Parasha B'resheet & Sermon "The Sukkot Journey"

From the Rabbi's Desk

We all face pressures in our daily lives; time pressures, work pressures, school pressures, marriage pressures, financial pressures and on and on. How do we as Believers in Messiah Yeshua overcome all this external pressure?

Submarines can dive to incredible depths, where the external pressure has the capability of crushing the hull and destroying the sub and its crew. The hull of a submarine must be able to withstand the force created by the outside water pressure while maintaining the inside air pressure but that is not the case with us.

Psalm 118:5-6 "I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. 6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

Simplistically put, the psalmist is saying that the pressure on the inside of us has to exceed the pressure being exerted on us from the outside. He concludes that as long as the Lord is our life on our inside, we will not implode and will be able to withstand the pressures imposed on us from the outside. Yeshua told us:

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Divine power gives us everything we need to withstand all the pressures of life. As Peter put it:

2 Peter 1:3 "as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Amen

Hi Ellen here…"But Yeshua said to him, No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God." (Luke 9.62) …Oy vey, very sobering so I decided to pray and seek more about this Scripture. Of course, its context is in what a true disciple of Yeshua should be and we all in the faith desire to be just that. The above Scripture was the NKJ translation; I looked at the LBT which says, "Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God." There you go…DISTRACTED! How many times have you purposed in your heart and in your mind to do what the Lord is leading you to do, mainly praying, reading the Word, attending fellowship, getting on that all too needed prayer chain and so much more. Maybe you have a Martha inclination instead of a Mary…oops that's me…God is here to help! "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1Corithians 15.58 NIV) …AMEN!

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Shabbat Sukkot & Sermon "Freedom from Oppression"

Have you ever bought something and when you got it home discovered it was a knockoff, a counterfeit? Have you ever received an expensive gift and found out it was a fake? How can we protect ourselves from counterfeits, fakes? When it comes to gifts, we cannot protect ourselves from fakes, it was a gift! However, for purchases we make we can protect ourselves by watching what we buy and where and who we buy it from. The old adage is always right; "Buyer Beware".

I have been told that when the FBI trains their agents to recognize counterfeit money, they have them study the real thing very intensely, so when a counterfeit crosses their path, they can recognize it immediately. The same principle applies to false, counterfeit religions. I have come across people who think that in order to witness to Mormons or someone who practices Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism etc., they need to read and study their holy books, but nothing can be farther from the truth. If we want to be good Messianic apologists, we need to study the real thing, the Bible, God's holy, true and only instruction book to the world. The more we know about God's truth the more we will be able to detect and reject counterfeits. But in order to know what is false we must know what is true!

John 14:6 Yeshua answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Buying, accepting, teaching or listening to counterfeits is sin, so do not be afraid to say NO when someone offers you a fake and always be ready to defend the real thing, the TRUTH!

Hi Ellen here…We write these short messages midweek so by Thursday we can send it all out, but please know all the words that are on your screen now have been prepared with prayer and supplication.

On Tuesday night following our Sukkot services Jack and I sat down to pray before we went to sleep. So many things are going on in all our lives, for sure, so prayer is the best outlet. As we prayed our petitions before the Lord most high, I spoke out and said; "Please Lord I need answers…why not leave me a note on the breakfast table – AMEN!" Well about 6:30ish A.M. I came into the kitchen and, no note. "It's OK Lord, we are still good," I said. As I settled into a new day, I pulled up the Scripture to send out to Congregation Etz Chaim, as I do every morning…lo and behold my Abba in heaven sent me a note. The passage I pulled up said; "Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous, but the LORD rescues him from them all." (Psalms 34.19). Have you truly made GOD your hiding place (Psalms 91)? Have you truly and sincerely called out to GOD (Jeremiah 33)? Today is a good day to start refining your communication with our heavenly Father…who knows, He might leave you a note on the breakfast table tomorrow morning. Blessing to you all.

