My Heart is Aching Tonight

My heart is aching tonight. I did have a beautiful Shabbat. The Lord was very present. We had a special speaker at my congregation from Tel Aviv, Israel. He used to live in Minnesota and is now a  ministry leader in Israel. He spoke of the need to pray for Israel. He spoke of the crisis with Iran and how 40 rockets were shot into Israel, some supplied by Iran, because the Egyptian border has been compromised and they more easily smuggle weapons in. He spoke of just how lost the Lost Sheep of Israel are in Tel Aviv. He spoke of his ministry to the poor, including Holocaust survivors. And, again and again, he spoke of the need to pray for the peace, safety and security of Jerusalem and every city in Israel.

My heart is to pray for Israel. And we did pray for Israel today, as we always do, after the service. Eight of us prayed upstairs in what we call "The Upper Room".  The Lord gave a word to us that He is building a wall around Jerusalem and that we are to take our place IN it. Not "on it" or "at it" but IN it. He said we are to ask him for more advanced weaponry, and that we had to face the enemy, not turn our backs on them. He said if we took our places in the wall, those places would be impenetrable. He told us we WERE the wall! It was a very encouraging word...and a challenging one.

So why is my heart aching tonight, Lord?  Is it because when You showed me the wall with my spiritual eyes, there were still so many gaps in it?  Yet, I heard Israel calling to us through this man who was living in Tel Aviv with his wife and two small children...and another on the way. This man and his family who are living under the threat of a nuclear holocaust, or, at the very least, war. I heard Israel, through this man, plead for and cry out for prayer. 

You know, God gave us prayer requests in His Word.

One is in Psalm 122:6-9--Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:  “May those who love you be secure.  May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”  For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity.

And He states in Isaiah 62: 6&7--I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD,  give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.

Those are PRAYER REQUESTS from God!

And we are told something that most people don't notice when they read Romans 11.In verse 30 we are told that the Gentiles, who were once disobedient, received mercy because of Israel's disobedience. But the reason they have been shown mercy is stated in verse 31: "so they too ["they" being the Jewish people] have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you." (brackets mine)
So, the RESULT of God's mercy being shown to the Gentiles is so that Israel may ALSO be shown mercy!
Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case, as we see the history of centuries of anti-semitism so much at the forefront in the church.. But, one way the body of Messiah can show mercy to Israel is to pray for her safety, security and prosperity.

"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved," Paul said. I believe he was expressing the burden of God's heart, not just his own.
I know what it is like to feel that desire and carry that burden. Paul describes it as "great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart".
Yet, I know that this burden the Lord has given me for Israel and my people is one that He lightens whenever someone takes their place in the wall.

One more thing...

This ministry leader told us something I find it hard to believe I only heard for the first time today. He said if we were to come to his house for dinner in Israel today he would greet us at the door  with the following words: "Baruch Haba B'Shem Adonai". The translation is "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Or he would just say "Baruch Haba", "Blessed is he". It's what Israelis' say, even today, when they welcome a guest into their home! So, when Yeshua said they would not see him again until they say, "Baruch Haba B'Shem Adonai" -- "Blessed is He is comes in the name of the Lord," He was saying they wouldn't see Him again until they WELCOME Him into Jerusalem!

Just THAT would be enough reason to pray for the salvation of Israel, don't you think?

Til next time...Shalom.

