Category Archives: Jerusalem

October 19, 2014 · 9:47 am

Inside Israel

Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

Greetings dearest sisters and brothers with peace and mercy from Him Who alone can pour these out. All glory to God Who gives us all things of Himself richly to enjoy.

With barely the hint of a moment to catch our breath, the third of the fall feasts is upon us. Following Rosh Hashanah (feast of trumpets) and the 10 days of awe leading up to Yom Kippur (the day of atonement) the gears shift dramatically giving an interesting glimpse into the Heart of God: Sukkot (the feast of tabernacles) begins at sundown on a Wednesday night.

*NOTE: It is now the night of Sukkot and we were blessed beyond blessing by our first rain, accompanied by lightening, thunder and rainbows from Haifa to Eilat. We in Jerusalem had a wonderful drenching. Scripturally, the early rains begin during Sukkot. What a symbol of God’s faithfulness.

As you may know, we generally experience NO rain during summer at all and count on the early rains and the latter rains for our yearly water supply and KNOW that it is a blessing from God when they arrive.

Sukkot is undoubtedly my favorite holiday, except for maybe Passover and Yom Kippur and then there is Shavuot (Pentecost). I will just focus on Sukkot right now. I love it.

What does GOD say? Not just say but He COMMANDS all Israel to STOP. But this time, having blown the shofar, having called the people to repentance and set us aside to repent, now we are to quickly build flimsy, temporary huts with leafy branches for the roof so that we can see the stars through them. Then we dwell in them for 8 days, while we rejoice before God, remembering the great deliverance from Egypt and giving thanks for His abundance.

And not only that, but this is one of the 3 pilgrim feasts. Three times a year, all Israeli men are COMMANDED to “come up to Jerusalem to rejoice before Him.” Passover, Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (feast of tabernacles).

When you read Psalms and see the heading “song of ascents” around Psalm 120 and on, these are the songs that were, and are still, sung as the people went up to Jerusalem.

You can read the scriptures referring to Sukkot in Deuteronomy 16, Leviticus 23, and Nehemiah 8 to see the scriptural background of this feast.

These are but a few of the many times in scripture that Sukkot is referred to. In Zech 14 it says that the saved among the gentiles will come up to Jerusalem to worship during the feast, and oh they do by the thousands from around the world, and the Israelis wait and watch with wonder, awe and appreciation. There are indeed, MANY gatherings, conferences and prayer convocations taking place right now in Jerusalem and throughout the country attended by believers from around the world. The Christians marching and waving flags from their countries are the highlight and delight of the Israelis during the popular Jerusalem march, which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

I love watching the city in a happy tizzy, running hither and yon gathering materials to build their sukkas and to gather the necessary ingredients for the holiday. First there are the 4 species: a willow branch, a palm branch, a myrtle branch and an etrog or citron fruit. The three branches are wrapped together and the etrog is held separately and brought as an “offering” of sorts, with prayer, to the western wall and daily to the sukka (market).

There are also the 7 species: Deuteronomy 8:8: “A land of wheat and barley, grapevines, figs and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and dates.” that grace most tables in the sukka. The sukkas are fun and although the different denominations impose different rules concerning what should and shouldn’t be about the sukka, the scriptures give us the liberty to build them with joy and rejoicing and all of the creativity that the Lord placed in us. I love looking at pictures on the web of sukkas in Jerusalem during the 1800s.

And now it is Thursday, the first day of Sukkot. We decided to go to the western wall of the temple in the Old City as in our reading together this morning we were in 1 Kings chapters 5-8. That’s where Solomon completed the first temple and Solomon prayed. And his powerful prayer which he prayed on his knees with his hands in the air has echoed through the ages and truly is more powerful then pogroms, and Hitlers, and replacement theology.

It includes those who come from the nations who are not part of the tribes of Israel. My husband was struck by hearing over and over again, “when the people sin…when they pray toward this place and repent…hear them.”

He showed me a you-tube video of the wall on Yom Kippur with thousands of people there repenting and turning toward that place where The Lord chose to put His Name. Then we talked about why he often sees people on the bus stand and face east (the Temple Mount with the wall being a remnant of the temple) as they pray and others pull over at sunset as they say their prayers and get out of their cars and stand facing the Old City to pray and so forth.

But what struck us most was that Solomon’s prayer for the dedication of the temple and the people TOOK PLACE ON SUKKOT. (the feast of the 7^th month) and after he blessed all of the people they rejoiced for 7 days here in Jerusalem and round about and then returned home to rejoice for another 7.

So off we went to the wall to look at some of those stones shaped in the quarries so that “no sound of a tool would be heard in the temple.” And surely we are being shaped that way, or at least I am and I suspect that you are too. Hammered away on, shaped and chipped out in a pit somewhere and THEN coming together to be part of His temple, the body, growing, knit and joined to bless and reflect HIM.

And that is why this letter is so late.

I don’t dare write if there is something wrong with my spirit that I’m aware of and there was. I really really enjoy sukkot. I get to sit outside in my sukka with earth and plants around me and it feels simple and rural. I was born in NYC but have always been very much a rural person.

When I left NY permanently at around 20 years old I swore that I would NEVER again live in a city. (I also fully believed that I would not live past 30, but that’s a different story.) BUT GOD Who answers prayer has heard the DEEPEST cries of my heart: “I WANT TO KNOW YOU! I WANT TO DIE TO MYSELF AND BE CONFORMED TO YOUR IMAGE! I WANT YOUR BEST FOR ME NO MATTER WHAT! YOUR WILL AND NOT MINE BE DONE! OVERRULE THIS WILL AND FLESH OF MINE AND LET ME BECOME NOTHING BUT A SIGNPOST TO YOU!”

Your heart too, right? Ouch! Some of us are more stubborn and self-willed then others perhaps. At any rate, He Who knows our hearts better then we ourselves do must lead us all on His path to Himself. Mine includes living in the nosiest part of the CITY with difficult neighbor and being told by my husband this year that we were NOT BUILDING A SUKKA.

Talk about a pouting, rebellious wife…oy!

That is NO way to approach the command of The Lord to rejoice before Him. To compound that, the police again contacted me that the neighbor complained that we were making too much noise – while we were sleeping.

“But Lord! I want to describe the joys of Sukkot to my sisters and brothers abroad and to send them happy photos of us in our sukkah! Wahhhh!” Temper tantrum… temper tantrum.

So I had to work late, forgot to take chicken out of the freezer for dinner which I didn’t want to cook anyway and there was NO fresh chicken to buy at the shuk by the time I was on my way home. There to find out that my husband had invited a guest, a brother in The Lord.

Hum! I defrosted some chicken in a bowl of salt water and sukkot came, ready or not.

BUT, as with Solomon’s prayer and countless others through out history, He heard my prayer: “Lord! Be a sukka unto me and over this black self-willed heart of mine and change my hard heart and exchange it for your soft one.”

“Wow! Looks like GOD built you a sukka this year,” Bob said.

I was shocked. He continued, “With that tree right over this merapeset and all of these flowers around that you planted, I feel as if I’m in HIS sukka, the best one ever.”

My husband beamed and I broke through to a repentant heart.

