Let’s Count the Omer

May 17, 2016 By

In Leviticus 23, the Israelites were commanded to start counting up to 49 days after Passover; that would be seven weeks. This is called “Counting the Omer,” for they had to bring an omer (a small measurement) of barley to the Temple every day in faith of a greater harvest. The bringing of the barley was called “First Fruits.”  (By the way, “First Fruits” was the day that Yeshua was resurrected!) As they counted the days, it would lead them to day fifty (50). Day 50 is called Pentecost in English, Shavuot in Hebrew.

Historically, three days prior to the 50th day, the Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai after leaving Egypt.  On the 50th day, Adonai gave them the Torah. By “counting the omer” yearly, they would always be reminded, not only that they were given the Torah, but also they would know the exact day on which He gave it.

Fast forward some 1500 years during Yeshua’s day–the people were still “counting the omer,” and they would have begun after Yeshua’s crucifixion. Luke 1:3 says, “After his suffering, he presented himself to them [His disciples] and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” 

During the 40 days of counting, Yeshua does the following:

  • He sleeps in the grave.
  • He rises from the grave.
  • He appears to Mary.
  • He walks with two disciples on the Road to Emmaus.
  • He appears to  Peter and to His disciples.
  • He eats with Peter at the Sea of Galilee.
  • He gives His disciples the Great Commission.
  • He meets them on the Mount of Olives.
  • On day 40, He ascends into the heavens.

Let’s not forget what Luke said: He “gave many convincing proofs that he was alive,” which means He did so much more in those 40 days than I listed above. 

But what about the 10 remaining days?

For the next ten days the disciples wait in Jerusalem as Yeshua tells them to. I believe they wait as they “count the omer.” As they are counting, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon them in the Upper Room, and they are filled with the Power and Presence of God on day 50! Pentecost! (Shavuot)!

As we “count the omer” this year, let us be reminded that God still desires to pour Himself out upon us — in us — as He did with His Torah and His Spirit! He still desires to bring forth a great harvest and to use us to reap it. This year, as we count, let us say . . . “More, Lord!!”

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You Will Never Wash My Feet!

March 13, 2016 By

Peter, like the other disciples, watched Yeshua as he intently rose from dinner. A towel lay near the door next to a basin and a picture. They had no idea what he was about to do. He picked up the towel and deftly wrapped it about his waist.

What was he to do? The disciples had no idea. They could not figure out what he was up to. Maybe what they had thought He was going to do was as quickly brushed from their minds as it was considered.

Then he did it.

He picked up the pitcher and the basin, and He walked over to Andrew. They all looked uneasy, but what could they do about God wanting to wash their feet.

Then he came to Nathaniel, who offered his feet as reluctantly and as uneasily as did Andrew. The cool water ran over his tired insteps and calloused feet and dripped between his toes. Nathaniel wished he had thought to do as much for Yeshua. After all, he was the one who had served all day – and now He was continuing to serve.

Every drop of water that was poured on Nathaniel’s feet was licked up by the soft towel that Yeshua had girded about his waist. Nathaniel chanced to look at the son of God washing his feet, but his glance met eyes filled with such pleasure.

On Yeshua went to every disciple, doing the same… until He came to Peter. Peter could not believe that those guys had allowed Yeshua to demean himself in that way; footwashing was reserved for the basest of Gentiles slaves. Yeshua was no slave; neither was he a Gentile.

They obviously did not know who He was, Peter thought. They obviously did not love him the way Peter did.

“No, Lord, you will not wash my feet,” Peter said.

Wow, Peter! Humans let God wash their feet and now a human was telling God what God could not do.

“You don’t know what I’m doing,” said Yeshua, “but you will know.” Wasn’t that enough reason to let him do it?

It wasn’t for Peter.

“You will never wash my feet.”

No wonder Yeshua saved Peter for last!

When we discredit what God has done for others, we say, like Peter, “You will never wash my feet.”

In our refusal to change, we say as Peter did: “You will never wash my feet.”

When we say God only moves in a certain way, we say to him: “You will never wash my feet.”

And the Lord says, “If I don’t wash your feet, fill in your name, you will never have a part of me. Let me do what I want to do in your life.

“Or should I save you for last?”

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“Leaving the City”: From Israel #6

November 8, 2015 By

image(REMEMBERING MY TRIP TO ISRAEL OC. 26 – NOV. 7, 2014.)

We will be leaving “The City of the Great King” very soon. As it is with any place I visit, I always think about what I will leave behind because I ALWAYS take something away. I will carry with me so many memories, experiences, and revelations. I will leave the very center of the earth and go back to the West. I will leave the Place where Adonai has placed His Name! I am leaving the Place where Yeshua lived and died and was resurrected! And I will leave the place to which He says He is returning!

