Psalm 37 (Part 3) – His Faithfulness: our sustenance, source, and strength

24.02.2012

How do we overcome worry, and how do we walk out our faith in God? Ultimately, how do we enter that place of trust and rest in Him?

We’ve gone through most of Psalm 37:3 so far. The first step we talked about in Part 1, that we need to make the initial decision to trust in God. In Part 2 we talked about taking it to the practicals – how we can actually begin applying this trust in God by setting ourselves to walk in righteousness and not be discouraged in that which He has called us to. The issue is, it takes a lot of energy to keep up the decision to trust and to keep walking in His will, especially when there is resistance from the enemy and we feel that God doesn’t really care. How do we maintain the strength and the hope to carry on?

“Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him, do  not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger and forsake wrath – do not fret, it only causes harm. For the evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” Ps 37:3-9 NKJV

Feed on His Faithfulness:

Once we have made the choice to trust in God and walk in His will, we must look to the next step: finding a way to sustain it. Imagine a few warriors going on a long trek. It doesn’t matter their strength or the difficulty of the path, eventually they are going to run out of energy if they don’t have a way to feed themselves. You have to have a source from which you can draw energy if you expect to be able to carry on. Likewise, as we journey on this path of life, we must have a way to receive strength. If we don’t we all will eventually grow weary and stumble, unto the point of not being able to get back up.

His faithfulness – it is to be our food and our nourishment. It is what will sustain us through the storms of life. When we look and can’t see God or what He’s doing, when we’re offended and dry and bitter, it is feeding on His faithfulness that will give us the hope to carry on.

So how do we practically do this?

First – be intentional about calling to mind the times when God has been faithful to you, and thank Him for the ways that He has led you and kept you thus far. If you have trouble thinking of one, start with this dream a friend of mine had, and go from there. He was standing before Jesus, and Jesus was just talking with him. Then Jesus came closer to him and started tapping his chest with His finger. At first he thought it was a “Listen here sonny” kind of tap, and that a rebuke was coming with it. Then he noticed the tapping was rhythmic, and was actually in beat with his heart. “That’s kind of cool,” the man thought, “Jesus knows my heartbeat He knows me so well.” Jesus kept smiling. After a few moments the man came to a horrifying realization. It wasn’t that Jesus was tapping in rhythm with his heart. His heart was beating because Jesus was tapping. It’s not as though we control the muscles in our heart, you know? Just the fact that you were given life and breath and a pulse and still have at least enough of it to read this is a great place to start seeing God’s faithfulness. Think about where and how He has been faithful to you, and thank Him for it.

Second – declare that He will be faithful in your current situation. Don’t skimp on this last  part – it’s really easy to look and go “Yes, You helped me through this and this and this,” and never translate it into the present/future and say “Surely You will carry me through my current trial too.” Disclaimer – this doesn’t mean that you have to know how He’ll bring you through or that you’ll like the way He does it. But He will get you through to the other side of it nonetheless. And no matter where you come out, He’ll be with you as the Good Shepherd leading you tenderly and loving you patiently. Say it out loud, sing it, pray it, dance it, declare that God is going to be faithful to you and will never leave you. Even if you don’t believe it (or don’t feel like you believe it), do it anyway. I guarantee you that your emotions will follow your actions. And with your feelings, your faith.

In the end, trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Surely He is faithful to the end, we just need to stand til the end in order to see it.

Psalm 37 (Part 2) – How we trust Him: The Basics

16.02.2012

***One quick note: I forgot to say it when I published my last post (though I added it later). If as you are reading this series you realize a specific reason that you have difficulty trusting in God or something of that nature, please share it if you are comfortable doing so (either in the comment box or e-mail me if you’d like to keep it anonymous, loganbentley@gmail.com). I would like to see how many of these difficulties we have get addressed by this Psalm, and also focus on things relevant and important to us as I write the remainder of it.***

In my last post I brought up how we need to make the initial decision to trust God – that’s the beginning of walking on the path of faith. Although it can be quite a difficult step, it’s not very complicated. The question is, after having decided to trust in the Lord, where do we go from there? What are some practical steps we can take?

“Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him, do  not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger and forsake wrath – do not fret, it only causes harm. For the evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” Ps 37:3-9 NKJV

Do good & Dwell in the Land

Here’s the place to start. The psalmist tells us to do good, and to dwell in the land – I believe these two commands together are the basic, fundamental answer to the question “How do we trust in God?”  We’ll look at those two points first individually, then how they can practically be applied.

