Love For His People: 2011-03-27

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Special Bulletin Part 6 - "Goshen Grace" During Times of Destruction - Rick Joyner Video | Prophetic Perspective on Current Events

Special Bulletin Part 6 - "Goshen Grace" During Times of Destruction - Rick Joyner Video Prophetic Perspective on Current Events

Monday, April 4, 2011

Ahava Love Letter

“Who Will Stand?”

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15 NASB)

Dear family of friends,

Before Laurie and I got married on Oct. 8, 1977, I said to her that we would never speak or consider the “D” word in our marriage. Divorce would never be an option. We would make that commitment to each other. By God’s grace upon us, there would never be an “out.” We would covenant together to make our relationship last during our time on earth. And by the Lord’s grace and sustenance, we have kept that promise to each other these past 33 years (and counting!)

In 2006, while on my fifth trip to Israel (thanks to Hannele Pardain, Executive Director of “CFI-USA, Christian Friends of Israel”) the Lord had me again visit my Ben Yehuda Street gift shop owner/friend, Avraham Saiden. I had met Avraham the year before, and after helping him make a phone call back to the USA, he made me his “instant” friend. We continue that friendship to this day.

While in one of his two stores, Dan and David, I was looking at men’s rings, with the help of his son, David. I am not sure why I was. I had never worn a ring, other than my wedding ring. (I couldn’t afford my high school graduation ring, which was OK, being I still am not much on personal jewelry for myself.) But I sensed Holy Spirit speaking to me about getting a ring. With the Star of David on it. So I obeyed.

When I got home, I put the ring on my bedroom dresser, laying it among all the other “souvenirs” I had collected. Looked real nice sitting there.

I don’t remember the exact time (senior moment probably) when it happened, but the Lord later told me to put it on. I said, “What?!” He said, “You are now married to Israel.” I said, “What?!” again. “I am already married. I can’t have two wives!” He didn’t respond further. I knew what that meant. (Sometimes you don’t have to be told twice. Or at least we shouldn’t have to be told twice.)

So…I put the ring on. From that point on, my commitment to stand with the nation of Israel and the Jewish people has continually increased. I am committed.

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” This verse is found in a few locations around our house now, in prominent places. It is a verse Laurie and I are committed to walk in.

Standing up for Israel will take even more commitment in the days ahead. It is not a popular stand to have. It will cost everything, if we choose to do so.

Each of us will have to make that choice, as part of God’s eternal plan, for each person and nation on earth. Will we stand for His purposes and His people, or will we back down in self-protection and fear?

Who will stand with us? Who will stand with the Jews? Who will stand with the Lord, Who chose them?

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) We will stand.

Ahava to you my family of friends,

Founder

Love For His People, Inc.

P.S. Our 2^nd annual “Ahava Adventures” service trip to Israel is set, with flights, hotels, and ground transportation in place. On the date of Oct. 29, 2011, only ten will depart from Charlotte (or join us in Philadelphia) to spend six days/nights in Jerusalem and two days/nights on the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias (only $2495 for the entire trip!) Our Israeli friends will meet us there, as we further connect with the believers in The Land.

This isn’t your “basic tour” time. We go where not many can, or would go, for we want to be more adventurous, more supportive, and experience even more what Israel’s people and land is about in this day and age. We do see spiritually and historically important locations, but our primary focus is to bless the ones living the day to day life there. Curious enough to find out further? Contact info is below.

Can’t go yourself? Please consider sponsoring a friend, family member, or person in your church, especially of “the next generation” age group. Trust the Lord to highly impact their lives for life, to impart to them a heart for His people that will never leave them, and give them an adventure they will never forget. (Heh, it is tax-deductable for you too. In part or full, it doesn’t matter.)

P.S.S. Beit Tikvah – Passover Seder on Good Friday, April 22, 2011 at Antioch International Church, Fort Mill, SC!

Special Note: March of Remembrance – May 1, 2011 – all around the world. China Grove in the Charlotte, NC area. Come join us and many others. Show your support for Israel and the Jewish people.

Love For His People, Inc. truly appreciates your generous support. Please consider donating now on-line by clicking here http://www.loveforhispeople.com/ for our website’s “Giving Opportunities” tab, or by sending checks to the address below. Todah rabah! (Hebrew - Thank you very much.)

