The Keeper of Israel

Good morning everyone,

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I hope you are all doing well today. I am doing well, I have just finished the second semester of my schooling and we are just a couple of weeks going home for the Summer. My four-year-olds are ready and I must say so, am I. This school year has really flown by and it's hard to believe that we are wrapping up another year. I look back and see so much growth not only in my children but also in myself. Today, I wanted to hop on here and write about something so near and dear to my heart. I keep up with what is going on in Israel every day and I will be honest, it's hard to listen and watch the news sometimes. The Lord reminded me of a passage of scripture that has allowed me to see this situation from a different perspective and I would love to share it with you. Before we begin, I hope you have your favorite cup of coffee or tea with you. I am drinking a caramel waffle cookie this morning with oat milk and I must say, it is absolutely delicious! Let's begin!

Israel has enemies on all sides of her, but I am amazed at how the Lord always helps her and protects her despite her enemies. In 2 Kings chapter 6 verses 14 through 20, we see Elisha and the servant. Aram sent horses and chariots to surround the city and they had a large army. The servant went outside and came back to Elisha and said, "Master, this is terrible, what are we going to do?" Elisha prayed and asked the Lord that his eyes be opened so that he could see." Then the Lord opened this young man's eyes and he saw before him the mountain was covered with horses and fiery chariots. As the Lord reminded me of this powerful story, the Lord made me realize it does not matter how many are against you, if the Lord is for you then who can be against you. 

The enemy wants us to fear in the natural realm that sometimes we can lose sight of God's word and what He has promised. God's word is so powerful and it does not change, what He said then is still for today. No matter what you face in this life, God is always present and will never forsake His people. Though the enemy rages, the Lord is still on His throne and He will keep us in the palm of His hand no matter what. It says in the word, that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will lift up a standard against him. He will make him flee if we resist the enemy and keep our eyes upon the One who holds our life in His hands. So, let us continue to pray for Israel and for the hostages to be returned to their families, and let us not forget that He is the keeper of Israel. He who is the keeper of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. He has given Israel victory in every battle and this is no different, what He has done before, He will do again. Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered! May the Lord bless you and keep you. Shalom.

God's Unseen Hand In The Feast of Purim

 Good morning everyone,

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    I pray you are all doing well. I am doing well, I have been extremely busy with work and school work. This weekend, I have been trying to focus on resting and recharging my batteries. We can go and go and go until we absolutely have no more to go on. So, it is so important to take time to rest, your body and your mind needs to rest. This morning, I have been thinking about the holiday, Purim. Purim began yesterday evening and I remember always steering away from Purim because I thought it was like Halloween. Well, it is not Halloween, it's a beautiful story of God's unseen hand moving on behalf of His people. If you have never read the story of Esther, I encourage you to read it, it's one of my favorites in the Bible. Before we begin, I hope you have your favorite cup of coffee or tea with you. I am drinking a salted caramel latte that I made this morning, it's delicious! Let's begin!

  In this book of Esther, we never not one time see the name of God mentioned in this story (If you do not believe me, check it out for yourself). A young woman named Hadassah is taken to the king's palace after he ousted Vashti. She is groomed for one year to prepare for her one night with the king. She is chosen to become queen. Now Haman the Agagite is an old foe that is wiping out the Jews right and left. He ends up moving up in position from the captain of the guard to prince which is the right-hand man to the king. This is the point of the story of the story where she realizes that she can no longer be silent and her uncle Mordechai tells her, "Perhaps you were born for such a time as this." Esther 4:14 She calls for every Jew to fast and pray even herself. She decides to go before the king unsummoned and if she perishes, she perishes. She goes before the king and as she is walking towards him, he raises his royal scepter over her because to come before the king unsummoned, you were killed. A banquet is prepared for the king and Haman and this is where she reveals to the king her true identity. She reveals to him that her real name is Hadassah which is a Jewish name. He runs out and she is left alone with Haman. built Haman tries to kill her and the king comes and sees what he is doing. The king becomes angry and orders him to be hung on the gallows that he built for her uncle Mordechai. 

