fingers because Yah knows I am not perfect. But boy oh boy was I convicted by the obedience of hasatan. Isn't that crazy??? Our very own enemy that is in 100% opposition to YHVH obeys Him. But do we? 

We need to learn to tremble and to be exceedingly afraid of YHVH. While He is merciful and loving and long suffering that does not make Him soft on sin. Don't confuse His kindness for weakness. The same Elohim who destroyed Nadab and Abihu for offering strange fire, is the same Elohim that we call Abba, Father, and He will not be mocked. Be exceedingly afraid.... 

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear YHVH, and depart from evil. -Proverbs 3:7

Are you salty?

Have you ever read the verse that talks about unsalty salt? 

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. -Matthew 5:13

This verse always seemed weird to me. Maybe it's just me but I've never had unsalty salt. So it just didn't make sense to me. But recently I needed to buy some sea salt. I normally just use regular table salt, but for what ever reason this time I needed sea salt.

That sea salt made my table salt seem very unsalty! I was so shocked. On the container it said to just use the same amount you would table salt. But when I did the results were barely edible! My container of table salt had lost it's savour! Whoa!

I'd love to say I'm like super spiritual and that my mind immediately went to that verse. But nope... It was well over a month later while I was cooking dinner that the Lord brought this concept to my mind. It was almost like the Lord was saying "how salty are you Tewauna?" 

I've never really thought about it before. I just took for granted that I'm to be "salt and light". I never took into consideration my saltiness. But that is something that matters! So how do we maintain our saltiness? If we keep reading we see in verse 16 that we need to "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

So that's the ticket! Good works. Doing what's right. OBEDIENCE! It never ceases to amaze me how often that is the answer. If we simply obey what the Lord says, no matter what we think or what people say, then we can continue to useful. But when we disobey we become "good for nothing". I don't want that to be me! How about you? 

What area in your life is the Lord calling you to surrender, or die to self? 

Keeping Kosher

I will be the first to tell you that to eat Biblically clean you DO NOT have to buy everything kosher. In fact if you know what you're looking for, and you do most of your cooking from scratch you can completely avoid hechshers {the symbols on food that tell you if they are kosher or not}.

But in light of our almost dinner fiasco tonight, we have decided to go kosher. Now of course anything that we know to be clean we will still purchase, like cheese, but we will be making sure that the bulk of our products are hechshered.

So here's what happened. My husband purchased a bottle of sweet and sour sauce that he wanted me to use for dinner. Nothing wrong with that. Well I ended up reading the label, because we have a youngin' with allergies, and guess what I saw? CARMINE. Now if you don't know what carmine is let me just tell you that a it's unclean, and b it's gross. Carmine is a red food coloring that comes from the Cochineal bug, which is a cactus parasite.. Blech! 

Being that so many food additives are derived from rather unsavory sources, and we can't keep up with them all, we've decided to trust those whose job it is to make sure that unclean things do not get into our food. This also means I'll have to start digging into which hechshers are actually good. Because I know some rabbis believe that things that are derived from an unclean source are so far removed from the original source that they can be considered clean. We do not agree with that, nor do most Orthodox Jews, so those are the type of hechshers we will be sticking with. One hechsher that everyone is very familiar with it the OU symbol from the Orthodox Union. That's the most common one, but as I study things out I will share the other ones that I find to be valid. 

In the mean time while you're trying to figure things out READ READ READ those labels! Even if you don't keep kosher do you really want to eat a bug, just to make your food red? 

This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten. -Leviticus 11:46-47

Big Changes {part 1}

Wow, I've been guilty of disappearing for awhile, but this time around was a little excessive! Sorry ya'll! We've had SO much going on that blogging just took a back seat.

This year has been full of ups, downs, twists and turns! Which shouldn't be a shocker since my family and I started the year with this declaration. I mean when you say that you're going to follow YHVH blindly and just go where He leads, you might as well expect some changes.

I've blogged about a bunch of the things that have gone on this year, but there are three big things I haven't shared yet.

The first is that we left our church. This one was HARD. But we sat in service, after service, and listened to our pastor preach on Truth or Tradition. Over, and over, he asked will we stand for God's truth or for our own traditions... Talk about conviction. Now he wasn't talking about Hebrew Roots, but none the less Abba used that to work in our hearts. It was amazing. This same topic was preached on for what felt like forever, and at pretty much every service! I think I felt the itch before my hubby but I just kept quiet and prayed. When I finally asked my hubby if he was making the same connections as I was he said he was. But just wasn't sure what to do. So again I was just quiet and in prayer.