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Ha'azinu

From the Rabbi's Desk

With all that is going on around us these days, sometimes it is hard to stay focused on God. I do not know about you but the devil sure tries his hardest to keep us preoccupied with 'to do lists,' chores, and the mundane things of life which steal our time. It is such that if we allowed our flesh to influence our spirits, we could easily find ourselves neglecting focusing on what is most important - God. The apostle Paul tells us:

Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."

Most often when we read or hear the word 'meditate' we instantly think of eastern type meditation, which is idolatry. However, that is not what Paul is saying here. If we, as Believers in Messiah Yeshua, want to meditate on what is noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtuous or praiseworthy, the only place for us to go to find such things is in the Bible. I am sorry to say that many Believers have fallen into the habit of meditating on the television, internet, social media or the daily news, more than the Word of God, things which only steals our God focusing time.

Focusing and meditating on God requires us to disconnect from the clutter of our lives and read the Bible with purpose and total concentration. We need to think about what we have read, apply it to our lives, then pray the positive things upon ourselves, learning and meditating on it throughout the day. If we follow this pattern of meditation, our minds will be filled with what is noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy and God will be our focus not the world. Amen.

Hi Ellen here…We all wait a lot, right? We wait for the clothes to dry, for our dinner to cook, we wait for our kids to come home from school and we wait on life altering answers…I figure life is a lot of waiting and most times it is really hard to wait. Now I would like to share with you what the Word says about waiting and maybe many of us will receive peace as we wait. Isaiah is one of my most favorite books so read on…

Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 64:4 "For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him."

Hosea 12:6 "So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, And wait on your God continually. I like these Scriptures so much and there are many more like"

Psalm 27.14, 37.7, 38.15! We have tried to analyze things, answer things with our own finite minds and we have gone before the lord without success, without peace.

So I say to you today to wait on the Lord for the right answer and for the shalom, shalom – the perfect peace…"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer," (Romans 12.12).

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Vayelech

Numbers 13:33 "There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

Everyone has situations in their lives that when looked upon seem like giants. Like the children of Israel in the Scripture passage I quoted, we feel inadequate to confront them and sometimes do everything we can to avoid them, which ends up as us making the wrong choices and suffering for it, like Israel. There is, however, another way to look at giants.

Numbers 14:9 "Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them."

The problems we see as giants, God sees as our lunch, bread for a sandwich. When Yeshua taught us to pray He said:

Matthew 6:11 "Give us this day our daily bread."

Is it possible Yeshua was preparing us for our daily encounters with the giants in our lives? Was He also saying that they are not giants at all but our bread that we can eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner? So, next time we are confronted with a problem that to us appears like a giant, remember to God it is our lunch!

Hi Ellen here…Praying continually in the Spirit throughout the day and even in the night is an exercise that not only opens windows in heaven but draws us closer to the Lord. Our Abba waits to hear us not only in corporate prayer meetings or when we are on our knees in our prayer closets. Continual communication brings blessings, answers, direction, guidance and so much more. When I read the Scriptures concerning how Yeshua went up to pray and found his disciples sleeping upon His return, I am convicted but also can relate. Prayer is our hearts poured before the altar of grace and Yeshua says His grace is sufficient for us…we may not receive that house we have been praying for but our Abba has a mansion for us in heaven. BOTTOM LINE – PRAY!!!

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Listen to: "The Sound Of The Feast"

Parasha Nitzavim

Luke 22:42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

The greatest barrier to our prayers being answered is that we do not pray as Yeshua prayed. Yeshua always prayed in reverent and complete submission to the Father. He never imposed His will on Him but always prayed totally renouncing His will in favor of His Father's will. Many of us have developed the habit of praying by asking God for what is on our hearts, we pray for needs, healings, successes, or other things not ever taking into consideration if what we are praying for is in the will of God for us. This attitude of prayer is a carryover of our old nature as Paul tells us:

Ephesians 4:22-24 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

Our old self was selfish and arrogant, we were used to asking for and receiving what we wanted. If we went to the boss and asked for a raise but were refused, we would either look for a new better paying job or quit. The boss's will was of no interest to us. But Paul is telling us that we have to put off that old self and put on the new self the one we received when we were saved. Our old self was not in reverent submission to God. Our new self should reflect the image of Yeshua, therefore, like Yeshua we are to be in reverent and complete submission to the Father's will.