1) Do good. This isn’t a grammatical mistake, he’s talking about performing good and righteous works. Luckily, the Bible is full of information on that subject (righteousness and goodness) – namely, His commandments. This is the first (and primary) way that we are given to walk out our trust in God. It is a demonstration of us walking in faith, that what He told us and the commands He has given us are right. It’s saying, “I may have no clue what is going on, but I am at least going to do my best to follow Your instructions and hope that You were right.” Doing good ultimately is us believing that God is going to be faithful in all the promises that He made to those who are righteous and acknowledging that all of His warnings to the wicked are legitimate and right. It’s trusting that He really is just in the end, and honoring Him as the Judge of all.

2) Dwell in the land. This one isn’t quite as straightforward. If we take it literally without context or common sense it means that if we aren’t physically living in Israel then we aren’t trusting in God. Now, I’m all for living here in the land, but I don’t think that’s the point that the writer was getting at. We have to remember the context; this psalm is written for the Israelites at a time when living in the land where God had set them was difficult; their enemies were prospering and threatening. After a bit of prayer and thinking things through, over the past years I have come to the conclusion that when the psalmist says this, he is simply saying to stay in the place that God has put you.

This is the second way to walk out trust in God; if He has set you somewhere – stay there. Now, this one is a little more complicated – it requires not only trust in God, but trust in our ability to hear His will, as well as His ability to communicate it. It’s really nice when you feel, ‘Yes! God is calling me to this!’ You press into it with all diligence, but a year or three or thirty later when the going is rough and you don’t have much to show for it, the question ‘Did I really hear You back then?’ is bound to come up. How to hear Him or know that we did is quite a heavy matter, and I don’t believe it’s able to be answered easily or quickly. However, I will say that we are blessed in that we have a living God who still talks with us. If we felt He said something but are unsure about it now, if we talk with Him about it I’m sure He will give us a pointer or two.

If we know that He has put us somewhere though, the way we can show we trust in Him is to remain there. To remain in a difficult place simply because of the direction or promise of someone else, in spite of your own ability to leave it or end the tension – that is one of the greatest displays of trust. Think about Jesus: He was God in the flesh as He hung there, bleeding on the cross, and He had the ability (and even the right) to come down as they taunted Him and show them all who He really was. The God of the universe, who created all physics and matter, allowed Himself to be held in torture by a few iron nails – simply because He knew it was the Father’s will that had placed Him there. If God puts us somewhere, we can trust Him by tarrying in that place – even if it’s uncomfortable or painful.

The Practicals:

Do good, and dwell in the land. So how do we walk those out practically?

First we set ourselves to walk in righteousness. Fear and worry can cause us to do some really crazy and stupid things (I’ll expound on that point when we get to verse 8). Start by resolving to walk in righteousness, how God has told us to. If we are seeing lying or stealing as a potential solution to our problem, we can cancel that option out right off the bat.

Then – we keep going on with the orders He gave us last. Sit down and have some time with Him, ask Him to remind you of things He has said and the promises He made about where He was putting you. Write them down, pray about them, and then decide to keep on doing what He last told you to do. Trust in the fact that He really is a good communicator, He is much more capable of leading you than your forgetfulness, or even of the enemy’s ability to deceive. He’ll let you know when the plans change. And if you do think you missed it, take a step back and ask Him. Try thinking about bird migratory patterns (stick with me, this will be good). God made it so by instinct (that means given knowledge and ability they didn’t even have to work for or try to maintain) all these birds know how, when, and where to fly all across the globe to be in the right place their supposed to be. If God leads billions of these “bird-brained” creatures all around the world, don’t you think He can guide your heart too? Talk with Him about it.

So to summarize:
- Decide to trust in God
- Resolve to walk in righteousness (do good)
- Stay where He’s put you. If you don’t know where that is, listen to Him and try to figure it out.

The next post will be on combating worry by declaring truth – feeding on His faithfulness. Blessings!

Psalm 37 (Part 1) – Who do we trust?

13.02.2012

This season I’m in is probably one of most trying (if not the most) that I have ever experienced. Now – when I say ‘trying’ I don’t mean ‘bad’. I mean trying as in pushing me to the limits of my capabilities in multiple spheres of life. Between the wedding in 42 days, the young-adult conference in five months, administration for the house of prayer, learning a foreign language, managing two apartments in Israel (not to mention my house in KC), visa/status difficulties, and financial tension, I am constantly running into my own limitations and insecurities. Mentally, emotionally, financially, spiritually – it feels as though the heat has been turned up on them all.

One of the main enemies that I find coming against me is the slimy thief called “Worry.” As I am consistently coming to the end of myself, I am tempted to fall victim to the grasp of worry, fear, and doubt. It’s only natural. When we don’t see a solution by way of our own ability, we only have a few options:

1) Believe that some other source of strength will assist us. This can come in various forms, being an inward strength we are unaware of, another person, or divine help.
2) Believe that the problem will change/diminish and we will be able to handle it after that has happened.
3) Believe that we will fail.

