Why you need copy editors and proofreaders…

It is much easier to spot someone else’s errors because your brain will not as easily assume what the author meant to write. I do try to check my posts, but sometimes things will get by me and I do not have a proofreader. So, please show mercy if you see an error. Just make a note in the comments section and I will fix it.

This former copy editor and proofreader thanks you for your understanding.

Prayer for June 13, 2017

Avinu Shabashamayim/our Father in heaven, I am sooooooo grateful that You see ALL of our needs even before they hit us! You know them BEFORE we even know to share them with you.

You are ALREADY working on our behalf, but you want our HEARTS above all else. I believe that is why You tell us to come to you with our concerns…and to come with THANKSGIVING!

You are already working to accomplish Your will in our lives.

You are refining us, testing us, purifying us.

You do not need us to come to You in order to do Your work.

You need us to come to You in order to have intimate relationship with You.

So, You draw us to Yourself.

You ask us to come to You with our hearts,
with our hurts,
with our concerns,
with our needs.

It is not because You do not know them already.

NO!

It is because You do not want us to feel alone in them.

You want us to recognize that You ARE here with us in the midst of:
pain,
sorrow,
suffering,
need,
hurt,
divorce,
separation,
abandonment,
sickness,
injury,
persecution,
rejection
and all the other things this world throws at us!

THANK YOU, Abba!!!!

THANK YOU for Your:
LOVE,
FAITHFULNESS,
PROVISION,
HEALING,
PRESENCE,
INDWELLING RUACH/SPIRIT,
STRENGTH,
WISDOM,
GUIDANCE,
TEACHING,
REFINING,
TESTING,
MOLDING.

THANK YOU for being our:
ABBA/FATHER,
LOVER,
KINSMAN REDEEMER,
CREATOR,
SHIELD,
TOWER,
ROCK,
GROOM,
MASTER,
FRIEND,
HUSBAND,
MOTHER HEN,
GUARDIAN,
PROTECTOR
and all the many other ways You present Yourself to us.

THANK YOU!

I cannot thank You enough.

I cannot honor You enough.

Without You I would not be here.
Without You I would not be sane.
Without You I would be nothing!

I am humbled and overcome *tears* by Your
AMAZING LOVE for ME!!!

Yes…ME!

To borrow some famous words from Kris Kristofferson:
Why me, Lord?
What have I ever done to deserve even one of the pleasures I’ve known?
Why me, Lord?
What did I ever do that was worth loving You or the kindness You’ve shown.

Words for May 30, 2017

Avinu shabashamayim, so many needs are represented here. We are grateful that You are not a “god” who ignores us or, even worse, is antagonistic toward us. No! You are G-d Almighty! You are the epitome of perfect love. You see all. You know all.

 

You know every struggle of every heart.

 

You know every need…physical, mental, emotional, spiritual.

 

You know every battle being fought.

 

You know every grief and loss.

 

You know every wound…no matter the type.

 

You know every question we have.

 

You know every misunderstanding that clouds our ability to see You for who You really are…

and every misunderstanding that clouds our ability to see ourselves for who we really are.

 

We are grateful that You are bigger than all that.

 

Bigger than our knowledge and than our ignorance.

 

Bigger than our enemies and our fears.

 

Bigger than our strengths and our weaknesses.

 

Bigger than our blow-its.

 

Bigger than our brokenness.

 

Psa 135:5-7 NASB For I know that the LORD is great And that our Lord is above all gods. (6) Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. (7) He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries.

This day…April 25, 2017

You have been given a gift…a new day.

What will you do with it?

Will you live in a way that honorable and wise and compassionate?

Or will you holler and scream at those who disagree with you?

Will you see needs and do your best to meet them?

Or will you ignore the hurting around you and act as if their pain and need has nothing to do with you?

 

You have this day.

 

Choose wisely!

Being sick…

Well now…being sick is such fun…not! Yet, I am not dead, not in a hospital, not in a coma. I can see and hear. I can get to the “facilities” on my own. My muscles do not ache. I am not throwin up. (Sorry if TMI.)  Overall, life could be a LOT worse! I praise my Creator for all the many blessings I have in my life and I praise Him for enabling me to see them! The stuffy nose will go away. The achey jaw will go away. This is temporary. I will get better. Sure wish I was not missing the JOY dinner, though, and the local movie last night. Oh, well, I am still blessed far beyond what I deserve. It is all a matter of perspective!

Another Great Article (Long)

Another good article!

Love Israel Connection

Even though Baruch wrote this awhile ago, most of you have not seen it.  I think you will really appreciate reading this long article.  It will add to your study of the Passover season.

Enjoy!

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Remember, beloved…

Remember, beloved! We are made in His very image! Imagine it! Can you? I find the things of our Avinu Shabashamayim/Heavenly Father to be so amazing and wayyyyyyy over my head. His thoughts are not my thoughts and His ways not my ways. But, I WANT them to be! And I am sure you do, too! Right?

 

How can this happen? We are merely human. Yet…and it is a HUGE “yet”…we have His Ruach dwelling inside of US! Oh, my! The implications! I cannot begin to fathom it, but He IS living inside of me and HE is changing me…day by day…bit by bit.

 

Did you get that? HE is doing the changing. It is my job to surrender to that amazing work and to be grateful for ALL He allows in my life. Scripture tells us to be thankful IN all things and FOR all things. Not an easy thing to do. BUT, His Ruach/Spirit enables us to do it. It is with His might and His love that we are changed.

