“Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.”

We have seen the first part of this passage fulfilled in the last generation. The people of Judah have returned from the four corners of the earth and the land of Israel has been rebuilt. The Lord is bringing health and healing to His people and is revealing His truth and peace to them even now.

But this week, I would ask you to pray with me for all Israel to be cleansed from their iniquities and receive pardon for all their sins. We are believing for the salvation of all Israel as proclaimed in Romans 11:26,

“And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.'”

And when this happens, we are looking forward to the life-from-the-dead revival that will sweep this nation as described in Romans 11:1,15,

“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not!…For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”

Indeed, the whole world will see and be amazed by the goodness and prosperity that God lavishes on His people when they return to Him with their whole heart. This will usher in the ultimate Independence Day celebration. For, “therefore if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36) Only then will all Israel will be a joy and praise and an honor to the Lord before all the nations of the earth.

Thank you for praying with me about this great awakening. And may you too be blessed with all of God’s goodness and prosperity as you bless Israel and speak God’s message of love and salvation to her people!

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This morning I read about the priestly garments that Moses was instructed to make for Aaron and his sons. I saw something interesting in Exodus 28:9-12,29,

“Then you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel…And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders as a memorial…So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the LORD continually.”

Aaron bore the names of his brethren on his shoulders and over his heart as a memorial for both him and the LORD. As their high priest, he was to remember that he was bringing the spiritual needs of his people before the LORD’s mercy seat. But also, the LORD was remembering the covenant and the promises He had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob each time He saw the names of the sons of Israel come before Him. The Lord is also calling us to “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). We should remember to continually bring the names of our family, friends and fellow believers before God’s mercy seat in prayer.

Is there someone you have been praying for, even for a long time? Don’t give up! Continually bring their name before God’s throne. Indeed, Jesus has made the example for us. He prays for us to the Father. In John 17:9,20 Jesus said, “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours…I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word…”

You might say, “I’m just not good at praying; I don’t know how to pray well.” It’s okay. Just say what you can, just speak their names to God. For,

“likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit it, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)

Don’t just pray a generic prayer…pray for people! Continually lift their names as a memorial before the Lord. Keep their names over your heart and on your shoulders daily. And don’t stop there. Remember the names of those around you who are lost. The Lord loves to be reminded that He came to seek and save those who are lost. Believe for the salvation of all Israel! Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  May you be empowered and emboldened in your prayers for your brethren and lost souls today and every day!

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“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which comes down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:48-51)

I know this is a spiritual idea, but how do we feast on Jesus? How do we eat and drink Jesus every day? Let’s keep reading…“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) So, the Words of God are necessary food for our spiritual man, just as bread is necessary food for our physical man.

Therefore, if we should eat and drink the Lord’s presence and His Word for our spiritual food, what is it like to feast on Jesus? What nutrients (benefits) does our soul receive from our spiritual diet? Here are some verses from Psalm 34 that will give us a good idea…

“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!…The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing…Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.” “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.”

Many blessings await those who taste the goodness of the Lord. As we feast on His Word, He will supply all our needs, both physically and spiritually. Long life and happy days are a benefit for those who keep their tongues and lips clean and filled with the Lord’s delights. This bread that Yeshua offers will bring a radiance to your soul and confidence to your outlook. And eternal life is the final product for everyone who eats this bread from heaven.

And as I said, there are still many, many people who haven’t tasted this wonderful bread of life. They are like those in the middle of Passover week who are living dry, flavorless lives with no hope of goodness in their future. They literally don’t know what they are missing out on–the vibrant life and health that comes from tasting the bread of salvation. This bread is too good to keep to ourselves. We need go forth and pass out samples of this living bread to anyone who will take it. Yeshua’s life-giving salvation is freely given to all who will open their hearts to taste Him.

May you be filled with all the goodness of the Lord as you taste Him in His Word. May your face be radiant with His blessings and your soul be filled with every good thing! Dig into the Word today. It will do your body good! And share a sweet morsel of God’s good word with someone else you meet who is hungry in heart and soul. Have a delicious day!

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The Bible, too, is filled with word pictures that tell beautiful stories. The phrases can be inspiring from a first glance, but upon deeper inspection a much more meaningful idea comes to light. One such beautiful picture is portrayed in Psalm 85:10-13,

“Mercy and truth have met together,

Righteousness and peace have kissed.

Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Yes, the LORD will give what is good; and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness will go before Him, and shall make His footsteps our pathway.”

This psalm is a portrait of salvation. The Lord God and His Son, Yeshua, met together. They planned a way of salvation for the people they love and created in Their image from even before the foundation of the world. According to plan, Yeshua emptied Himself of His glory and poured Himself out as an atonement for our sins. The righteous Lord God looked down from Heaven and declared, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Yeshua Himself declared, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) And when the Truth sprang out of the earth on Resurrection Day, He made a way for us to follow Him to everlasting life.

The Lord did all of this for YOU! He loves you and has good plans for you. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights…”(James 1:17) He wants you to be with Him in Heaven, so He goes before you as an example. He has walked where you are walking right now. He has born the same burdens and resisted the same temptations that you are facing. He understands what you are going through. And He has left His footprints as signs to light your pathway so you will not get lost along the way.

Don’t feel discouraged. Though you might feel distant or distracted or lonely in spirit, you are NOT alone. Call out to the Lord for help. Look around you for His footprints. He will make your way clear; His Word will light your path.

May we walk in His footsteps every day, and may we be kissed by His righteousness and peace all along our way.

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“We then, as workers together with Him, also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says, ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)

Most of the time I send these thoughts on the Word out to people whom I assume and sincerely believe have received Yeshua into their heart and life. But it is always good to pause and take an inventory of ourselves. Is my heart right with the Lord? Am I living and doing everything as God desires? Is there any hidden sin I have not yet dealt with and placed under the blood of Yeshua? If there is something in your heart that needs to be worked on, today is a great time to do that. Don’t keep putting it off. It may not be pleasant to dig down under layers of spiritual clutter—worries, fears, hurt feelings, unforgiveness, frustrations, resentments, etc. to address the root of some of the junk you know is hiding under that pile. But the longer you let it fester the worse it will be to deal with once it does come out into the open.

Today is your day! If I assumed wrongly that you know and love the Lord Yeshua as your Savior, today is your day of salvation. Receive His grace and love and presence into your heart today! And if you have some spiritual clutter to deal with, today is as good a day as any to address those issues. If you need help with your task, let me know and I will be glad to pray with you and encourage you in any way possible.

And while you’re at it, there’s no better time like today to finish that project or organize that cluttered room of your house too!

“And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you must also complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have.” (2 Corinthians 8:10-11)

Remember the old saying, “Just beginning is already half finished!” I love you and the Lord loves you even more! And as you deal with your “stuff” the Lord will come alongside you and bless you in ways you can’t even imagine. I hope you have a lovely day as you work on these things.

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But did you know that the events of the Purim story took place on a very pivotal date? It was the eve before Passover, the Preparation Day, when Haman first declared his evil plan in Esther 3:12-13,

“Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month (Nisan), and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded…to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month…of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.”

As all the Jews were preparing to slaughter their Passover lambs (on the 14^th of Nisan) and celebrate their greatest holiday of the year, Queen Esther called for them all to put their feast aside and fast and pray for three days. This would be like calling all Americans to take their Thanksgiving turkey out of the oven and turn off the football games on their televisions and run to the altar to pray for their nation’s salvation.

Our enemy, Satan himself, is also on a mission against God’s people. He “prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And it was also on that same pivotal date two thousand years ago–the thirteenth of Nisan, Preparation Day of Passover, just before the Jews were to slaughter their lambs, that he attempted to annihilate the hope of salvation for all humanity. But Yeshua Himself said,

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

Everything Satan tried to do through the curse, Yeshua our Lord and Savior reversed! The devil tried to destroy salvation, kill hope, annihilate peace. It was the eve of Passover when Yeshua was crucified. On the same day as Haman’s evil decree, Yeshua redeemed our lives from the pit, brought healing by His stripes, restored what the enemy stole from us and, three days later, turned total annihilation into abundant and everlasting life! And He Himself declared His victory in Revelation 1:18, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”

Now that is something to celebrate! That is a great gift that all your friends and neighbors can commemorate—the victory that was wrought by our Lord on behalf of ALL people! And we have been called not just to fast and pray for the salvation of our nation, but to shout this Good News from the housetops. Our Great King Eternal has interceded for His people. He has made a way for every person who calls on His name to come to Him. Let us not hide behind our masks or keep our voices soft. Let us be noisy witnesses for the Lord for such a time as this!

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