Facebook pages: Steve Martin and Love For His People Twitter: martinlighthous and LovingHisPeople

Blogger: http://loveforhispeople.blogspot.com/ YouTube: loveforhispeopleinc

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA organization. Fed. ID#27-1633858. Tax deductible contributions sent by mail or given on-line will receive an e-receipt for each donation, for you to print out. (Saves the ministry on postage!)

Ahava Love Letter #21 Date: April 5, in the year of our Lord 2011

Steve Martin's hand with Star of David ring

- on the mezzuzah at the entrance to the City of David, Jerusalem, Israel.

Prophetic Ministry - a real need in our lives for these days.

From India To Vietnam, with the Jewish Culture

The Context
With a full schedule of workshops planned, we will be extending our program into new VN regions. Something new and something more seems to be the theme burning in my heart that bears not only on what I've just returned from doing in India, but for what lies ahead in Vietnam.

The charge to understand the times and know what to do has long been foundational to the various dimensions of my calling: from intercession to writing; to both the mobilization of the top-down Joseph-Daniel calling and the equipping of the bottom-up community-builders. Likewise, the significance of the Jewish roots to our faith has been key to this equation driving my calling. Another crucial piece of this mosaic has been to reach out to bring transformation to "the least of these our brethren."

An Emerging Strategy for Something More
In the early days of the God's economy program, a time of prayer gave me a glimpse of what I discerned as a strategy of the Lord that would mobilize an overlap of segments between the persecuted church, the oppressed church and the Messianic Jewish community. It seemed to carry the mark of God's hand of simplicity, order and the extraordinary, to spark societal transformation in a time of turmoil.

With these thoughts in mind, there were times during our India quest when spiritually I experienced a sense of almost being overwhelmed, without fully grasping more than the surface-level of what we were walking out. Yet, there seemed an unsuspected dimension being unveiled as we proceeded, of an awareness of the enormous Messianic potential hiding under the ashes left by the inquisition.

There clearly is something more to what I'm walking out. I've come to realize through the three years we've worked in Vietnam, how through simplicity and obedience, that God exceeds our wildest expectations. The God's economy program that was birthed after a heart-cry prayer from my exposure to a group of impoverished Ethiopian believers in 1999 has been the catalyst of a simple, but growing, grass-roots movement within the persecuted church in Vietnam. Despite this significance, the witness of the Spirit is of there still being "something more."

Reaching Beyond the Obvious

Deuteronomy tells us that "the secret (or hidden) things belong to the Lord, but those that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever." Reaching beyond the obvious to understand the times and know what to do places us in the dimension of the generational.

Historically, the 4000 years that the Jewish people have outlived the civilizations they have been a part of is a reflection of how the Jewish community has wielded what has become an historic and remains the prophetic mantle that God gave to Abraham that "through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed."

In short, the Jewish people have consistently operated as "a culture within a culture;" becoming an entrepreneurial middle class in societies without one and serving an integral role of proactive influence in seats of power, especially economically and governmentally, in furthering the positive aims of their host cultures.
"Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare." Jeremiah 29:7

The Something New to the Something More

The God's economy program conforms to this biblical standard and strategy. It begins by making God's people the head and not the tail. It then develops proactive "community builders" who provide practical hope to their community in challenging times. Its mandate coincides to the Jewish strategy of operating as a "culture within a culture," by exercising the charge to Abraham "to be blessed to be a blessing."

Yet the time in India has left me with the brand-mark of there being something more, not only in what we're doing in India, but in Vietnam and beyond.

Could it be possible that the unveiling of the hidden will point to something more in terms of the Jewish roots of our faith? Could it be that the strategy of "a culture within a culture" may bear on this whole issue of transformation at a time when many around the world are losing hope and seeking answers that bears on a people who demonstrate the reality of God in some very practical ways, as the Jewish people have done over the generations.

I seem to have more questions than I have answers as I proceed, but I know that the Lord has been guiding and providing the tools and strategies with which to help those we serve "to be blessed to be a blessing."

