Lift Up Our Heads


Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. (Psa 24:7)


God is ready to come in and be sovereign in our lives. His hands are continually stretched out, but we can disregard it (Prov 1:24). He is ready to impart His Wisdom when we acknowledge our foolish pride. His help is always within reach (Psa 121:2), if only we lift up and see. This seeing takes faith. Lift up our head takes humility and readiness to come to an end of ourselves. Lift up our heads and welcome Him to take over completely.


Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, why do ye look one upon another? (Gen 42:1)


The best than man can give is out of their own capacity. Why look to man when there is an ever flowing pure stream we can drink from (Jer 2:13). Looking horizontally can result in unhealthy fault finding, breeding striving and a self righteous tendency to judge others.


Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, ….. within the veil; (Heb 6:19)


Looking down is to deny His saving grace and leave one in hopelessness. Hope anchors us; it opens our eyes to see the plateau of God’s grace. It secures us without fear of evil. An anchored soul has the glorious privilege of enjoying communion in the presence of the Almighty and living in a state of being pleased without any want (Psa 16:19).


But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…….
(Gal 6:14)


Don’t look inward! There is a subtle and destructive element when we look at self. Glory in the cross of Jesus that have nailed self to the cross that the life of Christ may be manifested in and through us (Gal 2:20). Beware of other self inflicted or man given crosses, these don’t carry the intrinsic value of God’s glory. Don't shun the cross of Christ for there is a glorious overcoming life with sight set on eternity.


…. now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. (Mat 11:12)


When we invite the King in, He will come in strong and mighty (Psa 24:8). He will bring His kingdom with Him and reign supreme. There will be humbling. All hardness of heart will be supplanted (Eze 36:26). If we allow Him to come in, He will be surgical. All this amounts in glory for His names sake and we become participants in the perpetual will and purposes of the Almighty.

The New Covenant
Ps Lee Shaw Ming


Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Mt 26:27-28)


Friend, Christians live under the New Covenant which was effected by Yeshua’s once-for-all sacrifice on the cross. However, most are ignorant of or have inaccurate understanding of what the New Covenant really is, and therefore do not experience the sanctifying power and liberty of this glorious Covenant. Worse of all, an increasing number of pastors and believers are promoting a perverted form of “new covenant” doctrine that basically is a repackaging of the ancient heresy of antinomianism (anti-Law). This heresy, condemned in 1 John, erroneously presumed that the Old Testament Law has been abolished under the New Covenant, and thus, encourages lawlessness. Truly, God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge!


Read rest of article HERE

Salvation and Our Will


But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12, 13)


Our salvation didn’t begin with us, meaning it wasn’t our decision to believe on Jesus but our salvation originates with God and His divine will to save us (John 17:2, 3). The gospel starts at the beginning with Christ (John 1:1), creation and life stem from the Same. Salvation is all encompassing that we have a renewed mind of Christ, a new heart and our will yield to God’s will. The latter is probably the biggest struggle in our entire Christian pilgrimage.


It was at Gethsemane that Jesus had the victory to overcome the physical cross (Matt 26:42). Likewise wrestle to overcome our self will and submit to Father’s. Don’t wrestle with God lest we be maimed, wrestle before Him against our self will and He will provide us the required strength. Once self will is yielded, there is joy in facing all trials of life for we participate in the glorious and eternal hope in Christ (Heb 12:2).


As we present our entirety alive, i.e. victory over self will, there is sweet aroma of worship that rises to the Throne and He is pleased to prove in and through us His good, acceptable and perfect will (Rom 12:1,2). The cross puts to death our flesh, never the will for He never meant for us to be marionettes. However the devil want to engulf our will so that he finds a bodily manifestation. With our will submitted to His will, we can will our entire being to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, nary a hint of self achievement but the end is done for His glory.

The New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34 - NKJV)


“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,[a] says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”


Thoughts from the daughter on the New Covenant

Eternal Inclusion


For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Eph 5:31-32)


Marriage is two ‘shall be one flesh’ (Gen 2:24) as established in the beginning, it speaks of a deeper and greater destiny for the Church of Christ. Oneness is when there is a total conformity and homogeneity that does not have any distinct separation. We are included and conform to Christ, not vice versa. We no longer live our own destiny but for His alone. Unity in Christ is a current reality not a future possibility, ‘as He is, so are we in the world’ (1 John 4:17). He is holy, so we are. He loves, forgives and merciful, so are we. His attributes and character qualities are inseparable from us.


The mystery remains one until the Divine revelation of our oneness in Him is understood and made a living reality. Before the foundation of the earth an eternal plan (Eph 1:4) has been put in unstoppable momentum, so that ‘the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord’ (Eph 2:21). That temple is a house of prayer (Matt 21:13, Mar 11:17 and Luke 19:46) as Christ Jesus always lives to make intercession (Heb 7:25). ‘Pray without ceasing’ (1Th 5:17), having a spirit of constant dialogue as though there is a continual dependency on God for every good. It is a communication is that enabled and remains always connected.