I have never yearned for Him so much as I did standing there on the Mt. Of Olives. Our group stood in line to enter a chapel that had been built on the very spot from where it is believed that Yeshua ascended. After our turn in line, our group entered the chapel walking on a paved stone floor, which yielded a squared opening of the original stone of the mountain. A powerful feeling of His Presence overwhelmed me when I walked in! We encircled the stone and we sang “Here I Am to Worship!” (see link: IMG_4953-2) The voices filled the space and resounded against the stone walls, wafted through the open windows, and headed heavenward! Unforgettable!

I knew at that moment, I really wanted Him to return! How appropriate a feeling when I was standing in that spot. The one He marked; the one He chose for His return. I joined with the spirit of the angels who had told Yeshua’s disciples that He would return. In tearful, passionate longing, I joined with the Spirit of God in proclaiming, “Come Yeshua! Even so, come Messiah Yeshua!” One day, the Bride will share the Spirit’s desire and proclaim with one intense longing: “EVEN SO, COME!”

It certainly was a place I did not want to leave.

But as I leave this amazing City, I leave my footprints (in so many places, but namely) in the city of Nazareth, on the shores of Galilee, upon the heights of Mt. Carmel, on the Temple Mount, and on The Mount of Olives.

Thank you, Abba, for the experience!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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…Of Schindler and Dog Biscuits

September 28, 2015 By

By Juanita Weiss
At the end of the movie Schindler’s List, we find Oskar Schindler weeping almost uncontrollably. The Allied Forces were invading Poland to liberate the Jews. Schindler had used his resources to save a small number of Jewish people from extermination in the death camps. At the end of the war, he was left with his costly jewelry, fine cars and clothes, and, no doubt, money in his pocket. He wept because he realized he could have saved so many more Jewish people with the resources he had. “What a waste,” he must have felt.

My 15-year old border collie Boomer is nearing the end of his life. He sleeps a lot and only rouses for a dog biscuit. So I dole them out one per day. Of course I want him to eat well, but I know I will be crestfallen if he passes away and I have a half full box of biscuits left. I don’t know of any dog who would enjoy them the way Boomer does.

Schindler and Boomer make me think of the day that Yeshua cracks the eastern sky. With all my resources — which at that time will mean nothing — will I say, “I could have fed a few more orphans or more of the poor. I could have aided in Bible translations, fed a few more missionaries, helped Haitian pastors to equip their churches better, funded water projects in Third World Countries, or supported more Messianic Jews in their desire to bring the reality of the Messiah to their lost Jewish brethren”?

What happens to our 401k’s and pensions and retirement plans? What about our bank accounts, our houses, fine cars and clothes? What about our jewelry and stocks and bonds?

We must plan as if tomorrow will come . . . and then live as if tomorrow will may never come! I can’t say I have mastered that, but Yeshua paints reality in this parable:

 “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Schindler’s tears and Boomer’s dog biscuits remind me that  I so want to hear “Well Done, good and faithful servant” at the end of my days. “You’ve been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over much.” The “much” will far exceed the resources I gave and the ones I kept!

May You be pleased, Abba, with my stewardship.

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Supreme Court Decision: A Reflection

July 2, 2015 By

God stood in front of Abraham. (Genesis 18)

“Can I do in Sodom what I am about to do and not tell Abraham?” He reasons.

The answer is a resounding “No!”

How do I know?

Because Abraham began to intercede for Sodom. Abraham connected with Adonai’s heart and began to intercede.  “If I can find 50 righteous in the city, will you save Sodom?” Abraham asked God.

God agreed. After Abraham goes from 50, to 30, t0 20, down to 10, “the LORD went his way” (Gen. 18:33); and needless to say the cites of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because there were not even ten righteous people in them.

Well, He says today: “Can I do in  America what I am about to do and not tell my Faithful?”
The answer is still a resounding “No!”

As He stands in our presence, can we connect with Adonai’s heart?

  • Do we believe God’s Word over the word of Supreme Court judges?
  • Do we get depressed over their ruling on gay marriage or do we allow the Holy Spirit to motivate us to advance the Kingdom?
  • Do we sit and watch the news & listen to all the talking heads or do we get in the Word of God and seek His truth!
  • Do we realize that Biblical truth has nothing to do with political correctness!? Political correctness does not abrogate God’s commands.
  • Do we realize that the Kingdom of this World is totally opposite from the Kingdom of Darkness?
  • Do we beseech the Lord for our nation the way Abraham invoked the Lord for Sodom?

What did Abraham do?

