Author: 1gratefulheart

Are We Walking With Our Heavenly Father?

The scriptures tell us of men and women who walked with God our Heavenly Father. These individuals exemplified a close relationship with Him, often characterized by faithfulness and righteousness, they spent time with God.

 Among those are:

Enoch, Noah, Abraham Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Rachel, Hannah, Miriam, Mary Magdalene. As we read and study their lives we would do well to apply their faith-building habits to our daily walk with our Savior, Lord and King.

Enoch walked with God and our question should be are we walking with our Heavenly Father?

In Beresheet /Genesis 17:1 Abraham was called to walk before Me and be perfect.

Being perfect means to become the fulfillment of what the Father originally designed us to be, not as we think that it means never making a mistake, but rather being fully mature and spiritually developed according to the Fathers destiny and plan.

To walk with the Father we need to get into His stride, however we can only walk with God in humility. Humility is admitting that you cannot accomplish the will of the Lord without His power and that by His indwelling of His Holy Spirit. He alone is the All sufficient One – El Shaddai. Is He El Shaddai to us?

The true test of a persons spiritual life and character is not what he or she does during the extraordinary moments of life, but what she/he does during the ordinary day to day times when there’s nothing exciting or noteworthy happening. The true worth of an individual is revealed in their attitude towards the ordinary things of everyday living when no one is watching, and the focus is not on them specifically.

John 1:35-37, 3:30. To get in step with our Heavenly Father and then to keep pace with Him means getting our second wind spiritually, and that is not without some measure of pain because in learning to walk with God, there is the difficulty of getting into His stride in His way., Not our way. Is.55:8,9.

As Yeshua/Jesus said ‘learn of Me’.

However once we choose to, and decide to make the quality decision to do it and get there, the only characteristic that is revealed in us is the very life of God Himself. Messiah/Christ in us, then the person is merged/blended/fused into a personal oneness – divine unity with the Father and only His stride, pace and power can be seen. As John The Baptist said He must increase and I must decrease. John 3:30.

Why is getting into His stride so difficult? Maybe its because as soon as we start walking with Him, we find that even before we’ve taken a few steps His pace has surpassed ours. Why? Because His ways of doing things are not our ways and we have need to be trained/retrained, and disciplined in His ways and thinking often the way we approach a situation problem or set of circumstances is a learned response from multiple years of habit; and based on our background and how we were taught to do things and handle ourselves and situations.

In Isaiah 42:4 this was said of the future Messiah: He will not fail nor be discouraged… and that was because He never worked from His own individual standpoint/position – but always worked from the position of His Father. This is what we must learn (Learn of Me), to do as well. Spiritual truth is learned through the atmosphere that surrounds us, not through intellectual reasoning.

It’s our Fathers Spirit within that changes the whole sense of our way of looking at things, and then things begin to be possible which before were impossible. Getting into our Heavenly Fathers stride means nothing less than oneness with Him and it takes a long time to get, there but we must not give up.. Like any new work out, there’s a pain threshold, but if we press through we will find we have a new vision and a new purpose.

A young child walking alongside a parent has to multiply their small steps to keep pace with an adults stride. Sometimes running, skipping and tripping to catch up. The parent has hold of the childs hand and is often seen lifting and swinging that small body gently forward, helping them to keep up. Is this not a picture of our loving heavenly Father, Who through Yeshua/Jesus and His Ruach haKodesh/ Holy Spirit, promises to never leave nor forsake us?

We will always be His children and He always our Father, and He will always take the time to make sure we are not too far behind, or have wandered off on a side path when something other than Himself has caught our attention. If we make that determined decision to walk with Him, then surely He will impart to us the necessary spiritual qualities to enable us to do so; and as a loving parent, He will never let go of our hand.

Maybe, just maybe, one day, we could add our names to the list of those who walked with God in faithfulness righteousness and became perfect, i.e. matured into exactly what our Father created and equipped us to be, fulfilling our divine destiny in Him.

Shalom aleihhem chaverim and mishpachah!
Peace to friends and family.

Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week.
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
Not sure ..you can be…
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..

don’t delay one more minute,
SAY IT RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.

Who Do People Say I Am?

Who asked the question in our title?

Matthew 16:13-16 & Mark 8:27-28 give us the answer. Messiah Himself wanted to know what people were saying about Him before He asked His disciples/talmidim  the same question.

