PRAYING FOR YESHUA’S RETURN

What do you pray for? Who is most advantaged by your prayers?  You?  Others?  God Himself? You might want to take a moment to consider how you would answer your own prayers.  I had to.

This morning I had a dream that was more of a message than pictures. Some dreams you know are from the Lord.  This was one of them. I must preface the dream’s message with a story. In writing the book,  Heaven is Beyond Your Wildest Expectations, (available on Amazon.com) I interviewed a number of people who had been to heaven, most had died but after they experienced heaven, the Lord sent them back to bring the message of what they had seen and heard and to tell people to prepare for the coming of the Lord is soon. How soon is soon, we do not know. But we would do well to “prepare” as He said.   

One man I interviewed recounted the Lord’s words to him which impacted me greatly, causing me to rethink my own priorities in the Lord.  While I do not remember the exact words I do recall that basically it was this:  “My people are more concerned with their own comfort than with Me coming, so they do not pray about what must take place prior to My coming” (my paraphrase).  

I had to ask myself, did I even pray much for His coming when it will be the greatest moment in all of creation?  But in considering the implications of Yeshua’s message to pray for His coming, and what we do or do not pray for, it seems that God takes (most of) our prayers seriously, that He answers the desires of our hearts most often, and that what is NOT sincerely the desires of our hearts, He either does not “hear” or doesn’t take seriously since we really don’t either.  How many things have you prayed for that you either forgot because they really didn’t matter in your life after all, or because you realized later it was God’s protective blessing that He didn’t answer as you had asked?  It’s happened to all of us. 

But I was struck with what this man reported were Yeshua’s own words that His own people’s concerns were largely other than His return.  Now, I’m sure that just about all of us live in great anticipation of His return.  Or do we?  I think each person’s answer may be affected by what “His return” means to them. It is Biblically true that one glorious day Yeshua will appear, no doubt brighter than lightening in the sky to “catch us up” to be with Him forever (1 Thes. 4:16). "in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed" (1 Cor. 15:52). While His coming is a given, the question is when?  

If you believe in what we call a “pre-trib rapture” that before the great and terrible days of tribulation which the Bible indicates will take place in the end of days, then surely you are confident that one day soon you will be “home free” without suffering the ravages of any days of serious difficulty.  Personally, I don’t see it this way in Scripture - the "last trumpet" is after all, the last trumpet. To believe otherwise, if you'll allow me to say so, seems rather escapist to me - though I would be enormously happy to see that I have been mistaken should I find myself suddenly in the sky with Him prior to any difficult times. That would be wonderful, but personally, because as far back as Abraham, there are statements that God does not deal with the righteous as He does with the wicked. There are, in fact, 99 such statements in the Bible.  We see that in Egypt when God brought the plagues upon the Egyptians, Israel remained free of them. The darkness was all over Egypt but the sun was still shining in Goshen.  Pretty superantural, wouldn't you say?  God kept them protected, just as I believe He will keep His people protected as we trust in Him to do so. Still, Israel did go through the first of them.  

So what if we will be here for some of it, half of it, or all of it?  How then should we pray?  What do we need from God if we might in fact remain on the earth for some difficult days ahead?  After all, there are many believers throughout the world today who are suffering now for their faith in Yeshua. Surely, He cannot come too soon for those being persecuted for their faith. We should all pray for His protection and provision, courage and rescue for those suffering for Him until He does come.  

But shouldn’t we be praying that He does come and whatever circumstances will be involved in that marvelous event?  For those who expect a “pre-trib rapture,” what about the millions of people who are left who will go through times of tribulation as the Bible describes?  What is our concern for them?  And what if there is not “pre-trib” happening and we turn out to be the people who are going through difficult times.  What then shall we pray now?  Can we pray to bring about Yeshua’s return?  The Bible does end, after thousands of years of input, with the words, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”   I’m not at all sure I have the answers, but I do feel that I am to put the questions out there for whomever God leads to read this. So if you’ll allow, I will share some further thoughts. 

I expect that most of us know that the world is in trouble. Being an American, without going into the details of American foreign policy or even what is taking place internally in America, it appears we’re losing our grip as a superpower and making some really bad deals, decisions and alliances.  I might not have to remind you, in light of Genesis 12:3, that siding with Israel’s enemies whose intent is their destruction, is far from wise.  Additionally, we are feeding the hand of the dog that will bite us, if we think radical Muslims will decide we’re not really the Great Satan after all because we’re funding them.  Well, I said I wasn’t going to go into it, so I’ll stop and go back to what I feel God wants to put before us – the matter of praying for His return even if it means difficult days ahead.

Are we not praying about it either because we don’t expect to be here, or because we’re leaving it up to God because it’s too scary a picture to look at, or it seems too confusing to sort through all those prophesies or the News to know what to pray?  Maybe it’s a combination of these.  But the question still remains –  how then shall we pray?  And what about the Lord’s statement that we desire our comfort more than His coming? Isn’t that a piercing remark?  I think of myself as desiring Him and His will more than anything else in my life, but this statement has caused me to realize that I really do not want to experience what I might have to, before His return, should we not be “raptured” out of any harm’s way. Or to put that in wider terms, neither do I do want “us” – that is my family, my friends, my people at large, my church, the church, or my country to go through what the Bible describes in various places as end time events. None of us do, which is why most of us would rather not look too closely at that option – being here, I mean. 