  1. He drew near to God. (Genesis 18:23) Draw near, beloved!
  2. He persistently and steadily interceded. (Genesis 18:24-31) Pray without ceasing, saints.
  3. In fearful deference to the Almighty, he asked God to spare Sodom. (Genesis 18:30) Ask, favored ones.

Will we dare to let our lights shine brighter in a perverse world?

Will we apprehend God the way Abraham did: knowing that God will indeed destroy a city because of the wicked … BUT he will save a nation because of the righteous!

And when “He goes on His way” we will know that we have done as his love has mandated.

 

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Celebration of Pentecost

May 12, 2015 By

SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2015 — 5:00 P.M.
Kingdom Life Messianic Congregation
1280 Bells Mill Road, Chesapeake 23322

Kingdom Life Messianic Congregation invites you to share in our Celebration of Pentecost (“Shavuot” in the Hebrew). As we count the Days of the Omer, the time when Yeshua revealed Himself to His disciples after His resurrection, we anticipate, as the disciples did, the sending of the “Promise” on the 50th day!

We will be celebrating Shavuot with a Cantata entitled “Welcome, Spirit of God!” It is a worshipful mixture of song, dance, readings & dramatic monologues in celebration of Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit) who was given to the disciples in the upper room. On that very same day, 3000 years before, G-d gave His people the Torah on Mt. Sinai. How exciting!

We invite you to come and celebrate with us this Holy Feast Day that God Himself ordained and consecrated . . . so that WE could MEET with HIM!

How could you pass up such an invitation???

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Counting the Omer

April 7, 2015 By

In Leviticus 23, the Israelites were commanded to start counting up to 49 days after Passover; that would be seven weeks. This is called “Counting the Omer,” for they had to bring an omer (a small measurement) of barley to the Temple every day in faith of a greater harvest. The bringing of the barley was called “First Fruits.”  (By the way, “First Fruits” was the day that Yeshua was resurrected!) As they counted the days, it would lead them to day fifty (50). Day 50 is called Pentecost in English, Shavuot in Hebrew.

Historically, three days prior to the 50th day, the Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai after leaving Egypt.  On the 50th day, Adonai gave them the Torah. By “counting the omer” yearly, they would always be reminded, not only that they were given the Torah, but also they would know the exact day on which He gave it.

Fast forward some 1500 years during Yeshua’s day–the people were still “counting the omer,” and they would have begun after Yeshua’s crucifixion. Luke 1:3 says, “After his suffering, he presented himself to them [His disciples] and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” 

During the 40 days of counting, Yeshua does the following:

  • He sleeps in the grave.
  • He rises from the grave.
  • He appears to Mary.
  • He walks with two disciples on the Road to Emmaus.
  • He appears to  Peter and to His disciples.
  • He eats with Peter at the Sea of Galilee.
  • He gives His disciples the Great Commission.
  • He meets them on the Mount of Olives.
  • On day 40, He ascends into the heavens.

Let’s not forget what Luke said: He “gave many convincing proofs that he was alive,” which means He did so much more in those 40 days than I listed above. 

But what about the 10 remaining days?

For the next ten days the disciples wait in Jerusalem as Yeshua tells them to. I believe they wait as they “count the omer.” As they are counting, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon them in the Upper Room, and they are filled with the Power and Presence of God on day 50! Pentecost! (Shavuot)!

As we “count the omer” this year, let us be reminded that God still desires to pour Himself out upon us — in us — as He did with His Torah and His Spirit! He still desires to bring forth a great harvest and to use us to reap it. This year, as we count, let us say . . . “More, Lord!!”

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The Lamb of God

March 30, 2015 By

Almost 2,000 years ago, on this day (March 30), and on the Hebrew calendar (Nisan 10), Yeshua rode into Jerusalem and was hailed by all as the “One Who Comes In the Name of the Lord”!

REVERSE: — Three thousand years before as the Israelites were about to spend their last night in Egyptian bondage, God had told Moses to tell the Israelites to select a lamb without defect for each household! For three – four days, that Lamb was to be a part of the family. They would protect it, love it, value it so that it would remain unblemished. It would become “their lamb.” On Nisan 14 this very lamb would give its life for that family and its blood would bring them protection from the angel of death.

FAST FORWARD: Yeshua lived with his family for thirty years. They got the opportunity to live with the Lamb of God for three decades. For three-and-a-half years Yeshua lived with His disciples. He dined with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. He made Himself at home in Peter’s house in Capernaum. He dined with Zaccheus and also at Matthew’s. He ate with sinners and tax collectors. Many followed him, listened to his teachings, were touched by Him, and were healed by His Word. They got a chance to love Him, at times protect Him, but most of all to witness that He was unlike anyone they had met.

