The Law of the Messiah - V'ahavta (...and you shall love...") - Hadassah from Jerusalem

Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

V’ahavta  

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘…And you shall love…’ 

The Law of the Messiah

Hadassah from Jerusalem, Israel

To know and to do God’s will. This seems to be the question on most true Believer’s hearts: LORD what is your will? God has made His will clear in the Word that He has given us- His commandments, His Laws. But especially through His Son Y’shua’s words and example did He reveal Himself and His heart towards us and His will.

With so many decrees and laws to know and follow we can get bogged down- overwhelmed. Even in His day, an observant Jewish man asked Y’shua which Law is the greatest. Recorded in three of the Gospels (Mt 22:37, Mk 12:30, Lk 10:27), Y’shua quotes to him from the well-known daily prayer the Sh’ma (Deut. 6:5): “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

In Mark, Y’shua continues: "The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The second commandment is actually the ‘how to’ live out the first commandment. How do we love God so completely- by loving the Family of Faith.

“If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (I John 4:20)

And the LORD tells us that the world will know we are His- by our love for one another!

“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” 

(John 13:34,35)

In Galatians 6:2 we read a practical application: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

 In this verse we see the specific fulfilling of the Law of Christ is done by bearing each other’s burdens. How do we show this love for one another in the Body of Messiah? Taking care of the widows and orphans, praying for those who are hurt and sick, sharing physical provision…. The list is endless.

When a Body member is going thru a major illness or crisis- one that seems to have no solution or end in sight- can we come to them in their suffering and walk with them? Can we listen without judgement and unasked-for advice? Will we ‘carry’ them on our shoulders in prayer? Are we able to lay down our lives for them in acts of loving kindness and service?

To bear one another’s burdens IS to FULFILL the Law of our Messiah. It is the maximum of His example when He came and ultimately carried our burden of sin and suffering.

It is not easy to consistently walk with someone who is suffering. To keep them encouraged. To hold them in your heart before the Throne. To not get weary in well-doing. We must remember- that we are yoked with the Messiah in this walk and He says that His burden is easy (Mt 11:30). 

Continually go to Him and ask for the Grace to endure WITH your Brother. To weep with your Sister. Being very realistic about your personal limitations- do not let those be and excuse to not be ‘present’. We each have a part we can play and with the Grace of Y’shua we can answer His passionate garden question:  ‘Will you not tarry with me one hour?’

We can choose to love one another and ‘tarry’ with one another and so fulfill the Law of our Messiah. 

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

 Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their five children in 1989, they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD.

#6  08.24.31

Tisha B’Av and Hatred Without Cause - V'ahavta (...and you shall love...") Hadassah from Jerusalem

V’ahavta  

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘…And you shall love…’ 

V'ahavta (...and you shall love...")

Hadassah from Jerusalem

Tisha B’Av and Hatred Without Cause

Tisha B’Av is an annual fast day in Judaism which commemorates the anniversary of a number of disasters in Jewish history, primarily the destruction of both the First Temple by the Babylonians and the Second Temple by the Romans in Jerusalem. 

There is a long list of calamities over the course of Jewish history including the Crusades, expulsion from many countries, the start of WWI, approval for the ‘Final Solution’ and even the modern day expulsion from Gush Katif.

Baseless Hatred- Sinat Chinam- the sages say, is the reason for the destruction of the second Temple. Many stories are given about unjust treatment of each other even hateful acts done toward fellow Jews. These are given as examples of ‘baseless’ hatred and thereby the cause for the Shekinah departing from Jerusalem.

The long list of tragedies is horrific, and Tisha B’Av is considered the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, but I propose there was once a much more horrific day in our history. A time when the Sinat Chinam was so far out of control that it alone was the cause of the removal of the Temple. And it’s continuing practice resulting in continuing trauma.

King David wrote as a prophet these words, telling not only of his own suffering but of The One who would come: Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. Psalm 69:4

Years later, the Messiah Y’shua would quote this scripture as He was the fulfillment of these very words: "If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason’."  John 15:24,25

But He also knew that He was the embodiment of Isaiah 53, "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." Isaiah 53:3

How broken-hearted he must have been- the sheep rejecting, despising their Shepherd. 

We read The Messiah’s Lament:

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:41-44

The saddest day in Jewish history was not the destruction of the Temple- which Y’shua knew was coming. The saddest day was when we did not know the time of our visitation! We not only missed His ‘visitation’ we went further. Instead of embracing our Messiah we cried ‘Crucify Him!’ THAT was the saddest day in Jewish history.

What is the solution to this heart-breaking, baseless hatred of Y’shua that is continued to this day? Our people fast and pray and repent almost equally as on Yom Kippur. Repent of baseless hatred. Make vows to ‘do better’ in mitzvot and ahavat Yisrael  (good works and love of fellow Jews). But is that enough?

Y’shua himself gave the answer to the undoing of this grievous sin:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁸ See, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matt 23 37-39

And what will cause our people to cry out in such a surrendered manner? Certainly not man-made righteousness.

