Monday, September 13, 2010

BRING A 'SHOUT' OFFERING - IT IS YOM TERUAH

Bemidbar/Numbers 29:1-6
1st if the 7th Month (Yom Teruah Message - Sundown 10 September 2010
Shabbat Shalom! Praise Yahweh – it is Yom Teruah – this is the day of the ‘Awakening Blast’!
Tehillim/Psalm 81:1-3 Shout for joy to Elohim our strength; raise a shout to the Elohim of Yaʽaqob. 2 Lift up a song and beat the tambourine, the pleasant lyre and with the harp. 3 Blow the shophar in the New Moon, in the covering for the day of our festival.
We have been singing and shouting, and we will do say shortly, but before we continue to offer up a trumpet shout of praise, I would like to just briefly share with you a little more on the significance of this feast of Yom Teruah. Last week I did share with you what this day means for us and what we can look forward to as a Bride who has made herself ready and we looked at the significance of the shofar and what it means for us. It was on this day that Scripture details for us the offerings that were to be made and that is what I want us to like at tonight and how we, today, can also come and offer up to YHWH our lives as a living sacrifice. Sha’ul tells us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to YHWH, pleasing to Him as our reasonable act of worship, and today let us look more specifically at the details regarding Yom Teruah. Please turn with me to Bemidbar/Numbers 29:1-6, in a message tonight called, “Bring a ‘shout’ offering”.
(Read)
The shofar was to be blown over the sacrifices as an ascending offering to YHWH. Now as we know, sacrifice is at the heart of obedient worship unto YHWH and is crucial to our faith and relationship with Elohim. Sha’ul (Paul) tells us that he died daily; that is died to self and presented himself as a living sacrifice every single day. This day however is a day to remember and bring to fullness our sacrifice and commitment to following our Messiah Yahushua, as we too die to self and put to death all that does not belong.
Yom Teruah is a wake-up call, and we are warned to not be found sleeping as we eagerly await the return of our Messiah and the reason to wake up is to praise and honour YHWH!
Tehillim/Psalm 57:7-12 “My heart is firm, O Elohim, my heart is firm; I sing and praise. 8 Awake, my esteem! Awake, harp and lyre! I awake the dawn. 9 I praise You among the nations. 10 For Your loving-commitment is great up to the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds. 11 Be exalted above the heavens, O Elohim; let Your esteem be above all the earth.
We are to awake to praise – and a life of praise that is pleasing to YHWH representing a heartfelt committed life to walking in His ways – His Torah, and so for us today to come and celebrate His Feast of Teruah in accordance to His instructions is one way in which we get to draw near to Him and declare our love and commitment afresh before Him.
This is the beginning of the 7th month, also known as Tishri, and 7 as we know in Scripture is symbolic of completion. But the term 7 also can mean ‘oath’, and so in effect this is a time for us to allow Scripture show us where we have been asleep, and how we are to awake from and shake off any slumber in our walk of obedience unto YHWH. The term for month or cycle relates to renewal, for each month we see the renewed moon – a new cycle of the moon and so the seventh month can be seen for us as a time of ‘renewal of an oath’! Which oath would that be? Well as I said last week this day is also known as Zichron Teruah, with Zichron meaning remembrance, and so we are to remember the oath given to us through His very Torah, given at Mount Sinai in the form of a Marriage Covenant. As we remember the oath from the ‘Eloah’ - ‘the Mighty One of Oaths’ or ‘Elohim’ – Elohim being the plurality of the El of Oaths made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and confirmed and renewed with us through the Blood of Yahushua! We come to remember that we are betrothed to Messiah. And in remembering we understand that we are to ‘hear – guard and do’ His commands. We are to listen – to do and to listen again as a daily cycle. The first of the month can also be literally read as ‘united for renewal’ and so with 7 symbolising completeness we can have our hearts open to be reminded that it is time for complete renewal. This means going back to Mount Sinai and hearing the words of the marriage contract and renewing our minds and hearts in total obedience to Him.

Why I chose to read Numbers 29 today as the text for us is simply to remind us of our required sacrifices as pleasing offerings to YHWH. This passage lists some specific animals and various offerings that all carry great meaning for us still today. We may not physically go to the Temple Mount and slaughter some bulls and goats and rams and lambs, but let us be reminded that we are the Temple of the Living El, and that we can bring an offering of living sacrifice, sacrificing before Him that which must die!
I would like us to briefly look at some of these animals and how they truly symbolise for us at this time what we are to remember and what we are to offer up as pleasing worship before our Maker.
The expressions through sacrifice that we see expressed in Scripture carry great meaning for us and help us to live wholeheartedly devoted to Him.
1 – Burnt offerings or ascending offerings – that is that which was completely burnt up as a pleasing aroma to YHWH symbolises total commitment to YHWH.
2 – Meat offering (grain) – symbolises our gratitude and acknowledgement to YHWH that all we have is from Him – our abilities and provision is from Him.
3 – Peace offerings – represents for us the direction of our life is acceptable unto YHWH as we go forth is peace walking in His prescribed ways.
4 – Sin offerings – remind of His atonement and that we are to put to death the misdeeds of the flesh and throw off all that hinders us and easily entangles us and destroy it completely before Him.

Yom Teruah is a time of ‘gathering’ and presenting a ‘burnt offering’ and speaks to us of the entire surrender of an individual and the entire assembly/Bride unto YHWH, with the view of renewal and sanctification of the entire man and body of Messiah and a consecration of a life pleasing to Him.
As we remember this day Mount Sinai, as we remember the life, death and resurrection of Messiah, as we remember how He has delivered us from the miry clay, as He has called us out of darkness into his glorious light, we can look forward to the great promises of His Kingdom that is at hand!
As we look at these ascending offerings, we must understand that the word ‘offering’ means, ‘to draw near’!
Yaʽaqob/James 4:8-10 “Draw near to Elohim and He shall draw near to you. Cleanse hands, sinners! And cleanse your hearts, you double-minded! 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Master, and He shall lift you up.