Thank You Lord for Your Holy Spirit, Your faithfulness, Your quarry in which You pound away at our misshapen surfaces, and Your incredible patience. Thank You Lord for the glimpses of Your Heart and Character that we glean through scripture, through Your holidays and even Your law as well as Your grace. Thank You that we are changed into Your image even from glory to glory although we still see through a glass darkly. And thank You that as You command the children of Israel to sit in flimsy dwellings where we are and where we can see the sky and remember that IT IS YOU WHO BROUGHT US UP FROM EGYPT, WHO DELIVERED US FROM SLAVERY AND DO YET DELIVER US ALL FROM THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE THROUGH YOUR SON YESHUA. IT IS ALWAYS YOU AND YOUR STRENGTH. NEVER OURS.”

And THIS is the message of Sukkot. We rejoice before our Father Who know that we are but dust. Yet He remembers our frame and we too must remember that we really aren’t very strong and powerful. And yet precious to Him. This is the message of Sukkot!.

Come and join in. I will, Lord willing, write more about what I see, hear and smell AND taste, during this time. BLESSINGS to you sisters and brothers!

Love,

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Filed under Christianity, Church, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

October 12, 2014 · 9:07 am

Inside Israel

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Blessings to you again and may this letter be to His glory, faithful, and edifying to you.

Twenty years ago, on our first Yom Kippur in the land, I wrote my first letter to bare witness to what I was seeing and hearing. This morning in my meditation verse of Revelation 1:5, I sat before The One Who sends grace and peace, Yeshua h’Meshiach, “The Faithful Witness.” I asked Him to measure my faithful witness against His and to conform me into His Image. A big, grandiose prayer perhaps, but not too big for Him Who calls us all to be nothing less then faithful witnesses of Him in this upside down world.

That Yom Kippur 20 years ago was a shock to my system. Although I was blessed to have experienced deep silence in Alaska, in rural California, and in many other places, I (who had been born in NYC) had never experienced the drama of a city turning off its engines and vehicles. It’s difficult to know how much sound motors make until they suddenly stop. I experienced the “great blackout” in NYC in the 60s when everything electrical stopped, but the vehicles continued.

That sunset, 20 years ago, I was struck by the SUDDEN, DRAMATIC silence as it was ALL unplugged. Yom Kippur is not like Shabat, even then, there are many sabbath breakers…but not on YOM KIPPUR.

At that time we lived in the neighborhood of Gilo, just below us was a mosque. Shortly after the city fell silent, the minaret began full blast and I mean full blast. I did not need to understand Arabic to realize that there was an angry and incriminatory diatribe being preached intermingled with Koran readings. As opposed to a normal day, this continued for the entire 25 hours of the fast. In the morning I got up and took my Scriptures and went out on to the merepeset (balcony) and read out loud facing the minaret. It was my first glimmer of the ancient battle between God Almighty, The God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, God The Father of Yeshua, against the god named Alla (one of the names of His ancient foe.)

There was another spiritual battle that my eyes were opened to on that day, which I had not at all understood before. This was the battle between certain parts of the Church and God’s plan concerning Israel and the Jews.

At the time we were sharing the apartment with a lovely couple from New Zealand or some place near there. They volunteered to live here for a season. I have often heard that people should have their spiritual house in order before coming here because the spiritual warfare is so tough, particularly for people with hidden sins. They are often overthrown and fall into great confusion when they live in Jerusalem. I have witnessed that this is true.

The husband began some secret drinking. So as the Yom Kippur fast approached, he announced that there was no way that he was going to take part in a heathen fast because he knew he was saved by The Blood. We explained that we also knew that truth and were not fasting for our own souls. Instead, we humbled ourselves to pray for the people of the land as they sought Him and also to identify as Paul wrote:

“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law;…” (1 Corinthians 9:19-20)

This poor man became furious and began to rage that he would not fast (which none of us insisted on him doing), and he didn’t. He also got quite drunk. I did not understand at the time. In fact, I wondered what we had done to offend him. No one had required him to fast and surely no one was being judged by whether he did or did not. I just didn’t understand that other things were at work, such as sifting and exposing of hearts.

But it did not take many years for me to understand that, like it or not, what the Church does with God’s purposes for Israel and the Jews is some sort of plumbline in these latter days.

It is now heading toward 4 p.m. and the synagogues are full, people having fasted and prayed. Some stood for the full night and day. Yesterday from 2:00 onward our airport, Ben Gurion, was closed to all traffic, incoming and outgoing flights were halted until 10 p.m. tonight. We became a nation cut off from the outside world…a nation closed in to seek God.

My reading today included time in Jeremiah, turning my heart to cry out for our people still in darkness, still veiled, still seeking according to traditions and yet blind. MERCY is HIM. My heart trembles before Him.

My reading also took me to Hebrews and I read chapters 8-10. I worshipped Him Who MADE THE WAY INTO THE HOLY OF HOLIES. What perfect chapters for today!

We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— ²⁶He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, ²⁸so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”^[ ¹⁷then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”¹⁸Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. (Hebrews 8-10)

What wonderful chapters, reminding me of the joy that awaits my brethren after the flesh when Romans 9-11 and Zecheriah (just to name some) are fulfilled and they are set free and fully cleansed by The Atoning Blood of Yeshua. How wonderful that there will be no need for a third temple made by human hands – and even if it were to be built it could not be fulfilled since it was The Lord Himself Who filled the Ark of the Covenant with the 10 commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the pot of manna. They are gone. For we learn in Revelation 11:19 –

“Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.”

BUT THE LORD IS BUILDING HIS TEMPLE HERE AND NOW, HIS BODY. For we are the temple of the Living God. Although HIS TEMPLE was destroyed 2,000 years ago and the people dispersed from the land, we are back.

Isn’t it good that our times are in His Hands??

Blessings to you dear sisters and brothers and BLESSING AND HONOR AND GLORY AND POWER TO GOD WHO SITS ON THE THRONE AND UNTO THE LAMB.

Lovingly from still quiet Jerusalem,

your sis J

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Filed under Christianity, Church, Israel, Jerusalem, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

October 5, 2014 · 8:28 am

Inside Israel

I greet you dear sisters and brothers, with the humbling knowledge that you and I have been freed from sin and forgiven by the kapara (atonement.) The Precious Blood of The Perfect Lamb has set us free from the Law. We are unworthy, and yet ever thankful to be one in Him for His glory. How beyond wonderful is that?

I told you in my last letter that I would try to describe the tashlikh practice, but we are also in the time of the kapara and so much is passing before my eyes and ears that beg to be described.

I told you that it was when I was meditating in Micah 7:18-20 that I realized the source of tashlikh, and that is indeed where it comes from. l simply copy it here and encourage you to research it further as it is very interesting:

Tashlikh (Hebrew: ‫תשליך‎meaning casting off) is a long-standing Jewish practice usually performed on the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, although it can be said up until Hoshana Rabbah. The previous year’s sins are symbolically cast off by reciting a section from Micah that makes allusions to the symbolic casting off of sins, into a large, natural body of flowing water (such as a river, lake, sea or ocean). The name Tashlikh and the practice itself are derived from the Biblical passage (Micah 7:18-20) recited at the ceremony: “You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”

If you continue searching the word tashlikh in Google or another search engine you will find some beautiful prayers and deeper understanding of how many Jews become aware and burdened by the weight of their sins and truly seek forgiveness in so many ways. Yes, for many it is ritual and tradition without true soul searching, but for many others these traditions are doors through which they seek God’s provision for cleansing. I trust that He Who is Faithful can use these doors to lead many and finally all to Himself and His provision: Yeshua or Jesus.

