Are You a Hebrew?
So the question is, are you a Hebrew? And you may say, "No!" but I'm sure that after you read this you may say, "Yes, yes I am."
Love: What a Small Word
February is called the love month. We send people cards and letters telling them just how much we love them. We buy flowers and candy and even expensive jewelry to show just how much we love them. It makes us feel good to do these things and to say these things. So I ask this simple question: when it comes to God, is it enough just to tell God that we love Him?
Preparing Our Hearts
Many people are keeping Lent at this time, but we need to prepare our hearts not just for this time that remembers the past, but we need to prepare our hearts for what is coming in the future.
Enemies of the Cross
The Bible tells us in James 4:4, "Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world's friend makes himself God's enemy." So, can we actually believe that we are good Christian people and yet actually be God's enemy? What exactly is friendship with the world?
Looking into the Mirror
"For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was" (James 1:23-24). We so often think that the Bible speaks only to unbelievers, but the Bible is speaking to believers. You have to ask yourself, how can a person who believes in the One True Living God and who claims to be redeemed forget who he is?
The Spirit in Me Blows Like the Wind
When Yeshua (Jesus) was speaking to Nicodemus about being born again, Yeshua made a very interesting comparison about people being born again and the wind. We want to take a closer look at this and see if we can understand more clearly about this passage.
Walking with God
What does it really mean to walk with God? Will He actually come down and take a walk with us, and what do we have to do to walk with Him?
Do You Have Leprosy?
Do you have leprosy? I am sure your first response to this is "NO!" But we want to take a closer look at this subject because there is a spiritual leprosy that many people do not know about.
The Watchful Eye of a Father and the Love of a Mother
Our Heavenly Father is always looking and watching over us. Nothing is hidden from His sight. Nothing happens that He is not aware of. He sees all and He knows all, but like a mother He comforts us. The Bible tells us this in so many passages, and this is what we are going to take a closer look at.
The Cross Before Me, the World Behind Me
Is it important to have the cross of Calvary always in our forethought? The cross is an instrument of suffering and death. So should we dwell on the cross of Yeshua day and night? There is only one place where we can find our salvation, our forgiveness, and our cleansing, and that is at the cross where the precious shed blood of Yeshua was spilt.
Rejoice In The Lord Always
Philippians 4:4 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always. But we find it so hard to rejoice in affliction, when times are bad, when life just doesn't seem to be kind to us. And yet that is when we are to rejoice the most. When we suffer, that is when God is the closest to us.
Should I Be A Nazirite?
We want to look at the Nazarite and what he has in common with the Believer. Numbers 6:1-21 speaks to us about the vow of a Nazarite. We know that Samson and John the Baptist were both Nazarites, and even Paul had taken the vow once or twice in his life. These rules may seem strange, such as not eating anything from the grapevine, not being defiled by a dead person, and not even cutting one's hair. But these were rules of holiness.
Taking Off the Old and Putting on the New
Every New Years, we begin afresh and anew. It's like taking off the old, the past, and putting on the new, the future. Our hope is for a better future. We make those New Year's promises which many times we never keep past the first week. Our intentions are good, but as they say, "The flesh is weak." But there is one area that good intentions are not good enough, and that is when it comes to keeping God's Word. We want to look at what Paul tells the Colossians about taking off the old and putting on the new.
The Globalization of the World
We want to take a quick brief look at how the world began its global efforts and then we want to take a look at Scripture to see how this all turns out. Since God scattered the nations at the time of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), man has tried to put back what God has separated.
Why the Cross?
Did you ever wonder why Yeshua died on the cross? Couldn't He have died another way? John the Baptist was beheaded. Isaiah was sawed in half. Others were thrown to the lions. Why the cross? Let's take a closer look. In fact, let's go back to the beginning.
Tickled Ears
We have been looking at the end times, and we have seen that there will be a great falling away from the truth. We also saw that the man of lawlessness would rise up and rule the world. Paul tells Timothy in the last days people will only want their ears tickled.
The Oil in My Lamp
There was a song that we sang years ago that went like this: "Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning." We want to look at the lamp in the temple.
It’s a Matter of Night and Day
Did you ever wonder why at the time of creation it says that there was evening and there was morning the first day? Why did God start His creation with night? Let's look at the beginning of Genesis and see exactly what it says.
Tree Planting
Every year in Israel they celebrate Tu Bishvat, which is celebrated on the 15th of Shevat (Hebrew calendar). It is also called Rosh HaShanah La'llanot, literally, "New Year of the Trees."; We want to look at Psalm 1 and reflect on the lessons we can derive from our botanical analogy.
