Strong In Me

You are My loved one and you are My child.

The world you walk in is untamed; it is wild.

Roots on the path make you stumble and fall.

Voices will whisper and night owls will call.

Just know I have walked it, I know every bend.

And for every step you take, My grace I’ll send.

Just learn to access Me with eyes looking up.

I’ve water to give you; just hold out your cup.

I know that at times it is hard just to lift

Your arms up in order to receive My gift.

But if you will do this, and if you’ll oppose

The forces of evil that try to impose

Their will on your feelings; their thoughts on your mind,

I promise you there will be power you’ll find

working on your behalf that was there all along.

My child, I am telling you, in ME you’re strong!

It is true what My Word says. The enemy flees

At the sight of my warriors down on their knees

Entreating and calling on My holy Name.

He flees because he knows that now he’s fair game!

Then all of the darkness that tries to deceive

Returns to its haunts because YOU, child, BELIEVE!

So keep your eyes open. I’m not far, but near.

The moment you turn to Me, you’ll find I’m here.

Just KNOW that it’s true I’m at your beck and call.

I proved that to you when I gave you My all.

So call on My Name and receive what I died for.

Then My zeal will fill you to get what I cried for—

The children of Abraham scattered abroad

Gathered in the shadow of the wings of God!

 

TAKE MY NAME

The Lord recently gave me a revelation about the third commandment that seriously rocked my world.  The scripture in Exodus 20 verse 7 states:  “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” (NKJ)
Now, if you’re like me you were told what that commandment meant was that God’s Name was not to be spoken in a careless way, or to be used as a swear word or as a curse.  But for my whole believing life that never quite sounded right to me. I felt like there was more to it than that. And whenever I would apply the commandment that way, I didn’t feel the Holy Spirit witnessing to it. It was just a few months ago that the Lord dropped this revelation on me (and I keep calling it that, because that is how it felt) about what the word “take” means in this verse. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” He showed me that when a woman marries a man she “TAKES” his name. Her husband gives her his name and it speaks of their unity and the covenant between them. Mark Cohen marries Rachel Sheldon and she becomes Mrs. Rachel Cohen. When people see that’s her name, they know she is in partnership and covenant with Mark. But if she were to start running around paying more attention to other men than to her own husband; if she dishonored him by acting like they weren’t even married; if she rebelled against him, ran away from him and refused to listen to him it would seem she had taken Mark’s name “IN VAIN”.  She would no longer be honoring him, his name or the covenant between them. That is what the Lord was warning the Israelites (and us) against. That if we are going to claim to belong to Him, then our walk and our lives should reflect our commitment to Him and our love for Him.

Now I had to look up that word “take” in the Hebrew to find out if what I was hearing was accurate and truly from the Lord. Imagine my excitement to find that the word translated as “take” in Exodus 20:7 is the Hebrew word תִשָּׂ֛א (tis-sa) which means “to lift, carry, take”. So it can be translated as “You shall not CARRY the name of the Lord your God in vain.” That makes sense since the Lord said He would put His name on the children of Israel.  And what He puts on people they then “carry”.

We see this in Numbers 6:22-27 when God gives the Aaronic blessing to Aaron the high priest and his sons and states that when the people are blessed in this way the priests will be putting His Name on the children of Israel:  And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:  “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’  “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” (NKJ)

The covenant that took place at Mount Sinai between God and His people is often looked at by the Rabbis as a marriage covenant. As we read in Exodus 19:3-8: And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:  ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.  Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.  And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”  So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him.  Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” (NKJ)

This was the “I do” of the marriage covenant between God and Israel.

This concept of a marriage covenant between God and Israel is confirmed in later prophetic books where God refers to Israel as His bride. In Hosea 2:16 & 17, God speaks of restoring Israel to Himself and part of that restoration is they would no longer be known by the names of the Baals: “And it shall be, in that day,” Says the Lord, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’¹⁷ For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more.” (NKJ)

It's clear from this passage that God wants Israel to call Him her Husband and wants her to be remembered by His Name and no other's.