Drawing near to Elohim is a serious thing and it requires total sacrifice that He may lift you up and fill you with His joy!
The purpose of offering or drawing near is to demonstrate our desire to draw near to YHWH! And this is what we come to do individually and corporately at this feast.
Let us look at some of these sacrifices and what it means for us here today:
1 – The young bull
This offering is a reminder to us of the ‘golden calf’ – remember at Mount Sinai, when Moshe came down and found the Israelites had made a calf that Aharon said had just ‘popped’ out the fire! This was an abomination unto YHWH and was idolatry right in His face! So what is a bull? A bull is an animal, and we know that in the dominion mandate man was given dominion over the beasts of the earth – man was supposed to rule over the animals, not worship them. What does this represent for us? It could be seen as our ‘animal instinct’ that so many want to use as an excuse for their often indecent behaviour! We are to have dominion over our flesh, our ‘animal instincts’, the lusts of the flesh etc.! How many times we find a whole lot of ‘bull’ in our lives, and we kind of have the same excuse – it just popped out of the fire! The bull also can represent for us a false security –because if you have a bull which you can ride on, and plough with and use to increase you herds and eventually have food from, then you can very easily feel very safe and secure in your own efforts! Some people put their faith and reliance upon their careers or their wealth and feel secure in their possessions or social status. What we serve as security will possess us! So a bull can be that which you put before YHWH, that which you worship and devote yourself to – be it career, hobbies, aspirations, relationships etc.
This is a time to come and sacrifice – put to death – that which may be a bull in your life – it is time to offer up all the bull!!! And get serious in your worship unto YHWH! Are there things that you have put as greater priority in your life than your walk with YHWH? Put it to death today!
2 – The Ram
The ram is a reminder to us of the faith of Abraham and his sacrifice of his son Isaac, and how YHWH proved a ram in the thorn bush – a beautiful picture of Yahushua with the crown of thorns. It was at this time that Abraham declared that Yahweh is the provider – Yahweh Yireh! The ram is a reminder and picture of our faith in the provision of YHWH and reminds us to continue to have faith in His provision. This offering reminds us not to put our faith in that which does not satisfy or meet our needs but to completely trust and rely upon our True Provider who is always on time!!! Perhaps you have been tested lately – will you offer up your worries and cares to Him and be reminded of where your help and provision comes from. Are you trusting Him for great things – then kill the worries and offer up a thanksgiving of praise with a shout of the shofar which we will do shortly.
3 – 7 Lambs
Again, 7 being the number of completeness and the Lamb being the symbol of the Messiah – this represents our desire and declaration to be completely identified with our Messiah – even unto death!!! This is a declaration of our desire to be perfect as He is perfect and that we accept His provision and Word to lead us to perfection, with the number 7 picturing perfection. This is a sacrifice to your own desires and self that He may life in you and lead you in His perfect Truth.
This is a reminder that He is the perfect lamb who has settled your debt and that you choose to walk and live completely in Him.
4 – The sin offering
This is a declaration to put sin to death, not to simply put it aside but to offer it completely up and kill it before YHWH, raising a victory shout over your offering up of sin to Him who took your sin upon Himself. This is putting to death the sinful nature. Si there sin in your life that needs to die today? Well then it is time for it to die.

These offerings indicate our desire to draw near to YHWH and walk wholeheartedly in Him, and as we offer up that which is pleasing to Him, we raise a shout and the shofar as a declaration that we His Bride are presenting themselves as a ready, spotless Bride washed in the Blood of the Lamb.

Where are you at today? Have you come with hearts prepared to bring a ‘shout’ offering?
This is the day of the Awakening Blast – a day we anticipate the return of our King and Saviour, our Groom for whom we make ourselves ready and a day we are commanded to raise a shout, blow the trumpet and be awakened in his Word to walk in Him.

Read Psalm 47:

Come and let us offer up these sacrifices with a great shout! Come before Him and offer up all the ‘bull’, all the compromise, all the sin, and be stirred in your faith as you put to death as a choice of commitment unto YHWH in response to His Awakening Blast and give up a shout offering of praise for victory – for our King is coming when the Last Trumpet sounds and so we are here to rehearse our readiness and to walk in the purity of His Word. Arise and Shine for your light has come! Let us make a resounding sound of great victory by the blowing of the shofar and shouting – this is Yom Teruah – blow and shout over your sacrifices unto Him today – HalleluYah!

Monday, September 06, 2010

HEAR THE SOUND!

A Message on Yom Teruah / Feast of Trumpets


erev shabbat service 3 September 2010 (24th of the 6th month)Blessed be YHWH our Elohim who has given us His Sabbath that we can rest in Him. Shabbat Shalom to you all! Praise YHWH that He has given us His appointed times to celebrate and keep that we may be awake and watchful for the good things to come! Tonight I want to stir your hearts with the excitement of what lies ahead in the coming weeks. Next week we will be entering in to the 7th month of our Creator’s calendar and we get to celebrate and rehearse according to His Torah His feasts. We have, earlier in the year, celebrated Passover and Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Shavuot. Coming up we will be celebrating Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot – that is The Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. I want you all to realise today that we are commanded to keep His feasts, so it is not a suggestion but rather a call to obedience – obedience to His instructions, His Torah! Tonight I want to share with you more specifically on Yom Teruah or the Feast of Trumpets and my message is called, “Hear the Sound!
We will be looking at a few Scriptures and definitions with the hope to give you a better understanding as to the application and meaning of the sound of Trumpets and the Shofar. Turn with me first to Bemidbar/Numbers 10:1-10 (Read).
From this passage we can see in part what the use of trumpets were for, which also carried with it great prophetic meaning. Moshe was told to make 2 silver trumpets, made from hammered/beaten steel which was to be used for the ‘gathering’ of the congregation and for breaking up camp. If one was blown then the leaders were to assemble; if both were blown then the entire assembly was to gather. It was to be used in battle against their enemies so that they would be remembered by YHWH and be saved and was to be blown at the appointed times.
These two silver trumpets symbolise for us refinement and redemption. The silver also carries a crisp, clear sound! The hammered trumpets tells us that the Father is moulding us through tests and affliction, as James tells us that we are to rejoice when we fall into various trials as our faith is being proved through endurance that we be perfect and complete not lacking anything (James 1:2-4).
The two silver trumpets also symbolise for us the two houses of Ephraim and Judah, refined through testing and redeemed by the Blood of Yahushua being ‘gathered’ to Him and in Zechariah 13:9 “And I shall bring the third into fire, and refine them as silver is refined, and try them as gold is tried. They shall call on My Name, and I shall answer them. I shall say, ‘This is My people,’ while they say, ‘YHWH is my Elohim.’
YHWH, as a purifier of silver, will purify and refine us in order that we may present to Him offerings of righteousness!
In the Scriptures we see the sound of the trumpet or shofar or rams horn being used at the command of YHWH and I just want to share some with you, that you may begin to see the significance of this unique sounding that YHWH has both commanded us to carry out and to hear!
Shofar in the Scriptures:
• The Torah was given at Mount Sinai at the sound of the shofar, which we will look at shortly (Shemoth/Exodus 19:19)
• Yisra’ĕl conquered the enemy in the battle of Yeriḥo with the sound of the shofar (Yehoshua/Joshua 6:20)
• It sounds the coming of the Messiah (Zeḵaryah/Zechariah 9:14,16)
• It is blown at the time of the ingathering of the exiles (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 27:13)
• It was blown to signal assembly during war (Shophetim/Judges 3:27)
• The watchmen on the wall would sound the alarm, warning the people of attack by blowing the shofar (Yeḥezqĕl/Ezekiel 33:3)
• It is blown at the start of the Jubilee year (Wayyiqra/Leviticus 25:9)
• It is blown to remind us of the sovereignty of YHWH (Tehillim/Psalm 47:5)
• It is blown as a reminder of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac and YHWH’s provision of a ram as a substitute
• Blown to announce the appointed times and festivals and celebrate the New Moon (Bemidbar/Numbers 10:10 – Tehillim/Psalm 81:1-3))
• It is blown as a call to repentance (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 58:1)
• It is blown to usher in the Day of YHWH (Yo’ĕl/Joel 2:1)
• It is blown to sound Yahushua coming to take His Bride (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
• Used for the coronation of kings (Melaḵim Aleph/1 Kings 1:34,39)