The answers were varied based on what people had heard about Him. Some were wild guesses and one was accurate based on personal relationship and closeness, having witnessed first hand how He conducted His life, He didn’t just talk the talk… He walked the walk ….perfectly.

Public opinion carries a lot of weight in the worlds systems when we are referring to individuals. Our reputation is very important because it reflects how other people see us. We may have an opinion of who we think we are and how we project ourselves and what we think others say about us, but is this reality or just wishful thinking? Who do people say we are?

When we mention the name of someone we immediately refer to what we know of them. If we say the names of Biblical characters what do we remember of them?

How do we refer to them, these men and women of God?

For example in Genesis 6:9 – 9:17 we read of Noah, so what do we call or say of him? Scriptures give us a picture of his character, his relationship with our Heavenly Father. A preacher of righteousness, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God; obedient and full of faith perfect in his generations, built the ark and survived the flood with his family and precious cargo. He also got drunk after drinking new wine from the vineyard he planted. So we know a lot about the kind of man he was.

Abraham, had a name change, was the father of faith and James 2:23 tells us he was the friend of God. Obviously there is much we can glean from reading about him; but note for yourself, what is the primary remembrance you the reader think of. He was also obedient and made covenant with the Lord among many other attributes that make him not only a memorable character but one we should hope we could emulate in our faith walk.

Genesis 5:22,24 has another character, Enoch who walked with God. What an amazing statement and what a wonderful testimony to have written and said about you, can people say that about us?

In 1 Sam.13:14 tells of Davids life, although he made some big mistakes was a man after Gods own heart.

Hebrews 11 lists the men and women who were considered heroes of faith. They left behind them a reputation that we should long to follow.

In the New Testament, the Brit Chadashah, John 21:7 reminds us he was the disciple whom Jesus/Yeshua loved. He was always one of the three in many situations where Messiah called them to be with Him away from the crowds and other disciples. John wrote the book of Revelation and lived longest of all the disciples on Patmos. What a statement to have said about you and we too can say that we are greatly loved.

Our title question begs an answer from us too. He made the question more personal to His disciples/talmidim …. “Who do you say I am?” 

Who do you the reader say He is?

Redeemer, Son of God, Son of Man, Savior, Messiah, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Shepherd, Healer, Deliverer, Rabbi, teacher????……What we think of Him is how we see Him personally, and those are the attributes we have manifest in our lives.

What do we think of when we remember Thomas? The one who doubted.

John 20;24-29

What about Judas Iscariot? Betrayer. Matthew 18:1-13, Luke 22:1-6, John 18:1-13.

Peter….the Rock. Matthew 16:18

James…the half brother of Yeshua/Jesus. James was a son of Mary and Joseph and therefore a half-brother to Jesus and brother to Joseph, Simon, Judas, and their sisters. Matthew 13:55.

Paul…Apostle and Missionary undeniable conversion, was very educated. Galatians 1:1-6

Some of the lesser known names and godly attributes with references to look up:

Ezra – Ezra 7:6-23

Shadrach – Daniel 3:16-28

Jeremiah 4:19 – 6:14

Job 

Amos 5:1-13

Esther 4:14

Ruth 1:16-17

Daniel 5:12 & 6:3

And finally how will people remember us?

What is the first thing we think of in association with family members, friends, co- workers, bosses, fellow believers?

Sometimes we say their job description or function in society, like a nurse or Pastor, it describes what we know of them, and what their position and calling is in life.

What would we put after our own name, and is it something the Bible recommends that will associate us and our lives and our part in the kingdom to others?

Who do people say you are?

They say things by our lifestyle, our contribution to society, talents, giftings, job description among many others.

These are not titles but functions especially in the body of Messiah and among believers: servant, student of the Word, prayer warrior, encourager like Barnabas etc.

What would we put after our name ?

It’s based on how we see ourselves.

What would others put after our name?… and if its not connected in some way to the Lord, why not?

Maybe we need to adjust our life and focus, so that the first association people say of us is in relation to the Lord Jesus/ Messiah Yeshua, and His Kingdom of Righteousness, Joy and true Shalom/Peace. Romans 14:17.

Shalom aleihhem chaverim and mishpachah!
Peace to friends and family.

Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week.
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
Not sure ..you can be…
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..

don’t delay one more minute,
SAY IT RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.

Learn Of Me

When Messiah Yeshua/Jesus said in Matthew 11:29 “learn of Me”, He wants us to not only listen to what He says and Hear His Words but to remember and to do those things we hear. Shema – Hear and do/obey.

We can only do that if we learn, i.e. remember in the same way we learned the alphabet letters, the numerical times tables and how to tell the time; we then always remember how to apply them when we need them.

As we come to the close of the 7 Moedim, it is not a time to hibernate through the coming winter months; but rather a time and opportunity to implement what we have learned and gained in understanding and knowledge this last year. This season of rejoicing is not for just 7 days….

As we read in Matthew 11:28-30 we are

Learning to Lean on Him and in

Leaning on Him, we Learn

that we shall find rest from the yokes of bondage.

And by walking with Him in the meekness of His Spirit,

connected to Him by His Yoke,

He carries the weight of the load that we often try to carry alone.

This is the Way of Shalom/Peace

and all that Shalom, true rest, encompasses.

For more on the yoke click link below:

https://www.minimannamoments.com/the-answer-is-in-the-yoke/

As the 8th day of Sukkot, Yom haSh’miyniy Atzaret from Bmidbar/Numbers 29:35

35 On the eighth day (i.e., Shemini Atzeres) ye shall have an atzeret (assembly): ye shall do no melekhet avodah therein; 36 But ye shall offer an olah, a fire offering, a reach hannichoach

“‘On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly. Ye shall do no servile work therein;

‘On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly [to mark the end of the feast];

ביום השמיני עצרת תהיה לכם, “On the eighth day shall be a solemn assembly for you.”

5 On the eighth day * ye shall have an atzeret (assembly): ye shall do no melekhet avodah therein;

The 8th Day Assembly comes to an end and our rejoicing does not.

We have the gift of salvation through Messiah and His promise of continual fellowship with Him through His indwelling Ruach haKodesh/Holy Spirit.

Conditional of course on what Peter tells us in

Acts 5:32

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

Obedience is the key.

We are called to repent (teshuvah), and repentance involves turning from sin toward obedience to our Heavenly Father’s teaching and instructions for living a life before Him; and without faith in the sacrifice of Messiah/Christ, no one can be justified, no one can be forgiven of sins, and no one can be given the gift of His Ruach haKodesh/Holy Spirit.

His promise to never leave or forsake us wherever we are, means that we do not have to travel to any one particular place or location to enter into the presence of our Heavenly Father.

The kingdom of the heavens is within us and we have access to our Heavenly Father available twenty four hours of every day.  He hears us and when we listen He guides us at all times, and that is a very good reason to

rejoice in the Lord always.

Phil.4:4.

And again I say rejoice!

The God Who created the universes and the heaven and earth where we are for the present time, has made a Way through Messiah Yeshua/Jesus that we can have a personal relationship with Him. He needs no animal sacrifice from us because the price for our sins has been paid in His Blood, once for all time.

How can we not rejoice???

We are forgiven

cleansed

redeemed

sanctified

set apart

born again from above,

our spirits made alive by His Spirit,

we are no longer dead in our sins.

We have a glorious future

all our trust is in Him and

we will never be disappointed

because of

Messiah’s presence in us the hope of Glory. Col 1:27.

We are to become a reflection of His magnificence, His light, His honor. In our rejoicing let’s reflect on what we have learned during the last year and of His appointed times/moedim, and how they teach us of His Ways in Messiah. Let’s show by our lifestyle that we have listened and learned of Him and matured, and that we will make the rest of our days a season of rejoicing!

Shalom aleihhem chaverim and mishpachah!
Peace to friends and family.


Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week.
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
Not sure ..you can be…
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..

don’t delay one more minute,
SAY IT RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.

A Time Of Rejoicing

Our Heavenly Father is a loving one, and as we come to the final Moed – Appointed Time of the spiritual year, this whole week is designated to be a time of rejoicing. For those working the land, the final harvest of the year has been gathered in; and as the season changes we can relax a little, and know the abundance provided by our Father will be our supply through the coming winter months.

As an agricultural nation, Israel depended on the harvests throughout the year and the cycle of life set in back in Leviticus 23, was their calendar and indicated the correct times of planting and when to harvest. The final moed is Sukkot, sometimes spelled Sucot/Sukot/Sukkoth/Sukkuth, also known as Tabernacles or Booths; and for new readers, several earlier posts containing detailed studies can be accessed through the links include below and on Homepage. For those who regard Sukkot and build sukkas to dwell in this week, and for those who don’t build but remember the reason for this moed, we will take a very brief look at this festival.