All of them require some sort of belief. What do we have faith in? Are we trusting in ourselves? Others? Even trusting in the problem/situation, that it will overcome us? In whom do we put our trust?

Trust in the Lord

Psalm 37 has been my lifeline for the past couple of months. Over the next few weeks I am planning on taking you through parts of it and sharing different nuggets that have blessed me.

“Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him, do  not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger and forsake wrath – do not fret, it only causes harm. For the evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” Ps 37:3-9 NKJV

Trust in God. This is the crux of it all, the core of the matter. Like I said above, in any problem or trial we encounter, in any source of tension, we must put our trust in someone or something. The issue for discussion is not IF we are going to be trusting, but WHO we will trust. Many times, we do this unconsciously. As you’re driving a car you’re probably not thinking about your trust in the engine. I guarantee you it’s there though – this is made evident by the times that you’re driving and DON’T have trust in the engine, you spend the whole trip listening to every odd noise, constantly looking for the nearest place to pull over, feeling a jolt in your heart with every bump in the road. The trust shifted from your vehicle, to physic’s ability to break your vehicle.

We must always have faith in something, even if we are not aware that we are choosing to. Who do we trust?

Trust in the Lord. This is the first step to slaying the scoundrel of worry. Make a conscious choice, a declaration to trust in God – and keep it up.

Now, if you read that last sentence and your first thought was “yeah right” or “it’s not that simple”, I encourage you to read on. There’s a lot of reasons that heart response exists in us, here are a few – all of them I’ve found in myself at one time or another:
- It’s one thing to say “I trust in God” and another to actually do it.
- “Trust in God” the phrase is too vague. There’s no actual way to apply it.
- I don’t understand how He works – or know what to expect from Him.
- I’ve seen too many people use “Trusting in God” as an excuse for being lazy or negligent, and I don’t want to be like that.
- When I’m honest, I don’t think God has been faithful. I don’t think He’s trustworthy.

If you admitted to the last one, bonus points. It’s something that many of us have deep in our hearts but for some reason it is extremely shameful for us to say and acknowledge – which is a lie from the pit of hell that the devil uses to keep us from being healed and therefore keep us from ever being able to fully trust in God.

Anyways, there’s plenty of reasons why we shouldn’t trust in God. Between the lies of the devil and the lies of men, we will see an unending stream of them voiced everywhere we go until judgment day when He ultimately proves Himself faithful, just, and true. The question is, will we still? Forget what it looks like and how we walk it out – we can get so focused on those points that we miss the greater picture. It all starts with the decision to trust in Him. Even if we don’t know what it looks like or what the future holds, “for better or for worse, in sickness or in health,” so to speak – we must start the process of faith by choosing to do it. It is the first step in the journey, and it doesn’t matter how much you know (or don’t know) about the path to come, if you never make the decision to start walking you will never get anywhere.

Trust in God. Even if it hurts, even if when you say it you say it’s with clenched teeth: “God, I put my trust in You.”

What it looks like, we’ll start to look at in my next post (hopefully Wednesday).

***post edit***
For the brave souls out there, please comment with some of the reasons you find it difficult to put your trust in God. If you want to remain anonymous, you can just e-mail me: loganbentley@gmail.com. I am interested in seeing how many of them will get addressed by these couple of verses we’ll be looking at, and I would also like to tailor my posts to be addressing relevant things for people. Blessings!

News Update – January 18th

18.01.2012

So to start things off – please be praying for Vicky and me; wedding stuff specifically, but also life in general. The past few weeks it has seemed like one step forward two steps backwards, everything taking much more energy to accomplish than it should. For instance, within the last week we’ve had our stove/oven break irreparably, significant people in the wedding become unable to attend, a wedding dress debacle, and our wedding date given away by the location. Praise God we have had a ton of favor with the manager of the location, he likes us and fought to get us our date back. Nevertheless, it seems like a ton of energy is being expended and hardly anything is getting accomplished. It’s all in His hands, and in the end all we can do is lean on Him. We both are doing quite well in light of the stresses that have been springing upon us; I know I am totally being stretched and learning to trust in Him more – which is excellent. However, it would still be nice if things went smoothly from here on out. Please pray for favor for Vicky and me.

Wedding Plans

There isn’t a whole lot of development on the wedding front – we’re working on getting our honeymoon set, invitations sent out, and housing for some of the guests. I could talk about it in detail, but this isn’t supposed to be a wedding blog, so I’ll refrain. However, we do have a website up: http://loganandviktoria.ourwedding.com/. It’s still in-progress, but for those of you who are interested, most of the info will be posted there. Also, we are contemplating trying to stream the wedding live on the internet so that people can watch the ceremony live. It would take some effort though, and we’re wondering if it’s something that would be appreciate. If you have opinions on us having a live webstream of the ceremony, please post a comment below or e-mail me. Thanks!

