Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Seasonly-themed and beautifully-crafted in the Golan Heights by Jewish “settler” Sara. The wood comes from olive trees in the Galilee, which is then processed by Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem, including our friends Nissar Elyatim, Balud Hana and George Handal.
Each about 7 cm.
Please note: The motives of the pendants can vary!
(This address was first given at the 2018 International House of Prayer University commencement. It has been modified slightly for publication.)
I am both excited and sober about this generation's future. I am excited because of the many who are responding to the Lord, but I am sober because I am aware of the difficulties of the context and culture that you will engage with for the sake of the kingdom.
This is, objectively, one of the most difficult hours in history to engage a generation with the gospel. Never before has a generation been more desperate for truth yet suspicious of anyone who possesses it. The layers of defensiveness and armor around the unsaved heart, filled with pain, hurt, disappointment and fear, is unlike any time in history. I believe that we are on the verge of facing one of the greatest evangelistic crises ever. Methods and strategies will not be sufficient to face the threat and the challenge that is before us.
The only way forward is the plan of God to raise up burning and shining lamps in the context of historic breakthrough and revival.
Raising Up Burning Ones Therefore, we want to build on the flame that the Lord has ignited within our hearts. We must continue to take the flame within and press on to fight for a bonfire that will blaze within us under even the greatest of pressures. We want to press on from ones transformed by the love of Jesus unto becoming "burning and shining lamps"; becoming true friends of the Bridegroom in an hour where the greatest threat to the future is not political or moral confusion, nor liberalism or capitalism, nor social or racial conflicts, but a man-centered, sentiment-driven, thankless and self-absorbed form of Christianity that denies its power and exalts our comfort and our feelings above His sacrifice and His passion.
How do we engage this generation in crisis? How do we run the race to win? How do we become the burning and shining ones that the Lord wants to use as light for a generation that loves darkness? Here are some key truths that we must cling to that the enemy will seek to steal, this culture will seek to quench and diminish, and our own flesh will war against in the face of the pressures and trials that are before us.
Roadmap to Success:
Jesus is the source and starting point of all things and is leading this movement. "One thing" must never become cliche or trite to us.
The Beatitudes of Jesus are the core expression of first-commandment love. This is who we want to become by grace because we love Him.
The rest of the Sermon on the Mount is our road map to second-commandment love. This is how we'll become who God made us to be because we love Him.
The "good eye" is the key to everything. We must live before His eye in a singular, focused way. The fear of the Lord is the continual resolve to remember that He sees, He remembers and He rewards because He is moved and filled with indescribable jealousy and commitment to His desired end for our hearts and our lives.
Wisdom is prioritizing a flowing heart alive in the love of Jesus. We want to fight to be aware of His presence, responsive to His leadership and oriented toward delight and gratitude regarding His mercy and kindness towards us. We want to despise entitlement and the disease of "I deserve."
Build your life on the rock of the commands of Jesus. ""Whoever hears these sayings of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded a rock" (Matt. 7:24-25).
Fight to see the bigger picture regarding yourself and the people that trouble you. You are more than your issues and your victories. So are they. Love the person in front of you; honor them with the dignity that was bestowed on them according to Jesus' costly sacrifice. Let His blood, shed for them, speak louder than their behavior, their weakness or their brokenness. Let it do the same for you. Avoid cynicism and bitterness at all costs. Despise arrogance and haughtiness in all its forms.
Keep your heart and your life simple. Prioritize a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led life. Crave genuine fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Long for the increased activity of the Holy Spirit on your heart and on your life. Revival matters—what you believe about man, his need for God, the depth of the problems and the issues of injustice and how they are resolved is all wrapped into what you believe about revival.
Make the knowledge of God, deeply understood and authentically expressed, your genuine goal of that fellowship. Eschatology matters—what you believe about where things are going, what life is about, who Jesus is, and what He will do, all are wrapped into what you believe about the end times. We cannot afford to be an eschatological agnostic, disconnected from the necessary truths that surround the return of Jesus.