I've had a wonderful weekend of studying and discovering hidden treasures in the Word of God, as I've attended Torah studies. To see how God has woven his pictures of Messiah throughout His Word is like eating a many-layered dessert bar and finding out what's hidden inside...and tasting and seeing it's good! This week's Torah portion covered the parting of the Red Sea. We spoke about the pillar of fire that went before the Israelites as they crossed the Red Sea that the Lord had divided. Someone said it's like a torch the Lord was holding before His people. And in a flash I saw the torch that travelled between the divided pieces of a heifer, a goat and a ram that Abraham had placed before the Lord when God spoke to him in a deep sleep about the captivity of his descendants in Egypt, and God's plan to rescue them from their captor's hand. No doubt there was a "red sea" of blood between them, and that is where the torch travelled as God spoke of His future deliverance of His people. He had painted a picture for Abraham of the Pillar of Fire that travelled before the Israelites as they crossed the divided Red Sea! That just amazed me!  Another parallel I saw was how it was through the blood on the doorposts of the Hebrew peoples' houses that they were saved from the angel of death, and it was through the water of immersion, or baptism into the Red Sea that they were truly set free from their enemies. And so it was blood and water that flowed from Yeshua's side when he was pierced. We need them both to be cleansed from our sin and delivered from our old way of life.
I feel sorry for the many people who love the Lord, but have been told to throw the Old Testament out as if it's obsolete and no longer applicable to their lives. Yeshua said in Matthew 5:17-20 that He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them...that is fill them up with meaning.  The Old Testament is part of the "root" that supports our faith that is spoken of in Romans 11:18. I would encourage anyone who wants to discover and uncover the treasures of His Word and revelation of the Messiah, to study the portions of the Old Testament that are given weekly as Torah readings. They truly are treasure troves worth digging into to find the hidden things inside! 
The Lord once gave me a poem that was an invitation to uncover and discover Him. This is it:

Oh, my Love, I am longing, I am longing for my Bride.
Do you, can you know how I long to have her by My side?
If an ache could be a river, and a longing be a tree,
Then there are roots within Me that go down into the sea.
I long to bare My heart to you, to show you what is there.
There are treasures, hidden treasures;
Will you find them? Will you dare?
Forgiven, you are holy, sanctified and cleansed from sin.
There's no need to wipe your feet before you enter in.

May we all be blessed in our treasure hunting! Till next time...Shalom.

King David

I had an amazing opportunity this last week to share God's love and plan for Israel and the Jewish people with over 200 K-5th graders. I wanted it to be memorable, so I showed up at their AWANA meeting as King David. I asked the worship leader to ask them questions about King David, then I walked on stage behind her. They were excitedly pointing at me to try to let her know the one she was talking about had just shown up! King David spoke to them about why he had fought Goliath. It was because Goliath had insulted the God of Israel. He told them how he had been a shepherd before he had been a king, and how concerned he had been whenever one of his sheep got lost.  He shared how Yeshua, another King of Israel, had said He had come for the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel, and how concerned He must be over His lost sheep as well. I reminded them that Yeshua was coming back to take up his throne and I asked where? Many called out the answer "Jerusalem!" I was glad so many knew that! David told them Yeshua is the King of Israel and God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I asked them if they were happy they had Him in their hearts and knew they would see Him in heaven someday. They all nodded happily. Then I reminded them that there were Jewish children all over the world who didn't know their Messiah. I asked them to bow their heads and pray with me (David) and they did...for the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel, for the peace of Jerusalem (which is one of God's prayer requests), and for Israel. Then David blew His Shofar. They loved that! It was such an honor to introduce kids that age to a concept that it's likely they would rarely have the chance to hear of otherwise. David made sure to tell them that no matter how many people might say God is finished with the Jews and with Israel, it wasn't true. He reminded them that there are promises given in Scripture over and over again about the wonderful plans God has for Israel. May we all be as little children as we look in hope for the day that Jerusalem's Peace, the Messiah of Israel, sits on His throne in her midst.

Hi! My name is Nancy Santiago. I'm a Messianic Jew, a Jewish Believer, a lover and follower of the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua ha Mashiach.
I have been running into so many non-Jewish believers who are curious about the Jewish roots of their faith. They ask questions about what it means to be grafted into the root of Israel, and about the Biblical Feasts that point to the Messiah.  I often refer  them to  Romans 11:17-20 and specifically to the verse that states to non-Jewish believers "You do not support the root, but the root supports you."
I have found, even in my own walk, that to know the Jewish roots of my faith in the Jewish Messiah strengthens and supports what I believe. I think that one of the reasons the church at large is so blown about by every wind and doctrine is because it has forsaken the Root that supports the faith.
Everything from anti-semitic teaching to replacement theology to a refusal to share the gospel with the Jews is responsible for this loss of a strong root undergirding the body of Messiah.
So, my plan for this blog is to share some of what the Lord has shown me in regards to His heart for Israel and the Jewish people, and His heart to see His body at large come into its fullness through accepting being part of the Commonwealth of Israel by being grafted into the olive tree of Israel and sharing, with the Jews, the "nourishing sap of the olive tree".  Til next time...shalom!