As New Covenant believers we  have taken the name of Yeshua because we are His bride. We are told to heal people, make requests of the Father, receive little children, rebuke the enemy and touch the world “in His Name”. I do not want to carry that name in vain! I want to represent Him, His power, His authority, the love with which He loves me and the covenant He has made with me through His blood. I want to carry His Name in a way that honors the One whose name I have been given!

Since the Lord gave me light on this I have seen one Messianic magazine article and one Facebook post that expressed this same interpretation of the third commandment. So I know the Holy Spirit is making this known to His people right now. And I want to join Him in making it known by sharing it here. It so blessed my heart and gave me such a determination to carry His Name in the Spirit and love it was given to me…and not in vain.

Til next time,

Shalom!

 

 

 

DUAL COVENANT DECEPTION

 

2 Corinthians 3:6 NLT
He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.





Sometimes it astounds me how many false doctrines regarding God's heart and plan for the Jewish people are preached and find acceptance in the church. Although, since this issue of God's plan and destiny for Israel and the Jewish people is foundational to so many aspects of what we believe about God's character and about his plan for the nations, I shouldn't be surprised that the deceiver has recently introduced a new deception called "Dual-Covenant Theology". People who ascribe to this doctrine believe that the Christians have one covenant and the Jewish people have another covenant, just as "viable" as the one Christians have. It's a convenient way for these people to "bless" Israel while removing the offense of the Gospel and the persecution that follows preaching it. They not only preach that believers in Jesus are not obligated to preach the Good News to the Jewish people, but that they would be remiss in doing so! Where they find this in Scripture I have no idea. You would have to not only throw out the 9th, 10th and 11th chapters of Romans, but you would have to throw Paul, his heart to reach his people with the Gospel, and his conversion experience out with them! If Paul already had a covenant, then why did he need to be saved? Why was he knocked off his horse? Why did he repent? Why was he baptized? Why did he preach to the Jews?  And to make it more personal...why did I have to receive my Messiah? Let me tell you how I was saved, what I was saved from and what I was saved into. Hopefully my testimony will convince anyone who is considering the Dual-Covenant theology to re-think and realize the error of it. I had a conversation with someone who believed in a dual covenant. He said to me, "I would never preach to a Jew! They are all going to be saved in a day!" My reply? "I'm certainly glad the person who preached the gospel to me didn't believe that!"

I was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota; not exactly a Jewish mecca. But, there were around thirty Jewish families and there was a synagogue.  I was raised to love the idea of being Jewish, but didn't have much understanding of why I was Jewish, except that my parents were, and their parents were, and so on. Around the time I was twelve, I desired to attend services every Shabbat, but my parents, leaning a bit more toward being secular than religious, didn't see the need to attend except for the High Holy Days and the Jewish festival days. So, I would often light the Sabbath candles by myself on Friday nights. I was seeking God and would pray to Him, mostly because I was plagued with questions and fears about what happens after we die. I would beg God not to let any of my family members die, bringing each one of their names before him every night.
One day, when I was around thirteen, I read an article in a magazine about reincarnation. Being desperate for some kind of hope after this life, I embraced this belief. Later, that opened the door for  exploration of Eastern religions, astrology, numerology, transcendental meditation, etc. But, in the midst of all of this spiritual odyssey, I felt very lost. Nothing ever gave me peace. Nothing I did, be it stare into candles or sit in a lotus position saying "Ommm" touched the emptiness I felt in my soul. When I was seventeen, I wrote a poem that described this emptiness I felt:

These empty words could never tell
The language that is known in hell.
These empty thoughts could never find
A peaceful place within this mind.
These empty tears could never flow
As far as this despair can go.
This emptiness cannot portray
The emptiness I feel today.

At this point I'd like to ask that if I, as a Jew, already had my own "covenant" with God which would save me and bring me into relationship with God, why would I write a poem like that?

Another struggle I had was that I had no moral compass. I depended on the world to tell me what was right, acceptable and good and what wasn't. Unfortunately, the world I lived in didn't have a moral compass either. Drugs, promiscuity, rebellion, lying...all of it was deemed "Okay" in my generation. I had no sense of right and wrong, evil and good. I was only trying to survive emotionally and spiritually in a world that had things backwards. "Freedom" meant freedom to live a self-centered, self-gratifying life with no thought of how it would or could affect others.