Isaiah 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."

God sees far beyond what we see, it is impossible for us to understand what God's purposes are in any particular situation. When we pray in our old rebellious nature, we may be praying contrary to God's will, no matter what it is we are praying for (needs, healings, successes etc.). Therefore, by saying, "Your will and not my will be done," we are putting off the old selfish arrogant self and putting on the new reverent, submissive self so God will hear our prayers and answer them.

Hi Ellen here…I remember four plus years ago when my husband was undergoing treatment and he had to live at the hospital from Sunday until Thursday, wow really rough time but we got through it. I was in a very sorrowful state one day and I had to do all the banking and other errands for our household that we always did together. Standing there in the bank and trying to smile while tears were welling up in my eyes I prayed, Abba please send me someone who will be like minded, I need an encouraging face. Well, I walked out of the bank and a man approached me with a tract, a brochure, proclaiming the love of Yeshua. I almost hugged him with tears of joy thanking Abba for hearing my prayer. I can embellish this five minute in my life but I think we got the picture. God has created a community of like minded believers in our lives if we would only reach out to Him. When we are shopping or at a restaurant do we look around to see the prettiest girl or how she is dressed? When we are driving do we notice the nicest car or SUV? Try to see outside the box and ask Abba to give us the ability to see what He sees. Maybe He will show us someone in need of help, or a prayer, maybe an offering of food…God is able even if we aren't…remember try to see with our Father's eyes.

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Listen to "Cornerstone Of Our Faith"

Parasha Ki Tavo

There are Believers who do not quite understand what their position is in Messiah Yeshua so let me explain. We are more than many of us give ourselves credit for. Certainly, none of us were saved (Born Again) through our own efforts, definitely not by doing good deeds or because we were a good person. We all were saved by the finished work of our Lord Messiah Yeshua. In accepting Him as our Lord and Savior we are now in Him, which means we are no longer our old self, we have put on the character of Messiah Yeshua and He is now our true selves. At the moment of salvation our identity before God changed. God no longer looks at us in our human struggles, in His eyes our old selves died with Messiah Yeshua on the Cross and our new selves were resurrected with Him. The fact is, Yeshua did not just die for us He died as us. As far as God is concerned the "I" that sins is no longer alive, that person is dead.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

The apostle Paul is saying that we should stop looking at ourselves, our faults, our failures, our sins and we should look at Yeshua because He is who we are now. So, if we sin, and we will, God no longer looks at us to judge us, He looks at Yeshua because Yeshua is the new us; that is what it means to be in Messiah Yeshua.

Yeshua is all God and all man but He did not die as God He died as man and when He resurrected, He resurrected as man and He is now sitting at the right Hand of the Father as man, the perfect man that paid for all our sins, so God now sees Yeshua as us, perfect! That is why we can say; "There is no condemnation in Messiah Yeshua." Satan can no longer condemn us because we are now the holiness of God in Messiah Yeshua. God can bless us because He looks at Yeshua as who we are. Therefore, we must never sell ourselves short or be down on ourselves because of what salvation means.

1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

This is a Divine declaration of fact, as Yeshua is so are we. Satan cannot condemn us because he cannot see our sin, Yeshua took them all, past, present and future. We do not have to try to overcome lust or anger or anything else because Yeshua overcame it all for us; we just need to trust and rest in Him!