These are just some of the many accounts we can see where the sound of the Trumpet or shofar is used in Scripture.
But more specifically tonight we are talking about Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets.
Teruah means ‘awakening blast’, ‘shout’, ‘alarm’, ‘call to awake’. The first coming of Yahushua on a donkey was with a shout and His second coming will be with an awakening blast! Ephesians 5:14 gives the call for those sleeping to wake up. And this theme of awakening from the sleep is used throughout Scripture:
Romans 13:11 “And do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for us to wake up from sleep, for now our deliverance is nearer than when we did believe.
In Yeshayahu/Isaiah 59:1 the awakening call is associated with Messiah coming again, at the trumpet sound!
Yom Teruah is on the 1st of the 7th month according to the Creator’s time schedule, and it was this day that Yahushua said that no man knows the day or the hour, simply because it is all dependent upon the sighting of the renewed moon. The Torah teaches us a living calendar because we serve a living Elohim! When we follow the Torah we enter in to living according to a living and prophetic calendar and so become part of the life of Messiah and our timelines, values, thoughts and interests are focused on YHWH’s timeline and not our own man-made attempts to change His ordained time schedule! Daniel 7:25 tells us that the fourth beast would speak out against the Most High and wear out the set-apart ones of the Most High, and it intends or would attempt to change the appointed times or festivals and law. We know that is exactly what has happened, the institution of the Catholic Church by Constantine brought about these intended changes, that forsook keeping the feasts of YHWH and replacing them with Babylonian sun-worship feasts and they changed the law by making a Sun-day law to worship the Sun God Mithras and forbid any to keep YHWH’s Sabbath!
Changing the law amounts simply to lawlessness and that is what has happened to the church today – it is a lawless church – for it does not keep the law/ Torah of the Almighty and has instead replaced it with the traditions of men! You can read about the ‘lawless one’ and the lawlessness that would take over in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12, and how the ‘lawless one’ would set himself up as Elohim on the dwelling place of Elohim, showing himself as Elohim. This is none other than the work of Satan who through a false gospel that has set himself up in the hearts of men and women and is ruling and reigning in their lives ‘as’ Elohim and leading them astray through lawlessness, while performing many signs and wonders of falsehood! And those who do not love the Truth are sent a delusion by YHWH that they would believe the lie that has set itself up in their hearts. What is my point here? Man can attempt to change YHWH’s calendar and Torah and live by His own man-made standards thinking it is worship, but the reality is simply that no one can change YHWH’s appointed times and laws and any form of worship outside of true obedience to His Torah, no matter how sincere, is an abomination to Him! The Christian Church today through ‘Sun-day’ worship is practicing and teaching ‘lawlessness’ and its attempt at worship is an abomination before YHWH! Rabbinical Judaism too, with their ‘takanots’ and ‘ma’asim’ (additional laws and enactments) and their Talmud (Oral Torah), in attempted worship to the Creator is an abomination. We are to worship according to His Word and not the traditions and laws of men!!!

Yom Teruah is part of His calendar that many of us have only just begun to recognise and accept, as we begin to walk in and accept His calendar and appointed times and repent for the lies that were handed down to us, and Yom Teruah is certainly one day we do not want to miss, or rather be asleep in ignorance for! This day that we get to rehearse will be the day that will change the world as we know it for eternity! Yom Teruah is the Day of Great Blowing – the Alarm call that will announce the coming return of The Righteous King, Yahushua Messiah, and from that Day His government will be established with no end to His Universal Kingship!
He tells us that this day will come like a thief in the night and we are to be watchful, as children of the light, who are awake to His time schedule!
This day is a High Sabbath and it is a day where we are called to assemble and celebrate with the sounding of the shofar. I want to reiterate that this day He commands us to assemble; it is not a suggestion but a command!
Yom Teruah is also known as Zichran Teruah, where Zichran is sometimes translated as ‘memorial’ and also carries the meaning of ‘mentioning’ – and it is used in reference to speaking the name of YHWH. The ‘mentioning shout’ as a day of the gathering of the faithful at the shout of His Trumpet sound! Yahushua said to the people that we would not see Him again until we say, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of YHWH”. Yom Teruah is a time where bothe Ephraim and Yehuḏah will come together and cry out to the Name of YHWH and at the Trumpet blast on Yom Teruah there will be a ready Bride who calls on His Name!
This is a day for us to ingest His Word, lift our voices in song and blow the shofar and make preparation for His coming, for this day confirms to us the full assurance that YHWH has made an appointment with His people.
Mark 13:33 “Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is.
This day is a call to watch unto prayer.
Yom Teruah is a special day, a memorial Sabbath, a special day of significance designed to bring the faithful into remembrance of the Almighty! A time to remember His very Torah given to us at Mount Sinai – at the sound of the Shofar!
In looking forward with great expectation of what is to come, it helps us to look back to gain greater insight as to events that will soon take place. At Mount Sinai the shofar was exceedingly strong:
Shemoth/Exodus 19:16 “And it came to be, on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain. And a voice of a shofar was very strong, and all the people who were in the camp, trembled.
Shemoth/Exodus 19:19 “And when a voice of the shofar sounded long and became very strong, Moshe spoke, and Elohim answered him by voice.
The sound of the shofar was strong and sounded long – this was a call to gathering the entire assembly to hear the Torah from YHWH and so the shofar sound we hear on Yom Teruah ought to also remind us of our acceptance of the Torah and our obligations to walk in it. The shofar sound is also a battle cry and on Yom Teruah it is a battle cry to wage war against our inner enemy – those evil inclinations, the passions of the flesh, bitterness, anger, rage and everything that hinders and entangles us!

