Sunrise

 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

Psalm 3:5

Lamentations 3:22-23

Psalm 84

 #biblestudy 

FindingJesus in the OT - 

Psalm 84 

1

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! 

(Psalm 23:6; John 14:2-3)

2 

My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; 

(Psalm 27:4-6; Matt. 5:3) my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

3 

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

*** Because God has chosen to make his home among us (John1:14; Rev.21:3): 

He will protect…and He will provide! 

(Matthew 6:25-30)***

4 

Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! 

(Psalm 27:4-6; John14:1-6)

Selah

5 

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, 

(2Cor. 12:7-10) 

whose heart are set on pilgrimage to Zion.

(Isaiah 40:26-31; Colossians 3:2-4)

***Lord let our hearts be set on You: Let our sights - our hope - our treasure - be not on earth, but Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).

6 

As they go through the Valley of Baca (weeping) they make it a place of springs; (Isaiah 52:7)

***For if we set our faces like flint towards the eternal things of Heaven, will You not bring Heaven down…? If we cleave our hearts to the incorruptible things of Heaven, will they surely not follow us as they followed the first disciples? (Psalm 23:6)***

6 cont.    

the early rain also covers it with pools.

***see Acts ch.2 (the outpouring of the early rains of Pentecost)***

7 

They go from strength to strength; 

each one appears before God in Zion. 

***This is our reward 🙌🏼 (1John 3:2-3)

see Matthew 24:31, Revelation 7:9-17 and Revelation 21:2-3 (the outpouring of the latter rain and the final harvest - Sukkot)***

8 

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

9 

Behold our shield, O God;✝️(Hebrews 7;25)

look on the face of your anointed!✝️

***Look upon your Sacrifice Lord; 

Remember Jesus Christ, our Atonement - for our sakes…(Luke 4:18-19)***

10 

For a day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

***To the Psalmist, it is not about living a long life…it is about living a REAL Life with The Lord…through the Anointed One yet to come - who is our Shield!***

10 cont.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

***Better to be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven than the greatest in the kingdom of this world. This same attitude can be found in Matthew 15:26-28 & Luke 15:17-24…Although now, through Messiah’s Sacrifice, we have become so much more than servants - We have become sons. 

This is also a call to holiness: The Psalmist has set himself apart from the temporary ‘pleasures’ of this life, to serve the Lord, who is real, Eternal Life.

(Exodus 33:11; Numbers 1:53)***

11 

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

***These two things, although appearing to contradict each other, are actually representative of the nature of the Lord:

A sun: His Glory (Bringing Justice - see also Rev. 7:16) 

A shield: His Grace (Giving Mercy) - through which we are able to stand in the glory. Jesus did this for us. And through his Sacrifice, we are able to know both…We are able to fully walk before him and with him.***

Exodus 33:18-21

11 cont.

the Lord bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. (blamelessly)

***To walk uprightly (without guilt or shame) is the hallmark of a true believer: Why? Because there is only One Way we can walk uprightly before God:  We must bow down and embrace the Cross of Christ: 

Once we were far from upright; we were bowed down with guilt - hiding from the Light, as Adam and Eve in the garden. Now, because of the Cross, our sinful lives can be done away with…crucified there with Christ;

That through bowing low and confessing our guilt to Him,

we can now receive forgiveness from Him(1John1:8-9)…Now He is able to lift up our heads, so that we can indeed walk uprightly. 

(Psalm 3:3; Romans 6:6-8)***

This is how the Psalmist can go on to say:

12 

O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! 

✝️

#FollowingJesus #psalms

A Bond Servant

 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, (James1:1)

Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,(Jude1:1)

There is no greater freedom in Me than to be My bond servant (Ps84:10). For through My vicarious death on the Cross, I have redeemed you…I have bought you back, as the master purchases the slave. For once you were bent beneath the load of your taskmaster, the prince of this world: But my Son took the weight of that burden upon His shoulders, and has given you His burden in exchange - which is light, and his yolk which is easy: Once you were slaves, to the power of sin and eternal death. You were by nature objects of My wrath. But now I say to you “Fear not! For I have redeemed you: I have bought you back, with the highest price imaginable: the Blood of My Son; And because I have purchased you, your life is no longer your own: I have called you out of this world and into my service…you are now mine; As My own personal possession you can confidently put your life in my hands , trusting in my perfect protection, guidance, provision and Love. And I am the perfect Lord and Master. You can call yourself my child - but you can also call yourself my bond servant - engrafted  into Me, with an unbreakable covenant of Love through service - and service through Love