Then one night I was chatting with a dear friend, and telling her how I was feeling. I told her about the messages, how there was no where for us to go, and how lonely I felt. She encouraged me to just wait and pray so I did. Only I didn't have to wait that long. The next day someone sent me a facebook friend request. But I didn't know them. Turns out  she was another believer that was local to me! But she didn't know that because my location isn't on FB. We started chatting about fellowship and when I told her that we didn't go anywhere for our Shabbat fellowship, she invited us to join her family!

My husband is usually VERY hesitant about going to new places, and especially in this situation of going to someone's house, that we had never met. So when I mentioned it to him I was figuring he'd say no. Well surprise, surprise! He said yes! That next Shabbat we head over to meet with her family, and really enjoyed the teaching and fellowship. We then went to church as normal on Sunday. But Sunday night, after the evening service, my hubby was washing dishes and I was sitting in the living room with the girls. All of a sudden he came into the living room and said "we're not going back to the church." I said "ok, like on Wednesday we're not going back?" "No, we're not going back ever."

That was it, no explanation. I didn't know what to think or say. So I didn't say anything. When we discussed it later that evening he told me that he felt YHVH was telling him not to go back. He said he stood there questioning it for a second, and then was just like if this is what I believe YHVH is telling me why am I fighting it. So I said ok, and we agreed to just continue going to our new found Shabbat fellowship.

I don't want to make this post too long, so stay tuned for part 2 :o)

Scripture Memorization Idea and a Printable!

 

I've blogged before about the importance of planting seeds of YHVH's Word in our children's hearts. But our family is trying a few new things so I thought I'd share them with you.

The first thing that we are trying is the scripture memorization technique from Simply Charlotte Mason. This technique will ensure that we are constantly memorizing new scriptures as well as going over the ones we've previously learned. To use this method you need a index card box, 41 dividers, and index cards. You label the dividers: daily, odd, even, Sunday-Saturday, and 1-31. Then you put the dividers in the box IN THAT ORDER. Place the cards you want to work on in the front and then your first card in the daily section.

 

As you memorize passages then you can move the cards back replacing older cards, with new cards. You will work on 4 different cards each day. So let's say today is Monday the 3rd you'd review your daily card, odd card, Monday card, and the 3 card. I know that might be a little confusing so here is a video that explains it way better :o)

 

In addition to working on the verses in our box we are learning the Shema (and it's blessing) in Hebrew and in English. The girls pretty much know it but I want them to understand it, so we will be singing (and discussing) it at the start of each school session. To help me (and you) out I created this printable of the Shema and Blessing! I'm hoping to move forward with more verses of this passage but right now I feel like there are some other verses I want to work on. Praying this will be a blessing to you as you hide Yah's word in the heart of your child.  

 

The law of YHVH is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of YHVH is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of YHVH are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of YHVH is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of YHVH is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of YHVH are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. -Psalm 19:7-10

90 Days in the Word: Wrap Up #2

I can barely believe we're just about a quarter way through reading the Bible chronologically in 90 days! If you started reading on March 1st then today is day 18, and if you've completed your readings that means... You've read all of Genesis, Job, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers! What an amazing accomplishment. If you haven't started it's still not too late. The plan has no dates so you can always start whenever you want. 

This week's group of scriptures contained one of my favorite passages. The one about Balaam and his donkey :o) I always get something when I read this passage but this time what stood out to me most was the questioning of Elohim's authority. In chapter 22 verse 13 we read: 

"And Elohim said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed."

That's an end of discussion answer. But when Balak sent his messengers to offer more to Balaam, he decided to ask Elohim AGAIN even though he had an answer. NO. 

Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what YHVH will say unto me more. And Elohim came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. And Elohim's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of YHVH stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his donkey, and his two servants were with him. -Num 22:19-22

In the past I didn't understand why Elohim was angry. I always felt like it was a set up. One of those you tell me to go and then you get made kind of a deals. But verse 32 clears that up. 

And the angel of YHVH said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine donkey these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:

What Balaam did was perverse, or reckless, before Elohim. But what did Balaam do? He didn't obey. Instead of being obedient to the Word of YHVH he allowed his greed to give him reason to search for a way out. Like a child who says "I know you said I have to eat all me peas, but, look I ate three. Is that enough?"

That revelation really made me question my heart and my motives. Do I seek to obey YHVH even when I'd rather do something else? Or am I like Balaam seeking to please myself more then YHVH?

...choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve YHVH. -Joshua 24:15

For as Oft as Ye Eat...

via google

About a month ago my family and I sat at our Shabbat table to break bread, and I was angry. I felt like my husband didn't help me prepare, and we were late! I was so upset, that I just sat there trying not to look in his direction. He read the Eshet Chayil (Prov 31:10-31) blessing over me and I was still angry. He blessed the children and I sat there just stewing. I was being so awful. Then I heard my Abba whisper to me "you can't enter my rest angry". I never really even thought about that before, we've always carried on with our normal routine no matter how we are feeling. Never really thinking how that may affect our time resting in YHVH. But as I reflected on it these verses came to mind. 

 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. -1 Corinthians 11: 26-29

Until that point I had NEVER looked at our Shabbat tradition as communion. I never really put that together. But in fact it is just that. It is the breaking of bread in remembrance of Yeshua. 

So before my hubby broke the bread I stopped him and told him that I needed to apologize. He already knew I was mad so that wasn't a shock, but once I explained to him what Abba had revealed to me I think we both realized that we were on the cusp of something really important for our family. 

Right there, in front of our children, I confessed my sins and asked for his and their forgiveness. After that I felt fully free to enter into the sabbath and enjoy the rest provided by YHVH. We now make it a point to be in good spirits and right standing with each other (and Elohim) as we enter into Shabbat. It's so amazing what the Ruach HaKodesh {Holy Spirit} can do when we allow YHVH to work in our lives. 

The things we do shouldn't just be vain traditions. Every thing we do in the name of YHVH should be drawing us closer to Him and producing godliness in us. Learning that lesson has greatly transformed all that I do. 

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. -Phillipians 1:15

Appointed Times

image via google

My husband and I have been studying about the Biblical calculation of time. We've found some very interesting things, that have changed our convictions. In the past I had heard that people used the moon to determine when the moedim {appointed times} were. But I didn't fully understand it, and truthfully didn't have the desire to figure it out. But after some reading and studying I see that it's actually very important. Especially now that were are gearing up for the spring feasts. 

Let's start from the beginning. In Leviticus 23 YHVH establishes His set-apart moedim "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts." -Lev 23:2 

As we read on we learn exactly what these feasts are, and when they are to be kept. We read about: 

• Shabbat {the sabbath}
• Pesach {passover}
• HaMatzot {unleavened bread}
• HaBikkurim {first fruits}
• Counting the OmerShavuot {pentecost}
• Yom Teruah {day of trumpets}
• Yom Kippur {day of atonement}
• Sukkot {tabernacles}

All of these feasts are important and we are commanded to keep them at the time set by YHVH. This is why figuring out when to keep them is so important. In psalm 104:19 we see that "He {YHVH} appointed the moon for seasons." The Hebrew word translated as seasons is moed which is the singular of moedim, meaning appointed time(s). 

So now that we have that figured out the next thing is determining when does a month begin? A month starts at the first sighting of the new {or renewed} moon. Now this isn't the non-existent moon but rather the very first sliver of a crescent moon. At the first sighting of it, in Israel, we know all over the world that it is time for a new month!

Now I know your probably thinking why do I have to do all of that when I have a calendar? Our modern calendars are Gregorian and therefore they are not accurately lined up with scripture. So when we see in scripture that something is to be in the first month on the fifth day, that is not saying January 5th. The Gregorian calendar is based on the sun, and the Biblical calendar is based on the moon.

Back to Leviticus 23. In verse 5 we read "In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover." The word translated month is chodesh which means new moon.  Now we know that every month starts with a new moon. This means that the most efficient way to tell time and to make sure that you are meeting with YHVH is to go by the moon. There are many sites that provide information on moon sightings and on the search for aviv/abib barely, which is part of determining a new year, if you'd like to read more about it in detail. 

In Exodus 34:18 we learn when Passover is supposed to happen. " The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt." The significance of this isn't so much a month being called aviv/abib but rather the condition of the barely. Aviv/abib is simply when the barely is ripe, but not fully matured. So this in conjunction with the new moon is how the first of the year is determined. 

Having to do research, versus just looking at a calendar, takes some getting used to but it's awesome to know that you are in line with the Creator! Today is the first day of the potentially last month of the year. If the aviv barley is spotted then we know that next month Passover will be 14 days after the new moon! I'm very excited because this will be the first year we have other families to fellowship with. I believe this year will be a great year for my family!  

