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Launch Out Into the Deep!
The following is a guest post by my wife, Sue…
Launching out is scary and it is risky. You don’t know what is waiting for you or whether you will be able to handle the unknown. You could be risking your life, your comfort, your security—many things. However, Jesus wants us to launch out when He calls us. If we want to know experientially who Jesus is and our destiny in Him, we must cast off our fears, leave our comfort zone, and launch out into the deep with Him. In doing so, we will learn more about Jesus and dive deeper into our intimacy with Him.
In Matt 14, Peter was told by Jesus to come and walk on the water. Peter risked stepping out of the boat but as soon as he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the waves, he cried out in fear. Immediately, Jesus was there to reach out His hand to Peter. Jesus said, “Come,” but Peter doubted that he would reach the boat.
In this life we face many trials. We invite Jesus into those trials but as soon as we are confronted with overwhelming circumstances, we cry out to Him for deliverance. The Lord wants to do more than deliver us; He wants to develop us! As with Job, satan has permission from God to bring trials into our lives in order to develop our character. In Luke 22, Jesus states that He had prayed for Peter. Jesus is our intercessor as well. He is sitting at the right hand of Father God, interceding for us! The Father always hears and answers the prayers of His Son.
In Luke 22:32, Jesus’ prayer for Peter was that Peter’s faith would not fail and that after the trial, Peter would strengthen his brethren. Our tests are also to test our commitment to the Lord. He wants us to realize the depths of His love, His power, His faithfulness, and His trustworthiness. Through these trials we can develop a deeper relationship with Him with a deeper faith at deeper levels than we have ever known.
We will never grow spiritually continually remaining on the mountaintops. In the valleys is where we find who we are and who Jesus is to us. The joy of intimacy is found in the risks of our journey with Jesus. He prepares us for service and to reach our destiny as we discover that He is there with us in the hardships of life. Our faith will grow under pressure. Our experiences will develop sensitivity and sympathy for others who are facing hardships. They will know that they can overcome life because they see that we have overcome!
In conclusion, the two benefits of testing are: spiritual growth and development, and sensitivity and sympathy to help others.
Launch out into the deep with Jesus!
Until next time…”May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Discipleship is More than Following
Peter illustrates true discipleship in his response to the report of the women regarding the empty tomb. “But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent down and saw only the strips of linen cloth then he went home, wondering what had happened.” (Lk 24:12 NET)
We often consider “discipleship” to be simply following Yeshua because that is what He called His disciples to do. We think we are disciples because we have acknowledged Yeshua as the Messiah, as our Savior and Lord. However, discipleship is much more.
Peter’s response to the report of the empty tomb in Luke 24:12 illustrates a major characteristic of a true disciple–finding out for yourself. He went to see the empty tomb for himself so that he could make up his own mind. A disciple is someone who learns as he spends time following Yeshua–learns what He taught from the Torah and the prophets. True discipleship is listening, thinking, exploring, and coming to your own conclusion as Father God instructs you, and then applying what you learn to your life.
I have to ask myself if I’m a true disciple. How about you?
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Thought for April 19, 2017
“God invites our engagement in his divine plan but does not need it. Failure of nerve on the part of human beings does not ruin God’s presence in the world.” (Paula Gooder, This Risen Existence) and, in my NSHO, most of us have lost our nerve. He has invited us to proclaim the best possible news–that Yeshua, the promised Messiah, has risen from the dead and has ascended to sit at the right hand of our Father. However, even if we run away like the women at the tomb did (Mark 16:8), Yeshua has still risen and Adonai’s purposes will still be accomplished. Unfortunately, those of us who run in fear and those to whom we could have told the Good News may be the losers.
I ask myself, “Have I run away?” I ask you, “Have you run away?” Do we stand for the truth of Adonai’s Word in all circumstances or have we taken the easy PC path of conforming to the world’s way?
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
What Happens Now?
Yeshua has risen from the dead! What’s next? What happens now that He has been crucified and resurrected? What comes next is His ascension and the coming of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) on Shavu’ot (Pentecost). His work would not have been complete w/o these next two events. Without them, we would not have the Ruach to give us the power and ability to carry on the work to which He has called us. As always, Adonai has it all under control as He unfolds His plan to redeem mankind.
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Passover
Today, April 11, is the first day of Passover. Passover started at sunset last night. I was planning to write something about Passover, but yesterday I received the following from a friend, Dawn Uhrick, and decided it was worthy of passing on. I do want to point out that, while Passover, as well as the other Feasts in the Bible, are traditionally considered “Jewish” feasts/holidays/celebrations, you will not find them called such in most, if not all, translations of Scripture. Adonai repeatedly calls them “His feasts”, or when correctly translated, “His appointed times.” They are specific times He set aside for us to meet with Him. They are times of remembrance with specific prophetic meanings related to His Son, Yeshua the Messiah.
Shalom! Sundown tonight begins Passover, the time when Jewish people all over the world and in Israel remember the mighty hand, awesome wonders, and outstretched arm of G-d! In the sight of all of the nations, G-d saved Israel from the oppression and slavery of Egypt. At each Passover Seder, the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt is retold, and Israel remembers the blood of the Passover Lamb as the sacrifice which allowed the people of Israel to be passed over by the angel of death.