This is Jesus' answer to the complexity of wickedness, rebellion, arrogance and unprecedented pressure. His answer to this present darkness and all of its foolishness is a spotless, beautiful bride, mature in love and glorious in holiness. She will pray for Israel. She will long for His return, and she will lay down her life for the nations that despise her. The Father's delight is to answer the mounting ugliness of the human condition with unprecedented beauty. We long for Him to come, but until then, we long for Him to receive the reward of His suffering—in our lives and the lives of all who were made to bring Him the highest and deepest pleasure and joy.
This is the kind of church the Lord wants to thrust in the midst of a generation like brands plucked from the fire. The heart of God for the days to come is to see His burning and shining lamps, His friends of the Bridegroom, fight for the glory and the beauty of Jesus to be known through a clear demonstration of passionate love in Spirit and in truth. Amen.
What is your role in answering the present darkness?
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I will take them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their own land, and will pasture them on the mountains of Yisrael, by the watercourses and in all the settled portions of the land Ezekiel 34:13 (The Israel Bible™)
וְהוֹצֵאתִים מִן־הָעַמִּים וְקִבַּצְתִּים מִן־הָאֲרָצוֹת וַהֲבִיאֹתִים אֶל־אַדְמָתָם וּרְעִיתִים אֶל־הָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּאֲפִיקִים וּבְכֹל מוֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ Hear the verse in Hebrew
v’-ho-tzay-TEEM min ha-a-MEEM v’-ki-batz-TEEM min ha-a-ra-TZOT va-ha-vee-o-TEEM el ad-ma-TAM ur-ee-TEEM el ha-RAY yis-ra-AYL ba-a-fee-KEEM uv-KHOL mo-sh’-VAY ha-A-retz
The Answer to Our Prayers
The “ingathering of the exiles,” known in Hebrew as kibbutzgaluyot (קיבוץ גלויות), is promised in multiple places throughout the Bible. Although they are scattered throughout the four corners of the earth, Yechezkel (Ezekiel) declares that one day, God will gather the People of Israel and return them to their ancient soil, the Land of Israel. For centuries, Jews have been praying three times daily for the fulfillment of this prophecy in their central prayer, known as the amidah. With the establishment of the State of Israel and the many waves of immigration that have taken place in recent history, we are fortunate to witness the beginning of the fulfillment of this tremendous miracle. Find inspiration every day of the year with Israel365's Daily Inspirations.
"Now the other questions have been: 'Are there felons, are there bad guys in this group?' And I can
tell you it didn't take me long to find four or five right away who are absolute felons who are coming
north to try to get back into the United States," Holton discovered.
A Honduran migrant named Freddy was one of several people who told us they've been deported from
the US four times. "Sure I've visited," he said. "Sometimes two months, sometimes a month. I was
imprisoned there in the detention center."
People are also asking about whether or not there are so-called "exotics" in the caravan – people who
are not from Central America. Holton went into a restaurant where he quickly found a young man from
Somalia, which is in eastern Africa. The Somali migrant spoke to CBN News in English, saying he was
heading to the US in a few days. "We want to take some rest, you know. We are tired, been on the
road," he said.
The Somali man revealed he began his journey north from Brazil. Holton also spoke with others from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Eritrea and Pakistan who are joining the caravan to the US.
Meanwhile, some people are saying the trip is too difficult and are deciding to head home. "I found two people like that yesterday and actually helped them get back to the border of Guatemala," Holton said.
A Honduran migrant named Judy said, "It was really hard, there are lots of people in the group, some good, some bad. While we were all sleeping together someone took my phone. I decided to go back because of my daughter. Carrying her while we walked, I became so tired, and the sun and everything affected us both a lot."
"My dream has always been to go to the United States because it's so beautiful, to work and improve the lives of me and my family, and more than anything to give my daughter a better future," Judy said.
"A lot more people would probably choose to go back home if it wasn't being made easier to get to the United States by a lot of well-meaning groups who are helping these migrants," Holton said. "And we can know one thing for sure and that's that there will be a lot more caravans behind this one because everybody is ready to take advantage of the infrastructure being created by this caravan. And so we have to think hard about how we are going to help these people but also help ourselves."
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