Yeshua or Jesus is THE Kapara…THE Atonement…THE One provided by God The Father. It’s not the chicken or the money used in the rather strange kapara ceremony that took place all through the city today.

Kapparot (Hebrew: ‫כפרות‎, Ashkenazi pronunciation, Kapporois, Kappores) is a Jewish ritual practiced by some Jews on the eve of Yom Kippur. The person swings a live chicken or a bundle of coins over one’s head three times, symbolically transferring one’s sins to the chicken or coins. The chicken is then slaughtered and donated to the poor for consumption at the pre-fast meal.

I recall seeing both of these rituals in NYC when I was a child. My Grandparents were Orthadox and although they died when I was small, I remember going with my father and grandfather to the synagogue. I must have accompanied them also both to the river for tashlikh and to kapara at one time. Of course, we now live in a modern world and these practices take place amidst more and more controversy every year, even in Jerusalem.

In past years I witnessed tremendous tenderness among the general population – an unusual kindness as they were actively seeking repentance. This year seemed different. People seemed edgy and hostile, quick-tempered with one another. I wondered what had changed. Maybe a certain fatigue had settled in with a frazzled hopelessness. It made my heart sad.

Today at the shuk (marketplace) I witnessed a scene that personified the situation.

A young Haradi man and an old religious man were entering the shuk area where the kapara is performed. A youngish women’s libber sort of lady with a sign on her back and another in her hand that she attempted to post at the entrance, approached them and said that the slaughter of ritual chickens was cruelty to animals, even though they are slaughtered by a butcher and the meat is given to the needy. For a short while they discussed the ritual versus animal rights, but it wasn’t too long before angry shouts replaced discussion.

As I continued along my way, my heart ached and I prayed for my people who were swallowing a camel and straining at a gnat again. While seeking forgiveness they were engaged in angry debate.

My mind flashed back to the night when they came for Yeshua. It was a similar night and a time of preparing the heart to worship and give thanks for the deliverance from Egypt and from the death angel through the obedience to the sprinkling of the blood of the lamb on Passover. While sacrificing the lamb and seeking to please God, they took HIM to HIS cross.

How often do I miss HIM while I strain at a gnat?

How often do I slaughter my sister or brother or my husband because I am right?

But I think back to the one ray of hope that I witnessed today. It was at work in the busy waiting room. There was an emergency among emergencies, and people who had already been waiting had to wait longer. Having worked there for 17 years now, there are many people whom I know very well and dearly love. One lady began to flatter me with much praise for my goodness and patience which I SO know are HIS and NOT mine.

I told her, “No no Na’ama! EVERYTHING good that I have and do comes from Elohim.”

She smiled as if to say, “Oh…and so you are humble too…”

So I went on and a boldness took over: “You know, I get up very early in the morning and I read the Tenach and the Neve’eem (Old Testament and Prophets). (No, I did not mention the New Testament as it would have been inappropriate just then to what was being said). I read them day after day in my mother tongue so that I can understand. Do you know that they are easy to understand? You can read them without a Rabbi.”

At this point several other patients began listening.

“You really can not read them day after day after day without a real fear of The Lord coming into you. The prophets teach us and warn us and tell us the way that we must walk before Him and when you look at that with your heart every day, and ask HIM to come into your bad heart and change it, He does share Himself with us.”

Suddenly something happened. I didn’t mention forgiveness but the answers shocked me.

Na’ama sighed and looked at both Mali and me. “Ah! But I find it so hard to forgive! I KNOW that I HAVE to forgive everybody everything but that is so hard. How can I forgive?”

Mali immediately agreed and said that she also needed to forgive and she KNEW that He required us to forgive. “But how can I forgive? It is just so hard!” Mali said.

Into my mind flashed that I can forgive others because I know the awful things that I have been forgiven, but these sheep don’t know that. No! They DON’T know the forgiveness yet of God, but they know that He requires them to forgive. Wow…they know that instinctively.

As I did the dishes just now and listened to the last news broadcast, they ended with slichoot (forgiveness) prayers sung. The announcer said, “And as we close for the last evening broadcast before the closing for Yom Kippur, we will leave you with the Slichoot prayer sung by − get ready…I kid you not − The Gospel Choir.”

I suspect that we are yet to hear the end of that one.

God bless and keep you. Perhaps you will join in prayer for Israel at this most special time when the people believe that the books of life and death are open and our names are written in one or the other. The traditional greeting − “G’mar hatima tova” (may you finish the fast with a good signature”) − takes on new meaning for us who know our names are inscribed in The Lamb’s book of Life. We are praying this inscription becomes reality for the still lost sheep of Israel. May this year ALL OF ISRAEL FINISH WITH A SIGNATURE UNTO LIFE.

Lovingly,

your sis J

Inside Israel

Psalm 107 – “Oh, give thanks to The Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.” 1-3 …”For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. 7”

Greetings brothers and sisters in Yeshua, Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords, may HE alone be glorified and blessed and praised and worshipped and adored in the fullness of The Father – Abba God, Adonoi, Elohim through His Holy Spirit. Blessings to you with love on this beautiful Rosh h’shana.

How good He is! So many terrorist attacks were planned for last night and this day. So many disasters were predicted and prophesied; for us, none of them have taken place. This is not boasting, although perhaps it is boasting in God and His faithfulness to keep us humble and not knowing the hour, to keep us dependent upon Him and knowing that He will bring all of His promises to pass, both those of judgment but also of mercy.

To my great surprise, yesterday morning as I was having devotions I came to the end of both the book of Luke and the book that I was meditating in − the book of Micah. The last words in the book of Micah were:

Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. ¹⁹He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea. ²⁰You will give truth to Jacob And mercy to Abraham, Which You have sworn to our fathers From days of old. (Micah 7:18-20)

Now, I will not mince words. Micah was a pretty hard book to meditate through and most mornings left me shaking and begging for mercy. Then, there it was − His mercy, His promise, His Character. “Who is a God like You?”

I turned the page for the next verse to meditate in and guess what? That was the end of the book. No…He will NOT pass over judgment and we are yet in the midst of Revelation, but to this people in this part of the story (His dealings with Israel) these words are today’s headlines.

As I looked at the Hebrew for these verses I was totally surprised to find the foundation verse for one of the main traditions coming up this week is found right here, particularly in verse 19. It says: “HE will have compassion on us and that HE will subdue our iniquities and that HE will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.”

The word here in Hebrew for casting (our sins into the depths of the sea) is tashlic. I will describe the tashlic ceremony later this week, Lord willing. The problem is that WE (as a people) are still trying to do this ourselves when HE, as our GOD has promised to do it.

