Don't miss Him - Don't miss anything He has for you - because someone tells you You deserve to be miserable!

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:    a time to plant and a time to uproot,     a time to tear down and a time to build,     a time to mourn and a time to dance,     a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to keep and a time to throw away,  a time to be silent and a time to speak,  a time for war and a time for peace.

One of the biggest lies of the enemy today.

One of the most prevalent deceptions in the Body of Christ today.

Is that we are entitled to feel hurt - angry - nervous.

That we have a right to be unhealthy - to stay unhealthy - to claim mental illness - and every other curse meant for those who do not serve G-d.

That grief is a L ON G road to wellness.

Well, I have news for you.

THAT beloved of G-d - is NOT scriptural.

You will notice the scripture above talks about their being a "time" and a "season" for everything.

There is a reason G-d chose seasons and times.

Think about it.

I encourage you to not let the enemy steal your joy - your - life - or - any of the promises the Lord has for you by keeping you stuck in a bad season!

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This is really what I was writing on today.

Ever wonder why it was that the two disciples (most likely Cleopas and Peter)  did not recognize the Lord Yeshua when he himself drew near to them along the road on their way to Emmaus? 

Even though just days earlier they had been so dramatically reminded about the Lord's promised resurrection, from the dead? 

It was a day after passover, the woman went to the tomb of Yeshua bringing spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Surprised, they went in and did not find the body of Yeshua HaMashiach. As it happened, they were very perplexed about this, then two men [angels of G-d] stood by them in shinning garments. Then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the ground.  Theses Angels said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how he spoke to you when He was still inn Galilee, saying, "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again."
The woman remembered His words and returned from the tomb and told everything that they had seen and heard to the eleven disciples and all who were there with them. Peter, in his character, rose up and ran to the the tomb. He saw everything for himself. He saw the linen that once wrapped the crucified body of Yeshua, now lying empty by themselves. He walked away marveling to himself at all that had happened.

In Luke chapter 24 
The Word tells us that later that same day - There were two of them traveling to a village called Emmaus. That they talked together about all these things which had happened. - It goes on to say that while they were talking and reasoning about it all that had happened - Yeshua Himself drew near and continued along with them. - - But that their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know him.---- I like the way the Complete Jewish Bible puts it, "But something kept them from recognizing him"

(Then the next words that are spoken are truly more prophetic in nature than I ever realized.)

Yeshua asks them, (remember they still do not recognize that this man is Yeshua) 
And Yeshua asks them,  "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are so sad?"

I am going to put a link here so you can read the entire Gospel account of this. But I am going to focus on this section and the question Yeshua asked the two disciples. 

I truly believe the reason the two disciples were unable to recognise  the Lord immediately was because they were focused on their grief. 

Even the Lord addressed this, and in fact it was the first thing that he said to them, " "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are so sad?"

Just before the Lord spoke to them the scripture tells us that -Yeshua Himself drew near and continued along with them. - -  "But something kept them from recognizing him".
This was even after they were reminded about the words Yeshua had spoken to them to prepare them ahead of time for what was to come.

It's as if they had gotten stuck in the cycle of grief. Causing them to be able to recognize the GLORIOUS promise of G-d!

Oh but the Grace of G-d is so awesome! 
As the Lord continues walking with these two men He asks them to share with Him the story behind their grief. Listening to their every word. 
Then - and I believe the Lord allowed them to tell their story so they could hear it themselves - when they were through - The Risen Lord Yeshua HaMashiach - in His loving and gracious way exhorts them with Holy Scripture - bringing comfort to them all the way to their destination - staying only long enough to break bread and bless them - at which point their eyes were opened -they recognize their Lord and He vanishes from their sight.

Their grief is gone. Their faith is restored and in fact the gospel goes on to tell us they ran back to share with the others exactly what happened with joy. 

I don't know about you, but I have had my dealings with sorrow and grief. Some have taken longer than others to overcome. Some seasons are longer than others. One thing I have learned over my many years waking close to Yeshua my Lord is that weeping may endure for the night but joy does come in the morning (Psalm 30:5) - and He most certainly IS close to the broken heart and heals those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18)  and Blessed are they that mourn for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

Time doesn't heal all wounds

Yeshua does.

I wish I could die!

And Jesus said,

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." 

John 12:24

Matthew 5:48

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.."

John 15:13-20

“ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."

Wow - those are pretty strong words. "Be perfect....as your heavenly Father is perfect..." and, ...."We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,...." That's just a minute amount of scriptural quotations. That at times can be overwhelming to think about living up to. At least for me.

