Author: 1gratefulheart

Threats and Sabre Rattling ?

The title of this post is Threats and Sabre Rattling, which when we hear of it may cause anxiety in the hearts of many, but is our Heavenly Father worried?

There is so much in the world’s media and news warning of conflicts and wars. The term often used is ‘sabre rattling’, meaning the opposing sides using threatening words and vowing to follow up their threats with action. There is sometimes a hope that the threat is enough to have the opposing side back off and withdraw their aggression, but sometimes it instead accelerates the bellicose rhetoric and physical retaliation ensues.

We are in a time unlike any other and fears can easily arise if we are not rooted and grounded in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. We are not to be moved by what we hear and see and sometimes that is not easy; however our hearts must not waver when we consider the Creator of the Universe is fully aware and in control of everything. Nothing causes Him concern, worry, anxiety or fear, nor is He afraid of the outcome of any situation or future events for He knows the end from the beginning. So we are to be at peace in the midst of chaos around us and to keep looking to Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, to the Father and know His Holy Spirit is abiding within; helping to maintain that peace, that true shalom, that fills our hearts and minds when fear of the unknown tries to infiltrate our thoughts. Nothing the worlds armies can come up with can stand against our Heavenly Father, even with threats of nuclear weapons and biological warfare. Learning to rely on our Savior and trust in Him and His Word is crucial at times like these, and we must make certain our foundation is deep in His Word, that we are anchored in Him and that scriptures such as Psalms 91 and 23 are indelibly written in our hearts so that we are not shaken by any news reports.

There is a verse in Psalm 147 that seems a little strange, verse 10 reads:

He delighteth not in the strength of horses; he takes not pleasure in the legs of man.

and it is curious to read that the Lord seems to not like parts of His own creation in both man and animals. Here we again remind ourselves that what The Father is telling us may have been lost in translation.

The scriptures tell us to rightly divide the Word and as much as we think we know what it says, the word is spiritually discerned because it is a spiritual book; it is a living word and unlike any other book written by humans. 1 Cor. 2:24

The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of the Lord God, they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because as scripture says, they are spiritually discerned. This means spiritual truths and teachings from the Bible can only be understood through the Father’s Holy Spirit, as the natural person does not accept them and considers them foolishness. Spiritual understanding requires a spiritual heart and discernment provided by His Spirit, and a knowing that there are ‘PaRDeS’, layers to the revealed knowledge given.

We need the indwelling Spirit of Holiness to correctly discern or divide the Word, remembering when the original scrolls were penned there were no chapters and verses, and no spaces between the words; nor were there any vowel points added to help the pronunciation. The Hebrew letters had to be separated into words by the reader, hence one meaning of rightly dividing the word of truth. 2.Tim. 2:15 Rightly dividing the word of truth. Of interest the Greek word translated in the English version “rightly dividing,” literally signifies “cutting a straight line.”

The Rabbis of Israel are experts in the Hebrew language and understand the difficulties of translating an ancient language, so a certain amount of ‘give and take’, was and still is very common among them as they study the Holy Scriptures. It’s no surprise that most of the rabbis have little trust in the English translations of the Bible, this is because they are very aware that any one of the translations is often the result of just one individual’s or one certain group’s opinion, and that translation could be biased, favoring their particular church denominations, doctrines and beliefs.

When we study the Bible and wonder what a certain word actually means in Hebrew, we should look at the context in which it is placed. In the case of the Greek language it is usually alright to simply translate a words meaning and still; we must remember it has come from the Latin Septuagint, which is another step in translation and meaning. In Hebrew, we need to know the verse and the context to fully understand what is being said, and not just extract a words meaning from a concordance or dictionary because the context can seriously change the usage of the word. We know this happens because individual verses are often taken out of context to the whole text, and have been sorely misused to backup ideas and erroneous principles. As we are studying, we must determine what a word means in the context it is used, as there are many meanings to each Hebrew word.