Finally, when I was 18 years old, I actually looked up and asked God a question about my search for Him. I had come to a point where I realized that staring into candles wasn't making me a more humble, loving person. It was one night when I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't get into an argument with anyone in my family. I made it through dinner just fine, but then my sister and I had to clean the kitchen. We got into such a huge screaming match we were almost throwing pots and pans at each other! I went into my bedroom, slammed the door and for the first time looked up and asked God a question that I had been depending on books by gurus to answer. My question was, "How long does this take?"  I was worried I had a few more "lives" to go through to get spiritual enough to know Him! Immediately, I was given an answer. A thought came to me with such clarity, it was almost like a voice spoke inside of me. And the voice said, "Do God's will." I had never considered that before. So, very seriously, I stood up and quietly prayed, "I want Your will done in my life from now on." The next day an old friend called me and told me he wanted to go out to coffee with me. I hadn't seen him in months and couldn't imagine why he wanted to get together.  As we sat in the booth of the restaurant later that evening, he told me he had become born-again and it had totally changed his life. In my infinite wisdom I replied, "That's nice. There are as many ways to God as there are men." But he told me something that would change my life forever. "No," he said. "Jesus said 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)  Well, I was pretty spiritually sensitive since I was constantly searching out spiritual experiences, and when he said that scripture verse and quoted what Jesus had said, I saw something bright white in front of my eyes cut through something grey, like a veil. I said to him, "What? He didn't say THIS is the way, or THAT is the way? He said "I AM the Way?"  My friend replied, "Yes. He said that many would try to climb up from other ways, but they were as thieves and robbers." I put this together with what I had just prayed about God's will in my life. I went home hoping this wasn't the way to get to God. I knew if it was,  it was going to cause all sorts of trouble for me with my family!  But I wanted to know God more than anything. So I prayed, "Jesus...if you are the only way to God, then come into my heart." And He did! The next morning everything looked and felt different. It wasn't long before I realized what it was. I could tell the difference between right and wrong for the first time in my life! I had a choice! I could choose what was right because I could see! I had light to see by! I remember thinking how a person born blind would never know they were blind until they saw for the first time. That's what it was like for me! And love? I felt God's love for me and my love for Him in a way I'd never known was possible. I was like a young girl who had just fallen madly in love with someone! (And I've been madly in love with Him ever since!)

The Lord showed me there are three keys to salvation for the Jews in the way I came to know Him.
The first is that I turned to the Lord and asked Him a question about how to find Him. 2 Corinthians 3:15-16  says speaking of the Jewish people "Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away."

The second was that I told God I wanted His will done in my life.  In John 7:17 Yeshua said, "If any man seeks to do God's will, he will know whether My words come from Me or from God."

 And the third was that I accepted Him on an "if" basis. I didn't know "if" He was the Messiah, but "if" He was, then I was willing to receive Him into my heart and life. And He honored that prayer and saved me.

So, when sharing with a Jewish person, encourage them to have a conversation with God, and ask Him what the best way is to draw close to Him. 

You can also ask them if they would want God's will done in their life. If so, you can ask them to pray that with you. It will give them ears to hear God's Word and know it is from God. That is what happened to me. That is why the Lord didn't come to me and say, "Jesus is the Jewish Messiah". He just told me, "Do God's will." Then I had ears to hear!

You can ask a Jewish person another question. "IF Jesus is the Messiah, do you want Him? IF he is the only way to God, would you want to follow Him?"  Because if they receive Him on that basis, He will show up and make Himself real to them, just as He did for me! 

Again, I thank God that my friend who shared the news of my Messiah with me hadn't been falsely taught that you should never witness to a Jewish person. Because I would have missed out on a relationship with God, a new beginning, forgiveness and cleansing of my sins, the joy of knowing how loved I am and the assurance that I  have eternal life.  Please, don't withhold these beautiful gifts of salvation from a Jewish soul. It's easy to say "I love Israel. I bless Israel. I respect the Jewish people." The hard part is being willing to endure the backlash and persecution that often come with sharing the Messiah with them. But Paul thought it was worth it. As you read about his ministry, see how often he went to the synagogues to share the good news of Yeshua with his brethren. And see what happened to him as a result! But it was all worth it to him to see some saved. He even said he made much of his ministry to the Gentiles in order to see some of the Jewish people find the Jewish Messiah.