I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:23)


It is Jesus prayer that the church be one in Him and His totality manifested in us; this is our perfection or completeness. The oneness with Christ is not a sub servile relationship, but one steep in His eternal love. Are we living in the answer His prayer to the Father?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Death


Bonhoeffer had once preached, "No one has yet believed in God and the kingdom of God. No one has yet heard about the realm of the ressurected, and not been homesick from that hour, waiting and looking forward joyfully to being released from bodily existence... Death is hell and night and cold, if it is not transformed by our faith. But that is just what is so marvelous, that we can transform death."

Our Mind And The Will of God

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:2)

I have been told as a child that an ‘idle mind is the devil’s workshop’ which carries some truth. Moving closer to truth, the mind is the beachhead of the devil’s assault to influence and finally to cause us to be deceived into losing sovereignty of our will. We have to be in constant watchfulness ‘as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ’ (2Cor 11:3). The corruption of the heart enters through the mind through demonically inspired thoughts and temptations (Gen 2:17).

Good intentions are not good enough because it is of the heart; we need a renewed mind to secure our regenerated life in Christ. Similarly with faithfulness; men can love their wives with their hearts and yet be unfaithful and mentally hold separate relationships. If we concede in the battle of the mind, evil will work its way to our heart or emotions and from there control the entire being (John 13:2) and steal the Word from our hearts (Luke 8:12). We should be circumspect in our though life and not allow the devil any foothold. The foothold the devil takes is when we give our minds over voluntarily by lack of carefulness to guard it.

The meaning of repentance is a ‘change of mind’. This does not mean altering our thoughts but renewing a mind by a complete wiping clean of world and past conformity to the conformance to the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16). Things that play through our minds will tell us if the renewal is being done and if the peace of God resides with us (Php 4:8-9). We cannot afford to be passive in our mind, but be active in meditation of His Word which allows God to work in first and subsequently work out in our everyday living. Genuineness of faith is shown in the living and the doing (Jam 2:20). If we desire to know the good, acceptable and perfect will of God for us personally, for our family and for our church, it will begin with us actively engaging in warfare to regain surrendered ground of our mind.

Diligence to Enter Rest

Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest….. (Heb 4:11)

It seems strange that there is an indication that there is an exertion of body and mind or our totality to enter into rest. The word ‘rest’ does not indicate a place of ease or freedom from discomfort, pain or labor. Rest speaks of an abode or state of being. Rest is not letting go of responsibility and plunging into ‘blind’ faith. Faith is never blind, but rather true faith opens our eyes and heart to the unfurling of all of God’s promises and things previously hidden into living heavenly reality.

……. and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: (Heb 4:6)

What then is the place of rest or abiding look like? ‘Unbelief’ in the original Greek is disobedience or rebellion, which is the disqualification to enter into the place of abiding. The state of being through obedience is the place of standing on the ground of grace and God’s loving favor (Rom 5:2). Beyond His divine favor, the grace of God is an enabling power to live without the propensity to sin; not just being made free from sin but the ability not to go back to the former state (Rom 6:7, 11). Abiding is also the place of answered prayer (John 15:7) and love (John 15:10). Abiding is the place of being well pleased of the Father, not working to please. This is the position of utter security and love, a knowing that we know that we are loved and where all strife cease. Abiding is the place where God speaks His dividing Word into us (Heb 4:12), that we may be separated from death into life, from wrath into redemption, from enmity into son-ship. The word of invitation is open to one and all, is there an ear to hear and quickness in Spirit to obey to enter into God’s eternal realm, not when Christ returns, but beginning on this side of eternity. To enter into abiding in Christ we have to purpose that our total being to be subjected in unquestionable obedience to Christ.

Sin, Our Enemy

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 6:11)

Enemies are frequently thought of as people or the devil that oppress with the intention to destroy us.  The reason why Jesus Christ came into the world, to live, show the light, die and rose from the dead is to save us from sin (Mark 1:21). It is sin that made fallen mankind enemies of God and it took nothing less than the death of the Son of God to reconcile us to Him (Rom 5:10). Jesus’ death save us from sin, not save us in sin. It is the leaving and never returning to the bondage of sin (Exo 20:2).  Therefore we have to conclude that sin is to be an arch enemy which should never to form alliances with. Sin must be dead to us and it to us (Gal 6:14)

….. than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season (Heb 11:25)

It would be sad if we would passively ‘wait’ to be delivered from the grips of sin, could it be because there is still something in sin that we still enjoy? Wanting to secure a place in the Kingdom yet a foot in the world and its pleasure thereof (1 John 2:15). The invitation for total freedom from sin is as much as is for salvation; it is to be shown the path of life and the fullness of joy in living in it (Psa 16:11). God is ready with all His divine power; we have to purpose in our heart to do our part by responding in faith. Faith is the meeting point where the Lord can make complete deliverance from sin a permanent reality.God is faithful and just to forgive us because we are not infallible (1 John 1:9). We must however have the attitude that violently treats sin as our sworn enemy (Matt 11:12).