Looking at the verse in Psalms 147:10 in the KJV He delighteth not in the strength of horses, he takes not pleasure in the legs of man. A number of commentaries on this verse offer the meaning that: in those days horses were thought to be the most beautiful animals in existence and the legs of a strong muscular man were also to be admired, but God doesn’t take pleasure in this beauty.

Already noted why would the creator of both not take pleasure in His own creation?

As an example of words and meanings in the context of the text pictured above, let’s look at the word rendered as

strength which in Hebrew is geburah from the root word gavar.

In context one could use gavar as strength but more in terms of

having mastery or control over the horses.

1369 geburah: might, strength, power

Original Word: גְּבוּרָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: gbuwrah
Pronunciation: ghev-oo-RAW
Phonetic Spelling: (gheb-oo-raw’)
KJV: force, mastery, might, mighty (act, power), power, strength
NASB: might, strength, power, mighty deeds, mighty acts, courage, mighty
Word Origin: [feminine passive participle from the same as H1368 (גִּבּוֹר גִּבּוֹר – mighty men)]

1. force (literally or figuratively)
2. (by implication) valor, victory, force, mastery, might, mighty act, power, power, strength

 In Scripture Gebûrâ is recorded as the manifested strength of God that equips, delivers, and judges, directing attention away from self-confidence by pointing it toward the Lord, whose mighty acts come to a victorious conclusion in the Messiah Yeshua Ha Mashiach, and through Him, continue to empower His people to live a life of holiness as a witness to the world.

Next in the verse, look at the word chepats from the root word chapats which is translated as delight.

2654 chaphets: To delight in, to take pleasure in, to desire, to be pleased with

Original Word: חָפֵץ
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: chaphets
Pronunciation: khaw-fates’
Phonetic Spelling: (khaw-fates’)
KJV: X any at all, (have, take) delight, desire, favour, like,

move, be (well) pleased, have pleasure, will, would
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. (properly) to incline to
2. (by implication) (literally but rarely) to bend
3. (figuratively) to be pleased with, desire

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

to be pleased with, desire

A primitive root; properly, to incline to; by implication literally to bend;

We could say in this context that the word for delight – chapats – suggests

a bending toward or inclining before.

Then in the same verse, looking at the word rendered as pleasure. In Hebrew it is retseh from the root word ratsah which means:

7521 ratsah: To be pleased with, to accept favorably, to delight in, to satisfy

Original Word: רָצָה
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: ratsah
Pronunciation: rah-tsah’
Phonetic Spelling: (raw-tsaw’)
KJV: (be) accept(-able), accomplish, set affection, approve, consent with, delight (self), enjoy, (be, have a) favour(-able), like, observe, pardon, (be, have, take) please(-ure), reconcile self
NASB: accept, accepted, pleased, delight, delights, enjoy, favor
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

In this context maybe a more realistic translation could be the Father is saying He will not yield to, bend, incline before, or give in to the horses strength or men’s mastery of them; nor the strength in human bodies however well endowed or prepared they may be. This is because of the context and that here David is faced with a threat from the Assyrians who had the most powerful army in the world at that time and because of this they appeared invincible. They had the strongest and largest chariots than any other nation and had spent around 20 years breeding horses that were strong enough to pull the war chariots. They had also spent a similar amount of time training soldiers so they could be the charioteers by making sure their leg and arm strength was sufficient to control or master these horses. David had not had the time to equally prepare horses and soldiers. So in the options of other words it may seem to make more sense.

The translators of the KJV used what they had available to them and chose words which matched the Hebrew words, they did not have extensive knowledge with which we are privileged to have today at our fingertips, both in publications and the internet archives.

The reports of ongoing discoveries by various teams of archeologists gives credence to what the ancient Assyrian armies were really like and if they had known that rather than using English words which suggest that God takes no pleasure in the beauty of horses and men’s legs, maybe they would have used words which express that our Heavenly Father will not yield or bend even to the most powerful weapons on the face of the earth nor its strongest warriors.