At Mount Sinai the sound of the Shofar was used to usher in the voice of YHWH giving His Ten Commandments and a world-wide warning is scheduled for the future when YHWH Himself will blow the Trumpet, signalling the events scheduled for the close of this age and announce the second coming of the Messiah, where the first resurrection will take place.

YHWH instructed Moshe is Shemoth/Exodus 19:13 that when the trumpet ‘sounds long’ then the people could come near the mountain. The term ‘sounds long’ is the Hebrew word ‘mashak’, which means, ‘to draw out’, and also means, ‘a drawing out of something such as a hand, bow, sound (as from a horn) or time’.
This is very significant as the picture of ‘a drawing out of the hand’ points to the outstretched working arm of YHWH – Yahushua Messiah our Redeemer and Saviour. Moshe’s name also means ‘to draw out’ and reflects the foreshadow of the deliverance of YHWH’s people from slavery through His drawn out hand – the Living Torah!
The word massiach or messiah comes from the word, ‘masach’ which means ‘to smear’ or ‘anointed’, and we know that ointments were made from the oils to heal the sick and oils were smeared also on the heads of individuals who are being given the office of a prophet, priest or king, as a sign of authority.
So, ‘mashak, means the drawing out of something such as a sound from a horn! And how were kings anointed in biblical times?
Melaḵim Aleph/1 Kings 1:34 “And there Tsaḏoq the priest and Nathan the prophet shall anoint him sovereign over Yisra’ĕl. And blow the horn, and say, ‘Let Sovereign Shelomoh live!’"
Shemuʼĕl Aleph/1 Samuel 16:1 “And YHWH said to Shemuʼĕl, “How long are you going to mourn for Sha’ul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Yisra’ĕl? Fill your horn with oil, and go, I am sending you to Yishai the Bĕyth Leḥemite. For I have seen among his sons a sovereign for Myself.”
Kings were anointed by the blowing of the shofar and the very oil used for the anointing came from the shofar!
Why am I telling you all this? Well, because this is so exciting – from the root word of mashak, which means to draw out, comes the meaning of gravity or heavy. And at the drawn out sound of the shofar we can see the prophetic picture of Yahushua who came as the Outstretched Arm of YHWH and took the weight or gravity of sin upon Himself and He tell us that He will ‘draw’ all men unto Himself! The Trumpet sound is a declaration of the Messiah!
At Mount Sinai the nation heard the shofar and the 10 Words spoken by the voice of YHWH but first had to cleanse themselves and gather on the third day at the foot of the mountain to receive the covenant of marriage. It is His very commands that cleanse us and beautify us and make us ready for His second coming. The shofar was sounded before YHWH spoke and reminds us that we are to listen to His voice and do what He tells us in His Word, so that we can bear fruit, which is the good works we have been created for – that is to walk in righteousness, guarding to do all His commands!

In a typical Hebrew marriage there are two phases or steps in the marriage; there is firstly the contract or ‘ketubah’ and then the ‘gathering’. At the acceptance of the marriage proposal, which would be seen by the bride accepting the cup of wine offered by the groom, a bride price is negotiated and a contract is drawn up outlining the conditions of the marriage contract, with blessings and curses, with each party receiving a copy – pretty similar to today when people get married – they either enter in to an out of community of in community of property contract. In the Hebrew marriage at this first stage, which we would call the engagement, is seen as legally being married even though the two parties do not yet stay together, and the bride or bridegroom cannot get out of the marriage except through divorce as a result of adultery. The first stage is announced by the sound of a shofar, known as the first shofar. The bride-groom goes to prepare a room for his bride while the bride must make herself ready for the wedding feast. She does not know when her groom will come but must be ready and kept spotless. The second stage in the marriage, called the gathering, is when the groom comes to fetch his bride and take her to the house or room he has prepared for her at his father’s house. It is only when the father sees that both the bride is ready and the dwelling place the groom has prepared is ready that he then announces with the sound of a shofar that the gathering can take place and the groom can go and lift up and take his bride, this is known as the last shofar. The bride had to be ready having her lamp full of oil, and when she heard the sound of the shofar she must be ready with lamp lit to show the groom that she is still waiting faithfully for him. If she was not at home the wedding would be cancelled and if she did not have oil in her lamp the wedding was cancelled!!!

Yahushua is the groom and we are His Bride. He has paid the Bride price in full with Blood and has sealed the ketubah/marriage covenant and has gone to prepare a place for us. And now we eagerly await his return with our lamps filled with oil and burning brightly is this dark world showing we are betrothed, clothed in righteousness and keeping our garments spotless by walking in obedience to the Torah, our marriage contract! Yahushua, our Righteous King is coming, and He is coming at the sound of the ‘second shofar’ to come and ‘lift up’ and ‘take’ His Bride to the very place he has prepared for us – the New Yerushalayim, where we will tabernacle with Him!
1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18 “Because the Master Himself shall come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of a chief messenger, and with the trumpet of Elohim, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first. 17 Then we, the living who are left over, shall be caught away together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air – and so we shall always be with the Master. 18 so, then, encourage one another with these words.