(Song of Solomon 8:5-6)

For it is my desire that you would be yoked to me, as a bride to her bridegroom (Isaiah 54:6), to serve me in comfort and security, without fear of punishment…not through a Law that is still written in stone, but through My perfect Law - a covenant which I have perfectly fulfilled through My Son, and have now written on your own hearts. This my beloved bride, is true freedom (1Peter2:16)

Isaiah 43:1-2

1Peter1:18-19

Matthew 11:28-30

Ephesians 2:1-6

1John 4:16-19

#biblestudy #FollowingJesus

The Bethesda Pool

 #biblestudy  The Bethesda Pool 

Read John 5:1-15

This was a pagan (Godless) ‘healing center’ or ‘askelepion’ erected by a Grecian cult in honor of their god Asclepius - the god of healing.

The fact that this man had been sitting in this God-forsaken place for 38 years, waiting on a mythical angel to stir up the water - waiting on pagan superstitions instead of on the One true God (Ex.15:26; Is.40:3031) - gives us some insight in to why, in vs. 14 Jesus tells the man to “stop sinning“.

***Note: The pool was in fact, stirred by an underwater spring; one of a few beneath Jerusalem.***

And yet, into this dark and God-forsaken place walks God Himself (ch.20:28) - Jesus the Messiah, the Light of the world (ch.8:12)…And, with an incredible combination of pure power and total undeserved mercy, demonstrates before everyone there, exactly who is the real and Living God! (in a subtle replay of 1Kings 18:20-40). 

In this, He also sends a clear message:  There is no place too dark…too far fallen that the Lord cannot, and will not reach.

He will send a very similar message in Matthew 16:13-19 at Cesarea Philippi - literally the central hub for pagan worship and the location of what was known as “the gates of Hades”

We are told very little information as to this man’s background. He may have been struck down in this bedridden condition while actually sitting in that exact spot in this deep darkness, 38 years earlier. Whatever the case, we know that if Jesus had not physically healed him, he could not physically have walked out of there and away from the darkness…he could not have “taken up his mat and walked.” When the Lord sets us free, He does so COMPLETELY - if necessary, providing us with a Way we can physically walk out, from whatever demonic situation we find ourselves in. 

And so, at this pagan place, just a stone’s throw from the Temple itself, in the heart of Jerusalem, Jesus Christ truly demonstrates Luke 15 vs. 4-6 and Luke 19 vs.10: There is no soul that falls beyond His Saving Grace: He is the Lord our God - even in this “God-forsaken” place.

I am aware of this with every person I encounter off the street; every Muslim I reach out to with the love of Messiah, the broken mother; the person battling a drug addiction, the hard-working commuter, traveling home with only his beer cans for company. All these people and multitudes more: Some will step over the line and come to Christ…but for others, as with the man at the Bethesda Pool, Christ (in us) will step over the line into their world and come to them.

#FollowingJesus

When We Ask The Lord Why…?

 Why Lord?

“I had been asking the Lord for answers - on seemingly unanswered issues concerning my loved ones - on issues concerning me: “Why do you seem to move so powerfully for others, but not me? Why do you use me to minister so powerfully to others, yet my issues - my loved ones’ issues seem to remain unresolved?- where are you Lord? 

I should have known that You would answer me directly through your Word - and you did…

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Hebrews 10:32-39

Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. 

Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 

Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

“For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.

And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”

But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

James ch.1:2-4 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James ch.5:7-11

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 

You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 

Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Revelation 1:9

I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us.

Romans 8:16-25

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 

that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we await for it with patience.

Isaiah 40:27-31

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,  the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary;  his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Thank you Jesus - for myself and my loved ones…

2Corinthians 12:7-10

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Deuteronomy 8:2-5 

And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know✝️, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 

Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 

Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.

(Speaking purely from my own observations, but it seems to me that we are simply not being taught properly in the west, about what it really means, to truly follow Jesus Christ!)

The Law of the Heart

 Jeremiah 31:31-33

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 

not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

He wants to write the Law on our hearts…not hearts of stone - but of flesh (Ezekiel 26:36)

Not the Law of the stone tablets - broken again and again…but the Law of Love, revealed, and completely and entirely fulfilled by Jesus Christ. A new covenant for a new heart - and a new heart for a fulfilled and accomplished Law. 

Because the only Way we can keep this Law of God is through the heart of God - which through the death and resurrection of His Son, he has now given to us. 

