The Clarion, Dec. 2024
Welcome
Welcome to the Season of Light. We finally made it to the end of the year. The journey is always long and hard for many of us. We have lost loved ones on the way and we even had new ones born. Life has its ups and downs. It’s good and it’s bad. But when we come to the end of a year we celebrate that we have made it thus far. What better way to celebrate than with light. So much darkness comes our way in a year’s time so when we come to the end of a year we celebrate the victories and what better ways to remember a victory than with lights. Isn’t this how we celebrate the 4th of July with lights? This too, is what the celebration of Hanukkah is all about. The people won a great victory, a few over the many. Then there was a great miracle. The Menorah had to be lit but there was only one day’s worth of oil but that little bit of oil lasted 8 days. Now it’s time to celebrate those victories with light and celebration and gatherings and gifts. Yes, everyone likes a good miracle to celebrate. Everyone likes a great victory to celebrate, and those who did not make it through to the end of the year, we must remember them in celebration. We can not think of them in darkness, but in light. For God is Light and in Him there is no darkness. During this Season of Light, let us be light in the darkness.
Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”
Matthew 4:16 says, “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
John 1:4-5 says, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome.”
How about you, are you still sitting in that darkness?
Today come into the light and receive the victory, for the Word has become flesh and is dwelling amongst us, and He has given us His light, so we too, can shine in the darkness. Enjoy the Season of Light Everyone.
The Hidden Meaning Behind the Miracles of Yeshua Part 6
Last month we saw that Yeshua’s healings were all based on believing.
This month we want to continue looking at His miracles. Yeshua again finds Himself with a large crowd waiting for Him as we read in Matthew 14:15-20, “Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, ‘This place is secluded and the hour is already past to eat; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Yeshua said to them, ‘They do not need to go; you give them something to eat!’ They said to Him, ‘We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish.’ And He said, ‘Bring them here to Me.’ And ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.”
We see here, in the breaking of the bread, the Seder Meal in which Yeshua took the Afikomen which represented His body and broke it and gave it to His disciples. God is the God of abundance and He will always give to those who ask, even if He has to multiply the little that we have. It’s like this story in
2 Kings 4:1-7, “The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.’ Elisha replied to her, ‘How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?’ ‘Your servant has nothing there at all,’ she said, ‘except a small jar of olive oil.’ Elisha said, ‘Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.’ She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, ‘Bring me another one.’ But he replied, ‘There is not a jar left.’ Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, ‘Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
We continue to read in Matthew 14:22-33 this story, “Immediately afterward He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear.
But immediately Yeshua spoke to them, saying, ‘Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter responded and said to Him, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ And He said, ‘Come!’ And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Yeshua. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Yeshua reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, You are truly God’s Son!”’
The disciples sure had their experiences with waves and wind and storm. But Yeshua used all of this to grow their faith. He knew that once He was not with them any longer they were going to have to have great faith. But for Peter it was a case of I believe, but help my unbelief. Matthew 14:34-36 continues, “When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding region and brought to Him all who were sick; and they pleaded with Him that they might just touch the border of His cloak; and all who touched it were cured.”
There were no phones or internet or even newspapers, yet the word traveled about Yeshua and people came looking for a miracle. The Bible tells us that Yeshua went about doing good. Is this what people will say about you when you have passed on? John 6:24-40 continues this story and He also reveals the meaning behind the loaves and fish. “So when the crowd saw that Yeshua was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and came to Capernaum, looking for Yeshua. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, ‘Rabbi, when did You get here?’ Yeshua answered them and said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.’ Therefore they said to Him, ‘What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?’ Yeshua answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’ So they said to Him, ‘What then are You doing as a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’ Yeshua then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, always give us this bread.’ Yeshua said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe.
Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”’ Remember the Afikomen that Yeshua broke and said ‘This is My body’ during the Passover Seder. Yeshua, (God’s Salvation) is once again playing this all out in His miracles. This is what was on His mind every second of the day. He was the “Sent One” who would come and bring salvation to mankind. John 3:16-21 speaks about this, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed by God.” Yes, Yeshua is the Bread of Life and we must eat of this Bread. This Bread, this true manna from heaven is none other than the Word of God. Yeshua is the Word of God made flesh. To believe in Yeshua is to have Him (the Word) written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10) and to have Him written on our hearts means we must eat His flesh, and drink His blood
( John 6:53-58) which means that we must walk in His Word and live by His Word. It’s just not enough to say , “I believe.” Anyone can say that, but when we start to live the Word and act the Word, we now begin to look and sound like our Master Yeshua and people take notice. So when Yeshua saw that many people could not accept this, He said to His disciples this in John 6:60:64 “So then many in the crowd, when they heard this, said, ‘This statement is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?’ But Yeshua, aware that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, Is this offensive to you? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Yeshua knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him. And He was saying, For this reason I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”’ “To believe”, is to take action. We must show our faith by our deeds (James 2:14-26). If we are children of God then we must also look like our Father and our Father looks like Yeshua (John 14:8-9).
Safetyzoneforteens.com
Are You A Hypocrite?
Have you ever met anyone or maybe even you, that has problems expressing themselves? They just can’t find the words to say, words to express their feelings. You may say that they are anti-social. You may say that they think they are better than anyone else because they do not socialize. You may find that these people are the class clown or even trouble maker. They may be bullied or laughed at because of it. But did you ever think that they may have a problem with words? It’s not that they wouldn’t love to be part of the in crowd or even have a friend or even someone to talk to. So they get lost in themselves. They take their troubles and keep them inside of themselves. We are supposed to love one another, even though we think they are unlovable. We talk about justice, we talk about equity, we talk the talk but we do not do anything about what we talk about. No one should be bullied. No one should be laughed at. No one should be excluded. Yet, we do exclude and laugh and talk about people who we think are weird or strange or different. We are the hypocrites. We protest and we stand for injustice and we are the ones who are guilty because we bully and gossip and laugh and ignore others because they do not think like us or look like us or act like us. Many people have problems expressing themselves. Many people have social disorders, many people have hurts so deep down inside them that they can not even tell other people about it. A little kindness goes a long way. But I know if you help one of these kind of people then you will be excluded. You will be laughed at. You will be bullied. So what! If you believe in something then practice it, but if you only talk the talk and not walk the talk, then you really don’t believe in what you say or what you stand for. You need to look into the mirror and see the truth about yourself. Justice only comes when we do the right thing. Equality only comes when we make all people equal. Equity only comes when we give a hand up to another. Don’t just follow a crowd, but be an example. Talk is cheap action is worth its weight in gold. But first we must understand that everyone is different. Everyone has some kind of issue that they are dealing with. There was an old saying that said, “To understand me, walk a mile in my shoes.” You know that person that you think is stuck up or anti-social or even strange, well I say, get into their shoes and find out what lies underneath the surface. Be a friend not an enemy, love and do not hate. Be kind instead of being mean and you may find a wealth of gold and a new friend. Some day you will be glad that you reached out a hand to someone who never thought that anyone would ever do such a thing. You will be a better person for it and so will your new friend. Take it slow, my friend, because those who have been alone for so long may not know how to react to someone who actually cares.
Hebrew Corner: The Martyrs, Matthias
While the 120 gathered in Jerusalem waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit the apostles found it necessary to replace Judas Iscariot with another who had been with them from the beginning.
Acts 1:21-26 tells us this, “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Yeshua went in and out among us, beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection. So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. And they prayed and said, ‘You, Lord, who knows the hearts of all people, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.”
So, Matthias would have been with the other Apostles on the day of Pentecost. There is no other information recorded in the Bible about him. As most of the disciples, there are many different traditions and stories about them, but many are believed not to be true. There was a gospel written by Matthias, but the early church fathers attributed it to a pseudo writer in the 2nd Century. Even his name has been questioned and even where he did his ministry. Some believed he was crucified. Some believe he was killed by barbarians. Others believe that he was beheaded and others believe he died of old age. History is not always exact. But we do know that even though Yeshua did not pick Matthias originally to be one of the twelve Apostles, he was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot. It could most likely be because Yeshua knew Judas would betray Him. Either way Matthias was chosen and he became one of the twelve Apostles who was willing to die for the gospel. It is believed that He was stoned in Jerusalem and then beheaded in 80CE.
So, it does not matter if we ministered in Ethiopia, or Damascus or any other place. What matters is that we, no matter where we are, that we are a witness for the sake of the gospel.
Tweet this!