Hi Ellen here…I awoke the other morning and after beginning the usual things…preparing lemon water, praying…we began our day. As I arranged all the ingredients for my cooking, I experienced an overflow of water. What I mean is every time I put my hand to do something with water it either overflowed, wasn't enough or boiled over…what is going on Lord? As I grow in the Lord, I see Him in everything. I had been thinking of what to write for this week's mini message and I felt the Lord working in my spirit. I opened my email and there was a commentary by this most blessed woman that I communicate with …" The Fascinating Symbolism of Water in the Bible". Okay I got the message O God most High. I pondered many of the references she talked about. Jack and I read about water in Jeremiah and Ezekiel that same day but the reference I most felt was in Revelation 22.17 "…The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." It's free, His Salvation, His Living Water and so much more. You don't need to pay the price the He paid for our lives…it is free! Come and drink!

Visit our blog for more teaching and to view previous Torah commentaries:

https://weeklyparasha02.blogspot.com/

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Elul Day 20

Elul 20

Song 2:14, ""O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely."

"…In the cleft of the rock," is that not where God hid Moses when he asked if he could see His Face? God was in the still small voice. The imagery of this verse is about the Beloved (Yeshua) and His Bride (the Church). First, Yeshua calls His Bride "My dove." Doves, as previously mentioned, are monogamous, they are innocent and gentle and this is how Yeshua sees His Saved Bride. So, He protects her in a location of safety, the cleft of the rock, then He asks to see her face.

Ezra 9:6 and prayed: "I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens."

Yeshua no longer see us as sinners, we are His righteousness, therefore, there is no longer any need for the Bride to hide her face because of the same of her sin, it has been removed by the shedding of our Beloved's blood.

"…let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet," Before salvation our voices were not lifted up in worship to the Lord, our singing was for our own pleasure and not for the Lord's. Now, as the Bride, Yeshua loves to hear our voice in praise and worship of Him no matter what our quality of singing; it all sounds sweet to Him.

Psalm 44:15 "I live in disgrace all day long, and my face is covered with shame."

"…and your face is lovely." Again, Yeshua reminds His Bride that she no longer has any need to hide her face from Him, her shame has been removed. She can now turn her eyes to Him and He will look upon her in love, all shame, guilt and condemnation have been removed.

Songs 2:15," Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes."

With this verse Yeshua is warning His Bride to beware of the little foxes of compromise that could enter her life. Foxes (Satan) is the enemy that comes into Yeshua's harvest field to steal, kill and destroy, especially when the Bride is a tender and new Believer.

Prayer: Hide me in your secret place O Lord and look upon my face, for my eyes are turned to you in all repentance. Receive my praise and worship and keep me from all compromise.

Yours in Messiah Yeshua our Lord, our God, our soon coming King

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Elul Day 18

Song of Songs 2:10 "My beloved speaks and says to me, "Arise, my love, my fair one,""

And come away. 11 "For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. 12 'The flowers appear on the earth once again; The time for singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land".

Winter is the cold, rainy season in Israel; it runs normally from November (after Sukkot) to approximately April (After Passover). During this time the ground drinks, up the rain and the ground is softened in preparation for the spring planting. During the month of February, a great miracle occurs as the countryside springs forth with 2500 different species of beautiful wild flowers as the landscape springs forth into life.

In our scripture from Songs of Songs today Yeshua calls His Bride out of the winter darkness, which represents her life before salvation into her new springtime life filled with beauty and songs of praise.

"...And the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land."

The Turtle Dove is a very beautiful and innocent bird. It appears in Judea early in the

spring, when the leaves are coming out, the flowers are opening, and everything is looking lovely and beautiful. It is also a very gentle and peaceful bird and, in this verse, it symbolizes the gentleness and peace the Bride will have when she rests in Yeshua.

This is the eighteenth day of Elul. In Hebrew the number 18 (Chai) stands for life. Today you are a new creation with a new vision…take hold of Life. The winter has passed, the spring has come so arise and come away with your Beloved As you listen to the shofar sound, let it speak life into you today.