Notice here in this passage the words ‘caught away’ – in Hebrew this is known as the ‘lakach’ and ‘nissuim’ – taken and lifted up. The Bride will be taken and lifted up by the Bridegroom and so the second part of the marriage will take place when Messiah comes again and lift us up and takes us with Him to the great Wedding Feast. He is coming for His Bride who has made herself ready – He is not coming for part of His Bride – then coming for the rest – He is coming for His ready Bride! And this is not the ‘rapture’ – it is Yahushua coming to lift up and take His Bride to be with Him and dwell with Him in the New Yerushalayim which is coming down here.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 “See, I speak a secret to you: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

We are to be awake and when he comes we better be ‘at home’ so to speak, meaning in our rightful place in Him walking in His ways faithfully busy about His business and not outside where the murderers and idolaters and drunkards are and we are to have our lamps lit and full of oil.
This feast celebrates the time when His Bride will be ‘gathered’ together, calling out His Bride out of the nations and part of being called out is to be cleansed and washed in His Word in order that we are able to stand before Him.
At Mount Sinai, at the first shofar, the nation of Yisra’ĕl could only come to the foot of the Mountain, and now at the second or last shofar we will be taken up to be with Him as He sets His foot down on the Mount of Olives and we will be able to go up to the Mountain of YHWH!!!
Just as they had to be cleansed and prepared to hear His voice at Sinai, so too do we have to prepare ourselves and make ourselves ready that when the Trumpet sounds, He will find us faithfully waiting for His return.
His Word does not return void, and at Mount Sinai His voice went out with the Words of His covenant, His Marriage Contract – hear the sound and stay faithful to Him as he is coming for a ready bride!
Looking forward to this feast we can also look in at our own lives and see if there is any spot or blemish that has spoiled our wedding garments – the fine linen that is our righteousness, and if so then come to Him and be cleansed that we may not be found asleep and without oil.

Yom Teruah is also known as Teshuva, which means repentance, so as we look to Yom Teruah – the Alarm or Awakening Blast, let us realise this call to repentance and turn in total obedience to our maker following His Torah that makes us ready as a Bride adorned in righteousness!
I just want to make it very clear that Yom Teruah is not ‘Rosh Hashanah’ which means ‘New Year’ as Rabbinical Judaism teaches – it is the 1st of the 7th month and the celebration of Rosh Hashanah at this time is simply a rabbinical practice that was taken from the period of Babylonian captivity. YHWH clearly instructed Moshe when Yisra’ĕl came out of Mitsrayim (Egypt) that that month was to be the beginning of the year for them. The month we celebrate the Passover meal is the first month of the Biblical calendar, known as the month of Aviv, for we look for the renewed moon and the ripening of the barley – to see whether it is aviv (ripe) or not. Yom Teruah is the beginning of the 7th month also known as Tishrei. Let us be very careful in our pursuit of Truth not to get caught up in rabbinical precedents and man-made laws that intend to or try and attempt to change YHWH’s instructions. Let us also not be led astray by the deception and lie that the church teaches in regard to ‘the rapture’ of the church, and that we are supposedly in the ‘church age’ which according to doctrines of man is between Pentecost and Trumpets and that the ‘church’ will be raptured before the tribulation where YHWH will sort out the ‘Jews’. This is a lie. We, His Bride – that is Yisra’ĕl – that is the combined Bride of the two houses of Ephraim and Yehuḏah are living between the first and the last shofar, we are in our betrothal period, awaiting the Bridegroom to come and lift up and take His Bride to His prepared place! This is the time for the Bride to make herself ready and not be found asleep at Yom Teruah, at the Awakening Blast where heaven and earth will shake and He will come to embrace His Bride! May our lamps be full and lit showing the world that we are betrothed and ready, spotless and without blemish, eagerly awaiting our groom!!! Yom Teruah we get to rehearse, we get to truly rehearse the good things that are to come, may we be kept pure and holy, not spoiling our fine linen!

Let me finish with the Torah instruction of Yom Teruah and may we be obedient to His voice!

Wayyiqra/Leviticus 23:24-25 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you have a rest, a remembrance of blowing of trumpets, a set-apart gathering. 25 ‘You do no servile work, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to YHWH.’

Let us all be watchful this coming week as we look for the sighting of the first sliver of the new moon and be ready to gather and sound the shofar of rejoicing and declaration that we have a Saviour and a Bridegroom that is coming for us.
And may we truly let this be a Day of Shouting His Praise!

See you all for Yom Teruah!

