With faith & prayer, everything always works out. Not always the way you think it will, but the way it’s supposed to be. Worrying & being anxious won’t change anything & only holds you back. The stress you cause yourself from being anxious is not healthy. Put your trust in God.
Proverbs 12:25. Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.
Matthew 6:27. And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to your life span?
Have a worry free week my friends!!!
Here is the latest from the Temple Institute and their quest for a pure red heifer. See the video and the information below from the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. Turn on the captions in options of the video for English.
Rabbi Azaria Ariel, who is leading the Temple Institute’s efforts to raise a red heifer for the performance of the commandment of producing the purifying ashes of the red heifer, recently inspected the current red heifer candidates and shared their status.
Of the two more mature candidates, one is still very viable, as Rabbi Azaria explains, despite currently having a few hairs which aren’t sufficiently red, as required by halacha (Jewish law).
Two new candidates were born in the early months of 2020, and they are currently viable.
The ordinance of the red heifer is described in Numbers, chapter 19. The purifying power of the ashes of the red heifer posses the ability to overcome the spiritual impurity contracted via physical contact with a corpse or cadaver, known in Hebrew as טמא מת – tamei met.
The renewal of the ashes of the red heifer would enable kohanim (Temple priests) today to achieve the highest level of spiritual purity, enabling them to resume their work in the Holy Temple, thereby eliminating one more stumbling block on the way to rebuilding the Holy Temple and renewing the Divine service. Rabbi Azaria also mentions just a few of the many other commandments whose performance will be enabled by or enhanced by the resumption of the ashes of the red heifer.
Following are Rabbi Azaria’s words translated into English. The video is subtitles in English, which can by activated via the CC icon which appears on the bottom right side beneath the video:
“We are hoping, with G-d’s help, to raise a kosher red heifer, with the intention of fulfilling the commandment of creating the ashes of the red heifer, and thus enabling all of Israel to be purified from the impurity of tame met, and thereby be able to perform many commandments that required spiritual purity, such as trumot and ma’aserot (tithes), and many commandments whose proper performance are reliant on the purifying power of the ashes of the red heifer. In the meantime we are standing next to a red heifer candidate whose status is somewhat uncertain. She bears a patch of hair that is not currently sufficiently red, but there is a very real possibility that these hairs will redden before too long. And then we will return and check her again, with the hope that she will at that time be kosher for the performance of the commandment of the red heifer.”
Visit us: http://www.templeinstitute.org/
Daniel 9:22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.
God has heard Daniel’s prayers. The Lord has sent Gabriel. Daniel gives all the credit to Gabriel. The angel is the source of information and consideration. Gabriel is bringing truth from God.
Daniel 9:23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.
…a word went out… God was listening to Daniel’s petition and He responded. Notice God did not waste any time. He responded to Daniel “At the beginning“. A word or dabar in the Hebrew went out. Dabar is translated as a word or speech. God was giving Daniel an answer to his prayers. Yahweh sent the angel Gabriel to deliver the message.
…you are greatly loved… Gabriel provides confirmation to Daniel regarding his position in God. Daniel is told he is “greatly loved” or chamad. The term is also translated as desired. God takes pleasure in Daniel. Definitions provided by Strong’s Concordance.
Daniel’s plea and prayers were answered and then some. Little did Daniel know, he was about to receive the outline of history for at least the next 2,500 years. The information revealed would include the first and second coming of the Messiah Jesus, the construction of two temples, the demolition of one temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, the forecast of the antichrist, the outline for the end times scenario, and the ushering of an everlasting and eternal peace… restoration as God intended.
Daniel’s position in God is no different than our position today. God has blessed us with favor and grace.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
God desires for humanity to be restored as He created us. He loves us all yet He gives us the choice to choose Him.
1 Timothy 2:3-6 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Time is running short. The choice is yours…
But the man who is not afraid to admit everything that he sees to be wrong with himself, and yet recognizes that he may be the object of God’s love precisely because of his shortcomings, can begin to be sincere. His sincerity is based on confidence, not in his own illusions about himself, but in the endless, unfailing mercy of God. —Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island
When we give our healing to God and trust in His ways and timing, truly anything can happen. He graciously considers our wounds and gently leads us through healing at a pace that is in our best interest. Sometimes it comes quickly and even painfully, but then we recover that much faster. Other times, it seems as though healing will never come, and perhaps we even quit searching for it.
