Love For His People

Saturday, September 9, 2017

V’ahavta וְאָהַבְתָּ ‘…And you shall love…’ - "Stay the Course" - Hadassah from Jerusalem

V’ahavta

וְאָהַבְתָּ ‘…And you shall love…’

Stay the Course

Hadassah from Jerusalem

“Pussy cat Pussy cat where have you been?”

“I went to London to visit the Queen.”

“Pussy cat, Pussy cat, what did you there?”

“I frightened the mouse under her chair.”

A familiar nursery rhyme. And a bit of silly little nonsense to entertain our children.

Little Pussy Cat had a mission, so to speak. He was going to London to visit the Queen. A very important mission actually. Taking whatever preparations necessary to make the journey, he was going to go before his Sovereign. A pilgrimage of sorts. And after planning and making provision and traveling with determination to be in her presence, what did he do? He frightened a mouse under her chair.

A very worthwhile endeavor. Something that was actually easy for him to do. Something that needed to be done. But, he got distracted from the original plan. His eyes were off the Queen and his visit with her. He forgot his main purpose for coming.

These couplets have a very important lesson and warning for us all. Especially for those who love the Jewish people and Israel. Those who know the Lord’s heart to support, pray for and bless them.

There are many worthwhile and necessary causes in this world. So many in need of comfort and help and support. At every turn there are those crying out for what we have to give.

We are not to turn a deaf ear to their cries. We are to be the hands and heart and words of Y’shua to those around us. But there is a need to guard what the Lord has entrusted to us and not neglect it because of being distracted by the clamor of the world’s need.

It is imperative that we not let the noise of the world keep us from hearing the voice of the Lord. For the tyranny of the urgent compel us to take on burdens that are not ours to carry.

Distraction means to divert or draw away. We can be so drawn away from our commitment to the Jewish people and Israel that we ‘forget’. Forget to intercede. Forget to share the Good News. Forget to support financially. Just plain forget that we are but a remnant within the Body of Christ.

And it can be very painful to have to weigh out our commitments. To get involved in some of those that are clamoring for our attention and not others.

I’ll give an example: There was a young man who was living in a foreign country where the Bible is not available. There were many Believers living in that country in order to share the Good News with the citizens. The people’s need was great and they were hungry for the Truth. This young man had been sent there specifically to be with the Jewish community. His work was massive and he was pretty much alone in that field.

When asked why he didn’t have Bible studies for the hungry neighbors and students around him his answer: "If I opened up for Bible study, I would be able to have 3-5 studies a day, seven days a week and it would be different groups all the time. I know how great the need is. But there are many here to do just that. Hundreds actually. However, I am the only one here for the Jews."

He knew his purpose. As painful as it was to not have the Bible studies, if he did, there would be no one left for the Jewish people. He kept the course and trusted God to take care of the others. He did not allow distraction to sway him off his mission.

The Enemy knows God’s heart towards the Jewish people and Israel. He knows the importance of their redemption, restoration and return to the Land. He is well aware of the return of Y’shua and will try to thwart God’s plans. He is the Master of Distraction, drawing us off course and diverting our energies. Of course the activities we would be engaged in can all be necessary, helpful and very righteous. But in the meantime…. What about the burden of Israel. Who will be picking up what we may lay down?

Proverbs 4:25-27 is our encouragement to live intentionally. Purposefully. And not be distracted by ‘the mouse under the chair’ so to speak.

"Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the left or the right…"

Listen. Know for certain your mission. Stay the course and resist distraction.

Shalom!

Hadassah

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. #8 09.09.17

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Joel C. Rosenberg's - What in the world is going on? Catastrophic hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, terrorism, nuclear threats. Is God trying to tell us something? Yes.

New post on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

What in the world is going on? Catastrophic hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, terrorism, nuclear threats. Is God trying to tell us something? Yes.

by joelcrosenberg

What in the world is going on?