Jesus said, "That which is covered will be revealed and that which is hidden will be made known." There's a key that unlocks the hidden and the bondages that have immobilized generations. Indeed, we walk by faith and not by sight as we move toward "something new and something more."

So, despite the already tangible results from these ventures to this point, there seems to be an unveiling, pointing to the overlapping role of segments between the persecuted church, the oppressed church and the Messianic Jewish community. Something beyond the obvious is in motion with these agendas. Something new and something more; something that is clearly beyond me; "something beyond" that is being orchestrated by the Spirit of the Lord.

I can't begin to tell you how much your prayers mean as I head out; and how much I'm depending on them as I impart, equip, mobilize -- and continue this amazing unfolding venture of discovery.

In His love and mine,

Morris Ruddick

Global Initiatives Foundation
http://www.strategic-initiatives.org/

Global Initiatives Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt ministry

Global Initiative Foundation | PO Box 370291 | Denver | CO | 80237

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Prayers of Yeshua

I heard someone once say, with understandable regret, that with only three exceptions, we have no record of Yeshua’s prayers. In actual fact, this is not entirely true, as I’ll explain a little later in this article. But first, let’s look at the three prayers that are recorded.

The first prayer is, of course, The Lord’s Prayer – recorded in Matthew 6:9 and Luke 11:2. This is a fascinating prayer, because in this prayer, Yeshua seems to be making reference to a host of Scriptures found throughout the entire Tanak (the Old Testament). Let’s take a look at some of them.

“Our Father, Who art in Heaven…” The Fatherhood of God can be found in many places, such as Psalm 68:4-5; Psalm 89:24; and Isaiah 9:6. That God dwells in Heaven is abundant throughout Scripture, such as Genesis 24:7; Joshua 2:11; 2 Chronicles 6:14; and Psalm 136:26.

“Hollowed be Thy Name…” The Tanak is replete with references that the Name of God is Holy and to be treated with reverence and sanctity. Examples such as Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 22:32; Psalm 103:1; Ezekiel 39:7 can be found throughout Scripture. To this day, an observant Jewish person will neither pronounce the Name of God, nor even write it. To the Jewish person God is referred to most commonly as Adonai (Lord) or HaShem (The Name), and when writing His Name, the vowel is left out rendering the written form as L-rd or G-d.

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven…” The Kingship of God and the endurance and domain of His Kingdom is also a major reoccurring theme throughout the Old Testament (Tanak) Scriptures. Yeshua was undoubtedly referencing such passages as Psalm 22:28; Psalm 103:19; and Daniel 7:18, to name only three.

“Give us this day our daily bread…” The uncompromised belief that all of humanity’s material blessings are gifts from God is a central foundation of the Jewish faith. Here Yeshua underscores the fact that the Father is the Source of everything we have, from the provision of “manna in the wilderness” (Exodus 16:15-33) to the ongoing recognition that God is the giver of all things (Deuteronomy 8:18; Isaiah 42:5; and Job 33:4).

“And forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us…” Yeshua here emphasizes the Biblical Principle of Reciprocity which is stated in Malachi 3:10 and Proverbs 3:9-10, and which He Himself expands in Luke 6:37 and Matthew 7:1.

“Do not lead us into temptation…” Here Yeshua may be referencing Psalm 5:4 which states that “Thou art a God that has no pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with Thee.” And the Holy Spirit, speaking through the Apostle James puts it even more forcefully when he writes, “…God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does He tempt anyone.” (James 1:13)

“But deliver us from the Evil One…” And finally, Yeshua quotes Psalm 140:1, “Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil one; preserve me from the violent one.”

The second of Yeshua’s prayers that have been preserved for us is found in John’s gospel, chapter 17. In this passage of Scripture Yeshua is praying that God will glorify Him through the work that He has accomplished, and also through the work yet to be accomplished by His followers. He then asks the Father to preserve and protect His followers in the world. He asks that the glory He shares with the Father will likewise be shared with us, who believe in Him. Finally He prays that the love that exists between Himself and the Father will be manifest within us, His Church, as we walk with Him in unity with each other. It’s a powerful and humbling prayer!

The third prayer is Yeshua’s supplication in the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of His crucifixion. Gethsemane is Hebrew for olive oil press, and that night in the garden, Yeshua’s very spirit and soul were being pressed to the maximum. “Father, if it be Thy will, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done.” (Luke 22:40).

