Don't Vote Like A Pawn

 

Gems,

I have been praying for the Holy Spirit to give me the right words to share with you in this jewel.

As you all know we are in a peculiar time. I guess we shouldn't be surprised as God Himself called us to be a peculiar people.

Deuteronomy 14:2 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

We have prophets coming out of the wood work with messages from hope to doom faster than we can listen to them. We have churches closing both in buildings and homes. We are divided in so many areas, from friendships, families, political beliefs and I'm sorry to say religious convictions.  The media is having a field day with our emotions, principles, faith and honestly making many second guess where truth may be found.

This jewel is not to address all those battles except the last one, TRUTH.

It came after getting a text from a new friend and sister Donna. Part of her text begged the question "Are we being used by those in authority? I'm wondering if we are being used as pawns?" 

I found myself pondering those words for quite some time, so I humbly ask, who are you a pawn for?

I'm not here to open a debate on your thoughts or mine for that matter. I just felt like it was my responsibility to you, my faithful readers to give you a reminder of what God told us, those who call themselves believers in Yahweh, the only true God, Yeshua, Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit, no matter what denomination you are from. 

We are getting ready for an election. Maybe one of the most important of our time.

I'm not here to lobby for a man as my hope is not in man. I do know that we, those who can vote, were put here by God for such a time as this. So what do we do with that?

On a personal note I have been dealing with feelings of depression and loneliness at a deeper level  than any other time in my life. I have gone through some personal heartache, as many of you have, that have left me feeling deserted by mankind as a whole. Mostly because people cannot fill the void in my heart, it's no ones fault, it's just a reality. Perhaps you feel the same way.

These feelings of inadequacy and pain, and not to sound like a  narcissist, but the feeling like no one really gives a crap have given me the false impression that I no longer have a voice.That somehow I am just a pawn in this game that's being played out before us all. 

Part of this depression can make me/us "feel" like we can do nothing for the Kingdom of God.

I am here to remind myself and you that we are planted during this time for a season and reason. Whoever God puts in your garden right now is being watered to grow weeds or seeds. Whether you are trying to or not you are witnessing to those around you.

You have the most powerful tool you can possess, your voice!

My friend Ziggy reminded me that in Genesis the enemy started out as a snake, later he is described as a roaring lion, then finally in Revelation as a dragon. His continued growth and fear that he provokes is no match for what God said His children are. We are conquerors of snakes and dragons!

Romans 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

My dear sisters text this morning reminded me that we all have a voice, we just have to choose how to use it. For me it's Gena's Jewels and more importantly my right to vote.

With that said I want to remind each of us that we are not necessarily voting for a man, as all men have failures, but we are voting for our Christian convictions. This is the weapon God has placed in our hands. When we speak we are either standing for or against God.

I want you to imagine Yeshua, Jesus, is standing at the election booth, or the mailbox with you as you cast your ballot because my friend we will all answer to Him when we stand before His throne for what we did here on earth as His servants.

We may not be able to single-handedly change the world but we can use our voice/vote to line up with what God commands. 

We can pray and vote for the candidate that supports life and Israel.

Let's go to the word:

Deuteronomy 5:17 you shall not murder.

Exodus 23:7 stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will no acquit the guilty.

James 2:11 For He who said, "Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder."

Matthew 5:21 You have heard that it was said to the ancients, "Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement."

*If your candidate does not stand against abortion you are voting for murder.*

Genesis 12:2-3 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Zechariah 12:9 And on that day I will seek to  destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Zechariah 2:8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.

Numbers 24:9 He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you."

Genesis 27:29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mothers's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!"

Psalm 122:6-9 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! "May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!" For my brothers and companions' sake I will say, "Peace be within you!" For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. 

Ezekiel 34:30-31 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God declares the Lord God."

Hebrews 10:30-31 For we know him who said "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

*If your candidate is not supporting Israel you are fighting against God*

We can continue as pawns for the world or we can fight as Knights for the King.

Use your voice wisely!!!!

You will get what you vote for on earth and in Heaven!