Without going into those verses here (you could do a Google search for end time Scriptures) or discussing possible scenarios, what I believe God would have us focus on, at least in this article, is whether the desire of our hearts is His coming more than anything else in our lives.  Of course, while we are still here, we must be concerned with issues in our lives and the lives of those we care about. Life does go on in the here and now and we always need His help and wisdom, so yes, praying about those matters, matter!  

But what is the deepest desire of your heart? Where does Yeshua’s appearing truly fit into the plans and purpose of your life? Do we each really want Him more than anything else? We readily say yes, of course, at least most of us. I would have said it too. But then I came to see, what I really want is “peace and safety.”  Well, of course. We all want that too and that’s God’s desire as well.  He has promised us both peace with Him and protection which is to say, being safe in Him. Only it doesn’t necessarily mean in the worldly sense.  

I want to be a candidate to be able to say with Paul as I’m sure you do, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day….” We agree, right? We want that too.  But then Paul finishes the sentences by saying, “and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim 4:7,8).   Are we each among the “all who have loved His appearing?” Of all the things we love, and the ways we love Him, is His appearing high in our priorities and the greatest desire of our hearts?  I mean really?  How much thought do you give to what may be required of you before He returns if what the Bible says will eventually take place does actually come about in our lifetime?  Does that dim or fan the flames of our “love for His appearing”?   

Most of us would agree that “we have peace with God through faith” (Romans 5:1).  I’ve never known why Paul didn’t finish that sentence.  I always want to ask when I read that verse, “Faith in what?  In who?” not that I don’t know.  But I didn’t always.  I remember times in my walk with the Lord when there was such an emphasis on faith that my focus was on having enough faith, rather than on Him.  That was, of course, works because it was dependent upon me having enough faith, so I never felt as if I had enough because any time we look to ourselves and not Him, we are in the deficit.  It will never be sufficient.  Only what is in Him and from Him can be sufficient. Once I put my faith in Him and not in having enough faith, I was at peace.  So then, should we pray for more faith? Or shall we put our trust in the Lord that His goodness is entire toward us, that His promises are true and that He will keep us safe in Him no matter what. Shall we not come to Him with David’s psalms, for instance, to pray them though to God until God’s protection and His goodness become as real to us as they were to David in the midst of his days of tribulation.  He certainly had them, but he remained wrapped in a blanket of confidence of God’s goodness and His love for him, no matter what happened.  And we have a “better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22; 8:6) than David did! 

If God helped David, He’ll surely help us in whom His Spirit lives!  Whatever circumstances may come about in our lives, God has said, “I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6).  And we know that “Messiah Yeshua is the same yesterday, today and forever,”(Hebrews 13:8).  If He was enough for David, He’s enough for us.  God assures us, “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says the Lord who has compassion on you” (Isaiah 54:10).  I love that verse. It’s one of my favorites. Is that truth real to you, no matter what comes?  And if we’re His, “…we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). 

His purposes are to bring redemption to the world, and we get to be a part of His doing it.  So even though we may go through difficulties, God gave us His word to strengthen our faith and confidence in Him. Paul wrote, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor 4:17).  When we think in terms of eternity, anything we go through here on earth is momentary.  And any difficulties we may go through, when our trust is in God and we honor Him with our faith in His goodness, no matter what, it results in "an eternal weight of glory to us in ways we cannot even begin to imagine.  Paul was taken to the third heaven so he could write those words, to tell us of what can be our expectation of one day when we stand before the Lord and hear Him say to us, “Well done, good and faithful one.”  Do you live for that all–fulfilling moment?  

A Hanukkah Tale (Suitable to tell the children of God no matter how old they are.)

Model of the second Temple in Jerusalem in Yeshua's time.

King Solomon built a grand and glorious temple for the Jewish people in Israel.  It was to be a house for God and God had promised that He would always be there as long as they kept it holy and worshiped Him there. They must never forget that it was God who had given them the Land in which they had built the temple. Even if the Jewish people,or any people, were far away in other lands God promised to hear their prayers if they remembered Him and that He had been with them in their land. 

One day, many years later, a very bad general brought his soldiers from Greece to Israel and declared war against them. He entered their temple and did horrible things. He brought pigs and other unclean animals into the Temple, and He made a big statue of himself that he put into the Temple making it look like he was god and not the God of Israel. And he put out the big lamp that God had the Jewish people keep lit all the time to remind them that He was with them always, day and night.

A man named Judah and his five sons were priests in the Temple and they hated what the evil general and his army were doing. So Judah called out to the men of Israel, “All who are with me for the Lord, come and help us fight these evil men.” So this little band of men formed an army and they called upon God and asked Him to help them win the battle over the Greeks. Now the Greek army was much greater than Judah’s small band of soldiers, but they fought with all their hearts and trusted God that He would help them free the Temple and make it holy again. God let them know that it was not by power, and not by might, but by the Spirit of God that they would win the war. And so, with trust in God, this little band of Israeli warriors won a great victory over the great big army of Greece, so that the Greek general was very embarrassed and took him army and fled from Israel. And that was the end of the Greeks trying to conquer little Israel.