As we go about our days, we tend to focus on where we are in the moment. Yet in Scripture, we constantly see the writers looking back on what God has done in the past to remind them of what He may yet do in the future. In the following story, we see a healing moment that came in an instant, but had been a long time coming. We can never grow enough in the areas of patience and grace.
My journey of healing began years before I was free from life on the streets. My journey of healing began the moment God dreamed me up in His heart. This is true of each of us. Our journeys aren’t relegated to one moment. Our lives are stories that ebb and flow; each of us is who we are today because of all the days that came before.
As you reach out to the hurting and broken around you, remember that you are a piece of God’s plan. Loving people right here and right now is all He asks of you. Those moments of compassion and love that you give build and build into a story you couldn’t have conceived on your own.
Contact Information:
Christine C. McDonald
636-487-8986
Christine.CryPurple@gmail.com
“Love your neighbor, all of ’em.” -Christine Clarity McDonald
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
There has been a rapture cartoon circulating social media for the past few months. Essentially, people politically opposed to President Donald Trump are yearning for the rapture. See the text below.
Something for those folks to consider… You may live to see the day. However, things will not turn out as you think.
The issue is not “IF”. The concern should be “WHEN”.
1 Corinthians 15:51-57 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
August 13, 2020: Israel and the United Arab Emirates have signed a historic peace treaty today. The deal is known as the Abraham Accord.
The United Arab Emirates is lead by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Israel was represented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. United States President Donald Trump announced the “Historic Peace Agreement”.
This treaty marks the third peace agreement with Israel since 1948. Israel has previously signed peace accords with Egypt (March 1979) and Jordan (July 1994).
Relations between the two countries are to be normalized in diplomacy, trade, and regional security. Under the plan, Israel has agreed to stop annexation of Palestinian territories.
President Trump is hopeful there will be more peace deals to come with Israel and other Arab countries.
White House advisor Jared Kushner indicated the agreement is the result of a year and a half of discussions.
If this is the first of a series of peace deals…
1 Thessalonians 5:3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation…
What was at first a need to broaden my understanding and create personal value for African American culture and history, I found the LORD was expanding my vision in seeing the Body of Christ in a new and broader glory. As we walked in an intentional cross-cultural church, the LORD opened my eyes and heart to how diversity within the local body and Body of Christ universal reflects the unconditional reach of the gospel and God’s purposes in salvation. Not that I did not understand or know that ‘God so loved the world…’ but how little we actually experience in our local church the reality of this truth that will be our ‘reality’ in heaven and how this reality reflects the glory of our Lord.
Through time spent in Scripture and walking out the Christian life within a cross-cultural church, I began to see a connection between the proclamation made by the ‘four living creatures & 24 Elders before the throne’ in Revelation 5:9 and the whole of redemptive history throughout the Scriptures. Revelation 5:9 reveals the worthiness and glory due to the Lamb Who Was Slain flows from His shedding His blood “for men of every tribe, every tongue, every people and every nation…”
I found the ‘nations‘ at the heart of God’s redemptive purposes from Genesis to Revelation. God’s promise & redemptive covenant with Abraham included not only blessing his descendants but also ‘…all the families of the earth’.
The Old Testament, where Israel dominates the focus of God’s blessings, the incorporation of the nations into His eternal family is interwoven throughout the Psalms & the Prophets.
As I began to engage the LORD in this dialogue about the gospel, the Church and the nations, I began to see in our diverse church family the expression of the unconditional reach and reconciliating power of the gospel. The Church should reflect the redemptive purpose as revealed in Scripture, which will be more tangible when those who gather are not all homogeneous in its make up. Diversity within the gospel reveals more fully the reach of the gospel of Jesus Christ, whether it is cultural or socioeconomic or ethnic diversity. Ideally all of these, Ephesians and James speak to these diversities specifically.