Friday, September 03, 2010

TURNING THE VALLEY OF STRUGGLE INTO THE VALLEY OF BLESSING THROUGH PRAISE

DIḆRE haYAMIM BĔT 20 / 2 CHRONICHLES 20

Shabbat Shalom everyone, blessed be Yahweh our Elohim who has given us His rest that we may truly enter in to His promises through the life, death and resurrection of our Saviour Yahushua Messiah, Aměn!
The theme of this week’s Torah reading, which we will go through tomorrow, from Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 26:1-29:9 is ‘when you enter in’ and we will look tomorrow at what this entails as we enter in to and take possession of all that Yahweh has given us in our daily walk of faith. As we look at the instructions of entering in to the promises of Yahweh, we know that from the lessons of the journey that Israel took from Mitsrayim/Egypt to the Promised Land is that the Promised Land was a land of hills and valleys, unlike Mitsrayim/Egypt that is very flat. This further shows us that they could not do as was done in Egypt in trying to rely on the ingenuity of man to channel water from the Nile to the farms due to the lack of rain, but had to rely on Yahweh sending rain in a land where the terrain does not allow for such practices of relying on man to provide water. The rain Yahweh would send would be the result of obedience to His Torah and would further result in giving the Israelites rest while those in Mitsrayim/Egypt would slave away digging water trenches in a desperate effort to provide water to their crops. The Promised Land is a land of hills and valleys, in other words, highs and lows and in order to be sustained through the highs and the lows, one had to put their trust and faith in Yahweh alone. It is with this thought in mind that I want us to realise that as we, by grace through faith in Yahushua, have made the choice to enter in to an abundant filled life, we are to realise that even though there will be highs and lows, we are to continue to trust and put our faith in our Saviour. David, in Tehillim/Psalm 23 proclaimed exactly what we are talking about here when he said when he walks through the valley of the shadow of death he will not fear evil, for Yahweh is with him. This is faith in the valleys!
When we ‘enter in’ we are entering in to His rest and His peace and with that comes the assurance of protection and provision. Entering in to His rest calls for a daily faith walk that fixes our eyes on our Saviour Yahushua! We are told in Hebrews 12 that we are to throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us and fix our eyes on Yahushua Messiah, the Prince and Perfector of our faith. So as we live in His Promises walking in his ways we cannot take our eyes off of our Saviour, whether we are on a mountain top or in a valley!
How many of you have been through some pretty tough valleys, or are in one right now? Being in a valley can easily overwhelm you and cause fear and worry to grip you on all sides, where it feels like the enemy is about to crush you totally – ever been there? Well tonight I want us to look at how we can overcome the valley moments as we strive to walk in His Promises for our lives in obedience to His Word. We will have trouble in this world – Yahushua told us so, yet He encourages us to take heart and put our faith in Him for He has overcome the World and so this is the victory that overcomes the world – our faith in Yahshua - faith that works out our salvation with fear and trembling in obedience to His Torah.
So what do we do when the enemy is closing in on our territory and puts us under siege, for he is like a roaring lion seeking those he can devour?
I want us to look at a great account of victory that was won as an account of active faith, when the Yehuḏah was surrounded and outnumbered by their enemies. My message tonight is called, “Turning the valley of struggle into the valley of blessing through praise”. Please turn with me to Diḇre haYamim Bět 20 / 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 (Read).

Yehoshaphat had done much, as king, to bring reform – he fortified Yehuḏah against Yisra’ĕl and their notorious leader, king Aḥaḇ, and he set himself the task of ‘cleaning up’ the land form idolatry. In the third year of his reign he sent out the priests to instruct the people of Yehuḏah in the Torah, and as a result of his actions he enjoyed great peace and prosperity and the blessing of Yahweh on the people. This passage we have just read must be read against the background of chapter 17: 3, 10 which distinguishes between the earlier and later years of Yehoshaphat. In 17:3, 10 tells us that Yahweh was with Yehoshaphat and he walked in the ways of his father David, he did not seek the Ba‘al’s, and the fear of Yahweh fell on all the surrounding nations and they never came against Yehoshaphat. His obedience brought protection, then in chapter 18 he allied himself with Aḥaḇ in disobedience and was condemned in chapter 19:1-3. His kingdom was protected from attacking enemies by the fear of Yahweh on all the surrounding nations and now through his disobedience in allying with a wicked king we see here in chapter 20 that Mo’aḇ and Ammon, enemies of Yehuḏah came to attack from 3 sides. After the response of faith as recounted in this chapter we see how the protection of Yahweh was renewed and they enjoyed the peace again given by Yahweh on all sides.

This account is a great encouragement to us as to how to respond to imminent fear or any danger that seems to be encroaching. I love how this is once again the picture of the Sovereignty and grace of Yahweh! He is a just Elohim and as a result of disobedience by Yehoshaphat a door was opened for the enemy to bring an attack against Yehuḏah and in faith as Yehoshaphat and the nation called upon Yahweh, He responded and remained faithful to His Word of promise given to Shelomoh/Solomon, for when Shelomoh/Solomon issued a plea to Yahweh in 2 Chronicles 6:28-30, Yahweh responded and agreed to his request in 2 Chronicles 7:13-15, saying that if His people, who are called by His Name would humble themselves and call out and seek His face and turn from their sin then He would hear them, forgive them and deliver them, which is in a nutshell what happened here in this account.
But what can we learn from this? We can learn how we are to live by faith and praise our wonderful Creator and how we are to respond in those valley moments and see Him deliver us from the trouble and bring us great blessing as we stand firm in faith in Him.
Have you ever found yourself in a place where Yahweh has asked something of you and started out in great faith only to give up when the going got tough and you ended up throwing in the towel? Today, many believers often feel called to do something and then it all seems to fail, either due to doubt in their ability to accomplish the task and so do not even try, or they go ahead only to find that when the first sign of trouble or struggle comes they give up! It is often the case that when a believer finds themselves struggling with their walk in Yahushua that it is a result of disobedience in worshipping Him and keeping their eyes fixed on Him!

We are to keep our eyes fixed on Him who saves and protects us, and keep our faith stirred and encouraged through His Word and fellowship that our attitude towards life’s battles are full of faith and reliance on Yahushua! If we take our eyes off of our Creator we can in fact find ourselves wallowing in worry and fear and allow our days to be filled with grief and sorrow instead of joy and peace.
It has been said that we set our mood for our entire day within the first 3 minutes of waking up! Who is not ‘a morning person’ here? I want to ask you – well just think about it – how are the first 3 minutes of your day? How about beginning it with a victory shout to Yahweh! Why do I say this? Well we would do much better if we begin to praise Yahweh declaring his love over us and be able to set our mood for the day praising Yahweh despite difficulties and troubles that we may face.