Meanwhile, Judah and his sons and the men with them began to clean up the Temple. They broke down the statue and broke it into little pieces and carted it away. They scrubbed and scrubbed and swept and wiped and soon they had the Temple looking as clean and holy as it did before. They had only one problem. The big oil lamp that had burned all day and all night was no longer lit. It was like a candle with a big wick in it, only it burned not from wax like most candles, but from a certain mixture of oils that God had given the recipe for many, many years before. It was the only oil that was to be used in the Temple for the light and it had a wonderful smell from the spices in it. But the problem was they only had enough oil for one day and it would take eight days to make the recipe for the new oil. So the priests who were in charge of making the oil began to do so.

Note the size of the lamp in the temple. 

They were all so excited about restoring the Temple that they decided to light the lamp with the one days worth of oil. So they did. The Temple looked so beautiful all lit up from the huge lamp. They were so happy as they rededicated the Temple to God, making sure He knew that their hearts were full of love for Him, even if they would have to wait for the next week for more oil to keep the lamp lit.

But the next day, there was still oil in the lamp and it stayed lit the whole day. And then it stayed lit the second day and the third day and the fourth day…. All the way up to the eighth day, it stayed lit on only one day’s worth of oil. It was a miracle! It was like God was letting the Jewish people know that He was still there with them and that He knew their hearts were to serve Him and that He was very pleased with them.

From that time on, the Jewish people and many of God's people the world over celebrate Hanukkah every year at this same time as they light candles for eight days, one day at a time, adding one more candle each day to remember the miracle God did there. It is still a holiday of rededication, but since there is no more Temple in Israel, the Jewish people and everyone who loves their God, takes time during Hanukkah to rededicate themselves to God, to tell him how much they love Him, and to give their lives anew to Him as their God.  Would you like to rededicate your life to God in a new and fresh way beginning now in this new season we are in. Only God knows what this next year will bring, but we will be safe in His love and protection as we dedicate our lives to Him for His will to be done and for His love to dwell in our hearts for Him and for one another. Can we all pray this prayer together?

Lord, we thank you that you are such a wonderful miracle working God, that every day in our lives You watch over us and keep us from harm. We give our lives a new to you today, to trust you and to love you and to live to do Your will and to give You glory and honor in all that we do. As we rededicate our lives to you today, we look forward to a year of coming to know you more and more, and being a light-bearer for you wherever you send us. We bless you and thank you for blessing those around us as well, b’shem, Yeshua (in Jesus’ name). Amen.

MOUNTAINS OF COURAGE

I have been in email dialog with a friend who has asthma which I sometimes deal with myself though not as severely. The American Lung Association says, “If you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.” True enough. It can be a bit scary. But my friend, also a writer, has been given an opportunity to go to Israel in relation to a book she has written that may become a movie. A pretty big deal, wouldn’t you say? But she’s afraid of facing breathing problems, on the plane, or while there. She wrote to ask me what I thought about her going. Having just made that trip and faced down a few trepidations of my own, I shared with her some of my own experiences to encourage her. Perhaps this will be of help to some others to overcome life-limiting fears.


Here's what appear to be the issue. You've been asked to go for God and you either trust Him or you don't. If you trust Him, and go in obedience, He'll take care of you. Ask Him to only give you invitations that come from Him. Where He asks us to go, He will see us through. We walk in the footsteps of Abraham who had to GO, despite what adversities and unknowns were ahead of him. It is a matter of obedience and fulfilling the mandate to GO into all the world – we each only get to go to where He’s sending us, whether it’s our neighborhood or across the globe. But we each have a calling, we each have a story, a witness to share. Should you let fear rule your life and quench your story? I’ve often thought, when facing something scary, would I want to stand before Him one day and see it from His perspective and see that my trepidation acted as lord in my life in that instance, so that I missed the gift of His "opportunity." I've had to make that decision so many times in my life. Each time I would GO, despite fears, weakness, insecurity and uncertainty, God blessed and strengthened me and it became not only a blessing to me but to those to whom He sent me with His message.


It would seem that you're at a crossroad in your life. Doors are opening to share this incredible story. If it becomes a movie, or even if it doesn't, there will be other invitations and other opportunities to share the story. If you let fear rule and don't go at this beginning stage, the doors will stop opening. This is, as I see it, a matter of destiny. Which road will you take? I have at times had to say with Esther, "If I perish, I perish," but I'm going to obey what I feel God is saying, and go where it appears He is leading me. In this last trip to Israel, I had to overcome a number of challenges and say no to fears. I was traveling the world alone, but I went. Faced with something that never happens at home was climbing a mountain on more than one occasion. Hiking up a long trail to a crest of a giant hill or even one of Israel’s many mountains, my immediate thoughts were I don't have the lungs to climb or hike that mountain; I'm not strong enough. I’ll wait here at the bottom. But I determined not to let fear gain a hold on me.


Climbing a mountain is certainly a metaphor for conquering fear, and yes, on two occasions I needed to use my inhaler, but I climbed more than one mountain and overcame each one and I was able to see from the top of the mountains such far such reaching vistas that I would never have known existed if I had stayed in the low lands. I saw the majesty and the power of God in His creation such as never before from those mountain tops. Don't miss the significance of conquering your own mountain (of fear). I learned more of God from those mountain climbing experiences and from what I could see from the top than I would ever have known down below where I considered it "safer."