Is Jehovah God’s True Name?
Excerpted from Michael L. Brown, What Do Jewish People Think About Jesus?


The name Jehovah is actually based on a mistaken reading of the biblical text by medieval Christian scholars who were educated in the Hebrew language but were not aware of certain Jewish scribal customs. In short, they did not realize that it was a Jewish tradition to write the vowels for the word ’adonai, Lord, with the consonants for the name Yahweh, known as the tetragrammaton, and they wrongly read this hybrid word as Yehowah, or Jehovah in English. That is to say, the name Jehovah (or Yehowah) did not exist in Israel—despite the popularity of this name in English-speaking, Christian circles, and despite religious organizations like Jehovah’s Witnesses.


Before getting into more specifics about the original pronunciation of God’s name, YHWH, let me explain the Jewish scribal custom known as qere-ketiv (pronounced q’rey, k’teev), Aramaic for “read” and “it is written.” This practice included several different scribal customs, including: (1) the practice of not reading certain words that were considered objectionable in the biblical Hebrew text and replacing them with less offensive words in their place; and (2) the practice of replacing one reading of a word with a variant reading of that same word, normally reflecting a minor difference in spelling or grammar. An example of the former would be the reading of the verb “lie with” (Hebrew shakab) for the verb “ravish” (Hebrew shagal). This occurs four times in the Tanakh, Deuteronomy 28:30; Isaiah 13:16; Jeremiah 3:2; and Zechariah 14:2, which is why the NIV translates with “ravish” (as written in the Hebrew text) but in an ancient synagogue, the marginal text with “lie with” would have been read. In this case, “ravish” would be the ketiv, what is written in the main Hebrew text, while “lie with” would be the qere, the word to be read in place of what is written. An example of the latter would be the substitution of the plural form of a word for the singular form, or, to use English as an example, substituting the spelling “color” for “colour.” These types of substitutions occur frequently. Again, the substituted form is the qere while the replaced form is the ketiv.


How did the Jewish scribes indicate this? In some manuscripts, the word to be replaced (the ketiv, the word written in the main text) would be left without vowels, which would be quite conspicuous. Then, in the margin of the text, the qere would be written in full (that is, with both consonants and vowels). In other manuscripts, the consonants of the word in the text (ketiv) would be preserved but the vowels of the word to be read in its place (qere) would be substituted, creating a hybrid form, while the consonants of the qere word would be written in the margin.


Read full article here

To Whom Do We Liken God?

To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.  (Isa 40:25)

The fallen nature of humanity is one that desires to govern our own destiny (Jug 21:25) and to decide between good and evil (Gen 2:17). This has resulted in us displacing the sovereignty of the God. The Covenant (Jer 31:32) forbids idolatry (Exo 20:3, 4) hence denying the supremacy of God, the not so obvious is what we perceive when we say ‘my judgment is passed over from my God’ (Isa 40:27) as though we have been neglected or unnoticed by Him. This kind of idolatry exalts the issue or problem over God.

When we are overwhelmed, there is always the tendency to be inward looking. We are encourage to ‘lift up your eyes on high’ (Isa 45:26) and behold the ‘greatness of His might’. In other words, believe Him to the point of thankfulness (Php 4:6) that He has delivered our soul (Psa 42:5) in hope; this is faith. Without faith it will not please Him to deliver us (Heb 11:6). When we rise up in faith, there is the grace and the surging heavenly power to overcome (Isa 40:29). God is ready, are we willing to destroy the idolatry of self pity and yield to His greatness.

Those Who Wait on the Lord (Isaiah 40:25-31, NKJV)
Music by Esther Mui
More videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/stack45ny

Doing the Greater Works

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.  (John 14:12)

How can we outdo what Christ has done on earth, when He has divinely declared from eternity’s beginning to eternity’s end that ‘It is finished’? The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) is the testimony that Christ has already accomplished all in the spiritual realm of Heaven, a realm without bounds. Hence if we ‘work’ from the basis of our definition of meeting needs or completing that which we perceive as incomplete, we are heading for burn out. What greater works is Jesus telling us?

The subsequent verse Jesus beckons us to ask with all of Heaven’s backing and authority, in His Name, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Hence the greater work is the work of prayer. Not work as in a burden, but work as in a delight because we ask from the vantage point of being more than conquerors (Rom 8:37). We ask in order that we may be included in the eternal purposes of the Almighty. What should we ask for but for His Kingdom that have already been establish in Heaven’s realm to manifest itself as an earthly reality (Matt 6:10). Prayer exercises our faith to substantiate God’s promises (Heb 11:1) that are already in existence in Heaven on earth.

Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.  (Luke 10:2)

Christ coming is determined by the extend of the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom in all the earth (Matt 24:14). How could Jesus leave mere men to complete a seemingly impossible task? He left the destiny of His Kingdom on earth, as it were, into the hands of men. Can we fathom that? How to accomplish such a gargantuan task? Jesus said pray we therefore and He will work out the rest. God answers mightily to the prayer of the saints (Rev 8:3-5). The saints can be unassuming individuals who hide in their prayer closet, unheard by men but reach the golden altar before the Throne. Men, women and children who may not be lauded by men, but their very existence is a proclamation ‘unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places’ (Eph 3:10).

Desperation for Deliverance

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  (Psa 61:2)

How desperate are we to be delivered? It is at the end of self, knowing that all the strength we summon from the constituency of our heart have depleted that the deepest and most sincere cry for deliverance ejaculates from our mouth. The desperate God-ward cry knowing that unless the Lord had been my help, I would have gone down to the grave (Psa 94:17).

He will deliver us out of the despondency (state of low spirits caused by loss of hope or courage) of our soul, to be placed on the lofty vantage point of faith, the platform of abiding and hidden in Christ. It is an unshakable realm where there is deep sense of His Holy Presence and consciousness of our total being yielded to the His good, acceptable and perfect will.

But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.  (Psa 109:21)

We should not conclude that God is cruel; it is truly His mercy that He even thinks about delivering us who are like dust on a scale (Isa 40:15). Watchman Nee related an incident of a man drowning and the life guard did not move a finger as long as the man was still screaming and kicking. The rescuer swiftly saved the drowning man when all the latter’s trying have exhausted lest the mission would fail endangering the life of the lifeguard and his. In desperation cry out to God and He will surely rescue our soul (though not the flesh) for His glorious Name’s sake.

The Key to the Missionary MessageOswald Chambers (http://www.myutmost.org/10/1015.html)
"And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:2 The key to the missionary message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus. Take any phase of Christ's work - the healing phase, the saving and sanctifying phase; there is nothing limitless about those. "The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world! " - that is limitless. The missionary message is the limitless significance of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and a missionary is one who is soaked in that revelation. The key to the missionary message is the remissionary aspect of Christ's life, not His kindness and His goodness, and His revealing of the Fatherhood of God; the great limitless significance is that He is the propitiation for our sins. The missionary message is not patriotic, it is irrespective of nations and of individuals, it is for the whole world. When the Holy Ghost comes in He does not consider my predilections, He brings me into union with the Lord Jesus. A missionary is one who is wedded to the charter of his Lord and Master, he has not to proclaim his own point of view, but to proclaim the Lamb of God. It is easier to belong to a coterie which tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, easier to become a devotee to Divine healing, or to a special type of sanctification, or to the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Paul did not say - "Woe is unto me, if I do not preach what Christ has done for me," but - "Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel." This is the Gospel - "The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!"

"If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you. . . " - that is the way to keep going in our personal lives. Where we are placed is a matter of indifference; God engineers the goings. "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself . . ." That is how to keep going till we're gone.

Where is Our God?
….. while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? (Psa 42:3)


The question of the reality of God will never surface in our mountain top experiences or when no troubles loom. Can the reality of Him be known and experienced in the face of hardship or in the dungeon of despair? We can recount of former times when we diligently sought Him (Heb 11:6), but that even seemed to have accounted for nought.


Why art thou cast down, O my soul? ….. (Psa 42:5)


First deal with the despondency of our mind, will and emotions, conclude that there is no other hope save the mercy of Christ that will carry us through unto glory (Jude 1:21). Don’t deal with the situation or with the related parties, do the necessary in crying out (Psa 61:1,2) to Him then the Lord will show His light and graciousness in that dark hour.


And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? (Mat 11:3)


In despair don’t seek deliverance from man, go directly to the Savior and He will reveal that our suffering for righteousness sake is not is vain (1 Pet 4:12, 13). Don’t run to man, run to the One Who authored the finishing of our faith (He 12:2) and we will be able to despise the shame of human contempt and endow us with the second wind toward the goal with a glorious end. He will command His lovingkindness and there will be a song unto God, for He is our life (Psa 42:8).

Does the Old Testament Reveal the Name of the Messiah?

Our Persevering in Preservation

Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?  (Jas 2:22)

There is a danger of living an unregenerate Christian life and hope that we will be caught up and meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess 4:17). This is a poor understanding of salvation by grace. Salvation is the doorway to a pilgrimage of being made faultless for His appearing (Jude 1:24). Action-less faith is dead faith.

