Rescued from the Reich

 A Rabbi who came to know Yeshua as Messiah has had a book published in English, whose title is the title of this post.  In it he points out the 7 benefits of his being rounded up during the Nazi time and put in a holding area with many other Jews. 

1)  We should never say, "This is mine."

2) We are all equal.  (The lie of wealthy vs. poor is stripped in such situations)

3) Humility is taught in such situations.

4) It removes the fact that we pay too much attention to food.

5) Suffering washes our souls, it has a purpose and it lifts us above pettiness.

6) Our appreciation and gratitude for the smallest things grows when we are suffering.

7) Experiencing hunger, makes you know what that feels like and helps you understand.

In conclusion we must draw the appropriate lessons from the misfortune.

The Cunning Adversary

 This question was posed and is a great discussion starter.  "Why was the serpent allowed to tempt eve in the garden? Do I assume that Satan must've been so at that point? But...that's not in Genesis"

Revelation 12:9, and 20:2 both describe Satan as the ancient serpent, so I would say we are okay to presume, this was the beast or the form that Satan used to speak to Eve.  

Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 have double meanings associated with them, both an earthly king an enemy of Israel and Lucifer/Satan.  Ezekiel 28:13-15 
"Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

¹⁴ Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

¹⁵ Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee."

Satan is a created being, an amazing angel who seems to have been the one assigned to cover.  Was humanity what he was supposed to/ designed to cover, and when he fell did he switch to being our accuser?  That would be my take on the situation.  

Free will implies a choice between at least two masters, and through appealing to desire in human nature mankind made the choice to listen to Satan and not to God.  The bottom line of all this is, we serve a God of truly amazing love who would not leave us in a state of fallen, but suffered and died as the way to bring us up and out.  So Satan was allowed to tempt because God knew that ultimately He would redeem mankind and make us vessels of mercy. 

Any feedback would be appreciated.  This is one of the Big Questions, for sure.

His Love For His Chosen People

 Guest post from my beloved, who is coming into a deep understanding of the heart of love God has for His chosen people.

I listened to a podcast from FAI ministries called Better Beautiful and it was talking about David after he had defeated Saul basically said “Is there ANYONE I can show the lovingkindness of the Lord to?” (Chesed) and that was on Jonathan’s behalf – and that we as believers and followers of Yeshua should basically be saying the same thing, but on Yeshua’s behalf, Is there ANYONE on the face of this earth left that I can show the Lovingkindness of the Lord to? It was very moving and even later on during my morning walk with the Lord I felt Him speak to my heart, When the “church” cut out God’s people from any longer being God’s people, they cut out God’s heart. That we lost the lovingkindness of the Lord when we believed the lie that God was done with His chosen people. And I felt Him say to me, “Laura you cannot understand my heart until you know my heart for my people.”

Baptism, Where Have You Gone?

 Somewhere along the line, baptism which was always tied to salvation in the proclamation of the gospel in the entire time after Jesus, got lost.  

Something in our presentation of the gospel is not the same as it was in those days.  We seem to be missing the message that our bodies are bodies of death and that baptism is needed to seal the transformation that our words invite.  The physical act of baptism is a very real act in the spirit realm.  Romans 6 makes this clear and other passages back it up.  

Presenting the gospel as a get out of hell free card, points to all the benefits for us, but does not make us aware of the death that is inherent in our fleshly nature.  Our presentation of the gospel should include the need for the death of the fleshly nature and then maybe more people would say with the Etheopian eunuch, "There is water what prevents me being baptized?"  The fact that people do not say this when we present the gospel means that we have fundamentally changed the message.

We should repent and reexamine this.  Oh Lord heal, Oh Lord forgive.

Wisdom That Never Fails

 The wisdom from above is demonstrated in a humility that ultimately leads to death and trusts God to resurrect.

A people who trust God through death are the true overcomers.

All idols are ultimately robbed of their power when we willingly, lovingly, trustingly, obey even unto death.

God is at work in us both to will and to do!