House of Prayer – Worship, Intercession, and Caging in the Drums

My time serving in the house of prayer is going quite well. 5 days a week I am serving with the team leading the room during a watch; worship leading or prayer leading, singing, or playing an instrument. It has been a growing/stretching season in multiple aspects: I am singing much more than I had been – so my vocal abilities are being pushed and enhanced, I am playing piano with a worship team (which I had never really done before, I was always solo), and I have been in the role of a prayer leader more than I ever have before. A flame is being kindled in my heart again. Parts of me that had grown cold towards and in the house of prayer over the past five years have ignited once again – I find myself getting excited the way that I did when I first went out to IHOP in 2006. It definitely is a sweet season of remembering what God has called me to, and taking delight in it.

There are quite a few things that I feel God has been speaking to me about lately. He’s talked a lot about faith and not worrying. I have been touched by Isaiah 62 and God’s love for this city. I have been encouraged by meditating on the family of God and my being brought into it. Just a few nights ago, God nudged my heart about walking worthy of our calling: I.E. fulfilling what He has given us to do and not settling for less or just a half-hearted job – using all of the talents that He has given us instead of burying them. With some of my spare time in the next week I’d like to be making posts about these to share some of my thoughts with you; I know that God has used these little snippets of revelation to minister to my heart and I believe He can do the same for yours.

One last thing of note – the drum cage project. For a while we have been throwing around different ideas on how to control noise volumes in the prayer room, build unity, etc. My proposal for a drum cage has been accepted, materials have been and are being purchased, and assembly will begin in around 47 hours. We will take the 12am-3am watch for two days and worship the Lord with the drill and hammer. I am really excited to be taking a concept birthed in my head into the real world and have it benefit others. Please pray that everything would go smoothly with the drum cage, and also that God would build unity in our house.

 

Thank you so much for your prayers! Blessings!

 

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

25.12.2011

Holidays, holidays, thank You God for holidays. Hanukkah started on the eve of the 20th, and will continue for another two days. You’d think that Christmas started today, but my fiance informed me yesterday that actually the 24th is when it all happens. Apparently in German culture it all centers on Christmas Eve. Similar to America, there is a church service and a big feast, however also that night there is the giving and receiving of all the gifts. The 25th is a much more chill day where you relax with family. After a few minutes of heated debate on which method of celebration (24th evening vs. 25th morning) is more logical and enjoyable, she and I reached the compromise that whenever we’re in America we’ll celebrate Christmas on the 25th, if we’re in Germany we’ll celebrate it on the night of the 24th, and in Israel we’ll get down on Hanukkah.

Our Gingerbread house! Vicky & her mom were the decorators, I the architect.

I spent my Christmas making a gingerbread house with my lovely fiance and dearest future-mother-in-law (thank you so much for my new shoes!). We also made some progress with wedding plans, and then the day was concluded with a four-hour watch in the prayer room. It’s a good life

A little overview of Hanukkah:

Hanukkah is one of the feasts that isn’t mentioned in Torah or Tanach (Pentateuch or Old Testament) because it originated after they were written. Around 200 BC, Antiochus III (the Selucid empire from Syria, commonly just referred to as the Greeks)  took over the Egyptian empire, which at the time included Judea. His son, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, got really crazy around the 170 BC mark, and in 167 BC he did a lot of nasty things to the Jews, including building an altar to Zeus on the Temple Mount, sacrificing a pig in the holy of holies, forbidding circumcision (remember, that’s their sign of their covenant with God).

The Jews revolted, led by a Jewish priest named Mattiyahu.  He died and his son Judah continued on in his place. By 165 BC the revolt was successful; the Temple was liberated and rededicated. For a more detailed account, check out the wikipedia article. For a much more fun account (you’ll still get the gist of it), check out this song on youtube – Candlelight, by the Macabeats.

Now, the story goes that when they rededicated the temple, they only had enough oil for the menorah for one day, but it would take eight days to properly make more (things like oil & incense for the temple are a very specific and important process). According to tradition, the menorah kept burning and the oil didn’t run out. Because of this, we celebrate the holiday with a nine-tier menorah (the normal one has seven slots),  eight candles to symbolize the eight days and then a ninth “servant candle” with which to light the others. We also make a point to eat lots of fried food: Sufkaniot (jelly-filled donuts) and Latkes (hash-browns). With this, we remember the oil that didn’t run out.

Here's a picture of one of the Hanukiahs (electric & big) near Jaffa gate. There are small ones with actual candles in most people's houses, but there are a ton of these big ones all over the city.

I’m not a huge fan of lots of tradition – this country has certainly more than its fair share. However, I’m always down with an opportunity to eat some good fried food and praise God for His provision and faithfulness.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas everyone!