…… are changed into the same image from glory to glory…. (2Cor 3:18)

We are called out of the world, leaving the state of the ‘old man’ (Rom 6:6) into higher than good; a respectable and useful life. Don’t be contented with the good but live in the place of God’s direct hand in leading and dealing that constantly escalates us from the human good to God’s best. Abraham’s work was to leave (Heb 11:8), persevering in the mundaneness of life for decades until coming to the most heart breaking action of laying down his son, his only son (Gen 22:2). If we say we have faith, the Lord requires action. The patriarch never knew the leaving will led him to a dying inside, in that dying foreshadowed the work of Christ on the cross. We may content that Jesus ‘did it all’ on the cross. Yes He did. He carried His cross; now following Him has the same exigency. What can better regenerate a life unto God than one that faithfully perseveres in carrying his or her cross daily? Dying of everything, including the best that a man or woman can bring forth and alive to God, not self (John 3:30, Romans 6:11). Usefulness to mankind does not equate usefulness to God.

…. sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ…   (Jude 1:1)

We are not to be kill ourselves on the cross, but just faithfully carry it. Sanctification is a sovereign work of God not to be tampered with by human will. It is only when we are no longer engrossed in ‘self’ that we are hidden in Christ, Who is our only preservation.

Bible Prophecy on Target

By EARL COX  
09/12/2010 14:50 

Bible prophecy tells us that one day Muslim Arab hatred is going to erupt in an attempt, through war, to destroy the Jewish nation and people. This event seems to be more and more imminent.

Read more at http://www.jpost.com/ChristianInIsrael/Blogs/Article.aspx?id=187832

Regeneration versus Reformation

The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. (Prov 21:1)

Today’s believers are getting more and more involved with their country’s political scenario. While it is important that justice and right judgment or ruling be done (Psa 21:3), we have to engage with a crystal clear approach from the God’s perspective of sovereignty and not from the grounds of defeat. We ought to prioritize praying being the foremost action in relation to our faith in the Lord, not action roused up with a soulish (humanistic heart, mind and emotions) sense of doing what we perceive as right. Isn’t it strange that people would pour in much time, sweat and tears into the doing or fighting for justice but struggle to tarry for an hour with the Lord. We may be able to write long letters of protest to drum up support but beggars in articulating prayers although knowing that ‘my help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth’ (Psa 121:2)?

Are we more interested in reformation than regeneration? The former invokes changing or altering current deficiencies for the better while the latter speaks of rebirth (John 3:3) with eternal significance. Reformed governments with un-generated men ruling will eventually degrade to the first state. Regenerated kings and rulers will establish a nation (Prov 29:4).

Above all, the sovereign Lord seeks to return and establish His kingdom (2 Tim 4:1) to the Israel of God (Acts 1:6, Gal 6:16).

Yom Kippur: What does God want?

By SHLOMO RISKIN  (jpost.com)

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/Judaism/Article.aspx?id=188395 (full article)

Some thoughts I found helpful in jpost.com about this year's Yom Kippur. There has never been and never will be a people who have the great revelation of YHWH and yet with it bearing the most unthinkable suffering.

'From this perspective, the most striking image of Yom Kippur is the very last act of the High Priest in his Yom Kippur garb. He bathes a fourth time, puts on his white linen garments, and enters the Holy of Holies, the space sanctified with the overwhelming sense of the Divine Presence. Earlier, he had performed in that place a difficult and even trying sacrificial offering, his gift of fragrant incense. This time, he enters the Presence and stands there, without performing a divine service, without reciting a formal prayer. Then he leaves, bathes a fifth time, and dons the golden garments of the regular daily afternoon sacrifice.'

His solitary moment with God has ended; the magic of the special Day of Forgiveness is over. But what did it mean? What did he, and what do we, take out of that singular meeting with the divine, devoid of ritual or ceremony, at the conclusion of the most sacred day of the year in the most sacred space in the world? Let us for a moment re-visit last week’s commentary on the akeda. Abraham and Isaac walk a solitary walk during those three momentous days of performing God’s awesome commandment: A tense silence between father and son permeates the atmosphere, punctuated by brief, difficult and ambiguous words. The air is heavy with God’s unspoken command, heard only by Abraham, fearfully sensed by Isaac.

Let us now skip many generations, and perhaps we will understand why the divine command is ambiguous, why God used a word, olah, which could be interpreted in two ways. Rav Oshri, the rabbi of the Kovno Ghetto at the time of the Holocaust, wrote a book of responsa, Mima’amakim (From the Depths) based on his experience. One question came from a distraught father, whose only son had been taken for a kinderaktion – a 5 a.m. children’s round-up to the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

“I have a gold tooth,” wept the father. “The kapo will take it from me and free my son – but he will have to substitute someone else’s son to meet the quota. What must I do?” Rav Oshri tearfully responded that he could not give the father an answer. All that night, he saw the agitated man walking back and forth in front of his house. When the Rav walked out at 4:45 a.m., the tearful father could only say two words, Akedat Yitzhak.

He did not give the kapo his tooth.

Each of us must stand alone, in the fullness of our being, before God, and attempt to understand what God wants of us. What is the right path? Is it God’s voice we are hearing, or Satan’s? This is the meaning of the meeting between God and the High Priest – without ritual or formal prayer – at the conclusion of our Holy Fast.'