Eliezer ben Yehuda, the father of modern Hebrew, has tuberculosis his whole adult life. He was weak and frail -- but he had a vision to restore the language. He changed the destiny of Israel and the Jewish people, and I would venture to say their far-reaching impact on the world today, by his tenacity to bring Hebrew back to his people. He remains one of my heroes. It is often in our weakness that we are most victorious. How else would we know the majesty of God from the mountain top if we don't climb the mountain before us? God does choose the weak, does He not, to demonstrate His power?


You may miss an opportunity of a life time if you don't go. Fear is, as you've probably heard, False Evidence Appearing Real. True you've had breathing challenges. Who knows but that God will heal you AS YOU GO? Face down the fear, reject any anticipated failure and chose instead to go in faith and trust in God, leaning the weight of your being on Him, as the Amplified Bible says.


One of my biggest fears was speaking in front of people with a microphone in my hand. I had two terrible incidents when I was asked to sing with my guitar for events and I panicked, froze, forgot the words, and just locked up. How embarrassing. The audience froze with me, not knowing what to do. So I told them how scared I was and just asked them to sing, “Blowing in the Wind” with me – everyone in those days knew the song, and so we did and it was soon over. Whew. I assumed after that happened once, it wouldn't happen again. But it did. I was asked to sing a solo in the Messianic group of which I was a part for three years - The Beth Yeshua Singers . I pleaded with the leader not to ask me to sing the solo, but alas, it was being required of me. The same thing happened. Paralyzed with fear I forgot the words I knew well in the middle of a line. Thank God we were singing at our home congregation that day and not at a conference somewhere. From that time on, I would start to palpitate and sweat if I even had to walk anywhere near a microphone and I wasn't even supposed to speak. My self-vow was that I would never ever again be in front of people to speak, let alone sing.


But then God began to put requests to share my testimony before me. The first one was for 3 minutes. Just 3 minutes! I agonized over it, believing He was asking me to do it but I hated it. I cannot tell you (maybe I don't have to) how terrified I was. I finally agreed in obedience. I asked God to empty me of me, to make me a hollow tube of His light. When I was handed the microphone and I spoke those 3 minutes at a Friends of Israel Christmas dinner of about three hundred people, I suppose He did something miraculous, at least in me, because when the 3 minutes was over and I sat down, my whole body shaking, there were tears in people's eyes and they were obviously touched by what I had shared. What a surprise.


The next time was on the radio. My church's evening service was aired on the radio and they too asked me to share my testimony. Oh no. Not on the radio. But I was of the belief that it was God asking me to do it (I was naive enough then to think that anything a Christian was asked to do was from Him). So despite my raging fear, I said yes. I kept praying "God give me peace, give me peace." But I had none. Then it was time to walk up to the podium. When I put my foot on the bottom step to walk up, since there was no more time to still be asking for peace, I said, "Thank you, Lord, for the peace you're now giving me." And peace was immediately mine! And the words came easily. Whadda y’know!


I learned from that to ask and then assume He's giving it to me and thank Him for peace (or whatever), not to keep waiting for it. If it's always coming later, it's not faith for now. Today I can speak in front of hundreds of people, even with no notes – just my trust in the Holy Spirit that we’re doing it together. I may be a bit nervous in the beginning but soon the anointing comes and it's a joy and usually my joy rolls off onto the people and we rejoice in Him together. I've learned to trust that God will take our weaknesses and turn them into His victories. If I hadn't gone the first few times, I wouldn't know that and I would have been robbed of what have been some of the greatest joys of my life - to share what He has given me with people I would never have met - some of them I have come to love who live in places I would never have gone to.


So there you are, my dear friend. You have a mountain to climb and a word to share. If you do not GO, you might not face the physical challenges that you fear - or you may face them anyway, especially if you say yes to fear and no to trusting the Lord if you feel it’s His invitation to GO. If you stay where you think it will be safer, you might also miss the greatest blessings of your life - the knowledge and the experience of God's overcoming power and His desire to have us participate in advancing His Kingdom truths. Follow the King where He leads! You will never be sorry. And if you have some kind of breathing challenge while there, you'll live through it. Don't let fear rule your life. Let the King be King in all your decisions. One day you will be overjoyed to hear Him say, "Well, done my good and faithful one."


As the old Jewish proverbs says, "If not now, when, if not you, who?" Chose this day whom you will serve. Fear fades as we follow in the footsteps of the One who goes before us.


That was what I sent to my friend. What is your challenge? What mountain is before you? Anyone who knows Yeshua has stories to tell of how He’s brought you through darkness into His light, or from weakness to strength, whether in big things or small things. Size doesn’t matter, only trusting Him does. And there’s joy in the journey with Him.


As I sent the email off to my friend this morning, a new email popped up. This one came from my friend Elhanan who lives in Jerusalem. (There is at least one or two of his writings on this blog.) I recently had a delightful dinner in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem with Elhanan and his lovely wife Julie in the outdoor square to the sounds of someone playing an accordion. (You should go, you’ll love it!) We’ve known each other for over twenty years and it was so nice to connect with old friends as if you were together last week. Anyway, Elhanan’s poem seemed as if God was sending it as the perfect topping for this blog article. Read it and enjoy.


