Making Aliyah

Isaiah 49:12

See, they will come from afar--some from the North [Russia], some from the West [Europe, the Americas], some from the region of Sinim [Hebrew for a distant Oriental region, e.g. the Far East: China, Japan, Korea].

God is calling His children Israel from all the countries of the world back to the land He gave to Israel so long ago. Individuals and families are "making aliyah," returning to the homeland. God will continue to call His people out of every nation to which they have been scattered, dispersed. Never before in the whole history of Mankind has a nation that was conquered and dispersed ever come back, 2000 years (and how many generations) later, to the very land they had before, to be the same Nation they were among the nations of the world! Always before, the conquered nations disappeared, swallowed up by the nations they were carried to. But not Israel! They retained their identity, everywhere they found themselves. God is carrying Jacob back to Israel, just like He said He would!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

"I Will Teach You What To Say"

Exodus 4:10,12

Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent. I am slow of speech and tongue." The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Is it not I the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

O my Father, I know that You have not given me to gain any collage degrees or high positions or mighty credits on my resume, yet You have seen fit to allow me to be taught how to study Your Word, how to draw out what You have put there, rather than try to find validation of what I may want to find there. You have also given me Your Spirit to teach me Your Truth, and to see how You have "lined up the dots" so that I can connect them. You have given me to write this blog to share with others what You are teaching me. 

You have shown me what You are doing, to accomplish Your Plan of the Ages, and I have read "the end of the story," and I have begun to understand how You are working in this world, among the Nations and in the lives of Your people and the leaders of this world. Help me, Father, to be Your hands and Your feet and Your voice to do Your work, to share with others how much You love them and have already met all their needs in Your Son Jesus through His death and resurrection. Help me to help to prepare Your people for the trials to come, that are already beginning to manifest even today. 

O Father, You have helped me to speak, and taught me what to say. Now, I pray, please bring those who need to hear to be drawn ever closer to You, Father, and to be strong, courageous and faithful through the times to come.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

An Undivided Heart

Psalm 86:11-12

Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; --  When God teaches us His way, then we will be able to walk in His Truth.

give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your Name. -- A heart that is not divided between God's way and my way, God's way and the way of the world. Then I will have the proper respect and awe for who God is and His authority over me.

I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; -- When my heart is no longer divided between two worlds, then I will be able to give my whole heart to Him, and give Him the praise He deserves that I owe Him.

I will glorify Your Name forever. -- I will praise Him not only in this world, but I will continue to give Him glory throughout all eternity.

O my Father, Your ways are not our ways; teach me Your ways, so I will not fall into my fleshly ways, but I will walk in the path You have set before me, according to Your Truth that speaks against the world. Grant healing to my heart that it will not be divided, for I will give account to You. I want to worship You and magnify Your Name, Your authority, Your greatness, while I live here on this Earth now, and through all eternity.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

God's Right-ness

Psalm 145:7b

And joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

God's righteousness involves His justice as well as His mercy and grace. It is right-ness in everything He does, because He is love! Because He loves His creation, "He has compassion on all He has made" (v.9). He "opens His hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing," which means that He causes the seasons to grow the food for all the creatures He has made, for this is right. It is often man's rule over his fellow beings that results in famine. We rejoice in God's goodness and righteousness, because when we know His ways and think His positive thoughts (see Philippians 4:8), then we will love Him and our fellow man, and be glad that God is such a good God who does everything righteously. We will rejoice in what is right, and sing the songs that praise His right-ness, His perfection.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Jealousy Versus Envy

Exodus 34:14

Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Moses was about to allow the Israelites to enter the Promised Land, and God makes this startling statement. We tend to see jealousy as a negative, even sinful trait. But it is envy that is wrong. Envy is lusting after what belongs to another. However, jealousy has been called a fear of losing what belongs to me. All worship rightfully belongs to God, and He knows that whenever we allow anything else to take first place in our lives, it is to our detriment. So He is jealous to have us for Himself; He will not share us with any other. Only He can give us what we need, no other. He knows how vulnerable we all are to think that we know better, or that something of this world can meet our needs. But He is our all-in-all, the only One who is to come first in all our thoughts, our attitudes and our decisions.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Workplace Attitudes

Ephesians 6:5-9

Slaves, -- Today that would be employees.

obey your earthly masters -- your boss

with respect and fear, -- considering the authority God has given them over you

with sincerity of heart, -- with integrity

just as you would obey Christ. -- how you would treat Jesus if He were your boss.

Obey them not only to win their favor -- Do not "brown-nose" or suck up to them

when their eye is on you, -- when they're watching

but like slaves of Christ, -- Jesus is really your boss

doing the will of God -- everything you know you should be doing, not slacking off

from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, -- put your whole self, all your energy into it

as if you were serving the Lord, not men, -- Your Boss really is Jesus, beyond and above your manager at work

because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, -- Remember the Judgement Seat of Christ (Romans 12:10, II Corinthians 5:10)

whether he is slave or free. -- It doesn't matter if your're working as an employee at a business or if you are the owner of the business working for yourself, we are all accountable.

And masters, -- Employers, managers, bosses of any kind

treat your slaves -- your employees, those who work under you

in the same way. -- Have the same attitude of mind in dealing with employees, customers, suppliers, whoever you do business with, as though Jesus was working for you, buying from you, or supplying what you need.

Do not threaten them, -- Don't be harsh, because God is gentle with us

since you know that He who is both their Master and yours -- Jesus is Lord, Boss over all of us

is in Heaven, -- He's up there, watching

and there is no favoritism with Him. -- It doesn't matter if He placed you high or low on the "ladder," you are still and always accountable to Him. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

A Lifestyle Of Adherence To The Law

Ezra 7:10

For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.

Ezra had chosen to live a lifestyle of devotion to the Lord by studying to know what the Law says, and to observe and practice in his life the lifestyle of adherence to the Law of the Lord. And he also had compassion for his fellow Israelites in teaching them how to follow the concepts of the Law so they also would live lives that could be acceptable to God to bless them with His goodness.

When we live our lives in accordance to how God designed this Earth to work by cooperating with the regulations and decrees He has given us, then the result will be that things will go well for us, and we will be blessed by God in this world, as well as inherit eternal life in His Kingdom.

We don't need to be born into a family of priests like Ezra was to be able to study God's Word for ourselves; each one of His children has His Holy Spirit living in us to teach us an accurate understanding of what He has written in the Bible. When we approach Bible study with the attitude of drawing out what is there, rather than trying to find validation of our own ideas, then His Spirit will guide us into His Truth. And the Truth will set us free from the erroneous and deceitful philosophies of the world.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!