Wrestling Alone

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled …….(Gen 32:24)

Most of us avoid conflicts, our natural tendency is to mitigate the pressure and not confront them head on. The Lord allows pressures to step into our life to reveal the true condition of our heart (Jer 17:9) that we may never know existed. It shouldn't surprise us that the issue at hand doesn’t move a hair in another but seems to be specifically tailored for us. Hence we have to purpose to be alone to wrestle it out with the Lord. Leave pastor, spouse and friend out of it, for its God’s personal and sacred dealing with us. Facing it alone will quickly wean and mature us.

Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. (Psa 105:19)

In wrestling He wants to lay in iron our soul (Psa 105:18) so that His sovereign Spirit can take over. The sword of His word separates spirit and soul (Heb 4:12), for God is Spirit (John 4:24) and the communion is in His realm not ours. We glory on the outside (1 Sam 16:7), but His end is the strengthening the inner man (Eph 3:16). Willingness of spirit (Matt 26:41) doesn’t suffice in the day of adversity, but strength of spirit will define victory.

If we are willing to wrestle alone with Him, depleted of intervention of human hands the prevailing nature of Christ will be named upon us (Gen 32:28). Jesus has warned us of troubles ‘such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be’ (Matt 24:21), do the wrestling alone with Him now so in that day we can overcome because the marks are deep and permanent (Gen 32:31, Gal 6:17). There is resurrection after death, the cross precede glorification.

Hallowed Be Thy Name
יהוה
By Ps. Lee Shaw Ming


This Name was not meant to be forgotten!
Did you know that the Heavenly Father has a name? The surprising truth is that the Name of the Creator, יהוה is found 6,823 times in the original Hebrew Old Testament or Tanakh, more frequent than any other word, yet it was translated away and concealed by translators (translated to ‘LORD’, some translations like ASV 1901 uses Jehovah) who believed it was too holy to use. However, many names of the gods of the heathens were transliterated and preserved in the Old Testament (eg. Baal, Dagon, Moloch, Molech, Meni, etc …). Bear in mind that although translations of the original God-inspired Scriptures into many languages help to bring the word of God to the whole world, yet the translations and translators themselves are not considered God-inspired in the level of the original authors and Scriptures.


How important is it to know and to use the correct name?
Scripture leaves no doubt as to the importance of our Heavenly Father’s Name!
Note: The Hebrew letters for the Heavenly Father’s name יהוה (YHWH) known as the Tetragrammaton and transliterated as YHWH (generally pronounced as 'Yahweh', 'Jehovah' or 'Yehovah'), have been used throughout the original Old Testament in Hebrew. The Hebrew word יהושע (Elohim) has been translated into the English word 'God'. The Hebrew word 'Elohim' means 'Mighty One' or 'Most High'.


Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know it? (Proverbs 30:4)


The following Scripture references speak for themselves...


I am יהוה (YHWH) that is My name: and My honour will I not give to another (name), neither My praise to graven images (Isaiah 42:8)


Sing unto Elohim, sing praises to His name: extol Him that rides upon the heavens by His name YAH, and rejoice before Him (Psalm 68:4)


You shall not take the name of יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim in vain, for יהוה will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain (Exodus 20: 7, This is the Third Commandment.)


Thy Name O YHWH, endureth forever; Thy memorial, O YHWH, throughout all generations (Psalm 135:13)


I will take the names of the Baalim out of her mouth and they shall no more be remembered by their name (Hosea 2:17 . 'Baalim' is the plural of Baal. Baalim = Lords)


I will declare Thy Name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I sing praise unto Thee (Psalm 22:22 . cf. Hebrews 2:12)


And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the Name of יהוה (YHWH) shall be saved (Acts 2:21 and Joel 2:32)


Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is יהוה (Jer 16:21)


who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams…, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal (Jer 23:27)


And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities (Isaiah 64:7: 7)


And from the New Testament...
I have manifested (revealed) Thy Name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world…John 17:26 And I have declared unto them Thy Name and will declare it (John 17:6)


'Hallowed be Thy Name' Matthew 6:9
• The Hebrew Name of the Messiah, יהושע, Yeshua is the only Name by which He was known to His disciples.


What is His name and what is His Son's Name, if thou canst tell? (Proverbs 30:4)
• The name יהושע (Yeshua) literally means “יהוה (YHWH) is salvation”.


John 5:43 I am come in My Father's Name and ye receive Me not, if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive…John 12:13 Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the Name of יהושע…John 14:13-14 And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask anything in My Name I will do it.


...for there is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12)


And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am יהושע (Yeshua), whom you are persecuting (Acts 26:14-16)


He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name (Rev 3:12)


Editor: Let us remember the name of our God and remember that He is the God of Israel, knowing that the Jewish nation is still the Israel of God. For יהוה hates divorce (Mal 2:16) hence 'God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew' (Rom 11:2) and 'But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people' (Rom 10:21) and continue to do so till this day.