Don't be fooled. Don't be deceived. The salvation of the Jews and their receiving their Messiah with open arms is what it will take for Yeshua to return to Jerusalem. He told them in Matthew 23:29

"For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”  Let us all pray and labor to that end. For it is God's desire, and it was Yeshua's when He wept over Jerusalem, to gather the Jewish children under His wings. Let's all work to help give Him the desire of His heart.

 

Until next time,

 

Shalom.

 

The Only Light

 

 

 

 

 

In light of the events in Connecticut and unspeakable loss and pain those families and community are feeling, I wanted to share a poem the Lord once gave me. I hope it will comfort us all.

 

 

Life can be so hard sometimes;

it can get so confusing

when deep down I know I've won,

but I still feel like I'm losing.

Oh, Lord, ain't it hard

hanging on a tree;

hanging on to knowing that

 it is a victory.

 

I hear talk of sunshine,

and I hear talk of rain.

I hear peals of laughter,

and I hear cries of pain.

I hear words of love rise up

above the sounds of war.

And, oh, Lord ain't it hard sometimes

remembering what it's for?

 

And I'd like to say I've got it straight,

but really, God, I don't.

 I'd like to find a peaceful place

in this world, but I won't.

And I'd just like to cry out to You

and tell you I can't see.

I'm walking blindly, God, by faith

that you are leading me.

 

And I don't know where I am going.

And I'm looking for whatever light is showing.

But, in this dear God, I thank You that I'm knowing...

 

You walked this earth.

You laughed and cried.

You felt the pain well up inside.

You lived, my God,

and then you died

hanging on a tree...

in victory.

 

You are the only light I can see.



The Fire of His Love

 

 

 

                                                                          



We have come through the High Holy Days--Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur and now we are in the midst of the Feast of Tabernacles, the "Season of our Joy". I'm convinced that it was during this Feast of Succot that Yeshua took up His "temporary tent", His earthly tabernacle and was born into this world that He might tabernacle with us. The angels announced to the shepherds "Tidings of Great Joy" during a Feast where the Jews were commanded to rejoice! There are many other reasons why the Scriptures point to this Feast as the time of Yeshua's birth, but what I want to focus on today is what it means to us that He came to "tabernacle" with us. (By the way, I'm getting that from  John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth." {Young's Literal Translation}).

Before I knew Yeshua I was so empty. I was like an abandoned dwelling, a broken down shack, with the windows boarded up and no light streaming in. When He came into my heart after I invited Him in, it was like someone had come in and swept my dwelling clean, shone light into it and opened all the windows to a fresh, fragrant breeze.

What I discovered was that Yeshua wanted to take over my tabernacle, my house, my temporary tent, my body, and fill it with the essence of who He is--His Spirit--that I might become a Tabernacle of His Presence. He wants it to be that everywhere I go, people will see His light and feel the refreshing wind of His Spirit blow into their lives.

But how does this happen? Certainly by faith in the finished work of Messiah. But it's also a process. One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 10:14 "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."  So we are already seen as perfect forever, even as we are being made holy!. It is during the time of Teshuvah, the 40 days between the first of Elul and Yom Kippur, and especially between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, the Ten Days of Awe as they are called, that the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, shines His light and brings His fire to bear on the things in our lives that are obstacles to our being one, at peace and in unity with God.  He is always at work in us, but it's during this time of year that this process seems to be intensified. I have seen believers who have no idea what time of year it is, during these days, exclaim, "I have been under so much conviction lately!" You see, God deals with His Body according to His appointed times, even when His body is oblivious to those times.
Well, this last season was especially "hot" for me, as I sought to draw near to God. So, being the loving and merciful God He is, He gave me a prophetic poem to encourage me to stay close in spite of the heat. He knew I needed that kind of encouragement because I was feeling the fire, and it was hot! The fire I experienced from His gaze, His jealous passion and determination to see those things that stood between Him and me consumed by the fiery love in His heart was enough to make me want to run and hide! It felt to my soul the way it feels to my skin when I stand too close to a big bonfire! But what follows is what He told me in the poem...and I want to share it with you to encourage you to draw close to His heart, even when it's very apparent our God is a Consuming Fire; because that Consuming Fire is His Love.