    In the end, the Jewish people were saved by the unseen hand of God. We see this over and over in scripture. Time and time again, the Lord has rescued His chosen people with His mighty hand. What happened on October 7th, the Lord has not forgotten and he will save His people again. He made a covenant with His people and He will keep His covenant and His promise. So, you may not see the Lord's hand right now, but it is there, we just cannot see it. He will act and judge according to what has been done. We are to continue to pray and believe for the salvation of the Jewish people and pray for peace in Jerusalem. So, with that being said, Happy Purim or Chag Purim Sameach! May the Lord bless you and keep you! Until next time, shalom!

The Beauty Of Shabbat

 Hello everyone,

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        I hope you are all doing well this morning. It's been a while since I have written a blog post, I have been very busy with school and my job. I wanted to hop on here and write what the Lord has put on my heart the last two days. This past Friday evening began Shabbat or the Sabbath. I have been trying to make an effort to make sure that I observe this special day that the Lord so graciously gave to us. As I was cleaning and preparing for Shabbat on Friday, the Lord made me realize something that I hadn't noticed before. I was preparing the rooms, making sure everything was clean and as I was thinking about Shabbat approaching, I began to prepare my heart. As I was preparing my heart, I felt the peace or shalom overwhelm my heart. It was such a beautiful shalom that surpassed all my understanding. Before I go any further, I hope you have your favorite cup of coffee or tea with you. I am currently drinking peppermint tea because I am dealing with some congestion from the temperatures going up and down. 

    When I think about Shabbat, it is truly a beauty to prepare for each week. As I make the challah each week, it makes me excited for Friday evening, when I pull out the candles, the Kiddish cup, the grape juice, my prayer book, and my Bible. Everything is so beautiful, but the most beautiful is when I prepare my heart before the Lord. When I make an effort to refocus back on Him. That is the whole point of the beautiful day is to bring our focus back on Him. This is true resting in the Lord. I am reminded of what Jesus or Yeshua said, "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." There is beauty in resting, a resting in the Lord that only He can give to us. As I partake of the challah, I am reminded that I need the bread of life which is Yeshua. When I partake of the fruit of the vine or the grape juice, I am reminded that I need Yeshua because He is the vine and I am to abide in Him. 

    When I light the candles and say a blessing over them, I am reminded that I need the Light of the world. Everything points to our Lord and Savior so why not celebrate the day that He ordained as the day of rest, the day to refocus our hearts on Him. Oh, my dear friends, Shabbat is beautiful and holy. It was designed by the hand of the Lord and He wants us to partake, to keep Shabbat as one of His holy days. Pray and ask the Lord about Shabbat and let Him lead and guide you. May the Lord bless you and keep you. Until next time, Shalom!

What Is The Shema Prayer and Why Is It Important For Today?

Good morning!

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      I hope everyone is doing well and Happy New Year! I wanted to hop on here today and write something that has been on my heart for the last few days. I have been thinking about the Shema prayer and as I was studying the prayer, the Lord revealed some important concepts that I would like to share with you today. Before we begin, I hope you have your cup of coffee or tea with you. I am drinking a salted caramel latte that is absolutely delicious! Let's begin!

    Firstly, what does the word shema mean? It simply means, "listen". It's called the listen or listening prayer. Shema Yisrael, Adonai, eloheinu, Adonai echad. This prayer is found in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 4: 4-7. It goes like this, "Hear oh Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And the Lord goes into where to place His commandments, to think about them as you walk out of your home, to think about them when you wake up and before you go to sleep. Why did the Lord command this? It's a way of showing our love for Him. He wants us to listen as we read and hear His commandments. Jesus said in John chapter 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." This simply means do them, do not be headstrong like a mule who has no understanding.

    The questions are, are we listening and do we love Him? Do we honestly love Him, are we really listening to Him? If we say we love Him, then we are to try to live and obey His commandments. Why, because we are to love Him and we are to serve Him with our lives as a living sacrifice. So, friends, rejoice that the Lord calls us to obey His commandments and that if we truly love Him, we will do as He says to do. May the Lord bless you and keep you. Until next time, shalom!  

Adonai's Plan Of Salvation- Yeshua Ha Mashiach

 Good morning dear friends,

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       I hope you are all doing well and having a good week so far. I have a new blog post for you today and this is a spontaneous one. God had a plan before the world began. He had planned to create mankind and knew that mankind would royally mess up in the beginning. We all know that when we mess up, this is no surprise unto the Lord and He has a plan in place for when we mess up. Before we begin, I hope you have your cup of tea or coffee with you. I am drinking a French vanilla latte and it tastes delicious. Let's begin!