Ok…I confess that I am too excited and this letter might get too confusing if I continue to jump ahead of myself. I am excited because of The Words that I have read over the past few mornings and today. But I am called to be “a faithful witness” so let me share with you more of what I am seeing first.

Levit 23:22 This is the day of the blowing of the shofarim (trumpets) and a ‘holy convocation’ with no ²³Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’”

The weather is beautiful today, with the wind of Jerusalem making the tree leaves and flowers dance as if worshipping before The God Who has brought Jerusalem to this quiet restful state in the face of so many threats.

Last year we heard many shofarim being sounded according to the command written in the above verses, but this year, as my husband’s back is recovering, we are not out walking and not hearing as many, so we blew our own a few times. How I love the sound, even if we don’t bring forth the clean sound that others who are more proficient are able to do.

I also don’t see the persimmons blowing in the wind as I do on the days when I go to work and pass through many gardened streets. The word for persimmon in Hebrew is rimon (a pretty word) [רימון] and it is one of the symbolic fruits of the season. I love this beautiful fruit whose bud is one of the first to appear. It is an almost florescent pink orange crown that comes shooting forth, commanding the eyes to look. The top half of the bud begins to swell and the bottom half (the crown) blossoms out.

Daily as I walk to work I watch the fruit develop and the small green immature fruit turning into regal red bursting globes. The shuk (market) is full of them as well as the trees during these holidays and each table displays them. They give us much to think about. The royal globes with a crown on top have an opening that exposes hundreds (200 to 1600 so I understand) juicy, healthy, yummy seeds to add to salads or eat by the handful or to squeeze into juice. I always think of the fruit of The Spirit as I look at these − some producing 100 fold.

I now hear more shofarim sounding through the street in front of our apartment as the sun begins to go down. It has been a delightful day after having wonderful, beloved sisters and brothers in The Lord around our table last night. How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity together.

Just think of it: the faithfulness of God. How the body of Messiah continues to grow in number and strength, an indigenous body after 2,000 years of being only a tiny remnant along with the rest of the people of Israel. We are here again.

May we all be one AS HE IS ONE. I now have 3 more days off from work so I hope to write again. May I be a faithful witness…may we each be faithful to all that He has called us to. God bless you. Lovingly, your sis in Jerusalem

Click on to see MyGFA site.

Inside Israel

Shalom Dear brothers and sisters,

May The Lord be glorified and blessed and may you be blessed and encouraged in Him. I am thankful for you.

Apples and Honey. As big things, humongous things, swirl all around us: Scotland, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Ebola, ISIS (or ISIL depending upon who is speaking), wars and rumors of war, life changing decisions and world shaking events mixed with people-shaking fears. We here in Israel sweep away the dust of war and enter the “frenzy mode” of cooking and shopping and preparing to feast before The Lord, because HE said to do it. It has often made me laugh to see all of the crisis events put on the back burner while the focus among my people turns to fulfilling the commandment.

Tradition plays a big part in every Jewish holiday, and certainly there are as many traditions as there are families (much like our Christian traditions), but all of them seem to place family, friends and food just under God.

There is little actually written in the scripture about this feast, the first of the three fall feasts. So, much of Rosh H’ashana is actually characterized by traditions. Finally, I’m beginning to understand the why of traditions. They seem to me to be focus tools, implemented to help us focus on something that God commanded and then to establish it as important in our lives.

The danger of traditions, as Yeshua constantly taught, was they may take the place of God’s commands and become the focus in and of themselves. It seems to me as I live among so many traditions that it is a heart issue, often individual. Some people focus on God and some on the tradition.

Never the less, I will describe to you some of the traditions that I witness. Hopefully, its flavor will encourage you toward God and His intent. And this is my prayer and the prayer of many other local believers that the fulfillment of these traditions may be seen and that hungry hearts may embrace the God Who calls us to His table with His trumpet blast, the sounding of the shofar.

There are definite foods that symbolize Rosh H’shana: Perhaps most prominent among them are apples (or pomegranates) and honey, almonds, dates, figs, and the head of a fish. The feast is built around these foods.

THEREFORE, the shuk (market place) just TEAMS with activity and people. Crowded streets, yummy smells and busy vendors fill the air with one resounding, “Shana tova. Shalom oo bracha vay bree-oot l col am Yisroel!” (Good new year. Peace and blessing and health to all of Am – the nation, the people, the tribes – Israel.) Gifts begin to be shared.

Working for a doctor, I am deeply humbled by the sudden blessing of a dish, a jar, some honey, a plant or a tablecloth from often aging patients who will take my hand and thank me for serving them this year. I purchase some lovely nuts from the shuk for two local shop owners who have been constantly kind and I want to thank them. Other gifts might go to the bus driver or a guard that sits at the market and a generous 20shekels (instead of the usual 1/2shekel) pressed into the hand of a familiar elderly beggar bringing such her surprised joy.

We are thankful for one another. It is GOOD to stop and remember that all of ‘us dust balls’ are made in God’s image.

And mingled with the sound of the impatient car horns is the high call of the shofar bidding each one to come to the mercy seat, as families and singles gathered with families. Come to the mercy seat with apples and honey, almonds and dates and remember the sweetness of the land and the promises that God Almighty has given us and be humbled at the thought of His Greatness.

My boss brings his shofar to work and each morning blows it in the 4 directions at the door of the clinic. An older learned patient who came by at 7 a.m. this morning told us about a time that he was asked to demonstrate and explain the blowing of the shofar to a class of 6 year olds.

He said to them, “Do you know how sometimes you need something very badly…maybe you are scared and you need a hug, or maybe you hurt your knee and you need your Ima or Abba to make it better? Do you ever run to Ima or Abba and don’t know what to say, so you just cry? Sometimes there is something inside of you that seems too big and you can’t say it, so you cry, am I right?’”

He said all of the children said, “Yes yes! That is right!“

He continued. “Well…THAT is the blowing of the shofar. We are the children of Adonai and we don’t know what we need, but we need Him and we call to Him and we cry to Him and we come to Him. And when we blow the shofar, we are crying to Him and calling each other to come and cry to Him too. He is our Abba.”

He told us that the children ALL seemed to understand.

I understood and saw how it fit in with our prayers this morning for the hearts of the people to be turned to Him this season of the fall feasts and for them to come to Him and SEE HIM AS HE IS.

So he calls this the Feast of trumpets and commands us to come aside and stop all work and have a holy convocation and to blow the shofarim (ram’s horn trumpets). KNOWING that exactly 10 days later we are called to afflict our souls and seek repentance. We know that the shofar is calling us to Him at this time, just as it called the children of Israel to the mount when the 10 commandments were given and they feared greatly when they heard the trumpet blast. Tt is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of The Living God…if you do not know that you are covered by The Blood of The Perfect Lamb!

With tons more to say, I will leave you with ‘AMEN!’ as we turn our hearts to Him to press into the reality of all He is, all He asks, all He calls us to…each one called alone, and yet as one in His body. God Bless and keep you dear brothers and sisters.