But are these the only prayers of Yeshua that we know about? Actually, the answer is “No”. I believe that there are at least five or six other prayers that we can know conclusively were prayed by Yeshua. Moreover, in these additional prayers that are mentioned, we can confidently know their exact words! Where are these prayers and what did Yeshua say?

In Matthew’s gospel, the apostle wrote about several additional events in which Yeshua prayed. In chapter fifteen he writes, “And He [Yeshua] took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks…” (Matthew 15:36). Likewise, in chapter 26 Matthew records this event at the Last Supper Passover meal, “And as they were eating Yeshua took bread and blessed it…” (Matthew 26:26). In both of these instances we can know exactly what Yeshua said, even though His words are not recorded. Indeed, every Jewish person reading Matthew’s account during the first few centuries of the Church would have known what words He spoke. This is because the blessing of the bread has been a standard Jewish prayer from time immemorial. Visualize those moments with me. Yeshua would have covered His head with His tallit (prayer shawl), as was the custom in the first century and remains the Jewish custom today. He then would have lifted the bread toward heaven and said aloud these words, “Baruk atah Adonai Eloheynu, melek haOlam, Ha’motzi lechem meen haEretz.” (Blessed are You, O LORD our God, King of the Universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.)

In the first instance recorded above, when Yeshua gives thanks for the bread and the fish, Matthew’s record suggests that He gave thanks only once. However, it’s more likely that Yeshua actually offered two prayers – one for the bread and a second blessing for the fish. If, indeed, that is the case, then His second prayer would have been, “Baruk atah Adonai Eloheynu, melek haOlam, she-ha-kol ni-he-yah bid-va-ro.” (Blessed are You O LORD our God, King of the Universe, Who brings about all things by His Word.)

The Apostle Mark records another poignant event in which Yeshua prayed. He writes, “And they brought young children to Him that He should touch them…and He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them and blessed them.” (Mark 10:13-16). To this day, as part of the Shabbat (Sabbath) ritual every Friday night, the Jewish father will lay his hands upon his sons and say, “Ye-sim-khah Elohim ki-ef-rayim v’ki-me-na-shah.” (May God make you like Ephraim and Manassah.) Likewise, he will lay his hands upon his daughters’ heads and say, “Ye-sim-khah Elohim ki-sarah v’riv-khah v’ra-khel v’le-ah.” (May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.) There is no question in my mind that Yeshua would have blessed the children with these very same blessings that are still said today.

Also, at the Last Supper Passover meal it is recorded “And He took the cup and gave thanks…” (Matthew 26:27) Here again, we know for certain Yeshua’s exact words -- “Baruk atah Adonai Eloheynu, melek haOlam,bo-ray pre-ha-gafin.” (Blessed are You O LORD our God, King of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine.)

And finally, we come to Yeshua’s last blessing upon His disciples before He ascended into Heaven. The physician Luke records the event with these words, “When He had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany He [Yeshua] raised up His hands and blessed them.” Once again, by this simple description, we can know Yeshua’s exact words and how He performed the blessing. He blessed them with what is called today the “Aaronic Blessing”. This blessing is also called “The Raising of the Hands” and is performed in a very specific way. One’s head is covered with the tallit, as mentioned before. The hands are raised so that the thumbs are touching; the index and middle finger are held together; and the ring finger and little finger are likewise held together, like this –

Yeshua raised His hands and said, “Y’varekh’kha Adonai v’yish-merekah. Ya’er Adonai panav eleikha vich-u’nekka. Yissa Adonai panav eleikha v’ya’sem l’kha shalom.” (May the LORD bless you and keep you. May the LORD make His face shine to upon you and be gracious unto you. May the LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”)

Jewish tradition requires that we bless the LORD for each detail of our daily lives. What a delight to know that in these Hebrew prayers, we are repeating the exact same words to the Father that Messiah Yeshua did so long ago. In these Hebrew blessings we, like Yeshua, vocalize our gratitude to God for His daily provision and care.

Baruk HaShem (Blessed be The Name)

Bill Duerfeldt, North Carolina