Over a thousand years after Israel’s historic exodus from Egypt, Yeshua chose an intimate Passover Seder as His last supper, explaining to his closest friends that the unleavened, broken matzah of the meal represents his own bodily sacrifice, and the blood represents His own blood, poured out for the forgiveness, deliverance, and life of many. He then commanding His disciples to “do this (the Passover Seder) in remembrance of Me.” (See Luke 22, Mark 14, and Matthew 26).
Today, every year during the Passover Seder, Jewish people around the world prophetically break a central piece of matzah (the afikomen, meaning “arrived” or “the coming one”), which is striped, pierced, and bruised (see Isaiah 53:5). The afikomen is then “hidden away” during the Seder, just as Yeshua temporarily left the earth and ascended into heaven after He died and was raised from the dead. The children present during the Seder then diligently search for and find this afikomen and it returns at the end, just as Scripture promises that Yeshua will come and return yet again! The children also search outside of the front door of the Seder home with great anticipation for the prophet Elijah, knowing that Scripture promises that Elijah will herald in the coming of Messiah (Malachi 4:5). All of those present then end the Seder by proclaiming, “Next Year in Jerusalem!,” knowing that Passover also foreshadows the coming future eternal kingship and ultimate deliverance of G-d under the reign of His promised Messiah! Indeed, as Believers in Yeshua, we know that there is yet another Passover Seder to come, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb when Yeshua returns to earth to reign forever in praise (Revelation 19)!
A Call to Stand with Israel…in this Passover Season!
Scripture promises that one day all of Israel [Jewish people, Adonai’s Chosen People] shall be saved (Romans11:26) and that the salvation of Israel is also directly linked with Yeshua’s return and with resurrection and life from the dead (Romans 11:15, Matthew 23:37-39)! We have the tremendous historic privilege today of joining in G-d’s Kingship purposes for Israel and advancing the knowledge and Kingship of Yeshua as we prepare for His ultimate return. For the first time in over two thousand years, Israel is a nation yet again, and the Hebrew language has been restored. Spiritually, there are now over 20,000 Jews in the land of Israel who now believe in Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah and are waiting to welcome His return! But many still do not know Him. We live in unprecedented times. More than ever, the world needs the return of Yeshua, and Israel needs the salvation of Messiah and the strong arm of G-d to move on their behalf in the sight of all the nations! And you, my beloved brothers and sisters, have a vital role to play!
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
Thought for January 30, 2017
Thought for Today: “Open your mind, your heart, and your life to that which you don’t know, that you might contain that which is greater than yourself.” (Jonathan Cahn)
A closed vessel can contain only that which fits inside. An open vessel has no limitations as to how much it can contain. When an open vessel fills up, the contents flow out to make room for more to enter and then flow out, and more to enter…and more…
We can become an open vessel by opening our heart, mind, and life to Adonai. When we become an open vessel for Him, He will fill it with that which is greater than ourselves. As we fill up, His greatness and blessing will then flow out to others so that He can fill us with more that will then flow out…and more…and more…
God’s Word promises that when we call upon Him in prayer, He will answer and show us things that can only be known through His revelation. (Jeremiah 33:3)
.(See also 2 Cor 4:7; Isa 55:1-9)
Thought for January 27, 2017
Thought for today: “If we will meet the conditions, God will always meet us if we believe all things are possible.” (Mark 9:23) (Smith Wigglesworth.)
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Bill
It Has Always Been Israel’s Land
“… and your children shall come back to their own country.” (Jer 31:17) And returning they have been, and return they will, as rightful/legal owners of all the Land that Father God gave them as an inheritance–regardless of what the UN and Lame Duck President Obama and his lame duck administration think or do! Adonai gave it in permanency as a covenant obligation long before any other people group even considered living there as a nation or claimed it was/had been theirs first. I just pray that the US will not suffer consequences as a result of the US Government’s latest action that threw our closest ally under the proverbial bus.
Until next time…May you have a Blessed 2017; “May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
How Do You Survive the Annual Christmas/Chanukah Holiday Budget Drain?
My suggestion, in short, is to set a total budget amount that you can afford, then save, save, and save some more. When you start shopping, stick to the budgeted amount and pay cash. Most of us can scrape up $10, 25, or maybe even $100 for a gift for one person during the year, but for even the small family, the annual December gift-giving-peak can be a strain if not planned for. If you haven’t saved in advance, I strongly recommend setting a total budget you can afford out of current income/savings, but not out of your emergency fund. This is not an emergency! And then, as soon as the holidays are over, start saving for next year. But, how do you accomplish this?
Let me tell you our story. Well…, actually…, to read our story and obtain some tips for Establishing a Christmas Budget, Keeping on Track, Getting Started, and Keeping Things Under Control, you must read my post on the Coastal Federal Credit Union Blog. It is my hope that our story will be a model you can adopt as your own, regardless of the size of your family.
(Holiday Gift Budget Tracking Spreadsheet is a sample spreadsheet similar to the one that we use to track our gift giving budget.)
Enjoy your upcoming holiday and keep it debt free! Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Sing and Rejoice – God Dwells with Us
Adonai dwelt in Spirit with the Israelites in the Tabernacle as He taught them in the wilderness. He came in Spirit and dwelt with the Israelites when they rebuilt the Temple. He came to dwell with mankind in the bodily form of His Son, Yeshua. Today, He dwells with all true Believers in the form of His Holy Spirit, in our bodies, which are His Temple. In the near future, Yeshua will dwell with us in bodily form once again.
Until next time…“May the LORD bless and protect you…May He give you Shalom.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(Graphic Biblia.com)
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