THE RIVER JOY

From heights immeasurable
Joy in steady streams of swelling currents
flow fresh cascades of humor
dancing through shadowed fearful canyons
to meadows of fragrance below,
overflowing freedom gushing
onto abandoned mourning deserts
breaking forth to fertility,
laughing cataracts of crystal clarity
cascading power over steep precipices
of impossibility
plunging white delight
into sapphire lakes
in the deepest reflection
of Joy.”


Elhanan Ben-Avraham,
Jerusalem, November 6, 2013

The End of Life ~ The Beginning of Glory

About two months ago, I had someone on my mind I hadn't seen for years. He was a boyfriend of many long years ago. The romance lasted for quite a while but in time I realized he was not someone I wanted to build a life with. On occasion, throughout the years, we would reconnect for a brief, "How are you" or a "What's happening in your life?" But he, being Jewish, was not the least bit interested or receptive in hearing about my Yeshua on any level. I suspect it was his lifestyle more than his Jewishness, but his attitude made it difficult to talk at all. We lived in two very different worlds. Still I continued to pray for him, asking God to rescue him and save him throughout the years. I had known he wasn't entirely well when we last connected several years ago. Nothing life threatening, but still....


Then here he was, on my mind again. I decided to send him a copy of my book, Heaven is Beyond Your Wildest Expectations, hoping he would at least be curious enough to read it and consider his own eternity. One of the last things I did the day before I left for Israel was see that the book was in the mail. Then I forgot about it and about him. Back home again six weeks later I sat at my dining room table and confronted the stack of mail that awaited me. I began sorting through the pile when there was the envelope I had sent to him. What? Didn't it get there? Did he refuse it? Then I saw the words someone had written above the address: "DECEASED".

I sat there and stared at those words. They seemed so final, so absolute. He was now dead, and he had never gotten the book. To my knowledge, he had never come to know the forever-hope there is in Yeshua. He never knew the freedom of forgiveness and the cleanliness of soul that comes from exchanging our pride for acknowledging our need for the Lord. And now, where was he? I was afraid I knew. How sad. How very sad. I'm sure he would have let me know if he had come to Yeshua. But he never did. I don't know why we pray and pray for someone and there seems to be no answer, at least to what we are asking for. Should I have prayed differently? Should I have prayed for him to realize the peril of his self-sufficiency or self-aggrandizement that he rejected any thought of needing God? Should I have asked God to bring him to a place of fear of his own pride and arrogance and to somehow be made aware of what it would be to stand before a holy God? I had simply prayed, "Lord, save him; rescue him; help him know he needs You." No long prayer, not a really empathetic prayer,just a sort of perfunctory concern for his eternal well-being. I am not taking on any kind of guilt here. I had committed him to the Lord long ago, and who knows but God, what his last moments on earth consisted of? I may yet find him greeting me at the gates in heaven. Hope springs eternal, as the saying goes. I must leave his destiny to God and move on.


In the here and now, though, I have another friend who possibly faces death -- wait, no! That word does not apply. Death is such a dark and sinister word, so wrapped in a shroud of emptiness and desolation. Tthe end of life here on earth is not at all death for those who are "in Messiah Yeshua" or "in Christ," as many would prefer to say. There is no death in Yeshua, only life. "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord," Paul said, who himself had been to heaven and brought back a report, that there is no sting in death for those of us whose sins have been washed away by the blood of Yeshua. For that we are grateful beyond expression.


My friend may well be dying nonetheless, at least her body may be coming to an end. She has cancer and unless the Lord heals her miraculously, she may not have long to live, though if you looked at her today, you would not think that is the case. Her faith is high, she is trusting God to heal her. She has been given many "words of knowledge" or supposed "prophesies" of God's healing hand upon her life. But so far, though she has been doing well and has beaten the doctor's predictions of the expected duration of her life, the prognosis now isn't matching the "words" and the "prophesies." Were they truly "words" from the Lord, or were they uttered with wishful thinking or declarations of hope without having heard specifically from the Lord about her situation? Now she questions why God would have spoken those words to her if He wasn't going to heal her. I do wish that before we say, "Thus saith the Lord..," we be sure it is really what He is saying in that specific circumstance. Even believers do die. It is a reality in this life that our bodies do give out sooner or later. That may just be a reality that we all need to accept.


My dear friend Igal Hoffman, an Israeli, died of cancer a number of years ago after a bold attempt at alternative medical resources to keep him alive. But in the end he succumbed anyway. But through it all, Igal was yielded to God, that whatever proved to be His will, Igal would trust Him and love Him and rely on His goodness to get him through. He saw himself as a lamb in the arms of the Lord. I once asked Igal how he relates to God through all he was suffering, and suffer he did. I remember his words clearly. He said, "Underneath the pain and the confusion (of why God allowed this to happen), there exists a joy. I know He is with me and I know there is an even greater eternal joy to be had in His presence." Igal was entirely secure in the Lord that God's goodness was with Him and toward Him and that His goodness would be fully manifested to him either in this life or the one to come. He gave no place for the devil in his trust in God and in that he had the Lord's peace. The day after he died, having had my own experience of heaven I told God I wished I could see Igal when he entered heaven and experienced the joy he so anticipated. Suddenly I had an experience I cannot give you chapter and verse for, but I sensed Igal's presence with me, so real, and so there! I "felt" as if he was beside me, even to "feeling" his Israeli accent though I heard nothing. The more amazing thing was that I sensed he was more alive than I had ever known him or anyone to ever be. It was as if God allowed him to come to me to assure me of how real life after death is and that once we are free from these limited bodies in this fallen world, we are indeed fully and completely alive!!