 

May His glory shine through each one of us…every day…everywhere we go…every thought we have…every word we speak…every word we write…every action we take. May ALL of our being be a reflection of Him and His Light and Truth to a darkened world so used to the darkness and so willing to sacrifice Truth for preferences.

 

Be blessed, mishpochah/family!

A Passover Article from Baruch

This is soooo important! Read…and grow!

Love Israel Connection

The very first commandment related to observing Passover is bringing the lamb into one’s home on the 10th day of Nissan and keeping him there until the 14th day, when he would be sacrificed. What was the purpose of this commandment? Why not simply select the lamb on the very same day he would be killed? In order to answer these questions, one must pay close attention to what is said in Exodus 12:6, “And heshall be for you for a למשמרת”. This Hebrew word is most significant. If one reviews the most common English translations, he will find that nearly all render this word as a verb, rather than as the noun which it is. Normally one reads in English, “And you shall keep it….” The Young’s Literal Translation is the only one of the twenty-two translations which appear on Biblehub.com that renders it…

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Government not my “god”…

The government is not my “god”.

No matter what happens, my G-d will never let me down.

I may hurt and I may suffer, but He is there with me.

He is giving me the strength to get through what this world may throw at me.

He is the source of all my blessings…regardless of what channel He may use to route them to me.

He is the One who gives me joy in the midst of all that is going on in the world and our country.

Joy and peace in the midst of trying times and even personal tragedy and sadness…are hallmarks of a very real and deep relationship with our Creator…the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…the G-d of the bible.

 

Can you also say this? I truly hope so!

This world we see…

This world may seem dark and gloomy. Things may seem hopeless…for a variety of reasons. It helps to understand there is a bigger picture than our neighborhood…than our states…than our country…than the whole world.

 

Our Creator has a plan and all of this is temporary. Get to know Him. He revealed Himself to us in His written word, in His miraculous acts on behalf of His people (whose ongoing existence in the light of so much antisemitism through the ages is a HUGE miracle) and He revealed Himself in His Messiah Yeshua/Jesus who came to walk among us.

 

Our Creator wants an upfront and personal relationship/connection to the people He has created. That means you and me!

 

Do not lose heart! Seek Him! Turn to Him! Be at peace as you experience His true shalom (peace and wholeness) in the midst of trying times and a darkened world and country.

 

Shabbat Shalom!

Living Authentically

I want to live an authentic life. That may mean different things to different people, so let me explain what it means to me.

I want to live and walk in Truth. While I may be in error about some facts, I do not lie. While there is a time and place for being circumspect, it is not healthy for me or others if I ignore the “elephant in the living room” or pretend that things are OK when they are not. There is a delicate balance of what people do and do not need to know, but I will not play games.

On the flip side, I also want to walk in Faith. Walking in Faith means seeing beyond what is in front of me. For example, I may be sick now, but I can stand on the promises of healing, even though I may not see that healing until the next life. I will not “declare” myself “healed”, but I will thank our Creator for His promises of healing (on all levels inside and out) and I will live in joyful (with His help) expectation of that healing…whenever and however it will come.

Another example is in the area of provision. Our Creator is our Provider. I will not “declare” we have income we do not have. That would be lying and not walking in Truth. However, I will thank our Creator for being our Provider and trust Him to provide as He sees fit…even if it does not fit with what I want it to look like. I will live in joy, knowing I can trust Him for what I truly need (as opposed to what I want). I can declare that He is providing and will continue to provide.

This also applies to broken relationships. Our Creator is a Restorer and Reconciler to those who are willing to allow Him to be in the center of all they are and do…to those who surrender to His Spirit. I will not “declare” a relationship restored, but I will thank Him for all that I know He is doing to bring restoration and reconciliation. While He will not cross people’s free will, I can trust that He will continue to pursue reconciliation…so long as the other person has not hardened his/her heart completely toward Him.

Faith equals Trust and neither are worth anything if they are not built upon Truth. I can trust all I want in a lie and it will bring me nothing but eventual heartache. It may feel good for a time and even bring me some happiness, but none of it will last. True joy is not dependent upon happenings (like happiness is), but upon Truth.

So…I choose to live an authentic life. Will I do it perfectly? Nope. Will it mean I am always “up” and feeling wonderful? No. Life is still life. It comes with trials and hardships and challenges. Yet, in the midst of it all, I can live and walk in Truth knowing in Whom I have entrusted my whole wellbeing…body and soul.

I pray you will see our Creator today. He has revealed Himself to us in His word…the bible… and then again in His Living Word…the Messiah Yeshua/Jesus. There are hard things in the bible. I won’t deny that. But the more I study, the more I recognize that some of those hard things are misunderstandings, some of which are based upon poor translating, but many of which are simply not doing due diligence to study the full context (linguistical, historical, textual and so forth).

Don’t give up. Keep seeking our Creator and ask Him to help you understand. Dave and I are not all knowing, but we are willing to answer questions as best we can. You can contact us via the contact form tab above.

Our Creator wants to be known. He already knows you and loves you and is just waiting on you to express a desire to know Him. Ask Him to show Himself. He will do it. It may be over time because of things in your life or questions you need answered, but He will reveal Himself to you.