The Clarion, Jun. 2021
Welcome
June is a great month because of Summer. Years ago everyone wanted to be a June bride. All the flowers are in bloom and peoples’ gardens are growing and of course, June is Father’s Day month. Fathers represent God. Fathers are our protectors and our providers and they are our teachers. Yeshua says this in Matthew 7:9-11 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
And in Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, because your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom.”
This Sandigram says a lot about the love of our Heavenly Father.
My Father’s Love
One day I left my Father. I don’t know why or how I could.
I thought, “My Father, He is the Great I Am, the Creator of all things.
My Father has always loved me.” So I turned back because I was His child.
As I turned, I looked. I was amazed. See how He runs towards me? See His tears?
Look! Look! Look on the hill! See my Father?
Look! Look! Look on the hill! See, He runs towards me.
See my Father? See how He loves me?
Copyright 2010 Sandigram/I Am
Father My Teacher
Proverbs 22:6 tells us, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he grows older he will not abandon it.”
Proverbs 4:1-2 also tells this, “Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding, for I give you good teaching; do not abandon my instruction.”
God chose Abraham because He knew that he would teach his children as Genesis 18:19 tells us, “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”
How important it is for fathers to teach their children and to be an example to them. The scriptures even tell us what happens if a child is not brought up being trained and disciplined as Ephesians 6:4 tells us, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
You can not expect a child to behave or even grow up to be a person of faith if he was never taught or trained or even disciplined by truth.
Fathers represent God in this world. He is the head of the home, and so with that, comes many responsibilities in how he raises up his family. The Bible tells us that we are to honor our fathers and our mothers. That is one of the Ten Commandments, in fact, it is the commandment that follows after how we are to respect and revere God, our Heavenly Father.
So let’s take a closer look at our Heavenly Father, so that our earthly fathers can follow His example. Let’s start by looking at the definition to teach. We see that this verb (action word) has many different aspects to teaching like “to impart”, “to guide”, “to cause” just to name a few. As you can see, to teach someone requires the teacher to do many things, like to impart knowledge, or guide someone in the truth of that knowledge which may require the teacher to go beyond just imparting the knowledge and to cause one to walk in that knowledge.
As you can see a teacher has an important role in one’s life. Let’s look at our Heavenly Father to see how He does all these things in our lives. We see that from the start God teaches Moses how to be a leader in Exodus 4:12. “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
In Exodus 18:20 we see Moses now teaching the people not only God’s Words, but how they should live them out. “And you shall teach them the statutes and laws and shall show them the way in which they must walk and the work that they must do.”
In Psalm 25:4 the psalmist doesn’t only ask God to teach him His ways , but to make them known to him. “ Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.” In other words the psalmist wanted God to go a step further to make sure that he would follow on God’s paths. How does God do that? Well, God takes us that next step. When we have been taught God’s Word, like right from wrong and we know the way to go, but we wander off the path, a good teacher will need to take his teaching one step further.
Hebrews 12:5-11 tells us this, “And you have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons: “My son, do not despise the discipline from the Lord, nor grow weary when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and scourges every son whom He receives.” Endure discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline? If you are without discipline, of which everyone has partaken, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers, and they corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed disciplined us for a short time according to their own judgment, but He does so for our profit,that we may partake of His holiness. Now no discipline seems to be joyful at the time, but grievous. Yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness in those who have been trained by it.”
Yes, discipline is a big part of learning. It is the correcting process that teaches us the boundaries of what we have learned. It keeps us in the truth of knowledge and you reap the benefits of your training. When you have been taught from your father, he gives you a pat on the back or tells you congratulations, but let’s see what God does to reward us in James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he is tried, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
All of that training and discipline helps us to have the victory in the times of temptation, and God rewards us not only with the victory, but one day we will receive the crown of life. Happy Father’s Day to all you Fathers,Grandfathers,and even Great-Grandfathers, never stop teaching.
Excerpt From Love and the Messianic Age
by Paul Philip Levertoff
Knowledge and Love
We must try our best to become vessels for God’s love,guard our hearts wherein dwells the “divine spark” and preserve it undimmed and entire,and flee from “Egypt” in order to experience God’s revelation on “Sinai.” We must first try to clear away the thorns and weeds-hatred, jealousy, and lust-from the vineyard of the soul, so that that which is good in us may be separated from that which is evil. Then only can He fill us with His love. When God is sanctified by Israel, then He fulfills His promise: I the Lord will sanctify you.” The following parable describes the divine love which is revealed in the mystery of the human personality, in the descent of the soul, in order to inhabit a material tabernacle;
A king had an only son who was pure, wise and good, having never known evil. The father delighted in these qualities of his son, and the son glorified in the wisdom of his father, and the harmony between them was perfect. One day, the wise king called his son to him and commanded him to prepare himself for a long journey into a far country. The son was loath to leave his father, but never doubting the wisdom of the command, he obeyed it. Often, as he wandered from his father’s home, he was sad and lonely. Horrible sights and sounds made him shudder. Temptations assailed him on all sides. What a struggle was his to keep himself unspotted. In this way, every day, unconsciously, he grew in strength of character. Meanwhile, the father longed unceasingly for the return of his son. His heart ached for the wanderer and suffered silently with him in each suffering. But how he rejoiced, even more than the son, at the latter’s victory over temptation.
Recipe Corner:
Because so many people want to be June brides, our recipe is a famous wedding cookie.
The Mexican Wedding Cookie.
So many other nationalities have the same cookie, but call it by different names, like the Italian Wedding Cookies, the Russian Tea Cookies, and even Butterballs.
Wedding or not, this is a good cookie to eat on a warm day because it is so light.
Ingredients; 1 ½ cups of unsalted butter
¾ cup confectioners sugar
¾ teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of finely ground almonds (optional)
4 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
3 cups sifted all purpose flour
⅓ cup confectioner sugar for rolling
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- Cream butter or margarine in a bowl, gradually add confectioners’ sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Add almonds and vanilla. Blend in flour gradually and mix well.
- Shape into balls (or crescents) using about 1 teaspoon for each cookie. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, and bake for 15-20 min. Do not brown. Cool slightly, then roll in the extra confectioners’ sugar. ENJOY!
…… If you have a family favorite recipe you would like to share, send it to our contact page on our website and give us the name of the recipe and maybe a little history behind it…
The Hebrew Corner
Our next letter in the Hebrew alphabet is,
מ Mem
Mem is the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The number value is 40. Forty is significant because it rained for 40 days in the day of Noah. The people were in the wilderness for forty years. Moses was on the mountain receiving the Torah for forty days. Yeshua fasted for forty days. After forty days in the womb a child begins to take form.
Mem has two forms, open and closed. The open form is said to represent the revealed truth of God, whereas the closed form is said to represent the concealed truth of God. When the disciples of Yeshua asked why He speaks in parables, He answered saying, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given.” Matthew 13:10-11
Mem is said to represent water (mayim), symbolizing the “spring” of the Torah.
Isaiah 12:3 tells us, “Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.”
John 4: 13-14 tells us this about Yeshua, “ Yeshua answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
The Mem represents the omnipresence of God and also God’s rule and the closed mem represents the era of Messiah (Mashiach), when He shall reign upon the earth and there shall be no end to His healing peace. As Isaiah 9:7 says, “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.
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