Out With The Old

              



We are all familiar with this quote, maybe too familiar I'm afraid. 

I moved, yes again, to a sweet townhouse in Odessa. One of the things I love about this quaint home the Lord blessed me with is my screened-in porch. I love being outside and I have the best view of the woods. It's a conservation area so I don't have to worry about any building going on while I'm here.

I spend a lot of time out here, actually, I'm writing this jewel from my outdoor oasis right now.
So here's the thing about us, humans, in spite of all the beautiful trees I see and the abundance of wildlife that I hear praising God on a daily basis my eyes are drawn to one treetop that I have to go out of my way to see. 


There at the top is a dead branch and every day I say to myself, I really wish someone would cut off those dead branches. That was until yesterday when I heard a crow making quite the ruckus. You know how loud crows can be. It seemed all his yelling was directed at me as there were no other birds nearby that I could see. I finally looked up and said "what are you yelling about?" 

He then broke off a piece of that dead branch, Gems I actually heard the snap of the branch breaking. As he did I heard the Holy Spirit say "he needs those dead branches to build his nest."  I realized this crow was looking for that very kind of branch. What was dead to me was going to help keep life for him. That crow was probably yelling at me to leave his branches alone!

I realized just because something looked old didn't mean it wasn't useful. This of course got me thinking about people and how far we have come from honoring the elderly.

                          
The way of the righteous. Gems we don't just become righteous. It is a process and to be honest I don't think we even know what that means until we get older.

I went to a church service years back and the music was so loud I actually had to plug my ears, it was awful. What was worse than the volume of the music was what the Pastor said when he came to the microphone. He said "if the music is too loud for you, you must be too old, then this isn't the church for you."
I left.... Not because I was insulted that he called me old, I wasn't what I would consider old yet. I left because he was telling the congregation that old people had no place there. How very sad that moment was for the body of Christ.

Yeshua is letting us know that He has no age limit on His children. Old men will dream dreams. Many people say you know your dead when you stop dreaming. I love hearing older people share about things from the past that they walked through personally.

You have heard me speak of my dear friend and mentor Fran Bozeman. Oh how I miss her. She got me through so many difficult times with her love and wisdom. She told me stories of her life that made me want to serve God in a deeper way. She had the right to speak into my life because she had been through many of life's challenges and survived.

When I was a little girl my hero was my grandma Sophie. She was one tough cookie! Grandma raised her 6 children pretty much on her own. She worked from home long before being an entrepreneur was cool. She used to bake wedding cakes to make money. I can remember having sleepovers at her house and running up to the door, the aroma of fresh cakes wafting its way out to the yard. I couldn't wait to get to the bowl that contained leftover pieces of cake from whatever creation she was putting together.

Sophie lived a humble life, she didn't have a lot of money but she took pride in everything she did. Coming from a large Italian family, my grandmother was one of 13 and had 6 children, she eventually had a lot of grandchildren. When it was our birthday she gave you a dollar bill with Happy Birthday written on it. She said you didn't really want the card anyway and she didn't want to waste money. She was very creative, I did get that from her. 

Her home was simple, there weren't a lot of knick-knacks lying around, it was always neat and orderly. As a devout catholic the only thing she displayed was a small likeness of Mary holding Jesus, I still have it. 
The thing is my grandmother wasn't a big talker, I know where did I come from?
She didn't give me lots of lectures on life or even talk about hers. She was a living illustration.
I can't remember my grandmother complaining and trust me she had many things to overcome. She had integrity, she was generous and kind. She gave what little she had to others and she served God however she thought would please Him. To be honest we never really talked about God. I did go to mass with her on sleepovers and when I wanted to visit a nearby church as a teen she was worried because she heard they spoke in weird languages but she didn't stop me. She was truly the gospel message without using words.
I learned more life lessons from my grandmother's example than any other person growing up.

When my oldest sister got married I sat proudly next to my grandmother. I remember leaning over to her and saying "grandma when I get married I want you to be in my wedding." She laughed and said "you won't want some old fat woman in your wedding." 
I didn't forget that promise and years later as I planned my wedding I asked her to be my matron of honor, she thought I was kidding. When she realized I wasn't she said "where will you find a dress to fit me?" Did I mention my grandmother was also a seamstress? Finding a dress was the least of my concerns. I was honored to have my grandmother a part of a very special event in my life.