News Update – December 17th

17.12.2011

Hanukkah will be starting in three days! An eight-day holiday commemorating the re-dedication of the temple in the 2nd century BC. So why do we celebrate the success of the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy by eating fried foods; namely donuts and hash browns? You’ll just have to wait in suspense till my Hanukkah post here in the next couple of days

A Time of Endings:

It seems like the past two weeks have been a period of endings. Four of my five roommates have returned to their respective countries, with the fifth’s return ticket shipping him off in five days. Our home group / bible study finishes next week and will be on hiatus for a while. Also, Thursday was the last day of my Ulpan (Hebrew class); for the past five months I have been studying for over 20 hours a week.

The great thing is that it’s pretty easy to guess what comes after a time of many things ending – a time of new beginnings. Bring it on. Pray that God would direct me into His will with my free time.

Galilee Birthday:

Vicky and I had a great time this last weekend on her birthday. We took a trip to the sea of Galilee and stayed in Tiberias. Click for map

My lovely one on the coast of the lake

The primary event of our trip was bicycle riding. We took a 25km trip from Tiberius (west gallilee) down to the southern point of the sea and then back up. Growing up in Linden Arizona, I never really learned how to ride a bike that well, especially on paved roads with traffic and all. It was quite a feat for me to have made that trip without any broken limbs (and only one scrapped knee) – I was proud of myself.

Me and the wild beast I tamed (err.... bike)

It was my first time up to see the sea of Galilee (I’m not very good at this sightseeing stuff, I confess). It was a lot smaller than I would have thought. I read “sea” in the Bible and I automatically thing of something like the great lakes. This is more like a piece of Lake Roosevelt. It felt very personal though. As I was laying on the grass by the beach, I tried to imagine the storm where Jesus appeared to them walking on the water. It was really good for my heart.

The Wedding:

It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks for wedding planning. We have had a location for the ceremony secured for a while – but we have been unable to find a place to host the dinner and celebration. We need to have a location set before we can proceed with a lot of the planning for this blessed event that is only three and a half months away. Enough said. Please pray that God would give us favor and would open up all the doors that need to be opened.

Fire Within:

Once, a teacher of mine told me his life goal. He said, “I want to stand before God on the judgement day and have something real to give to Him. Not money or a ministry or accomplishments. When He asks me, ‘Son, what did you do with your life?’ I want to answer by opening my chest and pulling out from my rib cage a blazing ball of fire, my heart, and say ‘This is for You.’”

You see, we hear all the time about being on fire for God. But where does that fire come from? I’m currently reading a book by Thomas Dubay called “Fire Within”, it’s about contemplative prayer. He makes the case that sitting and talking with God is the way that we get that “fire”: the passion, zeal, desire, commitment, strength, and love. I have to agree with him.

In our Bible study, we were reading from Matthew and got stuck for a while on Mat 26:41, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He doesn’t say, “You’re going to be tempted, so go find an accountability partner” – though that’s a good and godly thing. He doesn’t say, “To avoid temptation, develop a list of rules and regulations to keep you from going astray” – though there is benefit to that as well. Jesus tells us to watch and pray.

To stand before God and watch, listening for His voice. To talk to Him, not just in request and intercession, but to know His heart and His thoughts. To see what He sees and hear what He hears. There is a strength that comes from this type of prayer. It starts out just as a little warm fuzzy feeling, and maybe a little flicker of light every now and then. That smoking flax, with the help of the breath of the Holy Spirit, will become a flame in our hearts that no trial or temptation can overcome. With it, we will move mountains – not for the praise of man, but to the praise of the One we love.

In Romans 8, Paul talks about the love that God has for us, and how it is so strong that there is nothing that can separate us from it – no height or depth, angel or demon, life or death themselves could never break the love of God. And Jesus prayed in John 17 that the love the Father has for us would be in us, that we could love with that same kind of love. His love cannot be conquered, it’s an all consuming-fire, and it is stronger than death and more jealous than the grave. And it can be in us.

To love like Him, we need to fall in love with Him. To fall in love with Him, we have to have a relationship with Him. A few years ago, I asked a number of godly couples “What makes for a good relationship?” The number one answer: communication. Communication with God, communion with God, happens in the place of prayer.

I challenge you all to set aside 10-15 minutes of your day for Him. Not for a devotional reading or a prayer list (though those are great), but simply to sit before Him, listen for His voice. “Father, speak to me.” “Jesus, I love You.” “Holy Spirit, Come.” It may start small, but I guarantee you that in the end we will stand before Him with a blazing fire within.

Bless you!