Lovingly,

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September 14, 2014 · 7:09 am

Inside Israel

Greetings DEAR sisters and brothers, in The Name of Yeshua who was faithful, is faithful and will be faithful to glorify His Name and to bring His perfect purposes to pass. Halleluiah! May you be blessed and may He be blessed and glorified

With emotions still bruised, I am clueless, but I pray that He will bring to remembrance the observations that seem to have been quickened to me this week. I have received wonderful emails from some of you that have not yet been answered, and I’m sorry. I have been in somewhat of a quiet space. I know that some of you reading this lived amidst the bombings of WW2, or have experienced other awful wars on your own soil.

And I know that others fought in wars on foreign soil. So you know the pressures of wars far bigger then this 50-day war. I feel somewhat embarrassed to emerge at this end speaking about our stress, which also was not much when compared to what our brothers and sisters experienced in the south on the Gaza border. Then there are those who were on the receiving end of our defense as well. All of these suffered far more then I did, but I am not equipped to speak of their experiences, only to share with you my own, and so I will.

On the day that the fighting stopped, there was so much confusion. Some of that has been sorted out as I took a step back and we had opportunity to listen to one another. I am now convinced that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the generals in charge of decision-making did an extraordinary job with the options that they were faced with. Much of the warfare itself took place in booby-trapped houses. It seems to me that the leadership also had to walk through a booby-trapped maze. Although Hamas came out rejoicing and loudly proclaiming, “victory,” it has become more and more evident that it certainly wasn’t a victory for them.

You might recall the prayer that I was praying toward the end: “Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.” (Psalm 66:7) It is interesting that Psalm 68:6 says “…but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.” (again, Alla is the god of deserts and of dry places.) It took me a while to see that they had NOT achieved a victory in spite of the Hamas rallies. During which, by the way, two Gaza participants were killed by celebratory gunfire.

Nonetheless, being Israelis we are now involved in much self criticism as well as the reality of paying the huge bill for the war. Neither a raise in taxes nor cuts to the budgets of the public ministries are being well received. But these are just the facts of life.

Last night was the first night that I slept all the way through without hearing phantom air-raid sirens in my head. It felt good. The trains and buses are full of weary soldiers returning home for a break and others returning to their bases after a break, looking clean and neat again. One of our patients, Yehuda, came by and I asked him how he was doing. He looked at me and said, “Okay, I guess,” and crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out.

I laughed and said, “Brrrrrargh! Me too!”

Immediately the picture came to mind that some of you from America might remember of the comic character Peanuts. In it, there was a little bird that would often get the brunt of stress and his little feathers would be all ruffled and his tongue hanging out. PERFECT! It is sort of how most of us are feeling after these 50 days as we emerge and we are very unsure just WHAT we are emerging to.

How I praise The Lord for His great faithfulness. This war has stirred a hunger in many people. Perhaps you recall my prayer request for Rachel who visited my apartment several weeks ago and wanted to know about The Lord and how He set me free from depression and brought me victory in weight loss. She called me and said, “Guess what I found in the scriptures? I have to come over and show you. It is about the war! The answer is here!”

We plan for her to come by this week or next. Last night a at our fellowship meeting a dear sister told me that she was deeply burdened for the people of the South while she was riding to work on the bus. She had her Bible in her lap and was silently praying when suddenly the woman in front of her jumped and turned around and stared at her. “Are you PRAYING?” she asked.

“Yes, yes, I was,” she answered. “How did you know?”

The woman smiled and said, “The Holy Spirit just began pouring all over me from behind me. I knew you had to be praying!”

It turned out that the woman was a believer who had come from Russia. What an encouragement to the TWO of them and to me. So often we can’t SAY anything. If we DO share, it is as if we are sharing strange tales. But He tells us to, “Be Light and salt in the midst” and “to let HIS Light shine among men.” And what an encouragement to see that He, in His great faithfulness, is indeed walking in the midst. He WILL make His Presence AND His Name known to all.

The first day of the cease fire, as I said, there was much confusion; Did we stop too soon? Did they win or loose? Will there be quiet in the south? Did we reward terrorism? Are we better off then we were 51 days ago? But by day two, more flags were out again and people were standing a bit straighter.

On the day of the cease fire, the Syrian war spilled over into our North. Al qaeda groups fighting with the rebels took over the Christian village of Quneitra with the strategic Quneitra crossing between Syria and Israel. During the fighting, several missiles were shot into Israel damaging cars while a stray bullet injured an Israeli officer. Poor war torn Syria … so much fighting…so much grief. Barbarism – beheading and torture running rampant – Islam slays the infidels and the earth reels with blood.

God is in the midst and we are certainly learning to FIX our eyes on The Lord. Look away unto Yeshua – Jesus – behold Him as Stephen did. And so I ask Him for “…patience and longsuffering with joy…” for who knows how long it will be until we too are called upon to stand? Slowly, I’m learning the reality that it is ONLY in looking away unto Him that I will be able to stand in the face of such things. Oh, intellectually I say, “Of course I will”…but the closer I live to these actual events, the more I see my own natural inability to stand.

God bless and keep you. May we be given His discernment, be filled with His Holy Spirit and the Love of Yeshua which passes knowledge…and may we choose His way, ALWAYS, no matter what the cost. All glory to Him Who paid such a price. He must consider us very precious to have taken us each all the way to the cross. May we treat one another the same way – as precious.

Lovingly,

your sis in Jerusalem J

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September 7, 2014 · 8:37 am

Inside Israel

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings from Jerusalem. Blessing and honor and glory to The Lord God Almighty! And may you, His body, be blessed and edified.

I am still trying to gain my balance following the war and what do you know, but before I can breath in and out, there they are again: The shofarim are sounding every morning.

Yep, it happened suddenly − it is that time.

Most of you remember, that the shofar is the ram’s horn (translated as trumpet in the English scriptures). How I love the powerful, plaintive sound that unfolds with its call. My skin tingles, my heart quickens, and my spirit rises when I hear it. And there it was, for the first time this year, sounding as I was on the way to work, early morning Monday.

Rosh h’shana already? How did THAT sneak up on us so suddenly? I thought.

Yesterday was summer-vacation-war and today the hagim (high holidays – the fall feasts of Rosh h’shana – feast of trumpets – Yom kippur – atonement – and Sukkot – feast of tabernacles) are all running toward us. Yikes! Forget about catching my breath! What in the world will we do? LOTS of preparation.

My boss walked in to the office with his shofar. He goes to morning prayers every morning at the synagogue, and every morning following the reading and prayers, there is the blowing of the shofar throughout the month.

It is a call to prayer, to repentance, to search your heart. It is the call to the Mountain of God and for the people hear it.

At the bus stop I see: “Prepare yourself for slichot (forgiveness) prayers” on one sign. Another announces: “There IS GPS to the Kingdom of Heaven,” referring to the Torah, or Bible as being similar to the popular navigational device.

On the train and bus there is much seriousness in the faces of the people as they read Psalms or the Tenach. Many are young wearing IDF uniforms and others are old. All are deep in contemplation of the Word and wrestling privately in their hearts. God is surely GOOD to Israel. He calls her constantly to Himself.

As I was riding the bus and train this past week, I made some notes while I listened to the very beautiful, plaintive music calling the nation to Him. Both morning and night people gather in the synagogues, pray and stand before God, asking Him to reveal their sins and His mercy to them. They actively seek repentance, and because of the war, they are taking it very seriously.