Right behind her is my sister Darlene. That's whose wedding it was when I asked Sophie to be in my wedding. I didn't notice that till just now as I'm writing this jewel. Tradition says not to outshine the bride but my grandam did, she was stunning!

I still keep this picture in my bedroom. I love this frame with the crown on it, it's so appropriate for my grandmother who was truly a queen in my eyes.

Gems I guess what I'm saying is out with the old is not a good idea at all! We need the generations before us to remind us of what was good and bad in our lives. They are our history, their input will affect our future.

I pray this will serve as a gentle reminder to all of us to honor the elderly. Don't assume because they look old they aren't useful. LISTEN to them they may save you years of un-needed grief. 

Next time you have questions, before hitting Google hit up grandparents 😉

Matthew Meant It

These are notes from my Torah Study Messianic Bible thought I would share.

Leviticus 21:1–24:23; Ezekiel 44:15–31; James 1:1–18

The truth is that as Believers in Yeshua, we are His ambassadors, royal family, and priests—we represent Him; therefore, each of us are held to a high standard of morality when interacting with the world and each other.

 

Biblically, we are called to sanctify God’s holy name:

 

"Do not profane My holy name, for I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites.  I am the LORD, who made you holy."  (Leviticus 22:32)

 

In Judaism, this is considered the most important mitzvah (commandment) of the 613 mitzvot (plural of mitzvah) in the entire Torah.  Our behavior must exemplify our relationship with God.

 

In this way, we can be lights shining in the darkness.

 

"Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house."  (Matthew 5:15)

 

While we are all His representatives, each of us has a unique role in Adonai’s plan.  When we strive for greatness in whatever purpose God has given us in that Divine plan, and work on developing all of our God-given gifts and qualities, then we can bring honor to Him and light to the world.

God’s Plan Revealed in His Appointed Meeting Times

 

"The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are My appointed festivals [moadim], the appointed festivals [meeting times or feasts] of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies"’"(Leviticus 23:1–2)

 

In addition to instructing the Kohanim (priests) on how to meet with and serve Him, God gave the Israelites instructions about observing the moadim (special meeting times and festivals).  These include the following:

• Shabbat (Sabbath) on the seventh day;
• Pesach (Passover) for seven days beginning at sundown on the 14th day of the first month of Nissan;
• Bikkurim (Firstfruits) on Nisan 16;
• Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) 50 days after Pesach ends;
• Rosh Hashanah (New Year) on the first day of the seventh month (Tishrei);
• Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) on the 10th day of the seventh month; and
• Sukkot (Tabernacles) for eight days beginning on the 15th day of the seventh month.
• God introduces these appointed meeting times with the Shabbat —a holy day that reminds us God is the Creator of heaven and earth.  
• It testifies to the fact that God is still actively involved with His creation and sustaining it.  That is the starting point for faith. Since the Israelites are commanded to keep the Shabbat "in all your dwelling places (Leviticus 23:31)," the Shabbat forges a link between the Creator and every Jewish household. 
• The other appointed times listed above are sometimes referred to as the Feasts or Festivals of Israel but, in actuality, God says they are the appointed times of the Lord—His moadim. 
• These moadim were not merely meant to be remembrances of times past; each one gave the Israelites clues to God’s future plan of redemption for them and the world.  That is, each of these moadim or appointed feasts point to the Messiah in profoundly spiritual ways.
  

As Believers, we are privileged to see how Yeshua has either already fulfilled these feasts in His first appearance on earth or will fulfill them at His Second Coming.

 

Yeshua fulfilled the festivals of Pesach (the Passover sacrifice of a lamb on Nisan 14) with His final sacrificial/atoning death on Nisan 14 as the unblemished Lamb of God (Isaiah 53; John 1:36; Hebrews 9:11–14, 22–24).

