The Clarion, March 2025
Welcome
The month of March reminds me that one day we will all be marching as this great song “Marching to Zion” says, “Come, we that love the Lord and let our joys be known; join in a song with sweet accord, and thus surround the throne. We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion; we’re marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God.” It will be like when God led His people through the wilderness. Psalm 68, in a very literal sense, is about God marching to Zion. The psalm celebrates the march of the Ark of the Covenant to the temple (tabernacle) in Jerusalem. Symbolically, it speaks of the militant march of God and His people. God, when You went forth before Your people, when You marched through the desert the earth quaked; the heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.”
Psalm 68:24-26 continues, “Your procession is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary— the singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines: ‘Bless God in the great congregation, the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”’
Yes, one day God’s people will return as Revelation 19: 11-14 tells us, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.”
Today we are marching as one who goes off to war to fight the battle between good and evil and as we go and as we fight we will conquer the promised land and we will go up to Zion, that beautiful eternal city of God.
Yeshua our Example of a Life in the Spirit, Part 3
We have been looking at the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Today we want to look at patience and self control. The greatest may be love, but patience, as they say, is a virtue. Patient endurance is an absolute must when going through trials. We hear the saying peace thru strength and this is true because there is strength when we endure and persevere, because that is the result of patience, and that patience gives us hope and hope never fails and so we have the strength to go on because we have peace in our hearts.
Romans 5:1-5 says, “We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Messiah Yeshua. Through our faith, Messiah has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are very happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory. And we are also happy with the troubles we have. Why are we happy with troubles? Because we know that these troubles make us more patient. And this patience is proof that we are strong. And this proof gives us hope. And this hope will never disappoint us. We know this because God has poured out His love to fill our hearts through the Holy Spirit He gave us.”
James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
1 Peter 2:19-20 says, “For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person endures grief when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God”.
As we go through life we will encounter persecution and trials and even disappointments, but when we have patience, endurance and perseverance it creates hope, and hope never fails us.
Yes, we must be like the farmer who patiently waits as James 5:7-11 tells us,“Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Romans 8:19-25 tells us this, “For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
Hebrews 6: 10-12 tells us this, “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
1 Timothy 1:16 tells us this about Yeshua, “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Messiah Yeshua might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”
Romans 9: 22-24 says, “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon objects of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, namely us, whom He also called, not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles”
2 Peter 3:9 says this about God’s patience. “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”
We see this in the day of Noah as 1 Peter 3:20 says this about Yeshua who went and preached salvation to the lost souls. “And by the Spirit He went and preached to the spirits in prison. Those were the spirits who refused to obey God long ago in the time of Noah. God was waiting patiently for people while Noah was building the big boat. And only a few—eight in all—were saved in the boat through the floodwater.”
2 Peter 3:14-15 also tells us, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you.”
Paul speaks to us also about patience and persecution in 2 Timothy 3:10-12, “Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.”
To have patience one must have self control. So what exactly is self-control?
Self-control is the ability to control oneself, not only with our emotions, but also with our actions. Yeshua showed self-control in many situations, for instance, when tempted in the wilderness. He resisted the devil’s lures, even though He was hungry and his offer of power, because He knew that one day He would rule and reign, (Matthew 4). When being arrested, He did not resist because He told the Father, “Your will be done, not Mine,”(Matthew 26). Yeshua showed great patience and self-control with His apostles and with those who denied that He was sent by God. So self- control has a lot to do with knowing who you are, and who you serve. It works hand in hand with patience.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 says this, “I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Messiah Yeshua , who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But as for you, use self-restraint (self-control) in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 speaks about the end times when people will not have any self-control. “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these.”
And finally 2 Peter 1:4-8 says this “Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Messiah Yeshua.”
Safetyzoneforteens.com You could be in Danger
Today there is so much stress in our lives that it is causing so many families to be torn apart. More and more violence is occurring in our homes and in our schools. Please read this and we hope that the information will help you to be aware. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, domestic violence is up and today the statistics prove it out. Intimate partner violence affects more than 12 million people every year. Almost half of all women and men in America alone have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Women ages 18-34 generally experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence. 30-60 % of intimate partner violence perpetrators also abused children in the household. 22 % of children have witnessed violence toward a parent’s intimate partner. 40% of child abuse victims also report experiencing domestic abuse. According to the US Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, domestic violence may be the single major precursors to fatalities from child abuse and neglect in America. Almost 10% of high school students reported being hit, slapped, or physically hurt, intentionally by their partner in the last 12 months. 1 in 10 high school students has experienced physical violence from a dating partner in the past year. 43% of dating college women report experiencing violent and abusive dating behavior including physical, sexual, digital, verbal, or other controlling abuse. 29% of college women say they’ve been in an abusive dating relationship. 57% say that their abuse took place while in college. 38% say that they do not know what to do to get help for themselves if they experience dating abuse, and 58% don’t know what to do to help someone else who is a victim of dating abuse. Over half of college students say it is difficult to identify dating abuse. 16 % of women and 5% of men in America have been a victim of stalking at some point during their lifetime in which they felt fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed. Most common stalking tactics experienced by both women and men victims of stalking were repeated unwanted phone calls, voice or text messages. Survivors are 2 times more likely to develop symptoms of depression and 3 times more likely to develop a major depressive order. Survivors are 3 times more likely to engage in self- harming behaviors, 3 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and 4 times more likely to attempt suicide, 3 times more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorder and 6 times more likely to have a substance use disorder. The presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide for women 500%. More than half of women are killed by gun violence by a family member or intimate partner.
Hebrew Corner: The Apostle John
The beloved disciple of Yeshua was the brother of James the Great. He was the youngest of the twelve apostles. He was also the son of Zebedee. They were fishermen as Matthew 4:18-22 and many other Scriptures tell us. He is also referred to as John the Evangelist. He is the writer of the Gospel account of John and the books 1,2 and 3 of John and also the writer of Revelation.
John 1:35-40 speaks of the two disciples of John the Baptist who found Yeshua the Messiah. “The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Yeshua as He walked by and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Yeshua. Yeshua turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ And they said to Him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and you will see.’ So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Yeshua was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. John is one of the four that was in the inner circle with Yeshua.
John 13:23-25 records when Yeshua tells them that He was going to be betrayed. “One of His disciples, whom Yeshua loved, was reclining at the table at Yeshua’s side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Yeshua of whom He was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Yeshua, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”
That disciple was John.
John 18:15-16 also speaks of John. “Simon Peter followed Yeshua, and so did another disciple (John). Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Yeshua into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in.” Again we read about John’s love for the Messiah in
John 19: 26-27, “When Yeshua saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” John was a faithful servant and friend to Messiah, and of course, we see with such a great revelation that was entrusted to him in the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation begins with this statement. “The revelation of Messiah Yeshua, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Messiah Yeshua, even to all that He saw.”
John was thrown into a pot of boiling oil but he miraculously escaped. So Domitian banished him to the Isle of Patmos where he received such a great revelation.
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