After the morning prayers, which most are sung, the shofar is blown. You might remember that the shofar is blown for several reasons: for the calling together of the country in a time of danger or to war, in gathering the people to God, in celebration of something that God has done, and at rosh h’shana − the feast of the blowing of the trumpets (Num 29, Levit 23;23, Deut 16, Levit 16 for some references). These are also the “Days of Awe”. Traditionally, the books in heaven are open between rosh h’shana and Yom kippur (the day of deep repentance with full fasting) when the books are again sealed for the year.

The greeting during this time is: “May your name be sealed in the book of life.” But I am getting ahead of myself.

We are still in the soul searching time leading up to the days of awe, but the fruits of repentance are already seen, sadly, in some cases, temporarily. And if we are honest, isn’t it that way with some of us as well? But the battle is The Lord’s and we do not battle alone, but with His Holy Spirit.

What I get to see on the bus, the train and at work is the sweet fruit of kindness. There is unusual thoughtfulness all around. It is so sweet.

The traditional foods of the holiday: apples and honey, fresh dates and almonds appear at the shuk just as the kindness appears in the people. Fish heads are discussed as they are a traditional food at rosh h’shana (from the scripture − “may you be the head and not the tail”), but many are not sure how to serve it.

Here is where my experience kicks in and I am able to come to the rescue with my Alaskan fish head soup recipe. Women gather around me at the shuk, asking details of my recipe and writing notes.

And speaking of the shuk, I have a prayer request concerning yet another lady from the shuk, much like the story of Legion. I have watched this woman for nearly 20 years and for most of that time, at a distance. She is younger then me by about 10 years, a mess, smells bad, and covered with sores. She would often ride the bus with a broom and get off at the shuk and sweep the garbage areas and collect garbage. While doing this, she would curse and scream and yell. People would laugh, or pull away, afraid of this poor woman tormented by demons. Over the years I prayed, but never thought I would become this involved.

This is what happened. One morning I saw her talking to some ‘shuk men’ (the people who run their stalls and sell their wares). They gave her a cup of coffee and some money. One young man said to her, “We love you Dalia.”

She answered tearfully, “I know that you do and that is what I can’t understand. Why would you care about me? I’m crazy, I’m a mess and I’m not nice.”

He then reached over and planted a kiss on her forehead and said, “We just do. We love you.”

There I stood and learned her name was Dalia. I couldn’t get her out of my mind. So I prayed and I asked The Lord what He wanted me to do for her. The next time I saw her, before I could think twice I walked up to her and pressed some money into her hand and said, “Hi Dalia. How are you doing?”

She looked at me. “Do you know me? How do you know me?”

“Oh I have been around for years. You just never noticed me,” I said.

“Huh,” she said, “thank you. I’m not doing too well. I have trouble where I live.”

And so it started. Little by little she’d look for me. If I had some time, I would sit with her a bit. Her stomach worries her. She is lonely. She’s sad. She is intelligent, but tormented. I got to tell her, “I was that way too a long time ago… and someday I will tell you about it.”

She looks deeply at me and I can see her still wondering: “Where do I know this crazy lady from?”

I need God’s timing and God’s door to open so I can tell her about Yeshua. I need my Hebrew to be flowing and understandable. I need to know when He is PRESENT TO DELIVER. It would make my flesh feel very righteous just to tell her, but this woman needs HIM, not my just my witness and there IS a difference. The difference is to be walking in His Spirit and to know that He is there to speak, to touch, to deliver. Will you pray with me for her? Will you pray that I have the boldness to speak His Words when He says, Now?”

Immediately following the end of the war in the south, the school year began on the 1^st of September. Again, no time to breathe in between. There was emotional debate as many in the south initially refused to send their children, still shaken by events that no one was convinced were over.

The reality of the fact that the kidnapping of our 3 teens sparked the discovery of the plotted invasion and massacre scheduled by Hamas in Gaza to take place on Rosh h’shana just really began to sink in. I still step back a bit when I think of what lengths the country was willing to go to in order to find the 3 teens. One thing is clear: Israel loves her children. They said that they would not leave one rock unturned and they meant it.

It has just recently been revealed that one of the Hamas prisoners released in the controversial Gilad Shalit deal plotted the whole event. He had received money from the Palestinian government, which was given to each released prisoner as they are considered heroes. His family members in Hevron purchased 2 vehicles, one to burn after the kidnapping and one to escape in, as well as the plot of land to bury them in.

During our house-to-house searches, rockets began to rain on our south more heavily then usual and finally, after finding the bodies, we went to stop the rocket fire. WHAT WE DID NOT EXPECT AT THE TIME WAS THAT THE UNDERGROUND SATANIC NETWORK OF TUNNELS WAS NOW READY FOR A SCHEDULED HAMAS INVASION OF ISRAEL TO TAKE PLACE ON ROSH H’SHANA!

Plans were found with all of the details: Hamas terrorists popping up into Israel, killing and kidnapping all along the south. It is a nightmare scenario that The Lord of Hosts, Adonoi Tva’ot, revealed in His great mercy. It was a miracle.

People were still recovering from the trauma of this as school began, but the educators had not been lax during the previous 50 days, and experience is a hard but good teacher. They had been preparing new curriculum to deal with trauma on all age levels as well as loss in families and communities. The first week of learning was centered around this topic.

I wept when I heard that. Slowly, the families have been returning to their homes and returning their children to schools as the quiet in the south has held. There remain many badly damaged homes to deal with and much else, too.

But it hit me afresh, that as we sit around the rosh h’shana tables this year, we will have a new miracle to be thankful for …or… perhaps an on-going one as it is just another expression of His longsuffering mercy to his people since the days of Abraham.

And speaking of ongoing and longsuffering, our people continue to seek for that repentance that has been granted already, that sacrifice for sin which was rejected once. The fact that the merciful Hand of The Lord to our people remains pierced with the nails that we hammered, only serves as more reason for me to fall on my face and worship Him.

And isn’t that another example of how one shocking thing − the kidnapping murders − opened into a broader deliverance just like our initial rejection of our Savior became salvation to the rest of the world? Oh I am so glad that His ways and thoughts are so far above mine.

May you and I be filled with His humility and granted the gift of discernment for these days…baring His fruit for a starving, dark world…ALL for HIS glory!

I send you so much love,

Your sis J

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August 3, 2014 · 9:49 am

Inside Israel

Greetings, sisters and brothers, in The Name of Yeshua, Messiah, King, The Prince of Peace. Blessing to you with love, and may He be BLESSED AND GLORIFIED!

Here are some thoughts and observations as I look through my window at a very real war. May this be fodder for prayer and may we be drawn into His Presence.

Most Friday mornings finds me at the shuk (market) on my way to the prayer meeting. I am at the shuk as it is still waking up at 6 a.m., so not all of the stalls are stocked or open yet, but I know by now the ones that are open. They know me as well. It has blessed me to watch the interactions of Arab and Jewish merchants at the shuk. They have almost a special dance to guard their relationships. There is not a feeling of hostility there at all, but of brotherhood. I see Jewish and Arab merchants embracing and I also inquire how they and their families are and look for the open-faced reply.