Hurricane Harvey drops 33 trillion gallons of rainfall drop on the U.S. Experts say the floods are a once-in-1,000-years event. Now Hurricane Irma is bearing down on Florida. 185 mile-per-hour winds. Experts say the devastation could be "catastrophic."

At the same time, Mexico experiences the worst earthquake in a century. Record-breaking floods are devastating Asia. Half of Bangladesh is underwater. 100,000 homes are destroyed. Forty million people face severe and potentially life-threatening food and water shortages. Russia is preparing to mass upwards of 100,000 troops on the borders of three NATO countries for a massive series of war games some fear is the prelude to war. The genocidal slaughter continues in Syria. Terror attacks around the globe. North Korea threatens to nuke the United States, then tests a hydrogen bomb and long-range ballistic missiles. And tensions over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem spike and then settle, and then spike again.

People have all kinds of theories as to what is happening, but the answer is quite straightforward -- God is trying to get our attention.

These events are not random. The God of the Bible is allowing these events to shake us, to wake us, to get our attention, that we might turn to Him and ask Him to have mercy on us and help us.

The Lord said through the ancient Hebrew Prophet Haggai that He would shake the nations in the last days. “For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the nations….I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations.” (Haggai 2:6, 7, 21, 22)

In the New Testament, the Lord reinforced that theme. “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven’….Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:25-29)

The Scriptures are clear: the Lord shakes individuals and nations that we might let go of all of the flawed political, philosophical, intellectual and religions notions that we cling to that won’t give us true peace, that don’t give us real hope, that can’t bring us any security, that can’t provide forgiveness from our sins much less eternal life for our souls. The God of the Bible wants to shake us loose of such things that we might turn to Him, and to the life He offers through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord isn’t letting America and other nations be shaken because He hates us. He’s letting us be shaken precisely because He loves us and wants us to repent and turn to Him and call out to Him, as individuals, as families, as leaders, and as entire nations.

This is a 2 Chronicles 7:14 moment, for the Church, for America, for Israel, for everyone. "If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

May we humble ourselves and seek the Lord while He still may be found.

HOW DEVASTATING WILL HURRICANE IRMA BE?

National Weather Service warns: "THIS IS AS REAL AS IT GETS....THERE IS STILL TIME TO EVACUATE."
5.6 million Floridians ordered to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Irma (Naples Daily News)
National Hurricane Center warns Irma is "potentially catastrophic."
"Regardless of where Irma makes landfall, all significant hurricane
impact threats are likely this weekend for the entire Florida Keys,
including catastrophic and life threatening storm surge flooding and
destructive winds, potentially extremely high rainfall amounts, as
well as a threat of tornadoes," warns the NHC. "There is still some time to evacuate, and we encourage all residents and visitors to leave the Florida Keys."
Irma breaks another record, becoming first Atlantic hurricane to maintain 185mph winds for 24 hours (UK Independent)
Hurricane Irma triggers gas shortages as panicking Florida motorists evacuate(USA Today)

HOW DEVASTATING WAS HURRICANE HARVEY?

Harvey is a 1,000-year flood event unprecedented in scale (Washington Post) -- "A new analysis from the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center has determined that Harvey is a 1-in-1,000-year flood event....There is nothing in the historical record that rivals this, according to Shane Hubbard, the Wisconsin who made and mapped this calculation. 'In looking at many of these events [in the United States], I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude or size,' he said. 'This is something that hasn’t happened in our modern era of observations.'"
Harvey unloaded 33 trillion gallons of water in the U.S. (Washington Post) -- "The overwhelming majority of Harvey’s rains are over, and we have a new calculation for the total volume of water it dispensed on U.S. soil: 33 trillion gallons. This number incorporates the rainfall not only in Texas and Louisiana, but also in Tennessee and Kentucky, which also experienced torrents."
Tracking Harvey's toll: 'This is the costliest and worst natural disaster in American history' (Dallas Morning News) -- "AccuWeather is out with the highest estimate yet of Harvey’s potential price tag. The weather foreasting service now expects damage to reach $190 billion, or a full 1 percent of U.S. economic output. 'This is the costliest and worst natural disaster in American history,' said Joel Myers, AccuWeather's founder, president and chairman."