Thanksgiving in Jerusalem

25.11.2011

Blessed Thanksgiving has arrived, even here in the Middle East. Today about 15 of us (mostly Americans) gathered together to celebrate the wonderful holiday. We feasted on turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie; the real find was cranberry sauce – it’s a rarity in this nation. Plenty of pictures were taken on other’s cameras, so as I hunt them down over the next few days (the pictures, not the people ), I’ll add them to this post.

Thanksgiving is the holiday that I hold dearest in my heart. When I moved to Kansas City, I had no family to spend the holidays with. I was never that into the holidays, so I didn’t think of it as a big deal. That changed though, due to my good friend Jeremy Styles. His family would invite our whole circle of friends over for a thanksgiving meal every year. And every year I found myself enjoying and anticipating the day of thanks more and more. And now, even on the other side of the world, God has given me a “family” to celebrate with. Praise Him!

A Thankful Heart:

Thanksgiving started to mean more to me while I was at IHOP; one of the main reasons was because of a word that God gave me. I had been going through a difficult time emotionally: God felt very distant, I felt very disconnected from people, and I was struggling with purpose. All three of those put together make for a great concoction of depression and gloom. I had been down in the dumps of my emotions for a while, and was becoming quite bitter and pouty (not a real word, I know… but it should be). I was finding a reason to be mad or frustrated with anyone or anything, including the Almighty. Praise Him – He didn’t leave me that way.

There was one day in particular where I was having a really rough time. There was a lot of accusation and hopelessness in my voice against God. I presented a challenge before Him, waiting for Him to respond. I was expecting Him to come and “comfort” me. “There there, I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry I hurt you, I’m here, would you like a milkshake and a footrub as I make everything magically better?” Though, that response never came. Instead, He was silent for a bit, and then said, “List the things your thankful for.” Yeah right – that’s something they do for Thanksgiving in the movies. Still, after His poking at the subject for a few minutes, I decided that I might as well.

I started, numbering everything as I wrote. I started out with the classics: friends, family, salvation, etc. Although it was all true, it was all rote and I had no emotional connect. After around 20 or so of those sorts of responses, I began to get serious. “Thank you God for the weather today… it was nice.” That sort of thing. I was actually thinking of things that I was legitimately thankful for. Somewhere near my 100th entry to the list, the whole dark shell crumbled. As I was thanking God for my shoes, revelation of His goodness towards me flooded me. I understood that everything I have He has given to me, it’s not as though I deserved any of it. What had I ever done to deserve my first breath? Even moreso, my second? And now, an innumerable number of life-giving breaths later, He still decides to keep my lungs working and my heart beating.

He gave me a very important tool that day. You see, He taught me that a thankful heart is an unoffendable one. He gave me a way to overcome any amount of hopelessness and depression. Thankfulness. I have yet to find any shroud of darkness that thankfulness cannot penetrate. If you’re having a hard time – play the thankful game. The lies of the devil cannot stand before true thankfulness – it’s a guarantee.

Happy Thanksgiving!

News Update – November 11th

11.11.2011

It’s been a while since my last post – there has been quite a lot going on for the past few weeks! What a better day to tell about it than 11-11-11. (Yay for palindromes!)

Happenings in Israel:

The big news in Israel is hands-down that of the release of Gilad Shalit. Gilad is a soldier who was captured in June 2006 by Hamas. They tunneled under the Gaza-Israel border and attacked the post where Gilad was stationed. Two soldiers were killed, and Gilad was captured. http://www.haaretz.com/meta/Tag/Gilad%20Shalit gives a good overview of his capture and time in captivity.

For over five years, Gilad was held captive. There had been many political rallies and events to hasten his return, including a booth manned 24/7 near the prime minister’s residence. Gilad has become a public figure in Israel, he is the icon of the youth in the army. We had all been praying for his safe return. Praise God, on October 18th he was released. It was a high price, the Israeli government exchanged 950 Palestinian prisoners (many of which had been directly involved in terrorist attacks) for the lone Israeli captive (who was taken against all international law and war ethics). However, the vast majority of Israelis were totally behind the deal, Gilad has come to mean so much to the nation. The picture below with the blue and white sign reads “כמה טוב שבאת הביתה”, which means “How good that you came home.” How good indeed.

 

 

 

 

Watchman on the Wall:

I’m currently leading 10 hours per week of watches (prayer/worship meeting) at the house of prayer. I’ve been improving my vocal ability and piano skills, and am starting to feel much more comfortable worship leading. My favorite watch in the week is Sunday nights; I lead a team of four: my roommate, two pre-teens, and myself. We have been focusing on meditating on Psalm 27:4, “One thing I desire of the Lord and that will I seek…”, as well as interceding for the youth in Israel.It is great to see a 9 and 11 year old coming weekly to a prayer meeting to sing over and pray for their peers. Please pray that God would continue to send watchmen, people to worship and pray for what is on His heart. Please also pray that God would help me build a consistent worship team - the majority of my watches I’m leading worship by myself. I am convinced that one of the main things that needs to happens in a house of prayer is worship and prayer in unity; having teams is one of the most practical ways to see true unity in God begin to come to fruition in this context.