There is a fire that burns within My heart

That few will draw close to, for when they start

To let their hearts draw closer to My own,

They find that what is hidden becomes known,

Not only to Me, but now to their soul;

Those hidden things that show they are not whole.

And so they hide in shame and run from Me,

Not knowing staying close would make them free

Of those things that in My fire are exposed;

For only in my Fire are they deposed.

For if a person stays close and decides

That they will remain where My Fire abides,

Allowing it to refine what is dross,

And being willing to count all as loss

Compared to the profit of knowing Me,

They’ll find that what they’d always hoped would be

Becomes what’s real, and they walk in the Light,

Now unafraid that what’s in them’s not right.

For they’ll have given up that which was broken,

And traded it for what My Mouth has spoken:

That apart from Me they can do no good;

That only with Me they’ll do what they should.

For they have traded their own hearts for Mine,

And so partake in the Nature Divine,

Til it’s no longer them living, but Me.

It is THIS Fire that sets the captive free.

Not trying to take a scalpel to the cancer.

Cutting away a part is not the answer;

But killing the old man til there’s no trace

Of anything that’s not empowered by grace.

For grace is that by which the new one stands,

And only by that grace heeds My commands.

It is My grace poured out from heaven’s stores

That frees a man from guilt, regret, remorse,

And lets him see he’s nothing on his own,

And that by grace He stands, and grace alone.

It is my fire that does this work in man.

Nothing else will perfect him; nothing can.

 

So may we all be given the courage to draw close to the fire.

Til next time,

Shalom!

 

 

How Can We Rest?

I am encouraged when I see Gentile believers embracing and
rejoicing in the Jewish roots of their faith in the Jewish Messiah.
I was reading about Benjamin Disraeli, the Messianic Jewish Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom during the years 1874-1880, and how he
argued for a bill that would allow a Jew to take a seat in the
Parliament.  The following is from wikipedia.com: "In 1847 a small
political crisis occurred which removed Bentinck from the leadership
and highlighted Disraeli's differences with his own party. In the
preceding general election, Lionel de Rothschild had been returned for
the City of London. Ever since Catholic Emancipation, members of
parliament were required to swear the oath "on the true faith of a
Christian." Rothschild, an unconverted Jew, could not do so and
therefore could not take his seat. Lord John Russell, the Whig leader
who had succeeded Peel as Prime Minister and like Rothschild a member
for the City of London, introduced a Jewish Disabilities Bill to amend
the oath and permit Jews to enter Parliament. Disraeli spoke in favour
of the measure, arguing that Christianity was "completed Judaism," and
asking of the House of Commons "Where is your Christianity if you do
not believe in their Judaism?"'
Isn't that the perfect question to ask those who profess faith in the
Jewish Messiah today? Christianity truly is "completed Judaism"!

So, as I was saying, I rejoice over non-Jewish believers who discover
their Jewish Roots. In a sense, they have found their inheritance. And
that reminds me of the Torah Portion we studied last week. Israel was
about to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. The tribes of Gad,
Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh found the land east of the Jordan
perfect for their herds and went to Moses with the following request in
the book of Numbers 32:5:"If we have found favor in your eyes,” they said,
“let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us
cross the Jordan. ”

Moses was infuriated with them and we see his response in verse 6: Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, “Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here?

These tribes were quick to adamantly refute this accusation. In verses 16 & 17 we read:  Then they came up to him and said, “We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children.  But we are ready to arm ourselves and go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their place."

When I see Gentile believers who have come into their inheritance before their Israelite brothers wearing Jewish prayer shawls, reciting the Shema, dancing to Jewish music, lighting the Shabbat candles, reading from the Torah scrolls and rejoicing in the depth of their faith in Yeshua as they have discovered him as the Jewish Messiah, I can't help but wish more of them had the same zeal as these tribes did, refusing to rest and be content until their brothers also found rest. For it is these same
Jewish people who through their wanderings, their toil, their slavery, their faithfulness, their suffering, and their prayers brought forth these blessings to the world.  And the greatest blessing was Messiah Himself.