This should give us such great confidence and send any fears fleeing just like our enemies

The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways

Now in context in this verse, we have a wonderful promise that our Heavenly Father is not at all intimidated with the might or technological superiority of weapons that any nation has because He is still in control; and no weapon is a match for Him just as the chariots and soldiers were not in David’s situation.

When we hear the sound of the sabres rattling, let’s not throw away our confidence in our Heavenly Father’s ability. Hebrew 10:35/6 To not throw away our confidence means to remain steadfast in the faith we must not abandon our boldness and assurance. In 1 Sam. 30:6 David encouraged himself in the Lord and we too can encourage ourselves too, by reading in the scriptures of all the armies that were defeated over the millennia.

Hebrew 13:8 reminds us He is the same yesterday, today and forever and no strong horses or weapons of war and men that control them are any match for the Lord of Heavens armies, King of Kings, Creator of the Universe and everything in it.

Shalom, 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.

We Have Been Given A Sign – oth

Deuteronomy 26:5-10

speaks of the offerings of first fruits and also in

verse 8 states

and Yahweh took us out of Egypt with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great awesomeness and with signs and with wonders.

We know that Messiah is the fulfillment of First Fruits and the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt is a type of our deliverance from the worlds systems, sin and death into the kingdom of our Heavenly Father through Messiahs death and resurrection; typified as the

Pesach/Passover Lamb.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’ John 1:29.

and the Fathers outstretched arm/the arm of the Lord.

Fulfillment In the New Testament, the Arm of the LORD is understood in the context of Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. The Gospel of John references Isaiah’s prophecy, indicating that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God’s power and salvation. John 12:37-38 states, “Although Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still did not believe in Him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: ‘Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?'”

It is worth noting here that modern speech trends have changed the meaning of the English word awesome from its original meaning in Hebrew, Deut.6:8.

Strongs #4172 mora:

moraw – fear reverence terror

to being something fantastically wonderful and

especially noteworthy, good with the wow factor.

Original Word: מוֹרָא
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: mowra’
Pronunciation: moh-raw’
Phonetic Spelling: (mo-raw’)
KJV: dread, (that ought to be) fear(-ed), terribleness, terror
NASB: fear, terror, respect, reverence, terrors, what they fear, who is to be feared
Word Origin: [from H3372 (יָרֵא – Fear)]

1. fear
2. (by implication) a fearful thing or deed

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

dread, that ought to be feared, terribleness, terror

Or morat {mo-raw’}; or morah (Psa. 9:20) {mo-raw’}; from yare’; fear; by implication, a fearful thing or deed — dread, (that ought to be) fear(-ed), terribleness, terror.

When used in connection with our Heavenly Father it is the reverential fear as in respect and awareness of His Holiness and our sinful unworthiness. We lose the meaning and become over familiar, with a loose, casual, disrespectful manner. This combined with an entitled attitude, more akin to a spoilt undisciplined child used to getting everything they want, regardless of their behavior and attitude.

We seriously need to remember Who our Heavenly Father is, and not diminish Him and His Holy presence, we are not equal with Him; we are His children and His servants while here on earth and should be constantly mindful of our position before Him.

The word in verse 8 for signs/oth,

also means:

signal, disturbing mark, banner, remembrance,

warning, ensign, standard, miracle and proof.

H226 – אוֹת ʼôwth, oth; probably from (in the sense of appearing); a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence 

Original Word: אוֹת
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: owth
Pronunciation: [ōth]
Phonetic Spelling: (oth)
KJV: mark, miracle, (en-)sign, token
NASB: sign, signs, banners, omens, pledge, standards, witness
Word Origin: [probably from H225 (אוּת – consent) (in the sense of appearing)]

1. a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc

It is interesting to note that this word

אוֹת

is made up of

א alef   ת tav

the first and last letters of the Hebrew AlefBet

and has a

vav וֹ – a nail

in the middle of it.

Recall each Hebrew letter has a meaning as well as a numerical value and that if we only read the Greek/ Latin or English translations we totally miss the fact that Messiah spoke in the Galilean Aramaic dialect of the Hebrew language and said He was the Alef and the Tav – the first and the last – instead of the Greek Alpha and omega which means the first and last of the Greek alphabet and we lose the deeper meaning.