What can we learn from Yehoshaphat? Let us learn some valuable faith lessons here tonight and so be stirred to call on the Name that saves, aměn! When the enemy is on the attack or we find ourselves in the valley of struggle – this is what we do:
1 – SEEK YAHWEH (v3)
We know the promise that if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, then all else will be added. It all begins with us seeking. Some problems are worse than others we know, but why does Yahweh permit us to go through difficulties? Well when we find ourselves inadequate to the task at hand, we are driven in urgency and expectation to Him – Yahweh wants us to learn how to hold fast to and rely totally upon Him. Scripture repeatedly reiterates that Yahweh is a strong rock, a strong tower, a frim defence and a safe refuge for the righteous who run to His Name, and we learn more and more from the Word how we, in and of ourselves, are weak both mentally and morally and we dare not trust in ourselves in finding our way on our own for we will certainly end up lost! We are to be daily seeking His face, but sadly it happens that when things seen ‘fine’ that there is always a danger of relying upon self and seek Him less, until crisis comes and we are stripped of all hope and strength; find ourselves in the dark that we turn frantically to Him, where He will always be found.
May we learn not to let ourselves take our eyes of Yahushua and cease to seek Him until a crisis hits, but that we will be ever seeking, ever finding His strength. But what happens when we do find ourselves in that valley?
Yehoshaphat were facing some serious trouble as these powerful enemies came up against them, and yes at first Yehoshaphat was afraid, and it is no wonder – he was outnumbered and out powered by the enemy, it is a natural response in seeing the danger coming. But He didn’t stay there! He didn’t wallow in fear and stress about the ‘what ifs’!
He immediately ‘set his face’ to seek Yahweh and proclaimed a fast!
Yehoshaphat knew where his help comes from and he knew that this called for earnest seeking. Sometimes the breakthroughs we are seeking will only come through prayer and fasting as we seek Yahweh, our deliverer with our all!
In him seeking Yahweh he also called a prayer meeting – this was a national crisis and everyone was to be praying and fasting. We would do very well to learn from this – in dropping pride and calling others to pray with us in times of trouble. It was customary for Hebrew kings to call a fast in perilous times, getting the nation to humbly seek Yahweh that He may hear and deliver them! We must never underestimate the power of corporate prayer and should never hesitate to call others to pray with us in perilous times. The enemy has a way of trying to isolate you, don’t be!
In times of trouble we must know where our source of strength comes from!
How often people try to find solutions to their problems and struggles in every other place but Yahweh and are simply wasting their energy and time! We must develop a good daily habit of seeking our King that in trouble we will not have trouble hearing His voice!
2 – ACKNOWLEDGE THE POWER OF YAHWEH (v5-7)
Yehoshaphat prayed and acknowledges the power and might of Yahweh! He rested in the frim knowledge that Yahweh was more powerful than any problem he might face. We must acknowledge His power; we often go and tell Him how big our problems are without, acknowledging just how great and awesome is He!
You may ask well why we must pray what Yahweh knows anyway – here Yehoshaphat was declaring what Yahweh knows, and He knows everything anyways. Yahweh wants us to talk to Him and tell him what is going on because there is a devil and through prayer we can resist him and It is through prayer that we can find grace to help in time of need and according to Philippians it is a way for us to obtain freedom from anxiety and receive the peace of Elohim! 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing and Yahweh is all-knowing but wants us to fellowship with us and when we seek His face in prayer and acknowledge His strength we are strengthened in our relationship with Him.
3 – ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROMISES OF YAHWEH (v8-10)
Yehoshaphat reminds Yahweh of His promise to Shelomoh’s plea we spoke of earlier in 2 Chronicles 6 and 7. True faith and praise have as their basis, and Almighty El who has never failed to fulfil even one of His promises!
When we can acknowledge his promises, we can be strengthened to know how we can trust in His unfailing Word!
4 – ACKNLOWEDGE THE PROBLEM (v10-11)
When we face a problem, we cannot ignore it and hope it will go away. It must be dealt with, and in order for that to happen we must acknowledge the problem. Yahushua tells us that we are to give our burdens to Him, to cast our cares upon Him and take His yoke which is easy and light – His yoke, that which directs and guides our way is His Torah, His instructions. As we take off the weight of our worries and problems and give it to Him, we are able to freely walk guided by His Torah. Do not hide from your problems, give them to Yahushua and then stand firm in Him and watch Him give you the victory as He fights for you!
5 – APPROPRIATE YAHWEH’S PROTECTION (v12-13)
Yehoshaphat praised Yahweh for His great power, reminded Him of His promises and shared with Him the problems they were facing, and in a sense says the following, “O Yahweh, will you please intervene, we are helpless here in this situation, we don’t not no anything else to do but call upon You and look to You alone for help.” – does this sound kind of a familiar and often repeated plea many of you make to Him? Good, because when we can confess our weakness and also confess His strength, we are able to appropriate correctly His great protection available to us who will call on the Name of Yahweh! His Name is a strong tower and the righteous run to it and are safe!
6 – RECEIVE THE PROCLAMATION OF VICTORY FROM HIS WORD (v14-17)
The Spirit of Yahweh came upon the priest and spoke to the Assembly confirming Yahweh’s protection and that they were not to be afraid, for the battle is Elohim’s and not theirs! Once we understand and appropriate His power, then we need to engage our faith in the hearing of His Word and believe that which He has promised in His Word. If Yahweh has said it then we can be sure of it, and believe that he will fight for us and bring us the victory we hope for and have not yet seen – that is faith, for faith is always based squarely on the revealed will of Yahweh in His Word! Yahweh plainly revealed what He was going to do for Yehoshaphat and Yehuḏah, and their responsibility was to believe His Word, despite the circumstances they were facing! The point is simply this – “We can believe it is so when it is not so, in order for it to be so, because Yahweh has said it so!
When we have faith from His Word, we are to stand firm in Him, stand still and see the deliverance of Yahweh with us!
The big question is will we believe His Word? We need to if we are to stand in victory! Realise afresh tonight that Yahweh grants us the victory – it is His battle, if we will give it to Him that is, and so we do not have to try to win any fight by ourselves through our own efforts. It is important for us to realise that we are to simply stand firm and let Yahweh fight for us because as Ephesians tells us that our battle is not against flesh and blood but that it is spiritual, even though it manifests in the flesh! Let Him fight for you and see the victory!
7 – WORSHIP AND PRAISE YAHWEH (18-30)
Yehoshaphat bowed his head and the people fell down before Yahweh in reverent worship – oh how we need to see more of this today in the body of Messiah! Let me tell you – when you find yourself in the midst of the battles of life, and you are walking in the valleys of struggle - then it is time to worship and not worry! Worship Him in faith and praise Him and see how he will give you unspeakable joy in the midst of your valley. The priests praised with an exceedingly loud voice! It is so sad today when we see many believers too ‘shy’ or afraid to praise with a loud voice. Now I am not talking about putting on a hypocritical show, but praising him from deep within expressing it in the fullest form! Faith carries a definite sound – let it be heard!!! How do you praise Him when you are on your own and He has brought you victory? I am sure you give a great shout of praise when on your own and nobody looking!!! Why then be afraid to worship Him with a loud voice when with others?
And active faith can and will give thanks for a promise, even though it has not yet been performed, because we know Yahweh is faithful! What victory are you expectant for right now? Can you give a loud shout of praise and thanks? Go on … do it right now!!!
Praise and declaration of thanksgiving is contagious, the priests had now prompted the people to trust in the Word of Yahweh and to be steadfast in Him. They then appointed those who would sing and sent them out before the army. Praise leads the way to victory in Yahushua! We, the body of Messiah, need to praise Him more and let the critics out there that are trying to say we are being ‘legalistic’ by simply obeying our Creator in loving Him, let them be scattered as they see our joy, His joy in us strengthening us to praise – we must restore true praise in the body!
What happened when the enemy saw all the praising? They went berserk and were smitten and ended up killing each other! Praising Yahweh will cause the enemy to get in to a flat spin, because he cannot steal your joy and will find himself on the wrong end of Yahweh’s wrath!
When Yehuḏah came to the lookout, what they saw was dead bodies and they took for themselves all the spoils of war they did not fight – they praised! On the fourth day they assembled in the valley and it was called the Valley of Beraḵa, which means valley of blessing, and returned to Yerushalayim with joy.
The fear of Elohim once again was on the nations around Yehuḏah and Elohim gave Yehoshaphat rest on all sides!
From a valley of struggle to a valley of blessing – by applying their faith in Yahweh and worshipping Him in Spirit and in Truth, giving Him praise in the midst of the valley! We will do very well to learn from these events as to how we can put our trust in our Wonderful Saviour and give Him praise, despite our circumstances; for we know He fights for us who love Him!
And He brings us the blessing of walking in faithful obedience to His Torah, it is time to lift up our voices in praise and see his deliverance with us and walk in the abundant blessings He lavishes upon us, even in the struggles we face, for He has us covered on all sides!