400% SPIKE IN GLOBAL WEATHER CATASTROPHES SINCE 1970

Since 1970, the number of extreme weather events has quadrupled."
"There are now 400 extreme weather events every year."
"These include storms, landslides, droughts, and forest fires."
"This monsoon season has caused devastating floods in South Asia, killing over 1,200 people. The storm has left millions in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal vulnerable to food and water shortages."
"Almost half of Bangladesh is now underwater. "
Hurricane Irma "has set a new rainfall record in America."
Weather-related disasters are increasing (The Economist)
Short video on Twitter from The Economist
Mexico's strongest earthquake in a century leaves dozens dead (CNN International)
"One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded in Mexico struck off the country's southern coast, toppling hundreds of buildings and sending panicked people fleeing into the streets in the middle of the night," reported the Associated Press. "At least 61 people were reported dead."
South Asia floods: Estimated 40 million across India, Bangladesh, Nepal affected (Australian Broadcasting Company)
South Asia floods: Disease fears as floods destroy 100,000 houses in Bangladesh, aid agencies say (Australian Broadcasting Company)

joelcrosenberg | September 9, 2017 at 7:23 am | Categories: Epicenter | URL: http://wp.me/piWZ7-8dz

Hurricane Irma Is Being Called ‘A Lawnmower From The Sky’ And FEMA Warns It Will ‘Devastate’ The Southeast - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

Hurricane Irma Is Being Called ‘A Lawnmower From The Sky’ And FEMA Warns It Will ‘Devastate’ The Southeast

Posted: 08 Sep 2017 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

It looks like Hurricane Irma is going to make landfall in south Florida on Sunday morning. Of course that could still change, but this is what the meteorologists are telling us at this point. But of course the exact spot where Irma makes landfall is not so important because of the absolutely immense size of this storm. Irma is going to cause chaos and devastation over a very large area, and just like Hurricane Harvey the recovery from this storm is literally going to be measured in years.

Down in the Caribbean, the destruction that Irma has caused has been absolutely unprecedented. The president of the island of Saint Martin “estimated that 95 percent of his country had been obliterated”, and one resident of the island described the storm as “a lawnmower from the sky”…

Witnesses described similar scenes on the island’s Dutch half. “It’s like someone with a lawnmower from the sky has gone over the island,” said Mairlou Rohan, a European tourist visiting Sint Maarten, part of the Netherlands.

That is not the sort of terminology that I would use, but without a doubt the devastation caused by this storm has been off the charts.

On Barbuda, at least 90 percent of the buildings have been destroyed…

Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said Barbuda was “totally demolished,” with 90% of its buildings destroyed. Communication with the island was cut off because of the destruction. As Hurricane Jose approaches the island, Barbuda officials are trying to evacuate the entire population of 1,800.

Now the storm is heading straight for south Florida, and FEMA is using apocalyptic language to describe what might happen…

FEMA Director Brock Long, in a Friday morning update, told a news conference there’s no question that Hurricane Irma will devastate parts of the souheastern United States:
“Obviously, Hurricane Irma continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the United States in either Florida or some of the southeastern states,” Long told a 7:30 a.m. news conference.

Some are comparing Hurricane Irma to Hurricane Andrew, but the truth is that Irma is much, much larger. You can see a comparison of the two storms right here.

At this point, scientists are running out of superlatives to describe this storm. At the National Hurricane Center, one expert is already labeling Irma as “the most infamous in Atlantic hurricane history”…

“Irma has me sick to my stomach,” said Eric Blake, a scientist with the National Hurricane Center, on his personal Twitter account on Thursday evening. “This hurricane is as serious as any I have seen. No hype, just the hard facts. Take every lifesaving precaution you can.”
“I have little doubt Irma will go down as one of the most infamous in Atlantic hurricane history,”he added.