He declared in the first person ( I AM – Anochi)

and it is the greatest sign/oth of all time

the Messiah nailed, vav, to the tree/cross.

The word oth/sign is used many times in reference to covenant

e.g. sign of the rainbow

Genesis 9:17
HEB: נֹ֑חַ זֹ֤את אֽוֹת־ הַבְּרִית֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר
NAS: This is the sign of the covenant
KJV: unto Noah, This [is] the token of the covenant,

and the Passover/pesach with the blood on the doorposts.

Exodus 12:13
HEB: הַדָּ֨ם לָכֶ֜ם לְאֹ֗ת עַ֤ל הַבָּתִּים֙
NAS: The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses
KJV: And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses

Messiah WAS and IS the fulfillment of the renewed covenant

the ultimate sign/oth.

Leviticus 23:2:  “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, [Concerning] the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts.”

Holy convocations/callings of holiness – miqr’ei  qodesh    

6944 qodesh/kodesh: Holiness, sacredness, sanctuary

Original Word: קֹדֶשׁ
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: qodesh
Pronunciation: KO-desh
Phonetic Spelling: (ko’-desh)
KJV: consecrated (thing), dedicated (thing), hallowed (thing), holiness, (X most) holy (X day, portion, thing), saint, sanctuary
NASB: holy, sanctuary, most holy, holy things, holiness, holies
Word Origin: [from H6942 (קָדַשׁ – consecrate)]

4744 miqra: Convocation, assembly, reading

Original Word: מִקְרָא
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: miqra’
Pronunciation: mik-raw’
Phonetic Spelling: (mik-raw’)
KJV: assembly, calling, convocation, reading
NASB: convocation, convocations, assemblies, assembly, reading, summoning
Word Origin: [from H7121 (קָרָא – called)]

1. something called out, i.e. a public meeting (the act, the persons, or the place)
2. also a rehearsal

4150 moed: meeting, appointed time, appointed feasts

Original Word: מוֹעֵד
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: mow`ed
Pronunciation: mo-ED
Phonetic Spelling: (mo-ade’)
KJV: appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn(-ity), synogogue, (set) time (appointed)
NASB: meeting, appointed time, appointed feasts, appointed times, season, appointed, appointed feast
Word Origin: [from H3259 (יָעַד – meet)]

1. (properly) an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season
2. (specifically) a festival
3. (conventionally) a year
4. (by implication) an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose)
5. (technically) the congregation
6. (by extension) the place of meeting
7. (also) a signal (as appointed beforehand)

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

appointed sign, time, place of, solemn assembly, congregation, set, solemn feast

Or moled {mo-ade’}; or (feminine) moweadah (2 Chronicles 8:13) {mo-aw-daw’}; from ya’ad; properly, an appointment, i.e. A fixed time or season; specifically, a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand) — appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn(-ity), synogogue, (set) time (appointed).

In simple terms an oth is a sign, a signal,

also a rehearsal of a future event placed specifically and strategically for us.

In Matthew 24 the disciples asked what would be the sign/oth…

In Greek 4592 sémeion: Sign, miracle, token, indication

Original Word: σημεῖον
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: sémeion
Pronunciation: say-MY-on
Phonetic Spelling: (say-mi’-on)
KJV: miracle, sign, token, wonder
NASB: signs, sign, miracle, distinguishing mark
Word Origin: [neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of G4591 (σημαίνω – indicate)]

sēmeíon – a sign (typically miraculous), given especially to confirm, corroborate or authenticate. 4592 /sēmeíon (“sign”) then emphasizes the end-purpose which exalts the one giving it. Accordingly, it is used dozens of times in the NT for what authenticates the Lord and His eternal purpose, especially by doing what mere man can not replicate of take credit for.

And in Luke 21:2 There will be signs, (Hebrew H226; Greek 4592), in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.