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. -Psalm 1:1-3

Must See

I saw this video on Shabbat and it is a MUST SEE! I could say so much, but it really speaks for itself. It's the message that was given at  the inaugural prayer breakfast for President Obama. I was so shocked by things that were stated in this message. I think its an important message for everyone to hear. I just pray it doesn't fall on deaf ears. 

Lesson from a 2 year old

This morning as I was laying in bed, next to a wiggly 2 year old that had decided she didn't want to be in her crib any more, I learned a valuable lesson.  She wanted to put her feet down on the side of the bed, but when she did her feet got stuck. She put them there, they got stuck, she cried for help, I pulled her legs out and told her don't put them down there, she puts them down there again! 

This cycle continued maybe two more times and then I started thinking about how we're all like that with Elohim. He'll tell us to do, or not do, something for our own good. But in our willful, and selfish, way we go against what He says. Which only results in us getting into a situation where we must cry out to be rescued. How senseless of a cycle! If only we'd obey instantly we could avoid so much heartache.

My prayer this Shabbat is that Adonai would show me the areas that I am in rebellion and help me adjust them accordingly. 

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  -Psalm 139:23-24

May your sabbath rest be blest! Shabbat Shalom!

A Lesson I Learned This Past Shabbat

As  I was reading in Ezekiel this past Shabbat, Adonai dealt with me about something. I was just starting to read Ezekiel so I hadn't gotten very far before things started to make sense as to why I was even reading Ezekiel in the first place. The verses that the Lord used were Eze 2:6-8.

And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.

Now just to clarify, I believe that scripture has one interpretation, but many applications. So while these verses only mean exactly what they say and are an account of what happened with Ezekiel, that does not mean that Adonai can't use them to speak into my life. Ok, now on to my point :o)

As I was reading I felt like Adonai was telling me to pay attention to what was about to come, and then I read those verses. If you knew me personally, in my "real life", you'd know that I will gladly share with you about Yeshua (Jesus). I have no problem witnessing. But what I do struggle with is sharing my convictions. If you asked me why I wear skirts, or a headcovering, I most likely won't give you scripture and tell you exactly why. I'll just say oh it's my conviction or something else similar. If you asked me why we don't celebrate christmas, I'd just tell you well it's pagan in origin and so we choose to abstain. But I will quickly change the subject. Now of course if someone presses the issue I will share. Because it's not that I'm shy, it's that I'm afraid. I'm afraid of being the odd one, or being looked at funny. But I shouldn't be because YHVH in His Word {1 Peter 2:9} says that I am to be peculiar!

I am Set-apart for my HOLY Elohim, and I should not {and neither should you} be "afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks". I am to speak HIS Words to them, or else I'm being rebellious! Ouch! I don't want to be in rebellion to my Creator. Now this is not to say that I need to, or even should, go around preaching to everyone. It's not so much a matter of preaching, as it is teaching. Who knows how often the enemy has used my fear to keep me from sharing the truth with someone who was searching. When we refuse to open up we aren't allowing Adonai to use us. We were not created to fear! 

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. -2 Timothy 1:7

 The really funny thing though is that it's not the unbeliever that I fear. It's the other so called Christians who are quick to scream legalist, when in truth my hearts desire is the please my Abba. Not to be under bondage, or to put others under bondage. Every conviction that I hold has come from YHVH, and whether or not "they" see it is not my concern. What is my concern though is to always be prepared with scripture for why I live the way I live. Not to argue or to condemn another but so that those who would falsely accuse me, can know of the hope that I have in Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ)! So I am leaving behind that spirit of fear and stepping forth in the truth of my Abba. His Words will be my reply and His Spirit my guide. :o)

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. -1 Peter 3:15-16

Our Shabbat in Pictures

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made;
and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. -Gen 2:2

Our Shabbat didn't go exactly as we planned, but it was a blessing none the less. We watched some videos from Passion for Truth, spent time reading scripture, and enjoyed each others company. After I lit our Shabbat candles I got the idea to share our day with you. Everyone was too hungry for me to take any pictures of dinner though :o)

The challot I made!

They looked so pretty, before I baked them lol. The funny shaped one was part of a project I'm working on for a friend. 

The funny shaped challah didn't make it pass dinner!

This is what it's all about, spending time with Abba.

Pumpkin cookies! 

Lunch!

The girls "reading"

Time for havdalah:
grape juice, spices, and braided candle.

Hubby doing the havdalah service.