We shall see what happens over the next few days.

Hopefully things will not be quite as bad as the experts are projecting.

At this hour, thousands upon thousands of Florida residents are desperately trying to flee north on the highways. Unfortunately, a lot of gas stations are already completely out of gasoline, and it is getting worse by the hour. Just check out these numbers…

In Gainesville, it was the worst: At least 58% of stations were out of gasoline as of Friday morning, according to GasBuddy’s fuel tracker.

More than 40% of stations in West Palm Beach and Miami had no fuel, while 38% of Fort Myers-Naples stations, nearly 35% of Tampa-St. Petersburg locations and more than 32% of Orlando stations were offline.

At the stations where gasoline is still available, some people are having to wait up to 90 mins for fuel.

Of course there are others that are not planning to leave Florida at all. In fact, 82-year-old Joseph “Tony” Vincent told the Washington Post that he is quite content to ride the storm out at a local hotel…

“Hell, you’d be safer here than taking a car on those roads. You might be killed before you get to Atlanta,” he scoffed.
If Irma fizzles, Vincent said he’ll just ride his three wheeler back to his trailer. “I’ll come on home and get drinker than hell,” he said.

Hopefully he will be okay.

The warnings have been issued, and I don’t think that they could have been much stronger. People have made their decisions about what they are going to do, and now we will see how things play out.

On another note, I had to smile today when I came across a Think Progress article entitled “The case for a Category 6 rating for super-hurricanes like Irma”. I have been heavily criticized for saying the exact same thing that the liberal media is now talking very heavily about, but of course those outlets will not receive the same sort of criticism that I did.

In the end, the main thing is keeping people safe, and if anyone in the direct path of this storm still feels like they want to “ride it out”, I would very much encourage you to flee while you still can.

This is an exceedingly dangerous storm, and you do not want to be there when it hits.
Michael Snyder is a Republican candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

Roots - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Roots

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“It was beautiful in its greatness and the length of its branches, because its roots went down to plenty of water.” (Ezekiel 31:7, Complete Jewish Bible)

In 1977, and again in 2016, Americans were fascinated by the TV mini-series Roots, the well-done dramatization of author Alex Haley's book detailing his family line, from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement beginning in Africa to his descendants' liberation in the United States.

The website Ancestry.com sure saw its page visits shoot up during those seasons, and our fascination with our historical roots continues to this day.

People want to know their roots – where they have come from – to give them some indication of the who, what, where, why and so what questions all have had. You and I can be fascinated with shows like Who Do You Think You Are? on the TLC TV network. I know Laurie and I are. I am sure we have watched every episode!

And now today, you can get your DNA tested for only $69. When it hits the low, low price of $19.99 then I will too!

What nation are you from? Who are your descendants? Who do you think you are?

Now think about this. Do you realize that all of us must have imbedded genes from Noah and his family? They were the only ones of the human race who were not destroyed during the great, world-wide historical flood. After death and destruction were complete, these eight, if my math is right, were the only ones left to repopulate the earth.

So that makes you and I related. Right? That means my family and your family are truly brothers and sisters in the Creator’s immense family. True? Do you believe it? I certainly do.

Let’s go to the Scriptures, which are the solid, firm foundation of all truth, upon which anyone who will stand upon them will know the truth, from the very beginning. The roots of mankind are revealed in these truthful words of God.

“For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made." And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.

So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

On the very same day Noah and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark…” (Genesis 7:4-13, NKJV)

So if I read this simply as it is stated, very plain for all of us to understand, ONLY Noah and his family were the remaining humans, along with the gathered animals, birds, reptiles and insects in that massive boat, who were left after the total destructing flood. (The fish had their own safety habitat!) And then it rained, with the massive flood coming, destroying all else.