John the Immerser called Him “The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29).

Andrew tells his brother Peter, “We have found the Messiah.” (John 1:41)

Philip said to Nathanael that they had found “the one that Moses and the Prophets wrote about.” (John 1: 45)

Peter called him “The Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” (Matthew 16:16)

Nicodemus called him a” Rabbi come from God” (John 3:2).

On this day, in particular, He is hailed as the Pesach (Passover), Seh Ha Elohim, the Lamb of God.

AT PRESENT: I invite you for the next three days until Nisan 14 (April 3rd) to spend very special time with Him, love up on Him, protect the value of His Presence in your life and heart, and bear witness to the fact that He is like no other.

What will you declare about Him!!!

Chag Sameach! (Happy Passover!)

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IT’S IN THE PURSUIT

February 19, 2015 By

When my young son was taking Tae Kwon Do, he said, “Mom, I just want a yellow belt and then I’m finished.” He received his yellow belt and the board he had to break to secure it. He was done!

When he joined a speed skating team, he wanted to make it to Nationals. That was his goal. He and his three-man relay team went to Nationals in Peoria, IL and won third place — a bronze medal. A feat indeed!

When he enrolled in the Music Program at the local high school, he wanted to make District Band. Yes, he did.

What’s the point — because I could go on with more examples? I think for the most part, we all who live in the West are very much like my son. We set a goal and we achieve it and we go on to the next thing. What I did not know then as I supported my son through these achievements is that Biblical (Hebrew) thinking is so different from the way we normally think. Biblical thinking does not center itself upon the goal or achieving it. It centers itself on the process.

Today we want to throw in the towel if we do not have a job making 40K by the time we’re 30 … or 2 1/2 children … or a home with a 2-car garage. We’ve learned nothing along the way, not even the fact that we live in a society that is so Greek-thinking oriented that all of our thought processes are so far from how God made us to think and live.

Who told you you had to be a certain way and to acquire certain things by a certain age? I’ll tell you who told you that!!! Society. A society not based on Hebraic thought but on reasoning and Greek thinking.

Biblical thinking focuses on the pursuit. Just think, Apostle Paul, one of the greatest theologians of all times, says this:

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection” (Philippians 3:12).

Wait a minute, Paul: “YOU of all people have not reached perfection!! YOU who traveled to 3 continents, wrote most of the New Testament, and whose ministry changed the face of the Gentile world??? YOU have not reached perfection?

Paul knew what a lot of us do not know because he no longer thought like the world; he thought like Yeshua who was born into a Hebrew culture. Paul knew that the essence of life was in the pursuit of the goal:

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Phil. 3:13-14).

It’s in the press. The learning, the character building, the transformation into His likeness — it’s in the pursuit.

Here’s to Yeshua undoing what my son, you, and I have learned from this world so that we can think like Him, be like Him, and love like Him.

HAPPY PURSUIT!

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Slavery & the Torah

February 11, 2015 By

February marks the national observance of Black History. A lot of events come to mind when I  think of Black History: from the Middle Passage, to Jim Crow, to the Emancipation Proclamation, to the many black slaves whose blood forged this nation and their indomitable spirits that fought against the odds that their bodies might be free.

It is true that the Bible speaks of slavery, but what the Israelites came out of in Egypt and what the slaves in America went through was never condoned by the Bible, although “seemingly” devout men and women used the Bible to justify this brutality.

This is what the Bible says about slavery: “In the Torah, kidnappers face the death penalty (Exodus 21:20). If a man seriously hurts his slave, the slave is to be immediately released (Exodus 21:26-27). If a slave is killed by his owner, the man faces the death penalty (Exodus 21:16).” [First Fruits of Zion]

“If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment.” (Exodus 21:2)

God knew that once the Israelites reached the Promised Land that there would be the  poor, those captured by war,  and probably those who would have to sell themselves into bondage just to survive. He made stipulations for them in the Torah so that they would be protected.

It wasn’t until “seemingly” devout men and women minimized the validity of the Old Testament and tried to understand the New Testament apart from the Old. The result was obviously error. The result was Slavery in America.

The Egyptians did not know the God of the Old Testament. The “seemingly” devout men and women who justified slavery supposedly did know Him.

If we got the idea behind slavery wrong because we tried to interpret the New Testament by discrediting the Old (calling it useless and outdated and obsolete) what other principles/ideas/concepts have we gotten wrong?

It’s time to get back to the Source — to the document that first spoke of a coming Messiah — to the Document that the Messiah spoke of when He came — and to the Document that gives validity to the New. It’s time to get back to the Torah.

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