1Peter1:2-3

Colossians 3:1-3

Galatians 2:20

For more on the Law and the Covenant visit:

A Tail of Two Covenants 

https://sarahshalom777.blogspot.com/2021/10/a-tail-of-two-covenants-and-he-brought.html?m=1&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

The Goodness of the Cross 

https://sarahshalom777.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-goodness-of-cross.html?m=1&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Psalms that point to Jesus

 Bible study#3 #WhereIsJesus?

Psalm 16:8-11 - David’s revelation of Messiah 

8 I have set the Lord always before me;

    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

**Right hand: Power & strength: And David knows Who is the source of his power and strength. (Psalm27:1; 61:2-4)**

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;

    my flesh also dwells secure. (Psalm 18:2)

10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol...(Isaiah 26:19; Matt. 27:51-53)

Up until this point in the Psalm, David has been speaking about himself - and then...

    ...or let your holy one see corruption. (Isaiah 11:1-5; Eph.4:8-10)

**Now he speaks of Messiah; of whom he is the  forerunner and ancestor.**

11 You make known to me the path of life; **(You make known to me the Messiah - John14:6)

    in your presence there is fullness of joy;

(Hebrews 12:2)

    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 22 - David - A foreshadow of Messiah 

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Doe of the Dawn.”

1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? (Matt27:46;Mark15:34)

    Why are you so far away when I groan for help?

2 Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.

    Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.✝️ **Does King David realize in Who’s shadow he is walking?  This is why the suffering Messiah of Isaiah 53 will also be the Son of David (Matthew21:9; Luke 18:38)**

3 Yet you are holy,

    enthroned on the praises of Israel.

4 Our ancestors trusted in you,

    and you rescued them.

5 They cried out to you and were saved.

    They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

6 But I am a worm and not a man.

    I am scorned and despised by all! (Isaiah 53:3)

7 Everyone who sees me mocks me.

    They sneer and shake their heads, saying,

8 “Is this the one who relies on the Lord?

    Then let the Lord save him! (Matt27:43)

If the Lord loves him so much,

    let the Lord rescue him!” 

9 Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb

    and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.

10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth. (even though: Psalm51:5)

    You have been my God from the moment I was born. (Isaiah 53:2✝️)

11 Do not stay so far from me,

    for trouble is near,

    and no one else can help me.

12 My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls;

    fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!

13 Like lions they open their jaws against me,

    roaring and tearing into their prey.

14 My life is poured out like water,(John19:34)

    and all my bones are out of joint.✝️ (Crucifixion)

My heart is like wax,

    melting within me.

15 My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay.

    My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. (John19:28)

    You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead. 

*But he did not die (because Genesis 22:8). “Yeshua hamashiach” will go all the way to death (Gen22:5) - and THROUGH death*

16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;

    an evil gang closes in on me.

    They have pierced my hands and feet.(John19:18)

17 I can count all my bones. ✝️ (John 19:1)

    My enemies stare at me and gloat.

18 They divide my garments among themselves

    and throw dice for my clothing.(John19:23-24)

19 O Lord, do not stay far away!

    You are my strength; come quickly to my aid!

20 Save me from the sword;

*Yeshua will face Death in David’s place - for him, for Israel and for all mankind*

    spare my precious life from these dogs.

21 Snatch me from the lion’s jaws

    and from the horns of these wild oxen.(Luke 22:41-44)

22 I WILL proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.

    I WILL praise you among your assembled people.

23 Praise the Lord, all you who fear him!

    Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob!

    Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel!

24 For he has NOT ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy.

    He has NOT turned his back on them,

    but has listened to their cries for help.

*David now knows that Salvation - Yeshua the Messiah; The One who Saves from Death, is coming* (Isaiah 51:4-6)

25 I will praise you in the great assembly.

    I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.

26 The poor will eat and be satisfied.(Matt3:5)

    All who seek the Lord will praise him. 

    Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.

27 The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him. (Psalm87; Isaiah 2:3; Micah4:2)

    All the families of the nations will bow down before him. (Isaiah60)

28 For royal power belongs to the Lord.

    He rules all the nations. (Isaiah11; Revelation 19:11-21)

29 Let the rich of the earth feast and worship.

    Bow before him, all who are mortal,

    all whose lives will end as dust.

30 Our children will also serve him.

    Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord.

*REMEMBER and RECOUNT - Deut6:4-9. This is likely, exactly how David “encouraged himself in the Lord.”(1Sam30:6)

31 His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born.

    They WILL hear about everything he has done.(Matt24:14; Acts1:8)

Finding Jesus in the OT

 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. 1Tim.2:5-6

Excerpt bible teaching2 #WhereIsJesus?