I am glad these words aren’t fairy tales or Sunday school stories, taught to kids, to “convey” some made-up story about God and how we got the rainbow (which, by the way, is the Lord’s creation, not some wicked taken-over symbol of sinful men and women.) These things really happened. Read the true scientific facts, which abound in proven publications from all over the earth. And then watch TV to see how water can yet destroy today.

“The flood continued forty days and the waters rose and lifted the ship high over the Earth. The waters kept rising, the flood deepened on the Earth, the ship floated on the surface. The flood got worse until all the highest mountains were covered - the high water mark reached twenty feet above the crest of the mountains. Everything died. Anything that moved — dead. Birds, farm animals, wild animals, the entire teeming exuberance of life - dead. And all people - dead. Every living, breathing creature that lived on dry land died; he wiped out the whole works - people and animals, crawling creatures and flying birds, every last one of them, gone. Only Noah and his company on the ship lived. The floodwaters took over for 150 days.” (Genesis 7:17-24, THE MESSAGE)

In going a step further, that means people all over the world now are family. Good ol’ Ralph is related to Ingrid, who is related to Ming Sun Lee, maybe even the 43rd cousin of Abdul, from the family branch descendant of Japeth, or Shem, or Ham. Or even Noah and his wife himself. Make sense? Sure it does!

Going a step further, if you call yourself a Christian, then do you know who your family tree is? Who are the roots from which your life of faith has been built on?

It is the Jews! The roots of our tree, the olive tree, are the Jews!

Continuing down through the lineage of Noah, through Abraham, then King David, with Yeshua being of the tribe of Judah, along with the Jewish disciples of Mattityahu (Matthew), Yohanan (John), and Ya'akov (Jacob)…all Hebrews/Jews…the roots, both natural and then spiritual…brought forth the olive tree from which Christianity emerged. These are our roots, our Jewish roots.

The roots of our faith, which the Lord God Almighty Himself created, were delivered to us through the Jews. Deny the Jews and you are ultimately denying the very One from Whom salvation has come.

The Apostle Paul, formerly known with his given name Saul, being a Jew from birth - who believed in Messiah (Christ) after his awesome revelation and confrontation with Truth, in the person of the resurrected Savior, Yeshua - makes it clear as to whose roots make up and supply the vast olive tree from which you and I, believers in Yeshua (His Jewish/Hebrew name even today as He is seated in heaven), grow out of. Written Scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit through Paul, were recorded as letters by him to Jews and Gentiles, who had become believers in Yeshua.

“For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." Well said. Because of unbelief, they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?” (Romans 11:16-24, NKJV)

Understand? (as my boss would say). The Jews are the olive tree, roots and all. Believing Gentiles are grafted-in branches, who, if having called on the Name of the Lord, Yeshua HaMashiach also, believers in the Jewish Messiah, the Christ of the world, by faith are the wild olive branches grafted into the natural Jewish olive tree. And without the roots, no branch of the tree will survive and flourish.

Bottom line (part of my accounting roots lingo), Paul says that the natural branches, the Jews, in time will also be grafted back onto their own olive tree. The time will come when they will acknowledge that their very own brother, the Lamb of God, the soon coming Lion of the tribe of Judah, is indeed the long awaited Messiah. He came once to His own, the Chosen Ones, the Jews, and He is coming again for them, and all of us who have believed.

Yet to come along and be grafted in are all those who will also come to repentance from sin, come to the saving shed blood and everlasting grace of Yeshua, Jesus, and be included.

Without roots, no plant can survive. The necessary watering channel and delivery of nutrients from the deep ground up must occur for ongoing life. From the beginning, the Lord has chosen the Jews to be the roots of the tree. Without the Jews, no Bible would have been written. No Torah would have been scribed. No Savior would have been born.

Image source: Radionomy

That’s the way God planned it. That’s the way God meant it to be! (Is that a song I remember…?)

I am most thankful for my Jewish roots. I trust you will be too.

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

Now think on this,