Tree of Life
We have looked at the topic of trees several times this year. We saw that trees play a big part in life. Today we want to look at another tree, the Tree of Life. We saw that Yeshua/Jesus died on a tree that brought us life: Yeshua, the Living Torah, the Word of God. Once again we want to take a closer look at another tree that brings us life: the Tree of Life.
Books Shall Be Opened
Maybe your family is one of those whose mother saved everything you did in school. She has every one of your school pictures and all of your artwork. Well, this is what God does. He records everything good and bad that we have done and one day He is going to open those books and we are going to stand before Him while it is all read to us.
Never Alone
If I am in Yeshua (Jesus) and He is in the Father and I am in God, then how could I ever be alone? Even if I feel alone, I am not because God is in me. He is with me always.
The Joy of the Lord is My Strength
As we enter into a time of thanksgiving, a time of celebration, the holidays can be anything but joyful. Our trials and tribulations can bring us nothing but sorrow. So how do we learn to put our trust in God so that we can have that joy, that peace that comes from knowing Him, so that we can trust Him in our times that seem like the only way is for us to help ourselves?
God So Loved
Most believers can quote John 3:16, but I don't think that we really grasp the meaning of this verse. This is the time that we traditionally celebrate the birth of Yeshua/Jesus. But do we really grasp what it is that we are celebrating? Let's take a closer look.
To Believe the Impossible
What does it mean to believe, and yet to believe the impossible? We want to take a closer look at this word.
Faith to Move Mountains
Last month we looked at believing the impossible. This month we want to look at faith that moves mountains. What's the difference? Well, you must first believe to have faith. So we want to look at what the Bible says about faith.
The Persecuted Church
In the year 2016, ninety-thousand Christians around the world have been martyred. So we want to take a closer look at this. Yeshua (Jesus) warns His disciples that the world will hate them. He says in John 15:18, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." We want to look at the persecuted church and learn from our Master how we should respond to it.
Following in the Footsteps of Messiah
April is a time when people decorate for springtime, with pastels and flowers and bunnies. We have just gone through a time of darkness and cold and death and now we are beginning to see light and life, a glimpse of flowers and a hope of warmer days. But amongst this joyful time, do we really want to consider death again? Do we really want to consider and meditate on the crucifixion, death, and burial of our Messiah? Even if we want to say "NO," we must say "YES." Why? Because the Messiah has asked us to remember.
Why the Countdown?
The Bible tells us that we should count the days starting from the Resurrection to the Feast of Pentecost, meaning fifty. This is called counting the omer (Leviticus 23:15-16). So why do we count? Let's take a closer look.
The Shepherd that Leads Us
In the month of June we celebrate Father's Day. We give cards telling our fathers how great they are and that they are the king of their castle. It's all great and proper, for we are to give honor and respect to our fathers. But what about the fathers? If children are to respect and give honor to their fathers, and wives are to obey their husbands, then what about these fathers and husbands? What are they to do to receive such honor and respect and obedience?
Healing of a Nation
There is nothing better in July than the fourth. It is foundational to us. It is our heritage and it deserves nothing less than our gratitude to our forefathers and those who came after who have done all in their power to keep us safe and free. But we seem to forget the most important part to this equation, and that is God.
Awakening of a New Revival
There have been spiritual revivals throughout history. After the Dark Ages we had the Renaissance beginning in the 14th century, with the reformation in 1517, in 1906-1915 was a big revival called the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles, the Charismatic movement began in the 1960s, just to name a few. But what about now, in the 21st century? We want to look at this closer to see if we should be praying now to bring about a new movement, a new spiritual awakening, maybe even a last time revival that will usher in the Messiah.
Punishment or Discipline?
So often when things happen in our lives, there are those believers who want to say, "Oh! God is punishing them for their sins." But is this really true? We want to take a closer look into this so that the next time someone we know is going through a tough time, we aren't quick to judge that person, but that we help them in their walk with God.
God’s Love
The Scripture tells us that God so loved mankind that He sent his only begotten Son to die for us so that whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life (John 3:16). We want to take a closer look at this subject of God's love. I think that this has become such a cliche that we don't really consider the full weight of this statement.
The Prayers of Thanks
November is the traditional month for celebrating Thanksgiving. Over the years we have forgotten what this day is all about. It's no more about the history of the first European settlers in 1620 who came on the Mayflower. It is no longer about the harsh winter that they had to endure where many died. It is no longer about the celebration they had in 1621 after their first harvest.
Miriam
We want to look at Miriam. You may know her as Mary. I want to take a closer look at the Scriptures to see what the Scriptures tell us about her versus the legend which she has become. Many of the views of the Catholic Church regarding Mary only go back as far as the 19th and 20th centuries, so they are rather new. But is this how Miriam would have wanted her legacy to be told?