There you have it, our Shabbat. It was very refreshing and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to fellowship with my family. I can't wait until next week! Shavua Tov {good week}from my family to yours!

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. -Revelations 14:12

Perfect in Weakness

I decided to deep clean my kitchen today, and I learned a valuable lesson. Actually I learned a few. I learned that a toaster oven is much easier to clean as you use it, instead of waiting until it gets really messy. Much like sin. It's easier to deal with sin as soon as it happens rather than waiting until it has created a mess of your life. 

I also learned that it's easier to submit selectively, than to submit continually. But it's much more rewarding to submit continually. However, the MOST valuable lesson I learned was that I'm at my best when I'm weak. 

You see my sweet little first born daughter walked up to me and said "mommy I'm sorry." I stopped my cleaning, looked at her confused, and asked for what? Her response? "For being bad to my sister." I asked her when had been she bad to her sister, because the poor "victim" was actually taking a nap. She began to tell me that last night she was being mean to her sister, she told me that they had been fighting and that daddy had to correct them. She told me she was so sorry, and that she didn't want me to be mad. I had no idea what she was talking about. 

But I listened and I explained to her what repentance was. I told her that she needed to talk to God and ask Him to help her to not be mean to her sister anymore. Right there in the kitchen as I listened to my little girl pray for the Lord to help her, and to forgive her, my heart broke. I was reminded in that little kitchen that I am an awful mother. I will fail my precious children many times. But on those occasions when I am no good to anyone, Jesus will be all that they need. I can't be all things, I can't do all things, but I know who can. 

I can tell my children to behave, I can encourage them to love each other. But until it becomes real to them and they decide to do it from their hearts, it's just for show. I can't make that change in their hearts. I am completely at a loss in that area. But Jesus can. He can make their hearts tender, and the more I give them Jesus the more He can do in their lives. Today I learned to delight in this weakness, because if I think I can do it all on my own, God will let me try and I'll fail miserably. But if I can recognize where I fall short and fill in the gaps with Him, then the sky is the limit to what can happen in my children's lives. 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

                                                                                             -2 Corinthians 12:9-10

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A Call To Righteousness {part 1}

Lately in my quiet time with the Lord I've been seeing how we are called to have personal righteousness. I know that if you're saved you know about imputed righteousness. Because that's what happens when we accept Jesus as our Savior. His righteousness get's imputed on to us. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about our own personal pursuit of righteousness. 

The Lord has really been pressing this topic into my heart. It seems everyday He makes a verse about righteousness shine as I'm spending time with Him in His Word. For me this is increasingly significant as this is the hebrew month of Elul. This month is an important one as it is the month where much time is spent gearing up for the High Holidays of Yom Teruah (commonly called Rosh Hashanna) and Yom Kippur. {See lev 23:24-32 for more details}

The month of Elul is a time where we are reminded of what is important and we begin making teshuvah (turning back to God; repentance). Which leads us towards seeking to live a life that is pleasing to our Heavenly Father. We can see a picture of this in the book of Nehemiah. Let me give a very quick overview of the first few chapters in the book of Nehemiah:

Hanani came to Nehemiah with some other men of Judah, and Nehemiah asked them about the Jews that had escaped captivity. Their report was not good. So Nehemiah wept and prayed to God for the children of Israel, confessing his sins and their sins. Then, skipping ahead some, Nehemiah received a blessing from the king to go unto Judah and rebuild the wall of the city. Everyone pitched in and rebuilt the wall of the city. Then in chapter 6 verse 15 it says: So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.

As you see the wall was completed near the end of Elul. So while they didn't start during Elul they did spend most of the month preparing. After the wall was finished God put it on Nehemiah's heart to get everyone gathered by their families. Once everyone was gathered Ezra the priest came and read the book of the law to everyone on the first day of the seventh month {Neh 8:2}, which is Yom Teruah! That was the beginning of Judah turning back to the ways of the Lord after their captivity. 

What an awesome picture of how we can turn back to YHVH after our captivity in sin! The rest of Nehemiah covers just how the people turned their hearts back to God and how they got their hearts right with the Father. There is so much to be learned about personal righteousness in this short book of only 13 chapters! I'm late with writing about Elul since it's almost over but it's not too late for teshuva. 

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. -2 Chronicles 7:14

Romans 8 {part 1}

These last few weeks the Lord has had me reading, and re-reading, Romans 8. It seems like every time I read it I get something new. So I figured why not share with you all what the Lord has been revealing to me in my quiet time. 