Yours in Messiah Yeshua our Lord, our God, our soon coming King

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Listen to the sound of the Shofar

Elul Day 17

Elul 17

Psalm 27:1, The LORD is my light…….

Each day as Ellen and I put on the full armor of God we pray that God would uproot, tear down and destroy Satan's kingdom of darkness and that He would plant, raise up and establish His Kingdom of Light.

John 1:5, (AMP) "And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it]"

Satan cannot operate in light and as soon as God's light pierces His darkness, he is exposed and must flee. There is a war going on in the heavenlies and it is a war between Light and darkness, however, as long as the Lord is our Light we will be safe and secure.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Messiah Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The Blood of Yeshua is a powerful weapon in our war against the powers of darkness. Satan can only enter our lives if there are areas of hidden unconfessed darkness (sin) in us. Children of God should be constantly applying the Blood of Yeshua over their lives in faith, knowing that His blood is the Light that pierces Satan's darkness.

Blood has a voice as we are told in Genesis 4:10. God heard the voice of the blood of Abel crying out from the ground but there is a far better and greater voice that cries out on our behalf.

Hebrews 12:24 to Yeshua the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Light travels at a speed of 299,274 kilometers per second. Anything that travels that fast must produce a sound or vibration of such a high pitch that it is heard in the heavenlies. During these forty days of repentance do not neglect to apply the Blood of Yeshua over your life because His Blood lights up the spirit realm that pierces Satan's darkness.

Yours in Messiah Yeshua our Lord, our God, our soon coming King

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Listen to the sound of the Shofar

Elul Day 16

Elul 16

Song 1:15, "Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove's eyes."

Yesterday we learned how amazing it is when we take our eyes off ourselves, our inadequacies and self-consciousness and put them on Yeshua. In today's verse from Song of Songs the King continues to lift His Bride out of her feelings of worthlessness by telling her that it does not matter how she sees herself, it is how He sees her that is important and to Him we are fair. Notice that the King repeats this phrase twice; "Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair!" The enemy will always try to put us down but Yeshua, when we look to Him, will always lift us out of our depression and feelings of worthlessness because to Him we are fair.

If you every had the feeling that God has abandoned you this verse should disperse that feeling because in it Yeshua addresses us as "My Love." To me this is one of the most beautiful terms of endearment. I often address my wife as 'my love' because she is so precious to me, how comforting it is to know that our King Yeshua thinks the same of us.

"You have dove's eyes." Look at the imagery here. First, the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, He connects our spirit to the Spirit of Yeshua. Second, doves are monogamous and have the same mate for life, and finally, doves only see ahead of them, they have no peripheral vision so they are single focused. What a beautiful picture has been painted for us in this one short verse of our relationship with our Beloved. Perhaps we will never look at a dove the same way again.

Yours in Messiah Yeshua our Lord, our God, our soon coming King

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Listen to the sound of the Shofar

Elul Day 15

You have not heard from me the past few days because I was unwell and went to the hospital to undergo tests. They found a blood irregularity but have not diagnosed it yet. I will be visiting a hematologist as a follow- up, however Ellen and I are trusting in the Lord our great physician and healer. Please continue to keep us in prayer.

Elul Day 15

In prior verses from Song of Songs we learned that the Shulamite did not think much of herself, she had low self-esteem. Her Beloved, however, builds her up comparing her beauty to one of Pharaoh's chariot horses. When we understand that Song of Songs is a love story between Yeshua and His Bride, the Church, we get a picture of how Satan attempts to put us down by making us feel inadequate and self-conscious. But once Yeshua expresses His love for His Bride, she is revived and her love for her Beloved is awakened!

Songs 1:12, "While the king is at his table, my spikenard sends forth its fragrance." 13) "A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, that lies all night between my breasts."