The Guilt of Christianity Towards the Jewish People
Sister Pista
Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, Darmstadt / Germany (an international and interdenominational Christian fellowship) 

After the horrors of the Holocaust were revealed, the question was raised: How could it have happened? The shocking truth is that the Holocaust was the culmination of centuries of hatred and violent persecution, often inspired by Christian theology.

I feel deeply convicted as a Christian but also as a German, for as early as the Middle Ages Jews were mercilessly killed by the thousand in German cities. Mother Basilea Schlink, founder of our community in Darmstadt, Germany, writes movingly in her book Israel, My Chosen People of how those who attack God's people attack Him, for Israel is the apple of His eye.

Considering the atrocities committed against the Jews in the name of Christ throughout much of Christianity's 2000-year history, how can we celebrate the millennium without first expressing our deep sorrow over the past in a spirit of repentance? By our unchristian attitude and behaviour we have brought shame upon the name of Jesus, making it offensive to His own people, the Jews … And so today it is our prayer that Christians all over the world will be inspired to commemorate the millennium with a service of repentance in a spirit of unity, acknowledging our common Christian heritage.

Drawn from Christian and Jewish historical sources in English and German, the following is a brief résumé of the horrific history of Christianity's dealings with the Jews -- dealings which paved the way for the Holocaust.

http://www.kanaan.org/international/israel/israel1.htm (Link to read more. Highly recommended)

Ministering to Israel in Prayer

Christian brethren, do remember to pray for the Israel and Jerusalem (Isa 6:27) till the city of great King becomes the praise of all the earth (Isa 6:27, Matt 5:35). Paul strongly remind us not to ‘write-off’ the Jewish people for the Lord says of Israel ‘All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people’ (Rom 10:21).Do we as the body of Christ share the same heart beat of God for He ever remembers the unbreakable covenant made with Abraham (Gen 17). We pray and we ask amiss (Jam 4:3) if our prayers are spent for our self, our ministry, our fame, our plans thinking that we fit YHWH's plan into our ours, while the converse is the correct protocol.

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (Jer 30:7)

The Lord will bring Israel one final time ‘to pass under the rod’ (Exe 20:37) to bring them into the bond of the new covenant (Jer 31:31) and bring them into the their own land cleansed of all uncleanness and idolatry, filled with His Spirit to walk in His statutes and judgments. The Lord will work righteousness into Israel that there will forever be peace, quietness and assurance (Isa 32:17) which the nation is not today, surrounded by enemies and living with daily threats to annihilate them.

After 'speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God' (Acts 1:3) the disciples understood of the restoration again of the Kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). Is there anything in the church today that has the latent power within us that can 'provoke them to jealousy' (Rom 11:11). In the forth coming days of Jacob’s trouble when the LORD will bring the Jewish people into the wilderness of the nations, can we, at that opportune time attained to the maturity in spiritual stature to represent YHWH to plead with them face to face (Eze 20:35).

We should not be sentimental about Israel but love the nation as the way that Yeshua (YHWH is salvation) would love them and neither should we take sides (Josh 5:14) for the current nation is not the Jewish nation of God’s intent. ‘For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest’ (Isa 62:1). Likewise, as we pray for Israel, we pray for the church and ourselves because we need to be a people and individuals of God’s intent. What then should be our prayers for Israel? 

1.    ‘Righteousness thereof go forth as brightness’ (Isa 62:1). Israel need be restored back to the place of God’s imputed righteousness for the best of our deeds are like menstrual cloths (Isa 64:6). The celebratory spirit of human achievement cannot account for anything before the judgment seat of God.

2.    ‘…and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth’ (Isa 62:1), for in His light we see light (Psa 36:9). There need to be the breaking of the curse of having eyes that cannot see (Isa 6:10, Matt 13:15, Acts 28:27) for light is very important for seeing and it is in darkness that we can stumble. The gentile church must soberly remember that the blindness of Israel is temporal ‘until the fullness of the gentiles have come in’ (Rom 11:25) than ‘all Israel shall be saved’ (Rom 6:26).

3.    ‘…and thy land shall be married’ (Isa 62:4). Pray that Israel will be ‘the branch of my planting’ (Isa 60:21), the work of God’s hands, that He may be glorified. This means that the nation will know that salvation comes not from peace negotiations nor help from her ‘lovers’ (Jer 30:14) who would eventually forsake her but help comes from YHWH out of mount Zion (Joel 2:32). How is God glorified? ‘Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples’ (John 15:8). Fruit not from self effort and the Israel of today is strong and self confident in the face of their enemies, for only the poor in spirit will inherit the Kingdom of God (Matt 5:3)

The lists of things to pray for Jerusalem is by no means exhaustive, but pray as the Lord through His spirit lead us. Bring into remembrance of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not forgetting His promise to David (Psa 132:11).