Let's start with the first few verses:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
³ For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
⁴ That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.



Something so amazing is revealed in these four verses. We are told that the law (Mosaic Law) was weak because it had to be fulfilled in the flesh. As we know there are none righteous so to keep the law perfectly in your flesh is impossible. That's why there needed to be a sacrifice system for the Israelites to atone for their sins. But YHVH in His infinite love and mercy sent His Son, Yeshua (Jesus), to not only show us the pain of our sin but also (and more importantly) to redeem us from the price of our sin!  {For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23}


In verse 4 we find the crux of the matter. The law can't be fulfilled when we try to do it in our flesh, but it IS fulfilled in us when we walk after the Spirit. Do you see that? When we are asking the Lord to fill us and seeking His will in our lives we will have the law fulfilled in us. It's not that the law doesn't matter but rather that we can't and SHOULD NOT try to keep it in our flesh. It's impossible! As we learn to walk in the Spirit YHVH will be faithful to guide us and show us HIS truth. 


To me that is just the most amazing thing. Our Abba loves us so much that not only can we call Him Father, but He also lovingly teaches us just like a good father would teach his children. Gently training in love, yet being firm and just in his correction. The law was not made to be a burden but to be a guide to show us how badly we need GOD. Our Messiah HIMSELF said:



 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. -Matt 11:29-30

To me this is such a BEAUTIFUL picture of just how much we are loved by the Almighty. His standards did not change, just the way He teaches us has.

Thanking God In All Things

I don't know about you all but I had a LONG week! It seemed to just drag on and I had some rough days. Maybe I've just been not responding correctly to the things the Lord has brought in front of me, maybe it's hormones, maybe it was a test (that I don't think I did too great on), or maybe it's just life. But either way it was rough and I am so glad it's almost over and am looking forward to Sunday so I can hear great preaching and get to fellowship with my church family. 


This week I've been trying to focus on yielding my rights, and realizing that everything I have is from the Lord. I watched a teaching, by Bill Gothard, on responding to irritants, and I made a huge effort to have right responses. But of course it was a struggle, that I failed at many times. I'm just very thankful that the Lord led me to a place of being receptive to the idea of giving everything to Him and thanking Him in everything. 


Before I share my picture with you all I just want to share some of my notes on thanking the Lord in all things. I've heard people say that so many times and I've thought, "oh yes that is so great" and then I purposed to do that. But fail because honestly, I've never known how to do it? But now I have a much better grasp on just how to get our minds wrapped around praising God no matter what.


First we have to recognize that most times when we are angry or annoyed it's because we feel that our personal rights have been infringed upon. One example that really helped me to understand this concept is, getting woken up too early for whatever reason. Some of us are really flexible and would just roll with it. But for those of us (namely me!) who would be angry and grumpy about this, it's because we felt we had a "right" to a full nights sleep. But ultimately if we believe that God is truly in control, then we need to recognize that He is bigger than what ever is "bothering us" and that He can change it. 


Now that we've recognized that God is in control then we can examine the situation, and ask ourselves "am I at fault?" So in the above situation it would be, did I stay up too late last night? If not then ok, but if yes then I need to accept my fault in it. 


If it's a situation that needs to be addressed and corrected (like if you did something wrong to someone) then you need to do that. For example: Say you borrowed something from a friend and then never gave it back. You forget all about it and ask them to borrow something else. Well when they say no of course you're going to be annoyed. But if you reflect on it, or ask them about it, you'll see where you were at fault in this situation. Then you can take the proper steps to reconcile the situation. 


If you were totally faultless then you have to go to the next step in examining the issue. You should think about what God wants to show you from the issue. What character traits is He trying to bring out in you? What lesson is He trying to teach you? We can see the truth of God using a circumstance to teach us about something else in us or for us in the beatitudes found in Matthew 5:3-12. 

-Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.-Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.-Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.-Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.-Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.-Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.-Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.-Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.-Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Now that you've thoroughly examined the situation it's easy to thank God. You can thank Him for bringing clarity to a situation that could of gotten worse had you not corrected it, or you can thank Him for presenting you with a challenge to help you grow. Once you get good at discerning an irritant, thanking the Lord will be easier and happen more quickly. 


So although I had a rough week, I'm thanking the Lord for His mercies. I've had to repent and go back to Him about things, but through it I am getting a softer heart for my Lord and seeing when I need to repent for a wrong thought or action MUCH faster. 


Now for my picture :o) this was from a day that was actually very good:

Strawberry picking at a local farm