"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son." Zechariah 12:10

Only when this happens will we cry out  ברוך הבא בשם יהוה

Baruch Haba b’Shem Adonai.

May it be in our day to see this come to pass. 

עד כמה פעמים חפצי לקבץ, לקבץאת בניך כאשר תקבץ תרנגולת את אפרוחיה תחת כנפיה ירושלים, ירושלים

Editor's Note: Tisha B'Av in 2017 begins at sundown July 31 and ends at sunset Aug. 1.

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

 Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their five children in 1989, they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD.

07.17.31 #5

V'ahavta (...and you shall love...") Hadassah from Jerusalem - “Lessons Learned from the Front Lines in Israel”

V’ahavta  

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘…And you shall love…’ 

V'ahavta (...and you shall love...")

Hadassah from Jerusalem

July 17, 2017

“Lessons Learned from the Front Lines in Israel”

“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” Proverbs 24:10

Looking at the world headlines (or on Facebook) we read of so much suffering and disaster and wars. It seems that there is no shortage of sad and depressing news. The timetable to the ‘End’ seems to be pressing in on us at breakneck speed. How, as Believers in Y’shua, do we keep our heads up and maintain some semblance of sanity never mind joy? What are some keys to allowing these situations to strengthen us and not faint?

Having lived in Israel a combined 19 years - through several wars, terror attacks, sirens- surrounded by enemies both inside and outside the borders - the Lord has been strengthening me so as not to ‘faint’. It has been - and still is- a long difficult process. It is made more difficult by my independent attitude in thinking I can ‘handle’ what is going on around me. Rather than run to Him immediately, I would listen to all the news… and opinions about that news… bemoan the state of things, get angry or fearful or ‘super spiritual’ (Oh it’s OK- the Lord is coming soon) wax eloquent in solutions… everything BUT sit still and listen and receive instruction.

Other countries are also going thru their tribulations and trials as we come to the close of this era before the return of our Messiah and King.  Please let me (humbly) share the lessons I have – and am - learning from our front lines here in Israel. May these words encourage you and strengthen you for your own battles. Please share the things you have learned from your ‘front lines’ of battle. Let us embolden one another.

 

Battling the spiritual warfare

 * Wait on the Lord. The first and most important lesson - the place from which all else springs. Sit in His presence. Renew. Refresh. Let the time be all about Him… not everything going on. He will restore perspective. He will lift your eyes and spirit upwards. He will carry you on eagles wings and renew your strength.

* Carry ONLY what He gives you. DO NOT PRAY THE NEWS! Give a short season to read what’s happening - get educated - and then TURN IT OFF! Read the Word MORE than you read the news! Ask the Lord for Scriptures to pray. There are hundreds and He will show you which ones and how to pray them. The Word is the powerful weapon of our warfare.

* There is only ONE Messiah and it’s not me. I do not need to carry ALL the burdens that I see around me - all the things that are breaking my heart. I need to sit quietly in His presence and wait. Let Him give me HIS burden at the moment that is MINE to carry. It will hurt. It will be difficult BUT He said HIS BURDEN IS LIGHT… which means He will carry it WITH me… with a resolution in the Spirit.

* Allow your heart to be burdened with those things that burden the Lord’s heart. Don’t run from pain.

* Know and guard against the dangers of being a Burden Bearer:
-Losing your joy and sense of humor
-Becoming rigid and inflexible
-Judgmental (‘They’ just don’t get it!)
-Oppressed
-Physically tired and worn down
-Self-centered, self-pity (no one really understands the burden I’m carrying)

* As a watchman - know your ‘Wall’. What is your ‘post’? Ask the Lord for your specific area of prayer and intercession. Your duty station cannot be manned by anyone else…. Nor can you man anyone else’s.

We are truly in the End of Days. We each have an assignment from Heaven to fulfill. Be encouraged as the birth pangs increase. Be busy about the Father’s work. Redeem the time. Pray. Praise. Share. Soon… it will be over!

“Do not pray for easy lives!
Pray to be stronger men.
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers,
Pray for powers equal to your tasks.
Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle,
But YOU shall be a miracle.
~Phillip Brooks~

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their five children in 1989, they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD.

07.17.17 #4

V'ahavta (...and you shall love...") Hadassah from Jerusalem - “Just Say Yes”

V’ahavta  

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘…And you shall love…’ 

V'ahavta (...and you shall love...")

Hadassah from Jerusalem

“Just Say Yes”

“Now the LORD had said to Abram, ‘Get out of your country, from your family… to a land that I will show you…’ So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him.” Genesis 12:1,4

God said. Abram obeyed. He left everything- home, family, friends, country, all that was familiar. He was going… only God knew where. Abram trusted, completely. He said, ‘Yes’ by his obedience.

One night in 1979, God spoke to my husband and told him to take his family to Israel. To live. At the time, we had no idea why we would go to Israel. We weren’t missionaries. We knew nothing about Israel other than what was in the Bible and the news. We had no friends there. And we hadn’t a clue about Jewish immigration - Aliyah as it's called. We hadn’t even heard the word before!!