Numbers16: 

41 But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” 

42 And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 

43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 

44 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

45 “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. (See also Genesis 18:20:25) 

And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun.” (1John2:1-2) 

47 So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. 

And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. (Hebrews 7:25; 1Tim2:5) 

48 And he stood between the dead and the living, (Isaiah 53:12; John10:11-18; Luke23:39-46) and the plague was stopped.

** Compare with 2Samuel ch24**

Matthew 9:1-4

 Matthew 9:1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. 

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 

4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 

Jesus was more interested in healing the disease of the man’s soul, than of his body…the fatal disease called sin, ending in death (eternal separation from Go): It was for this reason that He (Jesus) came into the world.(John12:27)

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,     (Psalm 103:2-4)

How can we walk in the miracles of Jesus without the Gospel of Repentance - the two go hand in hand. For surely, the greatest, truest sign and wonder I have ever seen is a sinner who has been truly saved. John14:12

#PreachTheTruth #PreachTheGospel

Psalms that point to Jesus ~ Psalm 118

Finding Jesus in the O/T

Reading: Psalm 118

Looking first at vs 22-24

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it…

{It seems that David is referring to the day of the Sacrifice…that great Day of Atonement, through which we are saved: The day of the Cross! David, like so many others who wrote the Scriptures, looks ahead to the promise of that Day (see Genesis 22:7-8)…and rejoices! How much more should we, who are now walking in its fulfillment also look back to that Day - and rejoice?…

For truly it is because of that day, that we can declare EVERY day: “This is the day that the LORD has made; l will rejoice and be glad in it!” See also 2Corinthians 6:1-2}

This is why, earlier in this psalm he states: 

14 The Lord is my strength and my song;

    he has become my salvation.

15 Glad songs of salvation

    are in the tents of the righteous:

“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,

16     the right hand of the Lord exalts,

    the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

17 I shall not die, but I shall live,

    and recount the deeds of the Lord.

18 The Lord has disciplined me severely,

    but he has not given me over to death.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,

    that I may enter through them

    and give thanks to the Lord.

20 This is the gate of the Lord;

    the righteous shall enter through it.

21 I thank you that you have answered me

    and have become my salvation.

Then reading from vs. 25 we see some very familiar statements:

25 Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, (Hosanna!)

we pray, give us success!

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.

27 The LORD is God, shining upon us. 

Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar…✝️

{Compare Matthew 21:1-11 - they do not realize that the One who is the King, is also the One who will become that Sacrifice…}

See: https://sarahshalom777.blogspot.com/2021/09/notes-bible-study-lesson-1-anchor.html?m=1&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

***As a messianic psalm, traditionally sung during Passover, these are the words Jesus heard as he rode into Jerusalem as Yeshua - the One who will save us: 

Ironically, it is likely that these are also the words that Jesus would be hearing one week later, despised and rejected by these same people, as he hung on the cross - as the fulfillment of this psalm - and of the Passover.***

Word from God

 “Although the accuser of the brethren may try, he cannot lay any charge against you whom I have chosen. 

Because of the Sacrifice of my Son, your slate is wiped clean…

because of His shed blood, you, my child are free…to run the race of faith; unshackled from your past and going from glory to glory…

Until, as I have promised, you WILL appear before Me in Zion- and again I promise, THIS DAY WILL COME…it has been written…I will surely come for you…

So set your sights on things of Heaven, 

set your heart on pilgrimage…

set your face to seek Me; 

and as I promised, you WILL find Me, if you search…for ME…with all your heart - I WILL be found by you. 

You must take courage from these truths in My Word, and press in to know me, in these last days. 

For the one who endures to the end will reap a harvest for my Kingdom, if they do not grow weary…

and to the one who overcomes…” Read Revelation ch 2 & 3

Romans 8:33

Psalm 84:5-7

Colossians 3:2-4

Matthew 6:31-33

Jeremiah 29:13

Galatians 6:8-10/Isaiah 40:30-31

Revelation 21:1-7

Hope and Holiness

 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 

Romans 8:23-25

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 

as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 

2Cor 4:16-18

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 

Colossians 3:1-4

For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 

Hebrews 10:34-35

Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 

So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 

But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 

For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 

Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

1Peter 1:13-17; 2:11-12

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 

For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 

And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

1John 2:15-17

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

1John 3:1-3

When we put our hope in the eternal things of Heaven, which we do not yet see, this will lead to a walk of Holiness unto the Lord, while we are in this world which we do see. (John 20:29)

Pure Religion

 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:26-27

Because pure religion is the fruit of RECONCILIATION - between God and us, that via the sacrifice of Christ we may be Holy - set apart from the corruption of this world and BORN AGAIN into a new life that is incorruptible, where the Lord daily writes His Law on our hearts, transforming us into HIS IMAGE and takes us from strength to strength and from one degree of glory to another until each of us shall appear before Him in Zion

1Peter 1

Jeremiah 31:33

2Corinthians 3:18

Psalm 84

1John 3:2

His Father’s Will…

 First, Christ said, 

“You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). 

Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” 

He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 

For GOD’S WILL was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

Hebrews 10:8-10

He (Jesus) will carry out His Father’s will, to completion…to the point of death …👇

The Lord is my strength

 I will rejoice in my many weaknesses, because Your strength is made perfect in them. 

I can do ALL things through You…

meaning that, whatever YOU have called me to do,  I can SURELY do - 

only because YOU have called me to do it.

Philippians 4:11-13

2Corinthians 12:1-10

What I have I give to you..

Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you....”

The Lord suddenly impressed upon my heart that if we stopped making silver and gold (prosperity) our gospel, and started preaching the true Gospel of repentance…if we emptied our hands - and our hearts - of earthly corruptible substance, and let Him fill them with Heavenly substance…we would then start to see the greater works done by Peter, John and the early church, to the glory of God.

...”In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 

Not that it is wrong to have money…it is only wrong to make it our treasure (Matthew 6:19-24)

There is no “polite” way to say this: the gospel of prosperity is a false gospel...and if unchecked, it will lead people all the way down  to hell. Read Ezekiel 34:1-24

#followingJesus #2Chronicles714 #watchmanonthewall

The Scars

 I thank God for the scars; I do not wish them away, nor pretend they were never there. For the scars remind the devil- and say to all, that I have been in the battle, and have overcome (Revelation 12:11); that I was thrown in the furnace, where my bonds where burned but I was not(Daniel 3; Isaiah43:2); that I have been wounded, but that by His wounds I have been healed (1Peter2:24; Isaiah 53:5):

And He (Jesus Christ) Himself bares His own scars. Why? So that He would be recognized...that people may know that it was He who took the curse of sin and death, when He was nailed through His hands and His feet, to a tree (Gal3:13); that it was He who brought forth a new covenant in His own blood when He was pierced and the blood flowed from His side. (Isaiah 53:5; Luke 22:20)

See John20:25-27

So what do our scars show to the world, except that we have passed from death to life, torment to peace, fear to security, hatred to Love... damnation to Salvation.

What is a scar? 

**A wound that has been healed, but has left a mark. When we have been healed by Jesus, we WILL leave a mark!

**The final connection between us and a world that is fatally wounded, that needs to know...!

**A way of saying “Look what the devil did...but LOOK WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE!”

(Matt28:5-6)

So don’t be ashamed of your battle scars: Jesus’s scars showed His disciples Salvation; our scars will show the world the Way to Salvation.

...Galatians 6:14,17...

The “Greater Works” of the Body of Messiah

“For He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep “(Psalm 121:4).  

The Lord does not sleep- and neither does His Body: For as surely as the sun sets over one nation - one continent, it is rising upon another, and the prayers of the Saints- the watchmen of the Lord, unified and unceasing, continue to rise as incense before His Face: 

We are One Body in many nations, but what makes us so formidable is that where some of us are resting, others of us are wide awake, continuing to work his works and radiate and reflect His Glory. So in essence, we, like our Lord, neither slumber nor sleep. (Compare Rev 4:8)

This is the Body of Messiah: Sanctified; Unified; Glorified: 

Through the Blood; beyond the veil: This is who we are.  This is why we must never, ever stop communing with Him; It is only through Yeshua our Head, that we become One Body.

For this is where everything else begins (just you and I Lord): To discover that secret place, is the reason for the season we are in. 

[ John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 

See Ch5:20-21

There will be nothing greater than the saving work that Jesus will do from the cross; but it will be through this - the greatest of all works - that our “greater works” will be performed:  

Greater in magnitude; for the Lord no longer dwells among us in a human body, subject to hunger, thirst and fatigue; but very shortly we will be introduced to the third part of this mysterious godhead: The Holy Spirit - who does not tire, faint or grow weary; and who will indwell and empower each and every believer, to be the hands, feet and heart of the Lord - the very ends of the earth.

And greater because the perfect Love of God, unveiled through Jesus Christ, will now be made manifest throughout his entire Church, through the Holy Spirit - to the very ends of the earth. ]

Excerpt from “A study of John’s Gospel”

http://sarahshalom777.blogspot.com/2025/03/john-14.html