 

In this offering of Himself, Yeshua also fulfilled Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).

 

Yeshua then became our Bikkurim (Firstfruits) of the barley harvest held on Nisan 16 when He resurrected on Nisan 16 as the first of all who will rise from the dead on the Last Day (Psalm 16:8–11; Acts 2:24–28; 1 Corinthians 15:20–23).

 

Shavuot (Pentecost) on Sivan 6 is a celebration of the giving of the Torah.  On this same day (Sivan 6), Yeshua poured out His Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) onto His Believers.  

 

The Ruach wrote the Torah on their hearts, empowering the Believers to live holy lives (Joel 2:28; Jeremiah 31:31–33; Acts 2).

 

The Fall festivals of Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets or New Year) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) will be fulfilled when the shofar blows and Yeshua returns to establish His reign on earth.  It will happen this way:

 

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet [shofar]; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."  (1 Corinthians 15:52)

Matthew 5:17-19

¹⁷ “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. ¹⁸ Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. ¹⁹ So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

I Never Knew You

Have you ever wondered about this verse?

Matthew 7:21-23

I Never Knew You

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

I assume this conversation is happening during the time of judgment when people are standing before Yeshua for their final destination, Heaven or Hell.

As you can see by their words, they are shocked that they cast out demons and other mighty works in Jesus' name and He is telling them they never knew Him.

How is that possible? Have you ever really thought about that verse? Have you ever wondered if that scenario could play out with you and Jesus when you stand before Him?

I have….

I don’t know about you, but I have never personally cast out demons. I have prayed for people to be set free from their demons and have seen God work in mine and other's lives, but I have never laid hands on a person and seen demons leave. I know people who have and can imagine it is a sobering experience.

So how did they cast out demons if they didn’t know Jesus?

The answer is, they didn’t.  It was and is God’s power that performs every miracle that happens. God may choose to use us, but the actual power is done in Jesus' name with the Holy Spirit because God said so.  Jesus told us He only speaks what the Father tells him.

John 12:49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.

I believe “the many” in the above verse are people who were a part of a miracle, but they missed the part of “in Jesus name.” Maybe they started off with the right heart, I don’t know, but somewhere they forgot that God can use anyone or anything He chooses. He used a donkey to speak to a man when He had to.

They assumed because it was their personal hands that it must also be their power as well. Perhaps they started to believe their own publicity that they were the ones who performed the miracle.

I can see how it can happen, people start seeking you out, they tell people how great you are. They want to be around you for personal and selfish reasons. You start getting words of praise, gifts, popularity, fame. Who would not get caught up in all that? Read today's tabloids, it's one sad story after another of tragedy.

It is the worst kind of disease, PRIDE.

Moses knew this condition all to well and he was considered the humblest of men.

Numbers 12:3 Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.

Remember the miracle of the water from the rock?

Numbers 20 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”

6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

After everything Moses did with the Exodus from Egypt, then 40 years in the wilderness! He made, what we would consider, one small mistake, and his punishment was not entering the Promised land with the Israelites he led so faithfully.

What had he done? The Lord said to speak to the rock and water would come out, but Moses hit the rock twice. Many people think that was the end of it. I believe it was part of it, but I think the larger part was Moses' words when he said “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”

“We” did not do the miracle, God did. Trust me I am not dissing Moses in any way, I’m trying to make a point to all of us that God does the miracles. Moses did and does know God, yet he still had a very harsh punishment. 

That is nothing compared to the punishment of doing things in Jesus name and not knowing Him personally. The punishment for this decision will be not entering the Kingdom of Heaven for all eternity.

How to have a relationship with Jesus is the same as any other personal relationship. You spend time with Him. You read your bible which is the word that became flesh. Jesus the son of man.

You speak to Him and let Him speak to you. It’s following His 2 greatest commandments.

Don’t wait until you stand before the Throne of Judgment to find out if Jesus ever knew you!

The punishment is eternal separation from God.

If you have any questions or want to talk more about it, please contact me I would be happy to share with you about knowing your Savior, making sure He knows you and your name is in the book of life.

For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten son that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life

John 3:16