My bread man is Jewish. I pick up my challa (3 twined braided Shabat bread) each Friday from them and once a month, another two for communion (Tsudat h’Adon’ in Hebrew) for our kehila (fellowship).

I had just heard on the news as I rode the train that we had agreed to a 72-hour cease fire. Although it might seem hard for many to understand, this was sad news. The job is not yet completed, and if it remains as it is, we will be faced again and again with the same war while they build up more sophisticated weapons in ever increasing numbers. Once again, we feel the pressure from the world − the world that has been unsuccessful at pressuring Syria, Egypt, Russia, Ukraine, and so forth.

Since we DON’T censor our media, the constant barrage of accusations − inaccurate, ignorant and distorted − are very painful and influence many within the country.

On with my story.

The young man looked at me as he handed me the breads. “How are you? What do you think?” he asked.

I sighed. “We must finish it this time. If we do nothing and ignore the attacks, rockets and weapons will build up. Then we must do everything at once.”

He shook his head. “What they won’t let us do and what we can’t do, HE must do and HE will,” he said, pointing up to heaven.

I smiled. “Yes, Amen, oh yes,” I agreed.

That is what the bread man said. Bethlehem − Beit Lechem or House of Bread. The Promised One was hidden there like leaven in a loaf of bread as He described the kingdom of God in a parable.

And oh yes, more and more people really ARE looking UP seriously. This war is very fierce, and even though all of the other wars fought since I have lived here have been for our own homes and families, in our land or on our borders, this one IS different.

The problem has been allowed to fester and it HAS become a war for our VERY EXISTANCE, there is no doubt, and just about everyone knows it. A whopping 85-92% of the Jewish population stand behind the government’s decisions and wants to see it through to the end in spite of the great cost in lives or in allies. The sacrifice is great, but the alternative is EVERYTHING.

My heart was greatly moved on Friday night to see the demonstration up north − so brave and so very encouraging. Two hundred Christian Arabs marched together with Israeli flags and banners, saying: WE ARE ISRAELI AND WE STAND WITH ISRAEL.

The speaker was a Greek Orthodox Priest, but the group was mixed denominationally. He said boldly and bravely, “WE MADE A GRAVE MISTAKE IN 1948 AND WE MUST NOT MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN. We sided with the Arabs against Israel, but we Christians must repent and know that we share the same God, the same Bible, the same promises and that His promise is for the land of ISRAEL, and we share IN that.”

It was truly amazing and so encouraging.

All around the country it looks like yom h’atz’maoot’ (our independence day). Except for a few people, the streets are empty because more then 86,000 troops were called up. There are very few tourists or shoppers. But still flags are flying everywhere. The streets are decked in blue and white and flags are now interspersed all over, Israel, Jerusalem and armed forces. Signs and banners on walls, cars and buses (AND tee shirts) read: “Together we are strong…strengthen one another…stand with each other…help each other” and “Embrace a Golani, embrace a soldier” and of course “Messiah is coming” and even “Messiah is among us.”

Boxes and booths appear everywhere collecting money, food, underwear for the soldiers and food and help for the people of the southern communities. With NO tourism, the beautiful hotels, bed and breakfasts and resorts have opened their doors free to the people of the south and soldiers who need a break from the war. Groups of people from all over the country gather to go and shop in Sderot and other besieged towns where businesses are starving for sales. THERE IS A FACEBOOK PAGE called Israeli businesses under fire.

It lists businesses that need help. These are really families who will lose their jobs or companies in the midst of this fighting. It’s a creative way to buy things from them. I was very encouraged by it.

They say it is a list and description, easy to use. You can buy things for yourself or for others or to donate. One man in the states found a tee shirt place and ordered hundreds of tee shirts to be delivered to the soldiers. Another found a caterer (usually a family business) and ordered hundreds of meals sent to the hospitals where the soldiers are for their families who are with them around the clock. It may be worth looking at the site.

And so the cease fire on Friday lasted for almost 90 minutes. A suicide bomber entered a tunnel and blew himself up, killing 2 of our soldiers. Another cease is fire over.

Our 64 dead soldiers so far seems like a small number in comparison with the 1,700-1,800 dead people in Gaza, mainly women and children. But there is great grief here mixed in with great bravery.

Now I must share with you some things that many of you won’t read elsewhere:

The testimony below was from one of the wounded soldiers in Gaza. It gives an intimate look into what we are dealing with. May this and other first-hand accounts enable us to continue with what needs to be done:

“We went into Shuja’iya, to discover and destroy the Hamas’ terrorist tunnels. We discovered there an entire underground city, with multi-shaft, wide tunnels, with Wi-Fi & air-conditioning systems, concrete walls, and stocked to the ceiling with weapons and explosives. Some of the tunnels are so wide, that they can ride back and forwards on Vespa-type scooters. And then came the worst. The Hamas fighters started sending towards us 13- and 14-year-old Palestinian children, running at us, wearing explosive-laden suicide-bomber belts. Those children were death-trapped, and became human bombs, by the community’s adults. We were trained to fight adult soldiers or any other skilled adults, enabling us to defend our families and countrymen. But this?? We had no other option but, in self-defense, to shoot them at as far a range from us as we could, before the responsible adult that sent them used his mobile phone to detonate the belts, and kill us.”

One of the injured soldiers ended up by saying, “I do not know if I’ll ever be able to sleep again, the pictures of those poor children, killed by my gun, will probably never leave me.”

HERE IS A TRANSLATION OF AWSOME TESTIMONY PRINTED IN OUR HEBREW NEWSPAPERS ABOUT ANSWERS TO PRAYERS BY A GENERAL. He was mocked when he prayed them:

“Vinter also describes how his forces have seen miracles in their battles. One story he relates is when they were fighting in Hirbat Hizaah, Vniter says he saw something he had not seen during his entire career in the army to date. Vinter describes that they had decided to attack the area in the early hours of the morning, before daybreak, so the enemy would not notice them. The extraction team arrived at the location on time, but the fighters arrived late. Vinter says they did not know what to do, as the sky was already starting to light up and the soldiers were becoming visible, yet they needed to attack. Suddenly, Vinter says, a cloud cover came over them and protected them. Clouds of glory (ananei kavod). Suddenly it covered us, the fighters, a heavy fog, that stayed there throughout the attack. Nobody saw us. Only after the houses targeted were destroyed and there was no longer any danger to the soldiers did the fog disperse. Exactly as it says: “For Hashem will go with you to save you.”

One last thing, THE pressing issue is PRAYER. SPIRIT-LEAD SPIRIT FILLED PRAYER. He knows all and His Book is filled with directions and information. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING.

Again I have inundated you with so many words, please forgive me, but it is a most intense time. I plan to attend another funeral at 5 p.m. today at the Mount Hertzl military cemetery for a fallen soldier from a family that I know. I have been more emotional then I would like to be when I write, but please forgive my passion. I send you my love. God bless you dear body of Messiah.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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July 27, 2014 · 8:39 am

Inside Israel

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I greet you in The Name of The Great I AM. The beginning and the end, the first and the last, may He be MAGNIFIED and GLORIFIED. And may we, His body, be found faithful and obedient. I send this to you with deep love!