Many years later, the day after my mother went to be with the Lord, I was awakened that morning hearing the Lord say to me, "She's been before Me." At that very moment I had a mini-vision of my mom, who seemed to be about age thirty or so. She was beautiful, the fullness of joy radiating on her face and once again, I sensed she was more alive than I had ever seen her. I kept thinking of God's words to me: "She's been before Me." My mom had been before Yeshua!! What made it even more precious to me was that I had led her to the Lord. I believe God allowed me those experiences to prepare me to write the book about heaven in order to assure people of eternal salvation and that whatever we experience here on earth, it is a momentary light affliction compared to the glory that God has prepared for us who are Yeshua's in life eternal.


I'm not facing cancer and an early death as my friend may be. What I do know is that being yielded, submitted and utterly trusting of the Lord in whatever situations we may find ourselves, can never be wrong. God is good and in Him there is nothing that is not good. There is no darkness, no abandonment, no hopelessness. There is only glory ultimately ahead for any who are His. My brief experiences of life in the eternal realm changed me, it changed my whole view of life here on earth and eternally, and gave me an assurance of the goodness of the Lord in all situations. He is, after all, Lord of all there is! I have felt the joy of heaven's atmosphere until I thought I would explode, the power of it is entirely overwhelming to these earthly bodies we presently live in. And I "felt" the joy, the overarching joy - the indescribable joy - of the oneness, the unity, the love between fellow believers and the safety which is the normal atmosphere of heaven.


Should we not be sharing this reality with others, to make real to them as we are able - and that they allow us to - that we must all come to realize that there is a choice in the here and now that will affect our forever. Would it not be good to ask the Holy Spirit to lead us in how to pray specifically for the people we care about. Romans 8:26 says that when we don't know how to pray the Spirit will lead us. And may we each come to the place, even today, of entire surrender to the Lord, confident of His goodness and His faithfulness to lead you where He will keep you in His love and goodness always. Amen.

Beth El and Jerusalem Today

Shalom, chaverim (friends),

We left home bright and early this morning to drive to Ariel where we were meeting with a group from Bethel church. They say it as if it was one word, not two. It means House of God. House is actually Beit in Hebrew, pronounced like Bate, and El is part of Elohim. Anyway, they are a group from Bill Johnson's church in California who are here on a tour. They came for a mini concert by Alyosha. They weren't much into the classical music but they sure came alive when he and Jody did some lively Messianic music together, and then Alyosha played a prophetic piece which means he plays as the Spirit leads him. People get healed physically and emotionally when he plays "in the spirit." It was wonderful.

A few days ago Ruth Faisal was playing her violin with Alyosha and they both were playing as they were led by the Spirit. Totally unrehearsed, the strands of music notes wound around each other with sounds that seemed to come from above. It was extraordinarily beautiful. As I was listening, I had a kind of mini-vision though it was as if I saw it, knew it, and felt it all at the same time. It was of God's delight in Adam. His absolute (and I mean that literally) love for Adam and His delight in him. It gave me an entirely new sense and understanding of God's relationship with Adam, and His care for him. I also sensed that after the Fall, God's love and care diminished not a wink, but God was now intent on watching over him and still loving him. Almost like a mother hen watching over her chicks. No wonder Yeshua said that about Jerusalem.

Which is where we were this afternoon. Walking through Jerusalem and then suddenly coming upon the walls of Old City caused an immediate intake of air as in a kind of gasp. There they were! Seeing the walls brings to me such a feeling of being linked with history - from David to Yeshua. Birds soar over them as if they're celebrating just being there. We met a friend for coffee in a cafe that is somewhat high above the street level across the street from the walls. What a view for having a cup of coffee! We then went to Christ's Church just inside the Jaffa Gate to buy me a new Hebrew-English - Hebrew on one side and NKJV on the facing page, both Old and New Testaments. We stopped for a biali which is sort of a cross between a bagel and a big soft pretzel only it's covered with seseme seeds, not salt. What a treat. We walked through the Old City and through those narrow alley like streets you've seen in picture with all the shops. Shop upon shop with all kinds of treasures.

Alyosha and Jody have friends who are Armenians who are believers who have a shop there. We walked quite a distance past all those shops to get there where I bought some lovely things. They gave me a copy of The Lord's Prayer in Aramaic and showed me how they had it framed and suggested I do the same thing. It as such a delight to meet these brothers in the Lord, despite cultural differences. I love the way Yeshua's own people feel an immediate kinship, even if we don't really know each other. It's His Spirit loving each other through each other, don't y'think?


The photo above is of a model of the Temple as it was in Yeshua's day. It is a huge model, fascinating to just stand there and stare at it and imagine the magnitude and splendor of it. All that is left, of course, is the outer western wall, and none of the Temple itself. Yeshua did say that not a stone would be left on top of another,and aside from the wall, which is not part of the Temple itself, that is the case. It's a lesson that even what we build for God, if there is not obedience and reverence for Him, it could well be as rubble. Only what is truly in Him lasts!