Clueless would adequately describe us at the time. 

The only thing we knew for certain - God said “Go”. We said, “Yes”.

With our hearts looking towards the Land, we spent the next 10 years learning and getting prepared. Finally, in 1989, we took our five children and followed the Lord to Israel. It wasn’t a Garden of Eden. There were probably more tough times than good ones. LOTS of ‘giants’ in the Land and, as we learned, in our hearts also. We were tested and tried and stretched. And…. we learned.

We learned who Y’shua really is and what a relationship with Him is like. We, on the battleground, became more experienced in spiritual warfare. We practiced loving when we weren’t loved. We experienced the Presence of God.

Through all of that there never was a time that we regretted our decision. We have now lived here for a combination of 18 years.

Haifa Bay - photo by Hadassah 

This week I was blessed to travel the Land for five days. From Caesarea, to Haifa Bay, to the Sea of Galilee, and Capernaum.  Down to the Dead Sea and then on to Mitzpa Ramon, a crater near Egypt. What a wonderfully blessed place this is.

While I was watching the sun come up from the crater and worshipping, I was overcome with gratitude. I cried out to God, “Why have we been allowed to live here?”

And just as at times before when we have asked this question, the answer was the same - because you said “Yes!”

Mitzpa Ramon, a crater near Egypt

Those who follow Y’shua have many times when He says to us, "Leave all that is familiar. Move into My will. Receive My promise, My task, My desire."

It is always so easy to start weighing out the pros & cons of obeying. But like Abram, God is wanting our unqualified yes!

In relation to Israel (which is what these messages are about), what is He asking of you?

Using the Word as your insight to His will and plan, where is your part?

What about sharing the Gospel with Jewish people who do not know their Messiah as yet? 

(Romans 1:16, 10:1)

To pray for the peace of Jerusalem? (Psalm 122:6)

To be a watchman on the wall? (Isaiah 62:6)

To comfort His people? (Isaiah 40:1)

If you are truly Jewish, to make Aliyah? (Isaiah 43:5,6; Jeremiah 29:11-14)

If you are Gentile - to help facilitate the Aliyah? (Isaiah 49:22)

Has He made His desire known?  He has a place for you in what He is doing these days in Israel.   

I would encourage you, like Abram, to say, ‘Yes’.

With our love from Israel,

Hadassah

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

June 2017

Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their five children in 1989, they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD.

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06.21.17  #3

V'ahavta (...and you shall love...") Hadassah from Jerusalem - "My Israeli Neighborhood"

V’ahavta  

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘…And you shall love…’ 

V'ahavta (...and you shall love...")

Hadassah from Jerusalem

"My Israeli Neighborhood"

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘…And you shall love…’

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Today I want to share with you our village. It’s actually a settlement just outside Jerusalem. I don’t know what kind of image the word ‘settlement’ brings to mind, but I thought you’d like to see for yourselves a bit of where I live. There will be more glimpses in the future, but for today, enjoy this brief invitation to my neighborhood.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. Psalm 16:6

Watch video here: My Israeli Neighborhood - Hadassah

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

June 2017

Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their 5 children in 1989  they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD.

06.13.17  #2

V'ahavta - וְאָהַבְתָּ ‘…And you shall love…’ by Hadassah in Jerusalem, ISRAEL

Special Love For His People introduction!

 Hadassah in Jerusalem, ISRAEL

We are very excited to be introducing today to you Hadassah, who will be bringing another new, weekly encouraging word, directly from Israel. She and her family have become dear friends of Laurie and I, and we are happy for all of us!

On a weekly basis, you will hear her heart, feel her smile, and learn what life is like living in the Land, as the Lord God of Israel continues to bring His chosen ones back to their homeland.

Be blessed in this blessing!

Ahava (love) and shalom (peace),

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc.

 

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘…And you shall love…’

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When asked, “What is the greatest command?” Y’shua quoted a verse which all Jewish men prayed twice a day. It is called the ‘V’ahavta’ and is the first word of the great command. It means ‘and you shall love’. The V’ahavta is part of the Sh’ma that is found in Deuteronomy 6.  Out of the 613 laws in the Torah, Y’shua said that this is the most important. It is on this command all others are built.

‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your might.’ Deuteronomy 6:5

From this command, all of our life springs- including the second greatest command to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Mark 12:31) It is central to everything we believe, practice and live for- in the big things and in the small; in the mundane and the glorious. We bring into everything the thought, the passion, and desire - that we love God with our whole being.

Since there is a tendency to forget, we have a reminder that God commanded: to ‘write these words on your doorposts’. The Mezuzah (doorpost in Hebrew) is what has developed over time to obey this command. Inside a little box attached to the right side of the doorpost is a parchment with Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21.

Coming and going we are presented with opportunities to remember, to refocus, to examine- even quickly- our love for the LORD. Even though it is a small thing- this little box on the door has the potential to work great things in our hearts.

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

June 2017

Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their 5 children in 1989  they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD.