The Greatest Commandment

Va'etchanan - ואתחנן: "And I besought"
Torah : Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
Haftarah : Isaiah 40:1-26
Gospel : Luke 22:13-38
08/07/2011
FFOZ The Weekly eDrash

We might obey God because we fear His wrath and punishment. We might choose to obey Him because we fear the consequences which He will visit upon us if we do not. We might obey Him because we fear damnation. Fear makes for a very pragmatic kind of relationship with God. It is the same reason we drive the speed limit — we fear the consequences of being caught breaking it. Yet it is also a very self-interested relationship. The emphasis is on protecting myself.

Love, on the other hand, is selfless. It is a higher path of service. The Apostle John explains that our faith in Messiah removes the fear motivation and purifies our service of God to one of pure love. (1 John 4:17-18)

Yeshua teaches that to love the LORD is the foremost commandment. (Mark 12:29-30) Our love for God should be the core impetus behind everything we do. It should be an unquenchable passion, such as a young man or woman feels for his or her betrothed.

Love is not too much of Him to ask of us. After all, "He first loved us." (1 John 4:19) His love was made manifest in that "He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)

Yet how do we express our love for God? The Apostle John goes on to teach us that the true expression of love for God is to keep His commandments and to love others (which is the second greatest commandment). He says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome." (1 John 5:3) And he also says, "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." (1 John 4:20)

The ancient Rabbis (of the Sifrei) discerned two primary ways of demonstrating our love for God. The first is to study Torah, the revelation of God. If we truly love Him, we will do all we can to know Him and serve Him. The second is to bring others to love Him. If we truly love Him, we will desire to see others reconciled to Him as well. Therefore, we best show our love for God by studying His Torah, keeping His commandments, and bringing others into relationship with Him through His son.


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"When you don't have the love..."

My all-time favorite bible teaching is “Ani Lo” by Pastor Jonathan Cahn of “Hope of The World” ministry. It is about Abba’s love for us and how we receive and give that love to others. In the message, he uses the three “Ani lo” statements in Song of Solemn to explain the love factor in our walk with Abba. As believers we need to always have love as our method of operation “M.O.” coming straight out of our heart (nefesh). Who we are and what we do comes out of our nefesh.  When we are in the spirit our mind is shutoff, we don’t get to think before we speak, it just pours out of you. That’s why when the Spirit helps us, what comes out of our nefesh, has to be of Him, a total surrender of our nefesh.  Our nefesh must be rooted in love and not our selfish ambitions. In 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8, Paul is explaining as children of God, the one thing we ought to be is summed up as this – love. He says “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing and if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” We cannot be hypocrites. When you don’t have the love, then things will be the thing. Our life as true believers must follow what Yeshua did and not follow what the world does. We need to grow up. The world follows their father the devil but Yeshua followed the heart of Abba. Abba wants us to learn His thoughts, His actions, His love, just as a true father would. If we don’t have the “love factor” in our walk with Abba we cannot call ourselves children of God. In Matthew 22: 34-40 says “But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” and He said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’  On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Yeshua makes it clear that love is the reason the greatest and second greatest commandment is reduced down to. In 1 Peter 1:22, Peter says “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” Peter goes even further and states in 1 Peter 4:8, “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” Peter wants us to purify our nefesh for a sincere love of the brethren. If we have that love we won’t have that pride, that selfishness, the lying, the backbiting because as he puts it “because love covers a multitude of sins.”

    To get there, we always need to have that quiet time with Abba, quieting our nefesh, letting Him speak too and do not interrupt. Obey His word, reading what He wants us to read and putting Him first in everything. Start changing our attitudes towards people and to pray for them. Some people are afraid to get that close to Abba for whatever reason. Remember, Lucifer is the master deceiver and will counterfeit what Abba has designed. In one of the ways he uses is the new age movement. It has destroyed many people’s lives thinking they are talking to God. Look at how many religions out there that promotes pilgrimages. I know several people that can go into the spirit realm very quickly. They get there illegally without the Spirit. What they don’t realize they are in Lucifer’s territory, and without the Spirit of God they are a sitting ducks, opening themselves to horrible things. Don't be fooled, seek only Abba by His Spirit.

Yeshua says “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35.

"As A Seal Upon My Heart"

By Chris Dupre

As a seal upon my heart,
set your love, O Lord
for I am your bride
As a seal upon my heart
set your love, O Lord
and let me lean upon your side
For love as strong as death
With a fire waters cannot quench
Love is stronger than the grave
so come and fan the flame
that burns within my soul

Song of Solomon 8:5,6 

"Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?"
"Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, 

for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. 

Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD."

It's My Unbirthday!

How many of us really know when we were born? Our parents could probably narrow it close to the day but do they really know the exact time? Abba does! He created us. Psalm 139:1-18 it says "You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, or darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. when I awake, I am still with you." Abba created us for His purpose. Everyone - We are not a mistake! We choose to be with him or not. We are precious to Him. In Zephaniah 3:17, it says "The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

He has good thoughts are towards us everyday. We are His beloved. So to Abba, everyday is our unbirthday!

"The Unbirthday Song"

MAD HATTER:

Now, statistics prove, prove that you've one birthday

MARCH HARE:

Imagine, just one birthday every year

MAD HATTER:

Ah, but there are three hundred and sixty four unbirthdays!

MARCH HARE:

Precisely why we're gathered here to cheer

BOTH:

A very merry unbirthday to you

ALICE:

To me?

MAD HATTER:

To you!

BOTH:

A very merry unbirthday

ALICE:

For me?

MARCH HARE:

For you!

MAD HATTER:

Now blow the candle out my dear

And make your wish come true

BOTH:

A merry merry unbirthday to you!

"I Did It For You"

In the 90's the song (Everything I Do) I Do It For You played all the time. I was a baby Christian then and one day while I was hearing it, Abba was changing the lyrics in my heart to Yeshua's love. I cried, it was so beautiful. I wrote it down and kept it. (used original lyrics from "wake up the neighbors" album)

"I Did It For You"

Look into my eyes, you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart, search your soul
And when you find me there
You'll search no more

Don't tell me, it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me, it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I did, I did it for you


Look into my heart and you will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am, take my life
I gave it all, I was sacrificed


Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more
You know it's true
Everything I did, I did it for you, oh yeah


There's no love, like my love
And no other could give more love
There's nowhere, unless I'm there
All the time, I'll lead the way yeah


Look into your heart today
Oh yeah


Oh, you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more


Yeah I fought for you
I cried for you
Hung on the cross for you
Yeah I died & rose for you


You know it's true
Everything I did, ohh, I did it for you

Instruction book

My dad loved being a CET. In 8th grade, my teacher came to me and asked for help. The R2-D2 circuit board the older students were assembling, some of the led lights would work and some wouldn't. They sent me home with one that didn't. My dad was so excited. He got out his meter and went to work. The minute he started, he found the problem. The led's were put in backwards. He was disappointed it wasn't harder. When I got to school, my teacher was waiting at the classroom door. When I told him the answer, he was mortified. Everyone had the same instructions but without that basic understanding of electronics, they didn't see the answer.
People do that too with the bible. You have scholars, theologians, and teachers, that all claim they know the bible but if they don't have the Holy Spirit in them, the bible is just another instruction book. We need to live and breathe the word of God, "walk the talk" not just talk the talk. Showing people what the truth is. Putting the words what we read into action by letting the Holy Spirit "literally" guide us and teach us what we should know.
1 Corinthians 2:13 "These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual."



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Call on Jesus

I love this song. Her songs always helps me when I need strength to do His will what's right. Thank you Abba.


"Call on Jesus" by Nicole C. Mullen


I'm so very ordinary
Nothing special on my own
I have never walked on water
I have never calmed a storm
Sometimes I'm hiding away from the madness around me
Like a child who's afraid of the dark

But when I call on Jesus
All things are possible
I can mount on wings like eagles and soar
When I call on Jesus
Mountains are gonna fall
'Cause He'll move heaven and earth to come rescue me when I call

Weary brother
Broken daughter
Widowed, widowed lover
You're not alone
If you're tired and scared of the madness around you
If you can't find the strength to carry on

Call Him in the mornin'
In the afternoon time
Late in the evenin'
He'll be there
When your heart is broken
And you feel discouraged
You can just remember that He said
He'll be there

His voice, His heart

As I was in prayer this morning, I ask that He give me the words to speak today and to help me do His will. The place where I work has all guys in the design Dept. and they don't hold back in what they say and do. I can usually voice my opinion too but it is always 1 against 4 and some days they like to really ruffle my feathers. Anyway, I ask Abba for His help today in prayer and He wanted me to do something. He said "I want you to always stop and think before you answer what "my answer" would be and say it." I said "that acronym WWJD? But I should be doing that anyway." Then Abba started to explain more. "Yes like that but also you will start learning to control what you say, hearing what the Spirit is saying, to what I want you to say. Getting it into your spirit. Getting use to the way I would respond. Then when you speak to people, it will be My heart and My mind."
In a hurry up & go world sometimes we need to go back to the basics and give our nefesh a reload.


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The Torah that Gives Freedom

05/08/2011- FFOZ Weekly eDrash The Torah that Gives Freedom

Parasha: Behar
Tags: creation, freedom, Land of Israel, mirror, Mount Sinai, new creation, perfect Torah

Behar : בהר - "On Mount Sinai"
Torah : Leviticus 25:1-26:2
Haftarah : Jeremiah 32:6-27
Gospel : Luke 13:1-33/John 10:22-42
Thought for the Week

The Torah says, "You shall then sound a ram's horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family." (Leviticus 25:9-10) The Jubilee trumpet is an eternal call to freedom and an enduring hope for the future. We long to hear the Jubilee trumpet of Messiah.

Commentary

Just as at Mt. Sinai the trumpet blast called the redeemed community to the mountain and to the Torah which was given there, so the trumpet of the Jubilee Year also calls us back to our roots of freedom. In the Jubilee, slaves are released. The slave is free to be who he really is--a man who serves only His God. The land is also free to be identified with its rightful owner, the Lord God of Israel.
This helps us to understand the words of James. He encourages us to remember to follow the Torah. He compares the Torah to a mirror. If a person reads the Torah and does not do what it says it is like one who looks into a mirror, walks away and forgets what he looks like. (James 1:22-25)
The Torah is actually a description of what the righteousness of God looks like on planet earth. We also know that we who are a New Creation in Messiah have been made the righteousness of God in Him. Therefore, the Torah is said to be a mirror in which we can see what the new "me" looks like. I need to know what I look like in order to know how to behave in order to be consistent with who I now am.
In this analogy, James refers to the Torah as the "perfect Torah that gives freedom," freedom to be who we are now. Why does he refer to the Torah as that which gives "freedom?" Many people teach that anyone who follows the Torah is in bondage! If we import our knowledge of Leviticus 25 and its teaching about the Jubilee Year into James chapter one, the answer is clear. If Torah is followed with the proper motives and in the power of the Spirit of God, it enables us to walk a walk of freedom! It gives us the freedom to be who we now are as new creations, as redeemed people, as servants of the Holy One of Israel! (See also Galatians 2:20 and II Corinthians 5:17.)
Shall we take this even one step further? James does. He says in James 2:12, "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the Torah that gives freedom."
He is exhorting us to follow the Torah, as he and his followers all did. He tells us that the Torah may function like a judge for us. It will ask us, "Did you believe the Good News of the Living Torah, Yeshua the Messiah, and therefore live it out?" Did you believe the "mirror?" Did you remember what you looked like in the mirror, or forget and live like something other than what you really are--a new creation child of God?

"Homeward Bound"

Today, I had to let my cat Jazz be put down. It was one of the hardest things I had to do. 14 years ago, I rescued him from an abusive neighbor. I don't know exactly how old he really is but I guess he is around 16 to 18 years old.
He was the protector of my other cat Chance. He would protect him when other cats from the neighborhood would attack Chance. He always reminded me of Shadow from the Disney movie "Homeward Bound" ironically the other two cats are called Chance & Sassy and they act just like the animals in the movie. Chance is now the leader and he still acts like a kitten waking me up 4:30am every day. He will never be able to fill Jazz's paws but I really wouldn't want him to. I love you Jazz, miss you always.

Whom shall I fear?

Part of a song kept going thru my head this morning "whom shall I fear" but i couldn't remember the name. I then finished the rest of the movie that I fell asleep to watching the night before. In the movie, I saw Heb 13:5 on back of a truck and wondered what it said. I then went upstairs to my room and grabbed my iPod. I started to look for that song. I keep on coming up with two singers who's song didn't match. I finally asked my mom and she thought it was Chris Tomlin. He wasn't the one but it led me to the right singer, Matt Redman "You never let go" was the song. I watched it on YouTube and after the song the owner had Heb 13:5 in the info. I looked it up and not only in Heb 13:5 but in Deuteronomy 31:6; Deuteronomy 31:8; Joshua 1:5 also. Abba says "He will not fail you or forsake you." I smiled when I saw that because about a week ago, Abba wanted me to read Joshua 1. I read it but didn't know why at the time.
Three weeks ago they called me back to work. The next day, I received a call from another company wanting a interview. This company was only a couple of miles away instead of 20 and it designed pools. Me and swimming. I went to the interview but still had no leading or peace to join. I would have started 8,000 less but still ok. I felt I was betraying my work and the pool company could easily let me go anyway if it gets slow again because i'm the probie. Then Monday I called them back and said no. I hope that was a good decision. Even if the decision I made was a mistake and I failed, Abba is still with me. Joshua 1:5 "He will not fail you or forsake you."



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Heaven's Ark

I have always been fascinated with events in the Bible that have deeper meaning. The Pesach meal was a foreshadowing of Yeshua’s sacrifice on the cross. I believe Abba has written the bible this way for a reason. I started to think about Noah’s Ark and what kind of foreshadowing that event will have. Then several months later, I started noticing different things and Abba talking to me about them. He was showing me that Heaven right now is like Noah’s Ark and believers and animals are being stored there until the start of the first resurrection. “What the heck?” I thought “How can that be?” Then He showed me the wolf with the lamb in Isaiah 11. They will be eating straw like an ox. He took me back to the beginning and started to show me things thru the bible. The foreshadowing of Noah’s Ark was just a small part in what’s going to happen. The earth will be in its third phase. We are in the second phase now. The best way I can explain what the phases are, is to call them by this, the first phase was “The fall”, the second phase is “The atonement” and the third phase is “The restoration”.
   In the first phase, God made a covenant with mankind. They were to populate the earth, have dominion over the animals, and only eat vegetation. (Gen 1:28-30) Everything was theirs to have, accept for the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good & evil. In Gen 3, Eve stole some fruit from the forbidden tree and ate it. She then gave some to Adam. Both of their nefeshs became corrupted and spiritually dead. They now know good and evil. They broke the covenant with their Creator bringing the severe and inescapable curses. Now Abba makes another covenant but this time, because of their disobedience, the earth and mankind is now cursed, death has entered. Sin will have it's rule. We will struggle to survive because death is now possible. The earth cannot produce food like before; they will need to work the ground for it. There now will be strife in the marriage because the woman will desire to be above man and she will also have pain with her cycles. In all this sorrow, Abba promises a seed from a woman that will restore the earth and rescue them. The earth begins to populate but also people’s nefesh was becoming more and more evil. Eventually all of mankind; their thoughts, actions, and deeds were continually evil. Abba was sorry he created man but He had a relationship with Noah. In Gen 6:9, says “Noah walked with God” Noah found favor with Abba and He was ready to bless him. The ancient world was highly advanced. Artifacts are being found around the earth showing a highly advanced civilization. In Luke 17:26, Yeshua says “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” In 2 Peter 2:5 “And spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly” People then were not ignorant they knew who Abba was and chose not to follow him. (Matt12:40) There was a great gulf between Sheol and Paradise. True believers went to Paradise before Yeshua died on the cross. They needed God’s spirit in them to be in His presence in Heaven.
   In the second phase, God makes another covenant. None of His covenants can wipe out another covenant or be taken back, changed, or stopped. They are eternal and a continuation of the previous covenant. This next covenant was also for all mankind. In the terms of this covenant, Noah and his family is to repopulate the earth. After the fall, mankind lost authority over the earth. Satan now has authority over all the kingdoms of the earth only and will offer it to the antichrist, his seed, who will accept it (Rev. 13v4). Mankind still has authority over animal kingdom and his diet now includes animals. Abba also separated the animals as clean and unclean to eat. No killing of mankind or eating of blood, because there is life in the blood. If a person was killed, the murderer was to be killed. Abba also promised not to flood the earth again (Gen. 9v13) giving us a rainbow as a sign of the everlasting covenant. After the flood, the earth was no longer the same. The land and its atmosphere are different. The animal kingdom is now only what was on the ark, the plant species is not in the same abundance as before, and the greatest change is man’s ability to think. The DNA in a human is now corrupted, death has entered. This is very important. Abba uses this to dramatically slow the growth of knowledge in humans. At the tower of Babel, He furthered slowed man’s communication making it harder to grow in knowledge. Why would Abba do that? For people to be born to have a choice, either now or in the earth’s 3rd phase. He knows how many people will choose Him and is giving them every opportunity, including to be born. After this Abba will make several more covenants but only with the house of Israel. He focuses in on one group and reveals himself to them. Abba uses Israel to show us who He is. Out of the 12 tribes, one tribe “The Levites” was chosen to take care of the holy things of God. Israel was also chosen by Abba to take care of the holy things of God for all mankind. This doesn’t mean Israel is better than the Gentiles, it just means they have a lot more responsibility, incredibility more “To whom much is given, much will be required.” (Luke 12:48) Yeshua came and fulfilled the covenant by becoming the sacrificial lamb making a final atonement for all of creation thru the house of Israel. All who accept Him will receive the Ruach HaKodesh. (Ephesians1:13) The people of God are now equipped to be a blessing and help His creation to be over comers; to do battle against the spiritual kingdoms, rulers of darkness, stopping them in their tracks. (Matt.10:1) Satan will use spiritual counterfeits and deceptions to draw away God’s creation from knowing the truth. (Rev.16:14) All authority over the earth is the Lord’s but satan is still is the prince over the kingdoms. (Ephesians6:12) Yeshua says “As in the days of Noah so shall the coming of the Son of man be.” There was great technology at that time with demonic activity. Our brain was operating in full capacity before the flood. Now there are experiments today where chips are placed in the brain to help with function and deficiencies. The technology is changing the way of life on how we function. Today, people are more and more involved with the occult. There is manipulation in the spiritual realm from raping women to being involved with demons, manipulating the mind, and going into the spirit realm to hurt people. The nefesh is becoming continually corrupt. We are becoming more and more like Noah’s time very quickly. Before the final phase begins, I believe the true believers will be taken out before the judgment begins.(Rev. 3:10) Just like when Noah and his family when into the ark. The tribulation period will come. Abba will destroy all those who still will not repent and call upon His name. (Rev.9:20-21, 16:9,11) The earth will be judged and destroyed by fire. Satan and the fallen angels will be bound for 1000 years. (Rev.20:2)
   In the third and final phase, the earth is restored and back to the pre-flood conditions but not to when they were in the Garden of Eden. The restoration will first start with believers from the tribulation period and the believers who already are in Heaven; with new resurrected bodies. The second death will have no power and then we will be at the great white throne ready for the new earth. “Blessed is he who takes part in the first resurrection.” (Revelation 20:6) I believe that the mentally ill, babies and anyone that could not choose before will live on earth and have that chance during the 1000 year reign; to be able to go before the Great White Throne. All knowledge is also restored. No more debating about Yeshua. Either you obey Him or not. When the children are born during this time, they will need to choose. The sin nature will still be active and death is still possible for those who are born during this time. The animals will be restored and they will be vegetarian. Children will be able to play with them without fear. Mankind will probably be vegetarian also. Jerusalem is now the religious and political center where Yeshua rules as king and all the kingdoms come and worship Him. The 12 tribes will be reinstated and the 144,000 thousand will take their rightful place in the kingdom.(Isaiah11:10) The governments or kingdoms will be first established by the Sons of God (kings and priests) Then after the 1000 years are finished, satan will be loosed and people will gather with him against God. They are defeated and satan is thrown in the lake of fire. Heaven and earth are gone. The Great white throne judges all of mankind. Paul says in Romans 14:12 ”So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” Revelation 20:15 “And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.”
A new heaven and earth are created. The new Jerusalem will come down from Heaven. We will live forever and death is impossible. No more sin and we will be like the angles in heaven. The new earth will be just like the Garden of Eden. In Luke 20: 34-36, there is no more giving to marriage or having kids. This is the second age, the age to come. (Matt. 12:32)
Rev 21:1-7 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. "And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new "And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." Then He said to me, "It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. ”He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son."

"My Cat Chance"

This is just like my cat Chance. Instead of flies, it's moths and he eats them.


"What is yours is mine and mine's me own" Me cleaning my room with Chance's help.

My favorite book

"When God Whispers Your Name"
By Max Lucado

excerpt; Chapter 11

IT’S QUIET. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.
In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.
For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose.
I choose love . . .
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.
I choose joy . . .
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical . . . the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.
I choose peace . . .
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.
I choose patience . . .
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.
I choose kindness . . .
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.
I choose goodness . . .
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.
I choose faithfulness . . .
Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.
I choose gentleness . . .
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.
I choose self-control . . .
I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek his grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

"Songs of the Heart"

Growing up in the 70's, my mom always had the Christian radio stations on and the songs always fill me with happiness. Now that digital age has come it is a lot easier to find these old songs. These old songs take me back and refocus me to Him. They are like a stained glass picture of who I am in Him and day by day I am becoming more complete. The shards of glass once broken now coming together making a new picture.


"Spirit Song"

O let the Son of God enfold You
With His Spirit and His love
Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul
O let Him have those things that hold You
And His Spirit like a dove
Will descend upon your life
And make you whole

(chorus)
Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill Your Lambs
Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill Your Lambs

O come and sing this song with gladness
As your hearts are filled with joy
Lift your hands in sweet surrender
To His name
O give Him all your tears and sadness
Give Him all your years of pain
And you'll enter into life
In Jesus' name

My King

Last weekend during my bible time, I was reading 1 Samuel. When I got to ch 8v6, the people of Israel says ”Give us a king to judge us.” I’m thinking “why do they do that every time and why do they need a king?” I continued reading and in verse 7&8 ^“And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸ According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.” When Abba says “They have forsaken me and served other gods.” that bothered me a lot and I started talking to Abba about it. Yeshua says to me “People are still doing that to me now.” I’m thinking “How? There is no king.” Yeshua says ”When they exalt their pastors over me.””Wow” I thought. Yeshua was showing me how people are afraid of intimacy with him. Just like the Israelites were afraid of God’s presence. In Deuteronomy 5v25 "Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore, then we shall die.” The Israelites wanted Moses to be their intercessor, just like the people today want their pastor to be their intercessors telling them what to do and depending on how close that pastor is with Abba, they will blindly follow instead of having their own personal intimacy and growth with Abba. Also they don’t want to be held accountable to Him. They want to do what they want on their own terms instead of Abba guiding their life. I am very blessed of the pastors I listen to. They know that Abba is King and we are to have a personal relationship with Him. They know they are on the same walk that we are on with Abba and they are only being used by Abba to strengthen and equip His kids. Not to be their king. Unfortunately some Christian religions do that and cause people to be in bondage. We need to have a one on one intimacy with Abba and only He is to be our King. Deuteronomy 5:29 Abba says, “Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!”

"rest & worship"

Last week I received an email from Beth Israel - Robin Mark in concert. I was so excited. I gave myself a three day rest. Thursday night I ordered the hotel room for only 70 dollars thru price line, packed that night and headed straight to New Jersey right after work on Friday. The last time I tried to go to Beth Israel, there was a flood (see Tisa’s blog – Rescued 3/16/10). The concert was on Friday night and I left after Sunday service @ 1:30pm. I love Robin Mark’s worship music. The first time I heard his songs was on the Sound of Life station. The DJ had his “Revival In Belfast” cd and played “Days of Elijah” He is the original writer of the song. I love the Irish music with it. I’m half Irish/ quarter Sicilian, & quarter Italian so it is nice to hear some of my heritage in music and at the same time it being Christian worship also. The “Revival in Belfast” cd is one of the few cd’s I have that I can listen to every song on the album. Here are a few of the songs I could get from the album. Enjoy! :O)

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

     For about a week now, Abba has been bugging me to write about this. Every time I write in the blog about my life, it brings back the memories good & bad. Reliving the episodes all over again especially the ones I don’t want to ever think about again. Why would Abba want that? Didn’t Paul say in Phil. 3:13 “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” Paul is speaking to not stay in that bondage but to move on. Don’t set up camp. But if you are going to ignore the issues then that’s a whole different story. Abba wants to dig up the weeds in our garden (our nefesh) and weed it out. Abba will allow the weeds to pop up so they can be dug out. Unfortunately they come out of us at times when we wish it would never have happened. Even Peter, thought he would never deny Yeshua but did. About 3 years ago I did something really stupid at work, really, really, really stupid! It totally wrecked my testimony at work and people were starting to change there too. Someone in a position of authority did something very wrong and I said a judgmental off the cuff remark about their situation. It came back around and I did something wrong. You never know what is going to come out of our nefesh. Only Abba knows what is truly in there. People may think they don’t have a problem in this or that area of bondage but it is by the grace of God that we don’t see it until it is time for Abba to start weeding out that area in our nefesh. People need to be very careful what they say about other people making a mistake. In Mathew 7:1-2 it says"Judge not, that you be not judged. 2For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” It just may be the next weed Abba is going to allow you to face. So when I see people struggling in an area even walking away from Abba who you thought would never have a struggle in that area, I know Abba is working on their garden cleaning out the nefesh to make room for His truth. When we are in the spirit our nefesh takes over. It is like our brain is shut off. Everything comes out of our heart(nefesh) the good, the bad, and the ugly. That’s why we are to seek God in spirit and truth. To fill our nefesh with His truth. We hear Abba thru the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our helper. How can we hear Him if we feed the flesh? Also in Mathew, Yeshua says “the pure in heart(nefsh) shall see God” It is so important that we guard our hearts and not let anything else bad get in there. People are always asking for a closer walk with Abba. We need to let Him weed our garden and fill up our nefesh so much with His Spirit that only His love, His truth, His mercy, His Spirit will come out.

"I will go where you go"

PIC - Song of Solomon 8:5" "Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?"
     I love the song “Dance With Me” by Chris Dupree. The song reminds me of the first time I was with Bob and I ran to him on the hill. The song is about a bride and her groom. Bob will be back again and we will finally be together but I need to wait for him. We, the bride, are also waiting for Yeshua our groom. In an old Hebrew wedding, the father of the bride invites the future groom to the dinner with his daughter. After eating the meal the father asked his daughter if she accepts. They drink a cup of wine together symbolizing the beginning of their marriage - a betrothal period when the woman is considered legally married, although she still remained in her father's house. The groom leaves to go prepare a place for his wife to come back again and receive her as his wife.
      As the bride of Yeshua we too are waiting for Him to come back but what people don’t realize we are married to Him now. This concept wigs guys out a bit but it is good news. In a marriage relationship the husband is head of the family just as Yeshua is the head of us. He makes the final decisions. In Numbers 30v 10-13 it says” 10However, if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound herself by an obligation with an oath, 11and her husband heard it, but said nothing to her and did not forbid her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she bound herself shall stand. 12"But if her husband indeed annuls them on the day he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning the obligation of herself shall not stand; her husband has annulled them, and the LORD will forgive her. 13"Every vow and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may confirm it or her husband may annul it.” Wow, what a powerful statement. The husband has the power to allow it or stop it and it also says the Lord will forgive her. In our walk with Abba we are going to make some real stupid decisions but Yeshua has the override button. He will either allow it or stop it. What a comfort knowing that Yeshua is our husband and makes the final decision to protect, love, & help us. “I will go where you go, I will run where you run, and I will dance… I will dance with you.”

"Dance With Me"
by Chris Dupre

Dance with me
O lover of my soul
To the song of all songs
Romance me
O lover of my soul
To the song of all song

Behold You have come
Over the hills
Upon the mountain
To me You have run
My beloved
You've captured my heart

Dance with me
O lover of my soul
To the song of all songs
Romance me
O lover of my soul
To the song of all songs

With You I will go ( I will go)
You are my love (my love)
You are my fair one ( my fair one)
Winter is past ( winter is past)
And the springtime has come

Dance with me,
Dance with me
O lover of my soul
To the song of all songs
Romance me,
Romance me
O lover of my soul
To the song of all songs

Dance with me, O Dance with me
O lover of my soul ( lover of my soul)
To that song
Romance me, Romance me
O lover of my soul
To the song of all songs
Come and dance with me

I will go where you go,
I will run where you run,
and I will dance...I will dance with you

Close call

About 15 min ago, I was working on my XR80 resetting my air and fuel screws, when a skunk starts to walk by my bike. Half watching and reading my book I thought it was my cat. I started putting down the book to pet my cat, when I saw the skunk. I was spooked out so was Mr. Skunk. It backs up into the lawn chair and stops. At this point my stomach is in my throat. The skunk is about 3 feet away and makes its scared squeaky grunting noise and waddles off down the hill. I am so happy Abba did not let that skunk spray me. WHEW!

First Day

My first class for Hayesod was on Wednesday 23rd. It was suppose to start last Wednesday 16th but there were so many hiccups for everyone on Sunday & Monday, they skipped a week to work out the bugs. Fuse also monitored the session to make sure everything went ok. I loved it. The videos were so cool and jammed with info. I went thru a lot pages in the workbook and I still had a lot to do after the class. In the intro of the workbook, FFOZ tells you that this is not a typical bible study but a real class and expect it to be challenging. Wow, I grinned from ear to ear when I read that. When the class was over about 25% of the class didn’t understand what to do, has computer issues and some of them came late disrupting the class. At the beginning FFOZ gave clear instructions on what to do. There shouldn’t have been any problems. So why did people have problems? This whole first day sounded like people and their understanding of the word and their walk with Abba. Some get it immediately, others will follow but still learn, then some have too many problems and leave, and the last of them are just totally clueless, disrupting everyone. Our walk with Abba is not going to be handed to us. We need to study, grow, learn, and be one with Him. The diligent will seek Him. Deuteronomy 28:1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.”