Right now I’m mainly in the book of Ephesians, it has started to unfold and I am seeing things I have never seen before. I’m starting an in-depth study on it with a friend (three cheers for Todd Butler, a man after God’s own heart!). I’m sure that we will have revelation and teachings on it that we will want to share with you in the coming months.

I’m also a part of a weekly bible study / home group for some of us young adults who are a part of the house of prayer. We have been studying Matthew, going through a few chapters a week. Some of the main topics we have been addressing are the kingdom of heaven (Jesus talks about it a lot, but what is it really?), holiness, and the forerunner/messenger calling. However, by far the most common theme that is jumping out to us is “Don’t worry.” If you’re having difficulty with worrying, take some time and chill with Matthew for a bit, and ask God to show you His heart in it all.

On a more personal note:

Vicky started school last week. She is attending Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It is a pretty good setup, being a citizen let’s her get a dual bachelors at the University for free. Her major is Sociology, with a minor in Education. It’s good stuff, but there are a few difficulties. The foremost reason – it’s all in Hebrew. Vicky speaks Hebrew well, but it still is really difficult for her to learn on a collegiate level in a language she’s not quite fluent in. Another difficulty is the organization (or lack thereof) of the administration in the University. It’s quite a good school and internationally recognized as such, but it still has many complicated systems for the students (registration was a nightmare). Please pray that the language wouldn’t be a hindrance, that she would enjoy the classes, everything would work well with the administration, and that this would all be for the glory of Jesus

The wedding – wow, talk about difficulties. Vicky and I have been trying without success for over a month now to secure a location for the wedding reception (we have a location for the ceremony). It is proving to be extremely difficult, we’ve had a number of places turn us down, and a few other strange occurrences that have kept us from being successful in passing through this crucial stage of the wedding planning. The time frame also makes it difficult, we need to know the location as soon as possible because of all who will need to buy international plane tickets, however the general Israeli culture is not used to planning this far in advance. Please pray that God would open doors and direct us – soon.

On the upswing, Vicky’s grandmother came from Germany to tour Israel, we saw her last weekend. It was a great visit with Babushka (russian for Grandma). She came bearing gifts too: jewelry for Vicky, a Swiss watch for myself, and blessed German Gouda cheese for the both of us. My friend David also came to Israel – it was such a blessing to see him and his wife. Vicky and I shared a great evening of fellowship with them while they were here. Praise the Lord for good family and good friends.

Lastly, my Hebrew studies are continuing nicely, though there is only a month remaining of classes. 20+ hours a week of study has been great, but I am looking forward to its completion. Hebrew is a difficult language, and though I have been putting quite a bit of time to it, it still feels to be advancing slowly. Learning a language is a difficult process, and I find I am quite impatient with it. Please pray that God would help me learn the language of His people – I want to be able to talk with them, you know?

That’s all for now! Blessings and peace to you all!

Sukkot – The Feast of Tabernacles

12.10.2011

A picture of some Sukkahs (picture obtained from wikipedia)

We are in the last few days of Sukkot right now. Sukkot is the time when the Israelites were commanded to set apart 8 days for feasting and rejoicing. Basically, God tells them “Rejoice and feast for eight days and celebrate the firstfruits of your harvest. Take the first and last day off, and praise the Lord. Also, make a booth (or tent) and dwell in it for the week, so you remember the way God brought y’all out of Egypt.”

Here’s what He said:
“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month [shall be] the Feast of Tabernacles [for] seven days to the LORD.’On the first day [there shall be] a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work [on it].’[For] seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It [is] a sacred assembly, [and] you shall do no customary work [on it]. [...] Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD [for] seven days; on the first day [there shall be] a sabbath-[rest], and on the eighth day a sabbath-[rest]. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.’” Leviticus 23:34-36,39-40.

Sukkot is referenced a couple of times in the Old Testament. It was when Solomon first dedicated the temple (1 Kings 8). When the captives returned from Babylon, the first reading of Torah was at the time of the preparation of Sukkot (Neh 8). Zechariah prophesied that in the reign of the Messiah, the Gentiles who waged war against Israel would come up annually to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles, and if the don’t there will be no rain on their land (Zech 14:17-18). It’s an important holiday, some even call it the “Feast of the Lord” (it can be translated as such in different verses).

You gotta love the way that God works. About 10 days ago was Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement. It was a day of fasting, mourning, and repentance, the highest and most sacred of all the Jewish holidays. Then God goes ahead and follows it up the next week with 8 days of feasting and rejoicing. A somber day of mourning for over a week of celebration – I’m all for that ratio.