Once it was time to cross the Jordan, Joshua reminded these tribes of their responsiblity to their brothers. In Joshua 1:14 & 15 he says:  "You are to help your brothers until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

How can any of us who have entered into our inheritance rest and be content while our Israelite brothers have not yet entered the Promised Land with us? Rav Shaul said he had great sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart over the Jewish people and their need to know their Messiah. He was burdened with the Lord's burden. He was expressing what the Ruach inside of him felt.

You may ask, "What can I do?"  Well, you can start by doing what the Gadites, Reubenites and half-tribe of Manasseh did. They "took up arms" and went before their brothers to fight for them! What does that look like for us? Rav Shaul said in 2 Corinthians 10:  "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God..."

These are  the weapons we use to fight a spiritual war in the life and death struggle of our brothers, the Israelites. These weapons are prayer, praise, intercession, wielding the Word of God and proclaiming the promises God has spoken over his people. Doing spiritual warfare against the darkness that would claim Jewish souls Yeshua died for. Asking God for divine strategies against the enemy. Crying out and asking God to impart His heart for the Jewish people to us, and, as Isaiah 62 says, giving ourselves no rest and giving Him no rest til He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth!

We have received our inheritance. It is sure and incorruptible, kept in heaven for us. Now is the time to fight to make sure that the rest of our Israelite brothers receive their inheritance as well. For, as we have discovered, to know Yeshua and His love and salvation is to enter the Promised Land. May our Israelite brothers glory and rejoice in the inheritance that has been bought for them by the blood of their Messiah, as we are faithful to go before them and fight for them to come into that inheritance. May we not feel settled or content, may we give ourselves no rest until this happens.

Make us faithful, O God.

Til next time,

Shalom

THE LORD IS MY SHIELD

When I was in my 20's I would journal my prayers. One day, as I was writing my praises and requests in my notebook, I heard a voice in my mind. It sounded somewhat like my thoughts, but was different somehow. The voice said, "I will bring forth streams in the desert and water in the wilderness." I got up, startled and a little concerned that I would think I could hear God talking to me in my mind like that. So I called my Bible Study leader and said, "Could you please pray for me? I'm going through something right now." That's all I said. I didn't go into any more detail. He quickly agreed to pray for me and this is what he prayed. "Dear Lord, I thank You for Nancy. I thank You for what You are doing in her life. I thank You that You are going to bring forth streams in the desert and water in the wilderness." 

Well, that's all I needed to hear to start me on an exciting journey of two-way conversations with the Lord as I journaled my prayers!. If I asked a question, He was there to answer me! One of my favorite conversations with Him was one where I was bemoaning the fact that I kept making the same mistakes over and over again. And this is what I heard Him say to me:  "Do not feel that the growing you have left to do can in any way impair our relationship. For Me, it was finished on the cross. I only look at your desire to grow closer to Me...and I rejoice!"

I say all this as a preface to what I am about to share. Because what has recently changed my life, what I have learned and desire to share with you, came about as a result of one of these conversations with God.

And here is that conversation: 

Shalom, my Yeshua, my Lord. I heard you say to come straight home. Here I am, my Lord. What is it You would say to me?

I AM Your Focus, Nancy.  Know this.

What does that mean, my Lord? That You are my Focus?

If you will keep Me in mind; keep Me in view, you will be far less distracted by what other people are doing, saying and how they are treating you.  You will not be looking to others, but to Me.

But, Lord. This world demands, requires that I interact with people. And in those interactions so much can take place. Fiery darts are shot without warning, and my heart is affected. Then I respond, or I guess I should say, react. How does Your being my Focus keep me from that?

For one thing, if I AM your Focus, I will fight for you. Because you won’t be running out ahead of me and becoming an easy target for the enemy’s arrows.  You will allow ME to go ahead of you and be Your Shield. Have you ever seen a soldier portrayed on TV or in a movie hold his shield behind his back as he moves forward? No? There’s a reason for that! I AM your Shield…when you focus on ME.  I told satan to get behind Me, didn’t I? That’s where he belongs. But I BELONG out in front, NOT behind you, do you see?