How long should be pray? ‘And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth’ (Isa 62:7) for we the gentile church together with the remnant of Israel who are represented by the seven thousand who have not bowed their knees to baal (Rom 11:4,5) will be included together in the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:2)

The Shema


And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

(Deut 6:5-9)

http://www.hebrew4christians.net/Scripture/Torah/The_Shema/the_shema.html

A New Heart, A New Spirit (Ezekiel 36:24-28)

Video by Rich Crowe

Speech That Comes From Partaking

Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. (Eze 3:1)

Wherever the source, the speaking that we mostly do is the sum total of our experience and understanding which reside in our heart (Matt 12:34). Every useless words uttered will be judged (Matt 12:36), i.e. words that doesn’t have the capacity to bear fruit. We can guard our mouth all we want but can anyone true lay claim to taming the tongue (Jam 3:8)?

The fruit of our lips depicts the reverence in relationship we have with the LORD (Prov 8:13). If we are not undone by the froward-ness of our speech, ask the LORD for a revelation of His Glory (Isa 6:5). This experience is by far the most lasting antidote to our idleness in speech. But there may be a cost of a permanent ‘scarring’ of our mouth by the coals from God’s altar that will no longer permit idle speech. The warning to us is that ‘a man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence’ (Pro 13:2). It is not a wonder that the first visible gift of the coming of the Holy Spirit is the speaking of tongues, hence walking after the Spirit (Rom 8:1) will bring about fruitfulness of speech.

I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. (John 8:38)

Our Lord Himself only speaks that which is uttered in the Presence of His Father, hence no room for careless speech. The power of His utterance since ‘Let there be light’ (Gen 1:3) still resonates (Psa 19:4) and will continue to ring throughout creation and we who are destined as sons of glory (Heb 2:10) also inherit this privilege. We need to understand that ‘If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God’ (1 Pet 4:11). Ezekiel took in whole the scroll of the Bread of Life (John 6:48) and prophetic came forth. ‘So I prophesied….that they may live’ (Eze 37:7-9), have we partook of the same Daily Bread or we feast on other idle sources? Only our speech will tell.

Preservation in Keeping our Heart

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Pro 4:23)

Jude addressed his letter to those sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ, and one of the encouragements at the end was to keep ourselves in the love of God. Can we walk out of Christ’s preservation? Didn’t Jesus say ‘neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand’ (John 10:28)? Careful reading will tell us that He will not allow anyone to pluck us out, but we can come out of the realm of His protection.

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (Mat 24:12)

The critical part of our soul that can cause our drifting and eventual back-sliding is the heart. Relationship requires whole heartedness in love, lest unfaithfulness creeps in. All of life’s greatest significance lies in the heart (Luke 12:34). Losing our first love can result of our removal from Christ’s church (Rev 2:4, 5); as the light requires a lamp stand, so the Holy Spirit requires a temple (1Cor 6:19).

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. (Mat 15:18)

The seat of our will and emotion need to come under the subjection of the Lordship of Jesus Christ and filled with love for our Redeemer. He will not tolerate any competing affections with that which is evil and even that which is good. The good and sweetness of our soul can be the breeding ground of self-righteousness.

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 1:21)

Keeping ourselves in the total affection to our Lord results in singleness of heart; singleness to please only One. Sadly there are those who have join Christian fellowships and assemblies with self serving attitude, bearing no fruit of repentance (Jude 1:12). Keep our hearts in the right stature in reverential love to the Lord and He will do the rest to preserve us until the day of His coming.

Waiting Zone (Video by Rich Crowe)
Oswald Chambers

Partakers of Grace (Video by Rich Crowe)
Oswald Chambers







Playlist at http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=10F140787559EB2B

Heeding His Command

Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. (Psa 148:5)

Adonai command and creation came into being; bringing nothing into form and lifelessness to life. That is the display of the authority the Almighty has. Is there the authority of God over our lives? Does He command our destiny or have we charted out our own future. The thing we normally do is to plan then ask God to bless and call them into being. There is an underlying attitude that we may not be aware of that treats the Almighty liken unto a contractor to build our future based on what we penned on our drawing board.

‘Intellectual darkness is the result of ignorance, but spiritual darkness is the result of something that I do not intend to obey’ – Oswald Chambers

He commands and we obey. If we know Who our God is, then we can believe Him for a good expected end (Jer 29:11). We often fear the future and what will become of us more than having a healthy fear of the Living God (Matt 10:28). We need to be rescued from the prison of self into the freedom of God’s good, acceptable and perfect will by giving our totality to Him (Rom 12:1, 2). Don’t give the left-overs and the spiritually worthless to Him for God is Spirit (John 4:24). Present ourselves to God, abide in Christ and heed His commandments. It’s not legalism that saves us; it is faith to believe that what He says is well with my soul. On the premise of faith we obey, an obedience not out of anything else but in believing in the finality of His word.