       Why did the Lord allow His Son to be born a tiny baby? Why did He allow His Son to grow and learn of the Jewish ways to only die on a cross? Why didn't He allow Him to rule and reign on the earth at first? That's what all the Jewish leaders thought, to bring down the rule and reign of Rome. God wanted to save this world first before His Son comes to judge mankind. How do we know this? John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." What is everlasting life? When we die on this earth, our souls will go to be with the Lord forever in heaven if we accept His Son as our Lord and Savior. Jesus said, "No one can come to the Father except through Me." John 14:6 Yeshua, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, we cannot expect to go to heaven and live with our Father if we have not received Yeshua which is our salvation, the Passover Lamb as our Lord. 

   Why do we need salvation, because we were all born into a cursed world. Sin caused this world to become cursed. Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord when He told them not to eat the forbidden fruit on the tree. He loved us so much that He wanted to save us from our sins and so, He provided a way for us to be saved through the sacrifice through Yeshua. Yeshua means salvation. He wanted to give us a chance to renew our relationship by accepting Yeshua as our Lord and Savior so we can draw near to Him. You see God cannot be near sin that's why He drove Adam and Eve out of the garden. The relationship was broken because of disobedience, but God had a plan to restore the relationship and it was through our Messiah Jesus. The perfect plan of salvation. So many people think, "Well, if I get myself together or cleaned up then I can come to Jesus." Let me tell you something, I do not have the power nor the knowledge to get myself together or clean myself up. He was the One who found me as a mess and cleaned me up. He took away my old, tattered garments and gave me new, clean clothes. 

  Some people believe, "Well, if I do enough good deeds, then the Lord will accept me or I can earn my way into Heaven." None of us can earn anything, the bible says, "Our righteousness is a filthy garment." Isaiah 64:6 I looked up what a filthy garment was because, in my mind, I was thinking of a garment drugged through the mud. Oh no, it was worse than that, this verse is talking about a menstrual cloth. Now, if you are a woman, you know exactly what this means and we as women know how gross this is. So, what we may think is right or good in our eyes is like a menstrual cloth in God's eyes. 

     So, what am I trying to say here? Friends, He wants you to come as you are so He can clean you up like a parent cleaning up their little one who has played outside all day long or had a spill on themselves. He cares and loves us and He wants to clean us up and He knows exactly how to do it. The enemy has lied to you saying that you can clean yourself up. None of us knows how to clean up our messes. If we did, we wouldn't need the Lord, and let me tell you, the lies that the enemy is telling you are rooted in pride. Remember, it was because of his pride that he was cast out of heaven and that is why he is going to be thrown into the lake of fire one day soon! So, friends, be at peace and allow the Lord to clean you up by accepting Jesus into your hearts so that you can go to heaven and live forever with Him. Oh, what a glorious day that will be! May the Lord bless you and keep you. Until next time, shalom!

Reflection Of 2023- What Have I learned This Past Year?

 Good morning everyone!

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      I hope you are all doing well. I woke up this morning pondering over this year. It is hard to believe that this year is almost over. It has flown by quickly. I wanted to hop on here and talk about the things that I have learned this past year. 2023 has been a year of change and opportunity. I was talking with a friend and we were saying that the past 3 years have changed a lot. This year the Lord has allowed me to go back to school and earn my teaching degree, I have done some traveling, and I have taught the little ones in my church which I enjoy so much. I have had a lot of laughs this year and new beginnings. I have also been able to connect with some amazing people this year! This past year has been a year of growing and continuing to trust the Lord even when I could not see all the pieces of the puzzle. 

    The Lord works in mysterious ways and sometimes it can be a little scary because we do not understand His ways, but we still have to trust Him. The Lord has allowed me the pleasure of working with a new teacher and I enjoy working with her. I know for me if it is a rough day and the children seem like they are bouncing off the walls, we can look at each other and start laughing. My little ones this year have taught me patience and to extend grace. I think about grace all the time and how we so desperately need it. We do not deserve it by any means, but we do need grace. Grace is that patient, unconditional love from the Lord that we need when we mess up in life. Working with children, you can learn so many valuable lessons. I am with them most of the day and for most of the time. We laugh together, play together, and then there are moments when we have to correct our behavior. 