The ‘christian’ translation of Leviticus 23:2 is very different from the Hebrew rendering by the Jewish Masters, they read this as; “Speak unto the children of Israel ‘These are appointed times of God, callings of holiness, which you shall call in their appointed times.’”  

In Hebrew the word feast is mo’ed,

which in its Semitic root actually means:

an appointed time. 

We are a few days away from the Moed/Appointed Time of Yom Kippur and it is a good opportunity for us to examine ourselves as the Hebrew Year comes to an end. 

(The Fall moedim include Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot all extensively covered in earlier posts and for new readers, can be found linked on Home Page.)

This season of Moedim, the High Holy Days, should give us pause to remember Messiah and His Sacrifice for each one of us, reminding us we are to preach Messiah/Christ and Him crucified. These callings of holiness come during the signs, the moedim, the appointed times of these feasts.

These are times when we should make an extra effort to come apart from the world and its ways, its temptations, its ungodliness, its attention to other idols in their many guises, other man-made traditions and cultural influences that have pervaded our lives. Messiah followed the Torah and did not celebrate birthdays, Christmas, easter, sports events or any of our old and modern traditions and special days most of which are based on the occult and rooted in worldly commerce. We are in the world and not of it and we should not be conformed to it nor its compromised ways but rather be sensitive to the Fathers callings of holiness and be transformed into the image of His Son Yeshua/Jesus Messiah.

In the Hebrew language, ‘callings of holiness’ is ‘miqr’ei kodesh’, which may be translated as: holy nutrients. Hebrew sages teach that these miqr’ri kodesh are seen as holy nutrients that are beneficial and cause us to remain spiritually healthy; for example these are freedom, wisdom, awe, joy, peace, courage, strength and other spiritual gifts given to us through the course of our lives which are ongoing needs; and the annual moedim are appointed times when these gifts are given. For example, Passover/Pesach is when the Father grants freedom/deliverance. The first Shavuot was when the Torah was given and during this moed wisdom is given, on Yom Kippur forgiveness/redemption are given. This may have been because people paid more attention to their spiritual condition at these given times and were more receptive to hear the Lord.

These miqr’ri kodesh are also spiritual nutrition for non Jewish believers and gifts are given at appointed times too. For the Jews, these are the times of their festivals, but to the non-jew these appointed times are less specific. Under the renewed covenant cut in Messiahs Blood and when the time comes, our Heavenly Father will give us what we need. Yeshua said in Matthew 6:8 that our Father knows what we need before we ask Him and we know His Holy Spirit provides the gifts of His Spirit according to His will plan and purpose.

1 Cor. 12:11 But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as He wills.

These spiritual gifts are to sustain us, to encourage and strengthen us, they are signs/oth and we are not to be fearful about the future because He sees the

end from the beginning

and knows everything from

alef to tav – beginning to end and in the middle

because He is

the fulfillment of the Fathers moedim and

THE OTH/SIGN.

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Shalom, 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.

Why Do We Say Please?

The word please, when we use it today, is by way of being courteous, and it lets the person know that we are asking a personal favor and unless they really want to they don’t have to do what we ask.

In the English language the word please originates from the word pleasure used back in the 14th-century.  It became popular in its use as a formal way of asking for a favor and expressed the idea of 

‘If it’s not too much trouble’ and

‘if you don’t mind,’

but ‘only do it if you get pleasure from it.’   

In Hebrew the word please is  ratsah   רצה 

We read that David uses this word when asking the Lord for help.

Psalms 40:13 “Be pleased, O Lord to save me. O’Lord come quickly to help me.”

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me!

We often use the word in excess when we really really need a favor and its used in abundance by children begging for whatever they want at that particular moment with added emphasis in cooing tones!

Does David get his prayer answered seeing as he used this special endearing word… Please?

Many versions of the scriptures have translated this verse as

Please Lord save me.

Looking closer at

ratsah

 רָצָה

the Hebrew word for please,

it has the idea of

taking delight in, pleasure in, or to be satisfied.