How the Jews celebrate the Feast nowadays:

The most notable thing about Sukkot are the sukkah’s (booths or tents). God gave the command in Leviticus 23 to build a booth with a leafy roof and dwell there for the week. Most of the time “dwell” is interpreted as eating there and spending time in the booths, although some of the orthodox families will actually sleep in them. It doesn’t really matter what the booths are made of, as long as their covering is leafy and organic. They are frequently decorated with hanging lights and fruit ornaments (even with hanging lights in the shape of fruits), they feel very similar to Christmas decorations.

Quite a few families will take part of the ushpizin prayers at mealtime. According to tradition, there are seven guests that they welcome into the sukkah – one each night. These ‘guests’ are  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David. There are special readings from Torah and Tanakh (the Old Testament) about each ‘guest’. Many families will discuss the life of the respective ‘guest’ that night, and what can be learned from them.

There are additional prayer services every day, and every night you eat a small feast in your sukkah outside. ‘Tis a great holiday.

What I’m doing for Sukkot:

Firstly, Vicky and I built a sukkah. It was quite a lot of fun – it was essentially building an outdoor fort. Of course, the only outdoor place we have is her balcony, so there wasn’t much of a choice as to where it was built.

                         
Our Sukkah from the inside of Vicky’s apartment. It’s about 3.5 feet high.

Basically, some sheets for walls, sticks for support, and a beach matt with some palm branches for a roof. It was a lot of fun to build, actually. It reminded me of my childhood, building forts with sticks and sheets

There’s no Ulpan (Hebrew School) during the holidays, so I get to spend more time resting, in the Word, with Vicky, and with my friends. Not to mention sleeping: I slept for a blessed 11 hours last night, praise the Lamb. Sleep has been a hard commodity for me to come by this last month, so I rejoice in the recent abundance of it.

And, in order to dwell in our sukkah, Vicky and I have been eating our meals in there. It has been a lot of fun, I’m grateful for this holiday.

הג שמח לכם (hag sameach lachem), Happy Holidays to y’all!

Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement

07.10.2011

Today is Yom Kippur – יום הכפורים – the holiest of all the Jewish Holidays.

Biblical History:

“Also the tenth [day] of this seventh month [shall be] the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it [is] the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. For any person who is not afflicted [in soul] on that same day shall be cut off from his people.” Lev 23:27-30

“For on that day [the priest] shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, [that] you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.” Lev 16:30

Yom Kippur is the day of atonement – it is the day where the Jews seek to be cleansed in the sight of the Lord. In the Old Testament there was the establishment of many different ways to repent of sins and be forgiven, mainly through sin offerings or restoration of that which was lost. However, there was one day that God set apart from all the others in order for the entire nation to come together in repentance, having the priest intercede and make atonement for them before God on their behalf.

I believe it is important to note that this is a permanent statue that God issued, “everlasting” עולם, meaning “as long as the world remains”. (Lev 16:34)

How it’s observed today:

Most of the Jews in Israel, whether religious or secular, will honor Yom Kippur to some extent. The entire west side of Jerusalem shuts down completely – I’ve heard that it’s actually illegal for shops to be open. The streets are completely barren except for the occasional patrol car or ambulance. Today Vicky and I went out with some friends as they took their kids riding bicycles through the empty streets – it’s something that many families do today. Many people wear white to symbolize that they have been made clean.

The two main things revolving around Yom Kippur are fasting and prayer. The standard for all religious Jews is a complete fast, totally abstaining from any food or drink (including water). Many secular Israelis partake of the fast as well – if not in full at least to some degree. It is extremely rude to walk down the street with a water bottle, in some places it is unthinkable. As far as prayer goes: there are five different prayer services/times that occur on Yom Kippur – more than any other holy day in Jewish faith that I am aware of. For the final time of prayer, there is a huge gathering at the Kotel (the Wailing Wall), as they cry out for God to pardon their sins and restore the temple.

My thoughts:

From my standing, the day of Atonement is clearly fulfilled in and through Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. He Himself came and redeemed us to God, making us clean by His blood and atoning for the sins of humanity, which is the whole point of Yom Kippur. That being said, I don’t think that Yom Kippur is to be disposed of. I believe that it is still to be observed, though not with mourning, but with repentance, humility, and thankfulness. It is a time to ask God to cleanse us from our hidden sins (Ps 19:2), that He would convict of us any unrighteousness in our lives. It is a day to live simply and thank God for His sacrifice and atonement.

How I’m praying:

- Asking God that would convict me and show me anything He has against me
- Meditating on Jesus’ sacrifice and thanking Him for His mercy and salvation
- For the Jewish people, that they would come to know their Messiah and find their atonement in Him