Sukkot/Feast of the Tabernacles – Chag haSukkot is usually celebrated in the 7th month on the 15th to the 21st day,  for a full 7 days. Reference to this moed can be found in Leviticus/Vayik’ra 23:33-36 and 40:43. It is also called Chag haAsif – Feast of the Ingathering for the reason that it occurs at the outgoing of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labor from the field. Sh’mot 23:16/Exodus. Also [you shall observe] the Feast of Harvest (Weeks, Pentecost, or First Fruits), acknowledging the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. And [third] the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the end of the year when you gather in [the fruit of] your labors from the field.

For more on the Lulav see earlier posts through homepage under category for 7 Appointed times. Some links below:

https://www.minimannamoments.com/what-is-the-significance-of-the-day-of-the-lulav/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/days-of-ingathering-for-the-final-harvest/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/seasons-of-the-lord-moedim-rhythm-of-life-part-2/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/sukkot-the-promise-of-a-permanent-dwelling-place/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/sheltering-presence-god/

 

Similar to the Spring Moed of the Feast of Matzah/unleavened bread, Sukkot lasts 7 days and is a time of great celebration. However unlike the Feast of Matzah, only the first day of Sukkot is a holy convocation. On this day Israel is commanded to do no regular work, and to rest. Sukkot, begins just 5 days after Yom HaKippuriym/Yom Kippur. The obvious feature of this week is of course the sukkah or booth or tabernacle, which is to be built from using different trees and foliage surrounding Yerushalayim/Jerusalem.  Also referenced in Leviticus 23:40 and Nehemiah 8:14.

If you are ever in Jerusalem at this time of the year you will see sukas everywhere.

The purpose of the sukkah is to remind us that Adonai caused the people of Israel to live in sukkot when He brought them out of Egypt. Spiritual themes of our Heavenly Fathers protection, deliverance and provision can be drawn out from this moed. The temporary and flimsy nature of the sukkah itself should also remind us of our own weaknesses, our frailty and our temporary stay on this earth as long as we remain in our physical bodies. We are simply passing through on our way to a permanent dwelling with our Father in His Heavenly Realms.

The sukkah is a symbol of how our Heavenly Father cares for us, how He shades and hides us from the natural elements of weather, which although beneficial in many ways can also be very destructive. At the time of the final ingathering, we are to celebrate with extreme joy that He has delivered us, watched over us; and will soon be taking us to dwell with Him in the sukkah that is eternal in nature. It is for this reason some think Messiah will return at this moed, season. In Judaism the seventh day of Sukkot came to be known as Hoshanna Rabba, and was clelbrated with a huge water libation ceremony to ask the Father for abundant rain over the next season.

It was on this day, during this pouring out of water ceremony, that Messiah cried out to all within the sound of His voice. On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” John 37:39.

This Living Water is available to us every day of the year, not just on one special day. Messiah Yeshua/Jesus is the living water of new life in Him. It is this living water that is to be pouring out through us to the hurting lost world around us. We are to call out to them ‘come and drink of Messiah,’ the waters of life – chaim mayim, are free and will never dry up. Let us rejoice for all that our Father has accomplished through His Messiah and the wonderful works to the children of men. Ps.107:31

Also known as the Eighth Day Assembly – Yom haSh’miyniy ‘Atzaret. The commands for this day are simple, do no regular work, rest – and assemble/come together. This day is a time to say ‘goodbye’ to Sukot and the past years’ Moedim. It’s a time to rest and reflect, but also a time to look forward to the future, because in 6 months the cycle of Moedim begins once again. The annual reading of Torah and haftorah is complete and we are about to begin again. His Word is our guide, our joy, and as Messianic believers we read portions of the brit chadashah/renewed covenant as well; and the whole of the scriptures are brought together for our benefit and instruction. 2 Tim.3:16. 

This feast can be extremely meaningful and we are encouraged to look back at the years journey now completed and also to look forward to the times the Father has for us in the coming months.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He in fact did fulfill Sukkot by tabernacling for a short season with us, with a promise He will return in due season, the fulness of time! Let’s be ready to share the goodness of our Heavenly Father and the joy of our salvation that it is indeed for whosoever will … to choose Him, to choose life.

Shalom mishpachah/family

and cheverim/friends!

It’s all about Life and Relationship,

NOT Religion.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

NOT SURE?

YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.