Strongs # 7521

ratsah:

To be pleased with, to accept favorably, to delight in, to satisfy

Original Word: רָצָה
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: ratsah
Pronunciation: rah-tsah’
Phonetic Spelling: (raw-tsaw’)
KJV: (be) accept(-able), accomplish, set affection, approve, consent with, delight (self), enjoy, (be, have a) favour(-able), like, observe, pardon, (be, have, take) please(-ure), reconcile self
NASB: accept, accepted, pleased, delight, delights, enjoy, favor
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to be pleased with
2. specifically, to satisfy a debt

it means the same in the Akkadian.

If you find pleasure in the act, then go ahead.  

What we need to see is that David is not begging as we might understand it, he’s not trying to manipulate the Lord to rescue him using certain words, basically he’s making the conditions attached to any rescue attempts by the Lord very clear.  By looking at the Hebrew word meaning we see that the condition is this:

Our Heavenly Father only steps into a situation to rectify it to the condition that we deem acceptable… if… He finds pleasure in it. This pleasure is critically attached to His will and plan and purpose for us and why sometimes we dont get our prayers answered because its our flesh that wants relief and there is still a lesson our Father wants us to learn with whatever the situation is. We receive not because…

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Weymouth New Testament or you pray and yet do not receive, because you pray wrongly, your object being to waste what you get on some pleasure or another.

The word is spelled

רָצָה

 Resh, Sade, and Hei.  

These three letters express:

a submission to the divine will of our Heavenly Father.  

David is saying that in his present trouble he really does need to be rescued by the Lord but also that he realizes this is a time for our Heavenly Father to gain pleasure for his rescue by stepping in to save him. Why? because David had an intimate loving relationship with our Heavenly Father and knew that as a loving parent, He takes pleasure/ratsah, in intervening to help and rescue His children when they are in great need. David did not doubt concerning the Lord’s ability to rescue him and neither should we, however he was sometimes unsure such intervention would be ratsah to the Lord God. So in this picture as with us, allowing David to experience growth by going through that difficulty, would for a loving Father bring Him greater ratsah/pleasure; he was willing to wait a little while longer, which at the same time would increase the strength of his faith.

Our Heavenly Father knows our needs before we even ask.

Matthew 6:8.

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

So we don’t need to beg Him, we must simply learn how to pray with confidence and trust in our Heavenly Father’s provision.

 Looking at David in his situation he understood that If this was just a situation that potentially had no spiritual growth in it, then he knew that an immediate rescue would be the way the Lord would derive pleasure/ratsah.  However if it was one that would please the Father and offered an experience for him to grow, then he was willing to go as long as it took, he was simply concerned for whatever brought his Heavenly Father the greatest pleasure/ratsah.

Can we say the same?

He faced a really difficult situation and needed the Lord to deliver him, but at the same time he also knew he wanted to please Him.

Would we think like David?..Do we?

It makes one think and ask the question why do we say please? What is our heart motivation is it just for our own personal benefit?

Maybe next time we are faced with a huge problem and need His help we should  stop pleading as we have maybe done in the past with our please, please, please, and pray like David did and say instead…

Heavenly Father help me, but only if it brings you ratsah/pleasure to watch me grow.

Shalom, 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.

Yerushalayim – Jerusalem The Compelling Purpose – The Goal?

“He said to them Behold we are going up to Jerusalem…”

Luke 18:31

Jerusalem/Yerushalayim/יְרוּשָׁלַיִם in the life of Messiah represents the place where He reached the culmination of His Fathers will. When in Jerusalem as a child of 12 He told His earthly parents ‘don’t you know I must be about my Fathers business..’ Luke 2:49. Here we should ask ourselves are we truly about our Fathers business each and every day? And a further question would arise concerning the identity of our father, spiritually that is.

What day to day business we conduct will show clearly just who our spiritual father is. Messiah Yeshua/Jesus told the Pharisees of His day, ‘you are of your father the devil’. What we spend our time doing and whose will we follow, reveals much of our lifestyle and who we belong to. Yeshua said in John 5:30 ’I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father Who sent Me’ Are we seeking our Heavenly Fathers’ will or just our own, pleasing ourself and doing what we want to do?