We then met Ruth for lunch in an open area in Jerusalem that is modern and chic, or should I say hip, and an entirely different kind of life than in the Old City. The weather couldn't have been more perfect today and eating in this outside restaurant was lovely. An elderly man was playing some kind of a home made instrument that seemed to be a cross between a bagpipe and a kazoo. He sat in the middle of the square with an open tin before him into which people would drop coins as they went by - or not. He added to the local color.

The city has gone through a lot of changes since I was last there 18 years ago. There are outdoor malls that are upscale and full of life and terrific shops.  It's lined with wonderful sculpture. People of every language walk through the streets of Jerusalem, the Old City and the new. While there are many orthodox Jews, dressed in various garb according to the sect they belong to (like Christians have denominations but usually without the required clothing). There are also plenty of tour groups, likely most of them Christians, all over everywhere. Parts of Jerusalem are modern and cosmopolitan and other parts seem like they are still way back in other centuries. It's the most fascinating city in the world, I expect.

As the sun was setting it began to get chilly and we headed for the car, tired but having enjoyed a very full day. Tomorrow we are up early again for another adventure. I felt like I was filming one of those travel shows, only my camera died and my cell phone just can't get the distance and depth of what I'm wanting to show the folks who will see them. You'll just have to come and see for yourselves.

In Samaria, Shiloh and the West Bank

I feel like I've spent the day with Abraham, Joshua and Samuel today. We took a time travel trip back in history. We went where usual tours to Israel don't go. Mostly because its all in Judea and Samaria, which the world calls the West Bank.  In between Arab villages and cities are places of significant Biblical history. To try and tell you how beautiful it all is would be had entirely insufficient. Words fail.

To stand atop of a mountain and look at where Abraham entered the Land and hear the words that God spoke to him when He told him it was all to be his, transforms an ancient Bible story into today's local news. The view is so extraordinary, so majestic, so magnificent that it provides a whole new aspect to the awe Abraham must have experienced when he finally saw what God had promised to give him.

From another vantage point we could see afar where the archaeologists have found Joshua's altar. When Israel came into this Land they sacrificed to the Lord. The diggings find the bones of only clean animals, and evidence of it being Joshua's altar. This is a relatively new discovery and one that adds confirmation to the Bible and Israel being there that far back.  We could not get close to that area because it's in an Arab, that is to say, a Palestinian village and we, meaning any Israelis, are not permitted there. Huge red signs warn in Hebrew, Arabic and English - Don't go in here - it's dangerous. You could loose your life going into a Palestinian town. You might just disappear. Its happened.

We climbed another mountain area - yes, more hiking, to view from afar Joseph's tomb. His bones were brought from Egypt as he asked but I'm not sure he would be too happy to see where they are entombed - in Sh'khem, or Sheckem as its spelled in English. So much Biblical history there and little of it good. Its still a place of trouble today. The Palestinians call it Nablus. 

Lastly we went to Shiloh, in Hebrew pronounced as Shee-low. This is where Eli was the high priest and Samuel was given to him as a little boy after God granted him to his mother who came to Shiloh to pray for a child. Yearly women come to Shiloh even today to pray for a child and as the story goes, many of them are then pregnant shortly afterwards.  The place still seems to have an anointing for new babies.  

There are remains of what once was the main place of Israel's sacrifices to the Lord for over 300 years, way before David conquered Jerusalem, until it was destroyed by the Philistines. Incidentally, the word for Philistines in Hebrew is the same word for Palestinians - Plishtim, pronounced Pleeshteem. So it was the Plishtim, Israel's sworn enemies, that burnt the tabernacle, the most sacred place to Israel at that time, to the ground.  

There is a movie that we watched of the days of Joshua being acted out that is in a building with floor to ceiling windows on which the movie is somehow projected so that the story takes place in the panoramic view of the mountains all around. It presents a stunning reality of what life with the first tabernacle must have been like when Shiloh was Israel's place of worship. It's as if Eli and the elders of Israel and then Samuel are alive in front of you. High tech making it all seem like its happening with you being there and a part of it.  How do they do that?! 

We were there with a large unit of soldiers. All of them seemed rather young, all were male, and all had a dangerous looking rifle slung over their shoulders. I wanted to say that boys that age shouldn't play with such guns, but then, they are part of what make up the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force. They were getting the in-depth tour, being thoroughly informed of the history.  The reason for sharing all this with an army unit, I was told, is this:  A soldier who knows what he's fighting for makes a better soldier.  So Israel prepares their soldiers not only militarily and physically, but spiritually. They were getting to see that this is the Land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants. It's their Land by God's choice. Though Israel would prefer not to fight, when pressed to do so, they know what they are fighting for.  

Five thousand years of history was before us and the soldiers, today. But the promise God made to Abraham is as real to me, to us, today as it was when God spoke it to him. Perhaps more real. We can see the fulfillment of the promise in the Land today.