However - over the years of getting to know the Lord better I do believe I have found the answer to accomplishing it all! Yes, I said ALL. Being able to - "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.." as well as do everything else our Lord and Master is requesting us to do! The answer is found in one three or four letter word. Used many times over in the New Covenant.

Die/Death

It's that simple. Well, in theory anyway.

In real life it's not quite as "simple" as it reads in the manual.

But then where "I" mess up is just another opportunity for grace to come to the rescue.

There is no sugar coating the fact that these days doing as Yeshua did is not something that just comes second nature to most of us. The "love of G-d" - IS who Yeshua WAS - IS who Yeshua IS still. For Him to love unconditionally IS who he IS. Not so for you and me. 

Still, that doesn't stop us from being called - summoned by Yeshua himself to do just that.

2 Corinthians 3:18

"And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."   

We are in fact called to become as our Master is - Yeshua - perfect in every respect. The best way to become like Him, or  like anyone for that matter is to spend time with them. The more time we spend with someone - quality time we spend with them - the better we get to know them - and- truthfully - if you take a moment to think about it right now, you will note in your own life -  anyone whom you have spent much quality time with - there will be character traits of theirs that have now become a part of who you are as well. It's only natural.

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Since I posted this blog post I received this weeks FFOZ (First Fruits of ZION) E-Drash. Amazing! I have to share with you as it fits in perfectly with what the Lord is showing me here!

This is just one excerpt of the the e-drash. 
You can view the post in it's entirety * here.* 

"If a person desires to develop in wisdom, he should spend time with the wise. If a person desires to develop in righteousness, he should spend time with righteous people. If a person desires to become a good leader, he should stay close to good leaders. Likewise, as we become better disciples of our teacher Yeshua of Nazareth, we will become more and more like Him. The Gospel of Luke says, "A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40).
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So it IS entirely possible to be obedient to what Yeshua says in 

Mathew 5:28. 

Also - through the Tanakh and the New Covenant - 

The key is to DIE to ones self. 

Death to flesh = Life to the Spirit.

Allowing us to be able to see with spirit eyes. 

Hear with spirit ears. 

Feel with the heart of the Father. 

Discern by Spirit of G-d. 

Move by direction of the Lord. 

Then we will be satisfied when we will see HIS face in righteousness; 

and 

We shall be satisfied when we awake in HIS likeness!

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So why am I writing this post?

Well - it's hitting home, again. The world is spinning round and round and round. It seems like people are getting angry over nothing to everyone and no one and people they love. It makes it challenging  to love unconditionally all the time. Just being real. So I though I would put a few words from the most important and most wise Man I know down on my blog. I know it encourages me. I hope it encourages you too!

The Word of G-d tells us in so many places that if we can only DIE to our flesh (sin)  that we will LIVE to G-d.

The book of Romans has a lot of golden nuggets about Dying to Self. Here is just a few verses.

Romans 6:1-11

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

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***I wish I could learn to Die to Myself once and for all!

Thus obtain total victory over Sin forever!***

~However~

This next scripture is pretty awesome! Brings me comfort and JOY!

Relieves me from allot of guilt and responsibility.

 Focus on the highlighted portion which reads..." and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,..."

The way I read it -receive it - is that in receiving the awesome sacrifice  made for me (Yeshua 's death on the cross) I have been crucified WITH Him. He did it FOR me . Paid the price. So I died WITH Him. Also I am privileged to be raised up WITH HIM as well.  So -(this is the REALLY great part here!) Now - the life - I live - (the life I so much of the time struggle with, fail at, have so many hardships in, etc) yes THAT life...I live not by MY FAITH, (thankfully because MY faith falters way too much) but - (this is the  most awesome revelation AND the WORD of G-d speaking beloved) ..."I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Did you get that?

Here, I'll say it again, "It's not by my efforts or my faith that I am expected to try and live a perfect life or be like Yeshua - no - the Word of G-d tells me -

"I live by the faith of the Son of God!"

I don't have to depend on my faith to accomplish the great things in life - the small things in life - or anything in between!

Because I have been crucified with Christ!

Oh Glory Hallelujah!

So - yeah- are you starting to see why I want to DIE so badly?

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Galatians 2:20

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

and is seated at the ".......right hand of the heavenly Father in the heavenly places,

 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:" Ephesians 1:20,21

This is the one thing that happens when we learn to DIE to self!

We learn to LOVE like Yeshua!

Which is and always has been my absolute 

♥ number one desire in life ♥

1 Corinthians 13

Love

"If I speak in the tongues

of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 Love never fails. 