The Bride is sitting at the Kings table, presumably at the marriage feast, and her love for Him is sending forth a smell of fragrant spikenard. Spikenard was a chief ingredient in ointments used to anoint guests. We see Mary pouring it on Yeshua's feet in John 12:3 as an act of worship, here too what is being expressed is the worshiping of the King by His Bride. In verse 13 the Bride expresses her strong love and affection for her Beloved. Myrrh is both a perfume and an embalming spice but here the Bride is referring to sprigs of myrrh flowers made into a bundle which she says she holds between her breasts at night. This expresses that even at night the Bride holds the sweet love of her Beloved on her heart. It is amazing how beautiful Yeshua is when we take our eyes off ourselves, our inadequacies and self-consciousness and put them on Him.

Yours in Messiah Yeshua our Lord, our God, our soon coming King

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Listen to the sound of the Shofar

Elul Day 12

Psalm 27:1 "A Psalm of David. THE LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?"

Psalm 27 is all about faith. Faith means we do not fear, faith means we are strong in our trust of the Lord, faith means we will not be afraid. As we continue in our daily reading of Psalm 27 it should be revealing things in us that need to be cleansed so as to be drawn into God's perfect will and into His strength.

1 Samuel 13:14 "But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command."

Everything that king Saul was not, king David was and that is why God could call him 'man after God's own heart.' David was not an angel, he failed in many ways, perhaps in some we have not even failed in, but after he returned to the Lord in repentance he was cleansed of all unrighteousness and brought back to a place of new mercies.

Psalm 30:5 "For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."

When we go to bed at night in repentance we wake in the morning to new mercies. God is faithful, He loves us and wants to make all things new in our lives day by day. So, every morning He gives us a fresh beginning. All He asks is that like David we recognize where we went astray and return to His light and His strength, because in the Lord there is forgiveness, safety, love and healing.

David experienced the covenant God through his trials, battles, successes, failures and worship. He understood how the LORD was his shepherd and took good care of him as a helpless little lamb so he had faith not fear.

Make God your light today because He is bigger than anything Satan can throw at us. David said The LORD is my light. Light dispels darkness so that the works of darkness cannot hide in dark corners of our lives because the light of Messiah Yeshua pierces and scatters all darkness.

Yours in Messiah Yeshua our Lord, our God, our soon coming King

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

Listen to the sound of the Shofar

Parasha KeTetze

FROM THE RABBI'S DESK

When we proclaim the Word of God, we need to be careful that we proclaim the whole truth.

2 Timothy 3: 1 "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come..."

Paul then goes on to describe what the last days will look like. If you read through the list, you will find that the root of them all is selfishness; love of self, love of money, love of pleasure. I do not think we have to look very far to see that these three characterize our world today. So then, what separates Believers from today's world? Unselfishness! We are called to serve and be servants, unselfishly.

2 Timothy 3:8 "Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;"

Jannes and Jambres were the Egyptian magicians that duplicated Moses' signs to Pharaoh. So, Paul is saying that in the last days there will be a rise in the occult. When people think of the occult, they normally think of tarot cards, palm readers, seances and the such, but the occult can be Yoga, martial arts, tie chi, secularism, legalism and all false religions (that is any religion that denies the deity of Yeshua), all of which are an epidemic in our society today. What is the answer for a Believer who wants to remain on the right track with God?

2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

We need to know what the Bible says from Genesis to Revelation so that, as Paul says, can be "thoroughly equipped." Why, because if we are not thoroughly equipped, we can be easily deceived.

2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come (I believe it is already here) when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4) and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."

Hi Ellen here…Another tough week but when things get tough the tough get reading the Bible!!! Ezekiel 33.30-33 excited me so much...let's see: "As for you son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, 'Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.' So, they come to you as people do, they sit before you as my people and they hear your words but do not do them: for with their mouth, they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed, you are to them a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words but do not do them. And when this comes to pass – surely it will – then they will know that a prophet has been among them." I read this and repented not only for myself but for my people, family, friends, nations, Jew, Gentile, Muslim…do not miss what the Lord has to say to you through His messengers, those who have ears, let them hear!

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Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King;

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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