Ephesians 2 speaks to being ‘no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God… being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord… being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
This picture laid out by Paul, reminds me of Isaiah’s vision of the LORD in His temple, and the seraphim proclaimed, ‘the whole earth is full of His glory’. The Church is His temple, as described by Paul and His glory will be made manifest by the Church. The gospel is not limited to one people group or ethnicity or to those of economic blessing or poverty (James 2:1-13).
God’s people, as revealed in Scripture, reflect the breadth of humanity. Even Jesus’ own 12 disciples were from the broad spectrum of Israelites.
Ezekiel 38:2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him…”
The following is a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry directed to the nation of Israel.
“On the evening of August 3, the Israeli Air Force launched strikes on the positions of the Syrian military in response to an alleged attempt by unknown persons earlier that day to plant an explosive device near the dividing line in the occupied Golan Heights. At the same time, the Israelis, as expected, placed all responsibility for the incident on the Syrian side. According to incoming reports, observation posts, anti-aircraft guns, objective control systems, as well as command posts of the SAR Armed Forces were subjected to an air attack. We strongly condemn these actions and express our serious concern about the next aggravation of relations between Israel and Syria. We warn the Israeli leadership against repeating such steps, fraught with dangerous consequences for the entire Middle East region. We express our support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the SAR. We call on both sides to show restraint and prevent further escalation of tensions.”
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russia-warns-israel-against-launching-more-strikes-in-syria/
The 1st century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus indicated the Magogians were called Scythians by the Greeks. They lived north of the Black Sea. During the same time period, Philo equated Magog with southern Russia.
For over 1,200 years, the Bible and historians of their day equated the people of Magog with the Scythians. They lived in modern day Russia. The Bible and historians are consistent. Magog is modern day Russia. Magog will invade Israel in the future. Magog will get theirs handed to them by the Lord Himself (Ezekiel 38-39).
August 10, 2020: The entire Lebanese government has resigned. No one is at the wheel in Lebanon. There are many suitors who want to fill the vacuum of power… for example, the Lebanese people, Russia, Turkey, Hezbollah, and Iran. Big time consequences are at stake on the northern border of Israel.
It stands to reason in light of prophecy, betting odds are Russia fills the void in Lebanon.
Ezekiel 39:2 And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel.
The word “love” is written in the bible 310 times in the King James Version & 551 times New International Version. Seems like it must be a pretty important action since it’s mentioned so many times in the Book of life. We definitely need more love in this world. Are you showing love enough?
Love more… Have a loving week my friends!!!
Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans…
In general, history records Babylon was taken by the Persian Empire in 539 BC. This is the year Daniel is about to be visited again by the angel Gabriel.
The last time Gabriel visited Daniel was 14 years earlier. We know Daniel received understanding of the first vision from Daniel 8:1 in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar to be about 553 BC.
Gabriel’s second visitation would be a reminder of the fulfillment of his first message to Daniel. Babylon was promised to fall to the Medes and Persians and lose its seat of the world’s dominant power. Gabriel appears a second time to Daniel after his initial prophecy from God was reality.
Daniel 9:20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God…
Daniel 9:20 is an effective summary of his petition to God in Daniel 9:3-19. Daniel is approaching God in prayer. Daniel is more concerned about God’s name and His reputation. He knows God is forgiving and merciful.
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Daniel 9:21 …while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.
…the man Gabriel… God’s messenger Gabriel appears as a man or ish in the Hebrew. Gabriel looks like a man.
In both cases when Gabriel visits Daniel, he appears as a man. The first time in Daniel 8:15 Gabriel was described as a geber. This is the term for a mighty warrior. Gabriel is physically imposing and intimidating.
…came to me in swift flight… Gabriel arrived in a condition of yeaph in the Hebrew. He was tired, weary, or faint. Gabriel appears to be in a hurry to get to Daniel.
…the time of the evening sacrifice. Gabriel visited Daniel in the mid afternoon. Typically, the evening sacrifice at the Temple took place at the ninth hour. This would translate to 3:00 in the afternoon for us in the western world and culture.
Cornelius also encountered an angel in the ninth hour in the book of Acts.
Acts 10:3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.”
Jesus died on the cross at the ninth hour or 3:00 p.m.
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
