Sunday, November 29, 2009 Grace and Peace to you chaverim! Debora and I pray you and your family had a beautiful thanksgiving this past Shabbat. We still possess a remnant of Turkey we’ve been cutting away from as necessary. My father and step mother actually loaded us down with a literal picnic basket overflowing with a veritable smorgasbord of Turkey and all of the delicious trimmings that make a 3 day (hehehe) thanksgiving dinner complete! I have much to be thankful for and over the course of this past Shabbat and weekend I have thanked Abba for the love He has for me inspite of my piteous self. Folks, we had a grand time at Emet ministries this past Friday night. Rabbi Daniel Rendelman hosted special speaker Scot and his wife Suzanne Dryer from Profound Prophecy ministries. If you have a moment you might enjoy perusing the subject matter addressed there at http://www.profoundprophecy.com I had the lovely opportunity to share music that evening and was fortunate enough to share three new songs with our congregation. The first was an incredible new song by my beloved bride Debora, a truly anointed praise and worship songwriter, called I Will Follow You. This praise and worship song has become an instant classic, boldly declaring our allegiance to our Messiah Yeshua and I can't wait to share it with you. We also share a new song by brother Stephen Franklin, called Ha-Kli, or translated to English means "The Vessel", one that cries out for Abba to change us and use us for His Kingdom. And the final new song, which is actually a re-vamped rendition of an old classic known by many as "Little is Much". Abba laid it on my heart some weeks ago to do this song with a newe twist and He offered me a third verse. The music was well received by all, and for all who missed, it was a real treat and I hope to have it recorded and made available on the new CD tentatively slated for release in late Spring of 2010.Friends, I don’t claim to be a wise man, but I know where true wisdom originates, from our Abba and as a matter of course He loved us enough to put it in His Torah. I thought I might share a few thoughts to encourage and challenge you as you go about your week. Two main thoughts, and both are not entirely disconnected. The first involves our britches. Britches? You might say? Again, yes, and simply put I think it’s important for us to evaluate, and make sure we don’t get too big for em. Now, just to distinguish, we are not talking about waistlines, turkey portions and overdoses of tryptophan (tryptophan is that lovely chemical naturally occurring in turkey that can lead us to partake in that beloved pastime, the "after thanksgiving dinner" nap in the easy chair while the ball game idly continues on the television set.Rather I want to encourage all of us, myself included to do a spiritual gut-check at the beginning and end of everyday. Rav Shaul (Apostle Paul) beseeched the church of Galatia to not become boastful, challenging and envying one another (Galatians 5:26). The writer of the book of Hebrews said that we need to "consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near" (Heb.10:24-25). Beloved, we are in tough times. I’ll submit to you that even when the times are "good", they can still be tough. We fight a war everyday and while talking heads may declare the economy is on the upswing and a loaf of bread is cheaper today than it was yesterday, this by no means disqualify us from many of the inner struggles no one ever sees. We need to encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Life tends to allow us several opportunities to rub shoulders with familiar things, some lovely, some unsavory. Recently I’ve had the opportunity to walk through some painful steps that have and continue to teach me about humility. There will come some people through your life that you will hope will steadfastly remain in place, and for reasons beyond your finite perception are simply not meant to. And you know what? That is ok. Abba is enough. When Yeshua was arrested in the garden, where did all of his close-knit family disappear to? They scattered. But there’s a lesson there. For one it reveals where we are spiritually. Are we placing man on a pedestal? Are we putting our trust more in man than in YHWH? Psalm 118:9 we are told that it is better to take refuge in YHWH than to trust in princes. The fact is, when we suffer the pain of folks leaving our lives for reasons known or unknown to us, it is not idle. Our Creator is still on the throne and is orchestrating all things for our good. Joshua 23:11 says "So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the LORD your God". YHWH repeats this over and over and over. In order for us to fight the good fight, we need to daily do a spiritual check of our own hearts. When we find ourselves struggling with emotions we regret, these are opportunities to clean house, refocus our vision on Abba and make certain our hearts are crucified to this world and sold out to Him and Him alone. I say these things beloved only because I have been guilty of these same things. Pride, anger, vanity, revenge, strife, jealousy, ego…old foes of our "old man" that will lie in wait at the door until we complete our journey- nevertheless- we like our ancestors before us have been shown a better way, through the life-giving power of Abba’s Son Yeshua HaMoshiach, who showed us how to walk in victory. As He is the Torah in flesh, let us follow in His footsteps, focusing upon Him and allowing Him to be our all in all.The second thought I wanted to share stems primarily from this past week’s Torah portion. Ya’akov had a dream and what he witnessed in the dream revealed that the supposed mundane was charged with Hashem’s holy presence. What he saw in his dream was a ladder, and upon that ladder angels would descend and ascend it constantly, and at the top was YHWH. This ladder was the connection between Abba and man, and this ladder was none other than a picture of Messiah, as referred to by Himself in John chapter 1, verse 51 when He said "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man".When Ya’akov awoke from the dream he said, and I really like the NAS translation of this verse, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it", He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this the gate of heaven". Beloved, what you have here is nothing short of Ya’akov receiving a very spiritually eye-opening gift from Abba. Perhaps Ya’akov at this time in his life was struggling against many of the same foes present in our current day struggles. Fear, dread, inadequacy, pride, ego, the whole lot of ‘em.It was in that moment that I believe many of those foes were slayed when Abba spoke to him there and confirmed the same promise upon him that was first given to Abraham. Folks if Yeshua is the ladder, and he is the connection between YHWH and man, and if He resides in us, then these verses in Torah only confirm what Shaul(paul) said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse16, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" So now, we are presented with a grand truth. If He resides in you, then the holiness of that space Ya’akov experienced can be experienced by us wherever our feet take us throughout our day. YHWH is speaking to us all the time….which prompts the next question beloved, are we listening? When we go about our morning commute, a trip to the post office, waiting in the checkout line of the grocery store, any and everywhere, Hashem is constantly present and using these places and times to teach, mold, and transform us more into the likeness of His Son. Let us boldly go forward seeking His face confident that as we remain submitted to Him, He is always teaching us. Amein.
Shalom
P.S we Also go to the Christ Homeless Shelter In Columbia South Carolina to sing sometimes, they are always on our hearts we would ask that you please keep them
in prayer always, they give a great service to all who are in need.
Shalom
P.S we Also go to the Christ Homeless Shelter In Columbia South Carolina to sing sometimes, they are always on our hearts we would ask that you please keep them
in prayer always, they give a great service to all who are in need.
http://www.willspires.com Lyrics for the songs are now on the webpage under the discography tab.