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest of these is love."

John 15:13

" Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

Romans 5:8

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us"

Ephesians 4:32

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

1 Peter 4:8

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

A Heart Like Yours

I want a heart like yours Lord.

No other heart will do.

I need a heart like yours, Lord.

If I’m to love like you.

I want to love them like you love me.

You’re always gentle and kind.

Never boastful, proud or rude,

I want to love them like you.

You never look out for yourself Lord.

You’re always looking out for me.

You don’t keep tabs on every thing I do wrong.

You never anger easily.

I want a heart like yours Lord.

No other heart will do.

I need a heart like yours, Lord.

If I’m to love to love like you.

I want to love them like you love me.

Always being my best friend.

Never delighting when evil comes my way.

But rejoicing in the truth instead.

 

I want to love them like you love me.

You’ve never failed me yet.

You’re always there to protect me Lord.

Ever trusting; in me your hope is set.

.

I want to love them like you love me.

I want to touch them like you touch me.

I want to show them that your love is real.

I want a heart like yours, Lord.

I need a heart like yours.

Give me a heart like yours.

A heart like yours.

By: Amy Colleen (A song)

Copyright January 2002 all rights reserved

(1Cor. 13:4-8)

Food for Thought ~ Are You a Disciple or a Believer?

Do you know the difference?

John chapter 17

Yeshua Prays to be Glorified

1 After Yeshua had said these things, he looked up toward heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you — 2 just as you gave him authority over all mankind, so that he might give eternal life to all those whom you have given him. 3 And eternal life is this: to know you, the one true God, and him whom you sent, Yeshua the Messiah.

4 “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify me alongside yourself. Give me the same glory I had with you before the world existed.

Yeshua Prays for His Disciples

6 “I made your name known to the people you gave me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 because the words you gave me I have given to them, and they have received them. They have really come to know that I came from you, and they have come to trust that you sent me.

9 “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given to me, because they are yours. 10 Indeed, all I have is yours, and all you have is mine, and in them I have been glorified. 11 Now I am no longer in the world. They are in the world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, guard them by the power of your name, which you have given to me, so that they may be one, just as we are. 12 When I was with them, I guarded them by the power of your name, which you have given to me; yes, I kept watch over them; and not one of them was destroyed (except the one meant for destruction, so that the Tanakh might be fulfilled). 13 But now, I am coming to you; and I say these things while I am still in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.

14 “I have given them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world — just as I myself do not belong to the world. 15 I don’t ask you to take them out of the world, but to protect them from the Evil One. 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Set them apart for holiness by means of the truth — your word is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 On their behalf I am setting myself apart for holiness, so that they too may be set apart for holiness by means of the truth.

Yeshua Prays for All Believers 

20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of their word, 21 that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are united with me and I with you, I pray that they may be united with us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 The glory which you have given to me, I have given to them; so that they may be one, just as we are one — 23 I united with them and you with me, so that they may be completely one, and the world thus realize that you sent me, and that you have loved them just as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am; so that they may see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these people have known that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will continue to make it known; so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I myself may be united with them.”

My Bucket List

Yes It's been crossed out.
My entire list.

Instead I am replacing it with 
Psalm 45:10-11
Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
    Forget your people and your father’s house.
 Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
    honor him, for he is your lord.

It's time to let go of my past. 

So I can focus on my future and give everything to my King.
Time to be about the Father's business.

My next post.

I would like to go to the Opera at the Met in New York.

I would like to taken a vacation - anywhere.

I would like to visit family in California - Texas - Indiana and North Carolina.

I would like to see my sons and daughter in laws and see, hold and love on my beautiful grandchildren.

That is about it.

I really don't have much of a list.

Life is what it is. 

I am where I am. 

I know I am where I am supposed to be.

I am content with it all - for the most part.

If only those gaping holes in my heart  

 Would heal up

 I would be completely content.

I realize I should be completely content now.

Honestly, though as hard as I try and no matter what I try

I can't forget - put out of my heart and mind - my precious ones. I truly believe, to grieve the loss of a loved one who is still alive can be greater than to grieve the loss of a loved one who has died and gone on to be with the Lord. This pain is truly the worst pain I have ever felt in my 53 years here on earth.

I also know that G-d is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

So I put my hope in G_d alone.  Knowing - that this is something that only G-d can take care of. 

Something that needs to happen in - not only in my heart - but also in the hearts of those who hold the pieces missing from my heart. I look forward to that day - be it here in this world or in the new world to come!