Genesis 17:1

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; Walk [habitually] before Me [with integrity, knowing that you are always in My presence], and be blameless and complete [in obedience to Me]. AMP.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk before me, and be blameless. NHEB

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect. ASV

The word BEFORE

is

Strongs 6440

Original Word: פָנִים
Transliteration: panim or paneh
Phonetic Spelling: paw-neem’

Hebrew Rabbis teach that the words we have in English Bibles translated as

(walk) before me

ə·p̄ā·nay
לְפָנַ֖י
before Me

should read as

walk WITH me.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

Plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun (paneh {paw-neh’}; from panah); the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.) — + accept, a-(be-)fore(-time), against, anger, X as (long as), at, + battle, + because (of), + beseech, countenance, edge, + employ, endure, + enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, X him(-self), + honourable, + impudent, + in, it, look(-eth) (- s), X me, + meet, X more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), X on, open, + out of, over against, the partial, person, + please, presence, propect, was purposed, by reason of, + regard, right forth, + serve, X shewbread, sight, state, straight, + street, X thee, X them(-selves), through (+ – out), till, time(-s) past, (un-)to(-ward), + upon, upside (+ down), WITH (-within, + -stand), X ye, X you.

This changes the perspective

of Abram’s relationship with the

Almighty God – El Shaddai –

which we render as:

the all sufficient God

or the Almighty-Breasty-One.

The Hebrew language incorporates numerical value to letters and words and it is understood that the number

9 is the number of completion

and

90 is the number of Humility.

According to this it would indicate that when Abram became

99, complete in humility,

he recognized and understood that God was truly

El Shaddai – all-sufficient

and he could

walk WITH God.

Torah scholars definition of humility is that, we are not for one moment to be trusting in self, in the arm of flesh, our own capabilities, knowledge, talents or any kind of security we have built; or any dependence on wealth or provision from any source other than the Lord/El Shaddai.

It is having complete total TRUST in our

Heavenly Father as El Shaddai,

to be all-sufficient for us.

We are to put our trust/batak in our Heavenly Father as He and Abram did. Messiah never put His trust in people because He knew and understood the shortcomings and weaknesses of the fallen human nature.

Jesus didn’t commit Himself to them. John 2:24,25.

He was never suspicious, yet He was discerning and wise.

He was never bitter, resentful or offended, nor did He take vengeance toward anyone; and yet at the same time, He never gave up hope for them.

Why?

Because His BATAK/TRUST

was totally and completely in His Father first.

If we place our trust in people before Him and not in the Father, we will quickly experience despair, hopelessness and disappointment towards them. This can lead to bitterness and resentment because they didn’t measure up to how they presented themselves. Understanding that not one individual, except Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, can ever be right or perfect in this life, prevents the negative assessments in others. The only part of a person or ourself we can trust, is God’s spirit of grace and mercy in us.

Hebrews 10:9. He came to do God’s will.

An individual’s obedience is to what they see and determine to be a need. Messiah’s obedience was to His/our Fathers will. To seek and save the lost and tell the heathen about Him. However, first we are to make sure that God’s needs and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus/Yeshua said for us to be mindful of this in Matthew 6:5-15

⁷ “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹ Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.^[a]
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,^[b]
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread,^[c]
12 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.^[d]

¹⁴ For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, ¹⁵ but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

The purpose of our training as His disciples, is to get us into the right relationship towards the needs of our Heavenly Father and His will, plan and purposes, NOT ours. Once our Father’s needs in us have been met, He will then open the way for us to accomplish His will, which is meeting His needs, plan and purposes somewhere else.

 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18

We are also to remember that He said: Matthew 18:5 who ever receives one little child in my name receives me.

Messiah came as a child Himself. He is entrusting Himself to each of us and desiring our individual lives to be a Bethlehem; where He can grow up, where the natural life could be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God. His ultimate purpose is that the life of Messiah be manifest in and through us. The same life/ chaim that was in Him can also be in us, by the power of HIs Holy Spirit, just as it was in

Luke 1:41. and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh.

And we are to be always ready with a listening ear for the slightest whisper of His Voice/kol, calling to us. In the Song of Solomon there is a verse that says:

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land; 2:12

A season of the voice of Messiah, the bridegroom is calling.

This season is also a time of pruning, to bear more fruit for His Kingdom.

The dove, Yonah (Jonah) in Hebrew, reminds us that Messiah Jesus pointed to Noah and Jonah as end-times signs.

The dove was a sign for Noah and Yonah/Jonah/Dove

was a sign to the people of Nineveh

to repent and turn to the Lord before His judgment came.

Matthew 12:39; 24:37.

The entire book of the Song of Solomon is a picture of Messiah’s love for His bride; into whom we are grafted and His voice calls to us in unconditional love and devotion. He is calling to His Bride.

Those who truly love Him will respond to His loving call.

Like always attracts like- what is common between people will draw like a magnet, just like the old saying, birds of a feather flock together.

Like desires, like lifestyle, like interests, like goals, etc.

If you ever feel you don’t fit, like you are a square peg in a round hole, then you’re probably in the wrong place with the wrong group. The Spirit of God within people draws them together.