     This is exactly how God is with us, there are moments when we will laugh and play together, but there are times when there is correction, but He mercifully extends His wonderful grace. Yesterday, someone reached out to me and asked me about my faith. I began telling them about what the Lord had done for me and basically telling them about how God has been so good to me. We began talking about the Bible and what the Lord says in His word. Now this person had a few differences in their beliefs than I did, but if I had been hateful or snobby, and dismissed them completely, I would not have been able to give my testimony and begin witnessing to them about what the Lord has done for me. After the conversation ended and we parted ways, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "My grace makes all the difference." 

      In conclusion, what have I learned this past year, I have learned to extend grace to others. Sometimes we look at grace as being weak, but it's actually strength from the Lord to help us overcome those barriers of beliefs that we have. Grace is God's favor to those who are undeserving which means we all fall into this category. We are all undeserving of His grace, but He loves us so much that He gives it freely. Now do we take advantage of His grace and sin just to sin? Absolutely not, we are to never take advantage of the Lord, we are to love and respect Him. He is a giver, but He also has the power to take away if need be. So, with that being said, I pray that this blog post blesses you and encourages you. May the Lord bless you and keep you. Until next time, Shalom!

Jesus Is Jewish

 Good morning friends!

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      I hope you are all doing well, I am well. I have officially finished the first semester of school and now we are about to begin Christmas break in a couple of days. My students and I are both ready for a much-needed break. They are very antsy and the next couple of days are going to be filled with fun activities before we leave. My family and I celebrated my 33rd birthday, oh it doesn't seem real. This birthday was filled with surprises and I am thankful. Today's blog post has been on my heart for over a month now and I believe it is time to write it. I have been seeing and hearing a lot about Jesus is not Jewish, He is Palestinian. This alarms me a bit because if you do not know your bible very well, this word could be believable. In the word of God, there are lineages all throughout Scripture proving that Jesus is Jewish. Now, dear friends, I want you to know the truth and not be deceived by the words of men. Now before we begin, I hope you have your cup of coffee or tea with you. I am drinking a sugar cookie latte and it is very delicious! Let's begin!

                Jesus is Jewish and it all starts at the very beginning when God chose Abraham. Abraham came out of the country of Ur which would be modern-day Turkey. God called Abraham out of every person in the world to come out of his land and leave everything behind and follow the Lord God Almighty. The Lord was looking for someone to bless and He chose Abraham. He made a covenant with Abraham and through Abraham, we are blessed. We are his descendants because God told Abraham that He would make him a father of many nations. From Abraham, we have his son Isaac, and then from Isaac, Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons which represent the twelve tribes of Israel. You can read all of this in the first book of the Bible which is Genesis. Then we come to Moses, the great patriarch. Then as we do through the Bible, we come to Jesse and his son David. Then we come to the New Testament which once again gives the lineage of Jesus. In the book of Matthew, we are given a list of names of all who are the ancestors of Jesus. 

               They are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and his two sons with Tamar. Then we go on to Boaz, Boaz married Ruth and had Obed. Obed has a son named Jesse. Jesse has a son named David who becomes king. David then has King Solomon by Bathsheba. Then we go a little further to Jehoshaphat then Uzziah, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Josiah, Zadok the priest then Joseph Mary's husband, and Mary has Jesus, the Son of God. If you want to read the whole lineage of Jesus, you can find it in Matthew chapter 1 verses 1-17. As you can see this whole lineage started with our forefather Abraham and went down to Jesus. In Revelation chapter 5 verse 5, we see again the Lord speaking about Jesus. He is called, "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah." The tribe of Judah is Jewish. Friends, whether you want to admit it or not, we serve a Jewish God and as I have stated in previous blog posts, we are considered spiritually Jewish because we serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The same God that the Jews serve. If it hadn't been for the Jews, we would have no Jesus, no savior. It is because of the Jews, we have the Bible, we have a savior, and we have the love of the Father. We are grafted into the family of God and the family of God is Jew and Gentile. 

            So, with that being said my friends, I pray that this blog post blesses you and enlightens you. There is indeed coming an end time deception, as it is written in the Bible. How do we keep ourselves from being deceived? We read the word of God for the word of God is light to our path and a safeguard for us. We must remain vigilant during these times and in the future because there will be deceptions concerning the word of God. I pray that the Lord blesses you and keeps you. Until next time. Shalom!