The result of walking in obedient faith:
Yahweh gave rest on all sides. Let me remind you, children of Elohim, that Yahshua has given us rest on all your sides:
1 – He is before us for He leads us- Yeshayahu/Isaiah 48:17 “Thus said Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl, “I am Yahweh your Elohim, teaching you what is best, leading you by the way you should go.
2 – He is behind us – Yeshayahu/Isaiah 30:21 “and your ears hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the Way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right, or whenever you turn to the left."
3 – He is on our right – Tehillim/Psalm 16:8 “I have set Yahweh always before me; because He is at my right hand I am not shaken. He is our strength – ‘right hand’ is a picture of strength and the working of our salvation!
4 – He is on our left – Iyob/Job 23:9 “to the left where He is working, but I do not see; He turns to the right, but I do not see.
5 – He is above us – Tehillim/Psalm 36:7 “How precious is Your kindness, O Elohim! And the sons of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
6 – His arms are underneath us – Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 33:27 “The Elohim of old is a refuge, and beneath are everlasting arms. And He drives out the enemy from before you and says, ‘Destroy!
7 – His Spirit is within us – Qorintiyim Aleph/1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are a Dwelling Place of Elohim and that the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you?

In Him we have TOTAL protection – we are to acknowledge His power and protection and praise Him!

What we can learn from this chapter is clearly the value of faith and praise toward Yahweh, especially in the midst of those valleys of struggle! May we learn to turn the valley of struggle into a valley of blessing through a life of praise!
Before we close let me simply share with you scripturally how we are to worship and praise our Maker:
1 – From the heartYohanan/John 4:23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also does seek such to worship Him. If it is not from the heart then it is not authentic!
2 – According to the Scriptures – Yohanan/John 4:23! We worship in Spirit and in Truth – His Torah details for us how Yahweh is to be worshipped and we are not to worship Him like the pagans worship their gods for that is an abomination to Him!
3 – In Song – Tehillim/Psalm 149:1 “Praise Yah! Sing to Yahweh a new song, His praise in an assembly of kind ones.”
4 – Clapping our hands – Tehillim/Psalm 47:1a “Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! ... If you can clap for a sports team or for an award ceremony then surely you can clap for Yahweh!
5 – Shouting – Tehillim/Psalm 47:1b “…Shout to Elohim with a voice of singing!– Give a victory shout, the sound of triumph. Many will easily lose their voice screaming for their favourite team – how about using that voice in praise of Yahweh!
6 – Bowing – Tehillim/Psalm 95:6 “Come, let us bow down and bend low, Let us kneel before Yahweh our Maker. – if you do not know how to bend your knee in worship – then learn very quickly and show reverence in worship for our Maker!
7 – Lift our hands – Tehillim/Psalm 134:2 “Lift up your hands in the set-apart place, and bless Yahweh. – Sha’ul (Paul) tells us that he wants to see men everywhere lifting up their hands in praise to Yahweh. When we lift our hands we are in effect declaring our inadequacy and declare our surrender to His authority, mercy and grace!
8 – With thanksgiving – Tehillim/Psalm 100:4 “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His Name.
9 – Joyfully – Tehillim/Psalm 100:2 “Serve Yahweh with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
10 – In Dance and with instruments – Tehillim/Psalm 149:3 “Let them praise His Name in a dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the tambourine and lyre.
Tehillim/Psalm 150:4 “Praise Him with tambourine and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
David danced and so should we, even if we think we have two left feet!
11 – Sacrificially – Ib‘rim/ Hebrews 13:15 “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a slaughter offering of praise to Elohim, that is, the fruit of our lips,1 giving thanks to His Name.
David said, when buying the threshing floor of Ornan that he would not offer to Yahweh something that cost Him nothing!

This is how we worship in Spirit and in Truth, even while walking in the valley of struggle. May we learn from the account of Yehoshaphat that we too can have our valley of struggle turned in to a valley of blessing through praise as we put our faith in Him who fights for us and has us covered on all sides!!!
Perhaps you are going through a valley of struggle, do not be afraid, seek Yahweh, acknowledge Him, acknowledge His promises, acknowledge the problem and cast it upon Him and receive the proclamation of victory from His Word and by faith begin to praise His Holy Name and see the victory come to pass as you continue steadfast in worshipping Him, Aměn!

IT IS TIME TO TURN THOSE ‘VALLEY’S’ OF STRUGGLE INTO ‘VALLEY’S’ OF GREAT BLESSING THROUGH PRAISE TO HIM WHO FIGHTS FOR US AND GIVES US THE VICTORY

Yahweh bless you and guard you, Yahweh make his face shine upon you and show favour to you, Yahweh lift His face upon you and give you peace, and now His Name is upon you and He shall bless you, in the name of Yahushua, Aměn!