Seeing all the vast areas that are still empty, and in and around the Arab villages, its relatively barren, except where its specifically cultivated, we could see there are miles and miles of land that one day, according to the Bible, will be filled with the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is more than plenty of room, though improving the Land will be quite a challenge. But what Israel has already done in the Land in less than 70 years is so incredibly, they'll conquer whatever challenges God gives them with His help. 

There are rocks everywhere and it occurred to me as I was picturing how these hills would one day be filled with Jewish settlements, that God put the rocks there to build their houses with. That's what they're for. About Jewish settlements, we went past a few. These are very brave people who have basically staked out a claim for God and Israel and created villages and settlements where nothing else is. They are almost all religious Jews who believe the Land is theirs.  Out there in Samaria in those hills, there is no owner of the land to purchase land from. No one owns it. Well, except God who has said it's His anyway to "lend" it to Israel. They just go and pick a spot and start building. The Jewish settlements are neat, clean and orderly. They are also perched atop of those mountains with views that are breathtaking. It actually took me a little while to get used to the heights, and when I say the houses are perched, I mean perched on the edges - best for viewing I suppose, keeping an eye on the Land God gave them. 

Only God knows when they will be entirely free to live on that land without the world's protest, or what that will take and when it will happen, but it will. He said so. That the evidence of all that past history is now validated, makes one confident of what is yet to come. God always keeps His word, even if it takes a couple of thousand years to complete it.  

Inside Israel's Heart

The Bible reads differently when you're in Israel. Today I read about David hiding from Saul in the mountains, in the forest, in a field with Jonathan, or clamoring down a mountain with his men intending to do Nabal in until Abigail, coming down the other side of the mountain, caught up with him and saved his life and his destiny in God with her wisdom. Israel has lots of mountains, and great vistas to be seen from them or of them. Today Jody and I took another hike on portions of the trail that goes all through Israel. It would take 2 months to hike it all.

Some areas are sort of steep - going down is, needless to say, much easier than going up. I can feel myself growing stronger with each hike. After reading the portions of Scripture mentioned above, I felt like I was walking where David might have. At least I could "feel" what it must have been like on the trails for him. It's beautiful territory but the fact that this is where it all took place, makes the stories different. They don't feel so much like stories of way back when and over there when you're here. I know what it sounds like now to tramp down rock strewn mountain paths.

There's a constant welcoming of people. Hospitality is a way of life here. Last night 17 people came to 'our' home from a visiting group from all over America. They are a group called Hands to the Land, who come to be of help to Israel. They came last night for a concert of Alyosha's music followed by a time of refreshments and mingling. Somehow they all fit into the living room, plus the grand piano,though it's not a very large home. They welcomed the opportunity to be in the home of Israelis. What sweet people they were.

On Friday night, for Shabbat, we have 24 people from Germany coming for Shabbat dinner who are in the Land on some mercy mission. This week we will be accompanying them while visiting Holocaust survivors to bring gifts, love and joy and to let them know they're still cared about and haven't been forgotten. That from German believers, as I said in a previous email, who are intent on making up for what pain and sorrow Germany brought upon Jews. Every year a group comes from Germany for that purpose. It would seem a spirit of reconciliation is upon them - to which I say, Amen.

I had one really genuine Israel experience a few days ago. I went to a funeral, well actually a memorial service taking place a few months after this man died, when they put the stone on the grave. The man died of a physical condition but really of a broken heart. Why? Because his daughter was murdered by 2 Palestinian men while out walking one evening. The daughter was an adult and had her own daughter who was of course there with her grandmother.  Many others gathered around the grave. When I first entered the cemetery I felt a sense of grief that was almost palpable. But when we got to the grave site a different feeling impressed me, one of a people bound together to survive, to be strong in the midst of sorrow.  Death is not new to them.

The daughter of the murdered woman is around 16-18 years old. She is also the granddaughter of the deceased. She was wrapped in the arms by another woman but it wasn't clear who was holding who up, as both seemed to need support. I was told that K, the older of the two, was the survivor of another Palestinian attack in which she and a friend were grabbed and stabbed numerous times. K has a small knife which she was able to pull out and used to slice into one of the Palestinians. K's friend died but despite 19 knife wounds, K lived and was able to give the knife to the police who were able to obtain a DNA specimen that somehow enabled them to capture the Palestinians who are now in jail for murder.  It was at the trial that K met the mother and father of the first mentioned murdered woman. They adopted each other and K became like the daughter they lost to the parents and quite close to that woman's daughter whom she was now holding on to.

The experience of being there, hearing them say the prayers in Hebrew that are always said at Jewish funerals was both familiar and foreign to me. The prayers are a praise to God, but in America most Jews don't understand enough Hebrew to know what it says, though Hebrew is used for prayers. But here in Israel, they know the words give glory to God even in the shadow of death. While most Christians would tend to think that without Yeshua these people wouldn't sense God's strength, His presence, or even His joy. But for those who have faith in God, they give him praise and sing His praises, often with great fervor and/or joy, and they speak of trusting in Him, sometimes more than Christians do as their need for Him is great. But then, after all, the whole Tenakh (O.T.) is filled with Jews giving praise to God. Why would then not now?

After the memorial service, we all went back to the home of the wife and in typical Jewish fashion, there was a lot of food. I have to add that the house was filled with Israeli art which was inspiring to me. All Biblical. Israel is about the Bible, no matter what level of faith one has.

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