Sort of. I just don’t quite understand how to stay focused on You continuously while I’m talking to other people, working, doing phone calls, studying for my business, listening to other people talk. It seems to me I have to concentrate on those things in order to do a good job at them. How can You be my Focus at those times?

Nancy, when a teenage girl has a boyfriend that she has “fallen in love with”, how often does she think about him?  How often does she write or whisper his name? How often does she daydream about him? How impatient is she for her school day to be done so that she can properly “focus” on him, be with him and tell him all of her secrets?

Lord, I understand what you are saying. It’s just that my heart gets filled with a longing to see You that turns into an ache. Sometimes it’s hard to keep my heart engaged because of the pain of wanting to just be with You!

I have said you are to love Me with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, ALL your mind, ALL your strength. That is full and constant engagement with Me, Nancy.  Do not think I won’t reward you for this. For I will…with more of a sense of My Presence; with greater revelation of who I am; with a knowledge of how I feel about you that surpasses any “knowing” you have ever known. I promise you this if you will engage with Me. I promise you this if you will expose your heart  to My love for you and allow the sweetness of how I feel about you enter into your heart.  And yes, there is longing. But it doesn’t have to be a painful and frustrated longing. It can be an ache that is softened by My touch.

Yes, Lord. I say yes. But I need You to help me do this. I need You to help me see You and focus on You. Grant me grace, strength, perseverance and the aptitude to do this. Thank You, Lord. Here is my heart. Make it go where You want it to, I pray. In Your Name. Amen.

There is a wonderful scripture that confirms all He said to me. It is David stating this in Psalm 16:8 :
I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

So that is what I have been attempting to do this week. Whenever something distracts me or my mind wanders I do my best to remember He is right in front of me. I picture Yeshua being with me and going before me. I turn my thoughts on what He has done for me, and how He feels about me and how I feel about Him. I whisper to Him that I love Him and I worship Him in my heart. And He is so right!  Because I have been working at doing this, I have not been shaken by circumstances as much this week. Because I have set the Lord always before me, because He is at my right hand I am not shaken.  He is the Shield that always goes before me.  HE is the One who, as the scriptures say, makes my rough places smooth and my crooked ways straight.  Before me…before you…that is where the Lord always wants to be. And that’s where we want Him to be because He is our Shield.  I always thought the Lord would be my shield without me doing anything, and I would be surprised and dismayed when fiery darts would hit me. But now I understand it is up to me to SET the Lord always before me. It is up to me to put Him out in front of everything else in my life!  The definition of the word shield is: a broad piece of armor, varying widely in form and size, carried apart from the body, usually on the left arm, as a defense against swords, lances, arrows, etc. or a person or thing that protects.

God is the best Shield a person could ever have. There are things that I've held up myself as “shields” that don’t ever seem to work. I've put up a shield of how I want people to see me so they will accept me. I've hardened my heart and turned away from certain people so they can’t hurt me.  I have shielded myself with my own words as I've attempted to explain myself to people to try to get them to understand me. These are all common devices I've used to protect myself. But the only one that really works is to put the Lord always before me and let HIM be my shield and do the fighting for me.  And I'm finding He's way better at that than I could ever be!

Here are some verses that speak of God being our shield:

Genesis 15:1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. ”

Psalm 3:3
But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

Psalm 5:12
For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Psalm 7:10
My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.

Psalm 18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18:30
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 18:35
You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.

Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Psalm 91:4
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Psalm 119:114
You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.

Psalm 140:7
O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle—

Psalm 144:2
He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

Proverbs 30:5
Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

So I hope this inspires you to do this thing, this conscious, constant act of thinking about Him and envisioning Him right in front of you. And if you forget for a few hours and then remember, that is not a bad thing! He doesn’t want you laden with guilt over this. He wants you to rejoice, as He does, over the fact that you suddenly remembered and turned to Him again!

We all need a shield in this world. What better Shield than God Himself.

Til next time,

Shalom!