Phil. 2:2-8. fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit.

1Pet 3:8 Finally, all of you be like-minded [united in spirit], sympathetic, brotherly, tender-hearted, and humble in spirit;

Romans 15:5 Now the God of endurance and of encouragement give to you to be like-minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus;

2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Be perfected, be comforted, be of the same mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 

We are to have Messiah as the center and the priority of our lives.

Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit which is given to us and like Elizabeth/ John leaped when in the presence of his Messiah.

We too have that inner knowing… we are one in Him with fellow believers/ disciples and love has always been the test of true discipleship.

Those listening to the voice of their beloved, will not be deafened by the cries of man. In a world filled with noise, all clamoring for our attention; we need to hear only the voice of our beloved and those who love Him will hear and recognize His voice and will respond just like the sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me John 10:27

They will even hear the tender gentle cooing of the turtledove above the chaos of the world busyness. And just as Elizabeth’s inner involuntary response was to the close presence of Messiah within Mary.

We are up to watch for Him, wait for Him, with baited breath, and anticipation as the bride for her groom; and as we do, our heart will not only listen for Him… our hearts will hear.

There are times when many bewildering experiences challenge the peace/shalom in our souls; however, when we truly love Him and are listening, and our spirits are submitted to Him willingly, He works all things together for good.

 

Just as the scripture records the story of Joseph in Genesis 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

God has His Plan and purposes, His ways are not our ways.

’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” Isaiah.55:8,9.

The one who truly loves Him submits to His discipline and chastening, also called pruning, shaking and sifting. His love holds us steady beneath the chastening rod.

“I will make you pass under the rod [as the shepherd does with his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as Mine and constrain you] and bring you into the bond of the covenant.

Ezekiel 20:37-38

The verse says that the sheep

pass under the rod.

Besides being an instrument of both offense and defense, the rod was, in effect, a two-foot club;

it also functioned as a tool, under which the sheep passed.

What does this picture?

First of all, it pictures counting. The shepherd would count the sheep in his flock to make sure they were all present and accounted for.

This is also a picture of something else, because as the sheep passed under the rod, which is a symbol of the Word of God, they would undergo a very close examination. The shepherd would run his rod backward or across the sheeps body, which separated the wool. This action allowed the shepherd to look down onto the sheep’s skin, enabling him to see both the condition of the wool and the skin which was hidden beneath.

Our Savior the Good Shepherd, is illustrating that by means of His rod, He is giving us a careful, close examination: it gives Him the opportunity to check the quality of His sheep and it also provides a means of separation. As His disciples, both quality and separation are the reasons that He carefully examines us. The rod and the path it leads us on, will take us to deep and difficult places, taking us right into the hidden man of the heart where holiness is formed.

In Matthew 25 we read of the separation of the sheep and the goats. The rod helps to identify, or is a means of making sure of ownership. Sheep’s ears were often bored through or distinctively notched as an identifying mark. When the shepherds could not always clearly see the identifying mark because  several flocks had mixed together in the fields, they would make the sheep

pass under the rod.

When they did, the shepherd would flip back the EAR to see the mark of ownership. Again, it also gave them a chance to examine and check the health and quality of each of the sheep.

Note the EAR… that listens and hears! 

Right now we are all

Because now,

this season,

is the time of our judgment – I Peter 4:17,

and we are being evaluated to make it clear to whom we really belong: the Heavenly Father or the adversary.

Who is our Shepherd?

Who are we following?

The rod is a vitally important instrument for a shepherd and no good shepherd would be without one.

This process is critical and should not be avoided but rather welcomed because it means He loves us.

Hebrews 12:6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

1Corinthians 13:7 because love believes and hopes and all things and love will never fail.

Love endures what ever comes. It seeks not its own doesn’t retaliate because it rests in Him rather than in the circumstance. As long as we are focused on and our desires are fulfilled in him we will never be deprived of comfort.

Luke 1: 53

He who goes away Will always be empty in spite of his riches. He who seeks the Lord first will never be unhappy or poor.

David said in Psalm 146:3 Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation–

6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them, Who keeps truth and is faithful forever,

What is first in our lives?

We must trust in Him 1^st

We must put His will 1^st.

We must put Messiah 1^st.

The questions we should and indeed

must ask ourselves are:

Are we 99 yet?

and are we in other words,

at a place where we are

walking before/WITH the Lord El Shaddai?

Is He all sufficient to us?

Are we doing Gods will for our lives?

Are we hearing His voice directing our path or our own choices of future plans?

Will we respond to His loving call?

Are we watching for Him, waiting for Him, with baited breath,

and anticipation, as the bride for her groom?

Can we say with the Shulamite?

The dove

was a sign for Noah and Yonah/Jonah/Dove

pruning before He returns…

Are we willing to be sifted like the disciples?

Luke 22:31

Are we truly 99 – complete in humility, yet?

If we are obedient and willing

we shall eat the good of the land

and we will be ready to walk WITH Him.

 

Shalom aleikhem

chaverim/friends and mishpachah/family!

Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week,

you are greatly loved and prayed for.

Please don’t leave here without assurance of your salvation

Not sure ..you can be…

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.

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.