Seeking to do the will of the Father was the one dominating concern throughout our Messiahs life. He was never deterred from His purpose and final goal by whatever He encountered along the way, whether joy or sorrow, failure or success; He set His face to go to Jerusalem/Yerushalayim, Luke 9:51.

We too must remember that we go up to Jerusalem/ Yerushalayim to fulfill our Heavenly Father’s purpose, not our own.

Before we gave our lives to Messiah we had ambitions of our own, but if our lives truly belong to Him we gave up our right to ourselves and what we want and therefore no longer have goals of our own. We hear people talk of decisions for Christ and choices to be Christians, our decisions to do this and that; but is this what the scriptures tell us? In John 15:16 We are clearly told ‘You did not choose Me ..I chose you.’

This is the compelling purpose of our Heavenly Father. We are taken into His purpose with no awareness of what that purpose actually is; it’s not initially a conscious agreement with His purpose. We really have no idea what His goal may be or entail because we are too near sighted to see the final target and as new believers we have our own ideas as to what His purpose is. We say things like ‘God has called me to this special work’, or ‘He means for me to go over there’ and we do what we think is right. In reality the work we do is of no account when compared to the compelling purpose of our Heavenly Father, it’s simply the support scaffolding surrounding the work and plan.

In Luke 18:31 we are told, ‘He took the 12 aside.’

And He will take us aside from time to time because we have not fully understood all there is to know of His compelling purpose.

We tend to say that because a person has natural gifts and abilities they will make a good Christian but it’s not a matter of our talents but rather the lack of them that our heavenly Father prefers. It’s not a matter of what we bring with us into the Kingdom but of what our Father puts into us. People are placed into areas in the church often because of gifting and it’s not always where Father wants them. As long as we think we are of value to Him He cannot choose us because we have purposes of our own to serve; but if we will allow Him to take us to the end of ourselves, the end of our own self sufficiency, then He can choose us to go with Him to Jerusalem Luke 18:31. And He almost always does not tell us the details beforehand. He means us to become poor so that we can become rich in Him we are to humble ourselves so that He can raise us up .

However, as we continue, His purpose becomes clear 1 Cor. 26:31

  1. 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

  2. 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

  3. 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

  4. 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

 Paul reminds the Corinthians of their humble beginnings. He highlights that not many of them were considered wise, influential, or of noble birth according to human standards. This serves as a reminder that our worth and identity are not based on worldly achievements or status. In Christ, is about emphasizing that God chooses those who are considered lowly and foolish by human standards to confound the wise and strong, so that no one may boast in their own abilities but rather boast in the wisdom and power of God.

His compelling purpose for our lives is our relationship with Him, to become His friends. The friend of God is a person who knows their poverty and cannot do anything without Him, He cannot accomplish anything with the one who thinks they are of use to the Lord. As believers we are not here for our own purposes at all – we are here for the purpose of the Father and the two are not the same.

Even when we do not know or understand what our Fathers compelling purpose is, we must maintain our relationship with Him. It is critical to never allow anything to damage our relationship with our Heavenly Father and if anything does, we must immediately take steps to restore that relationship. The most important aspect of being a true believer is not the work we do but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. This is our Fathers emphasis and what we are to make a daily priority not just a couple of meetings a week, we need to pay constant attention to it because it’s the one thing that is continually under attack.

Yerushalayim/Jerusalem spiritually represents the place where Messiah reached the culmination of His Fathers will, it was also the physical location, where The Father has put His Name and where He gave His life for us. He asks us to go with Him to this spiritual goal, are we ready to die to this life of flesh, carnality and idolatrous lusts; today we must ask ourselves is Jerusalem our goal too? Are we willing to go all the Way, to the culmination of our Heavenly Fathers will? The choice is ours…chose this day …and choose life.

Shalom, 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.