I sat down for a cup of coffee and a moment of rest out on the merapeset (balcony). There I saw two soldiers and an older man wearing plain clothes, solemnly crossing the street toward our building. I felt a chill and began praying as they entered the building next door to us. I waited and waited. There were no screams or wails of grief, so I felt my body relax a bit and kept praying. Soon one soldier and the older man came back outside and then walked in the same manner back to where they had come from, leaving one soldier behind.

It could signal all manner of things, none easy or happy. I am learning more and more about our army day by day and I am humbled as I do.

I cannot share the names of the believing soldiers (and children of believers) fighting right now. I have been asked not to do that. God knows their names, but I am touched by the fact that our sisters and brothers in the army are in very sensitive and strategic positions because they can be trusted.

Please pray for them and please pray that they are strengthened in their spirits…that they SEE Him Whom they serve and are given fruitful opportunities to share His Name.

We had a soldier wearing her uniform at the service last night and I learned something that I didn’t know. She had been in a battle and a member of her battalion was killed. The battalion was then removed right away from the fight. The army takes them out for a “cooling off” period because the soldiers become as close as brothers through their training and serving together. The army does not want someone blinded with grief to then act crazy in the midst of war.

IN SPITE OF WHAT YOU ARE HEARING AND SEEING, the IDF does a PHENOMONINAL job of keeping an eye out for blood-thirst, rage, and hatred. That cannot characterize us. Most Israelis agree that we need compassion with sharp discernment even in our warfare.

As we went out this morning to run errands downtown, I pointed out to my husband the flags up and down the rail line. Interspersed with the alternating Israeli and Jerusalem flags are the Golani flags. This group usually leads the IDF into battles. It is this group that lost so many on the first day of the battle. There are many signs, which read, “Hug a Golani.”

My husband and I are planning to join the throngs going to the Mount Hertzl Military cemetery here in Jerusalem to attend the funeral for a Jerusalem soldier killed in battle yesterday. His name is Amitai Yairi. I think the paper said that he was 20. We did not know him, nor his family, but it is the little we can do to stand with those nearby. As of now, 43 soldiers and officers have given their lives.

We are definitely in a battle fighting for the existence of Israel. This is not a small, light, or political battle − this is life and death. We KNOW that and we KNOW Who wins, however we also know the scriptures, and in spite of many prophets and eschatologists, we know that He calls us to STAND PRAYING and TO STAND.

It is very difficult for Israelis to see needless deaths taking place in Gaza and all the suffering there. This too is a battle and one well calculated by those who are set to destroy.

My pastor has a very important prayer letter which you can read here.

Thank you for your prayers for Israel, for us, for the plans and purposes of God to be fulfilled and to bring glory to His great Name. May there be fruit for His kingdom, and MAY WE BRING GLORY TO HIS NAME. May you be encouraged, and kept in His straight and narrow path.

Lovingly,

your sis J

I am sending this letter so soon to forward to you my Pastor’s prayer letter as I feel that it is very important. It is easier reading from the web page, so you can open it here

http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b8e32e47671a0921e0fb3f53c&id=065abe8499&e=696712bf91

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Filed under Christianity, Church, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

July 20, 2014 · 8:32 am

Inside Israel

Part of my regular reading this morning was in 1^st Corinthians. I was struck afresh by the wonderful greeting; so full of blessing and prayer and wanted to greet YOU that way:

“to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: ³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and Peace − what GIFTS He has made available to us so freely. May you and I experience them today.

Oh was I ever blessed today in the midst of my life. Perhaps you remember Eliyahu the plumber whom I shared my testimony when we moved into our apartment and how grieved I was at it was been received by him. I am so thankful that today was different.

“Yoooo Hoooo, friend, come to the window. Haaalllooo. Are you home?”

There was someone calling MY name outside from the street? I was cleaning the bathroom and dropped everything and ran to the merapeset (balcony). There on the street below was Rakel looking up and calling to ME of all people.

“Wow. Rakel, come on up, I’m just one flight up.”

Rakel came huffing and puffing up the stairs, smiling her contagious smile and gave me a big hug. “Found you,” she said. “I knew you would be the window with the beautiful flowers hanging out.”

I smiled as my dog jumped around her legs and my bird began to sing.

I met Rakel at work, and over the years I have been able to share with her a bit how I believe, and she accepted that, so I wasn’t concerned that my Bible lay open on the chair as I showed her in. Rakel struggles with weight and depression. She came to Israel when she was about 9 years old from, I think, Auschwitz. Her war experience as a child and a subsequent failed marriage scarred her terribly. She has been searching for answers to relieve her pain for the nearly 17 years that I have known her. Because her food addictions seem tied to the pain, she actually joined AA and has lived by the 12 step program.

When she saw me be able to finally loose the 41 kilos (about 90 pounds), and then keep it off (it has been nearly 9 years now), it opened a door for me to share with her about The Lord. But at work my sharing is limited and we always said, “We should meet for coffee someday and talk.”

Here she was at my door.

Right away she began talking about her weight again. Even though I struggled about my own weight issues with The Lord for many years, and I don’t know WHY He gave the victory at this point in my life, it was still HIM Who did it. So the conversation soon turned to Him, His ways, and how I believe.

Rakel is religious, but is always searching for God. “I just read a scripture in Malachi about telling man how to live,” she began.

“Oh, funny, I just read this in Micah,” I said, grabbing my Bible. I turned to Micah 6:8 and read:

He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

“That’s it!’ she exclaimed.

“Your Bible has Hebrew too. Can I see it?” she said taking my Bible and reading it in Hebrew, nodding her head. “Wow! You really read your Bible a lot don’t you?” She leafed through it.

“Yes. I love The Bible. It is the Truth that sets us free. My Bible also has the brit h’desha (New Testament) in it.”

I showed her.

“Let me see it. And that is in Hebrew too.”

We talked a bit more and then she left for an appointment.

She is very open, but she is also open to anything spiritual, including kabala (Jewish mystical occult) and new age things. I plan to get her a full Bible in Hebrew. Perhaps you will pray with me for her, and also for my testimony to be received. May His Word produce fruit in this hungry seeking lady.

Today has been Day 9 of Operation Protective Edge.

Tensions are running high as crazy information floods the airwaves and internet. The world grows darker and deeper into deception at a rate possibly unprecedented. Surely it is compounded by the abundance of available information (truth or lies…seems to make no difference). People read or hear something, form an opinion and then act on that opinion. It is almost as if the world has plunged headlong into one of those weird fantasy movies.

Here in Jerusalem it is, I think, the 3^rd day since we have had an air raid, but non the less there is much tension and expectation of one occurring at any time. The rest of the country has had an onslaught of more then 1,200 rockets. Our first death from a missile occurred yesterday when a 37 year old volunteer, the father of 3, was bringing food and water to troops waiting on the border. Meanwhile, more then 200 have been killed in Gaza thus far.

It seems self-evident for us in Jerusalem, but since the rest of the world does not understand, I will share a bit of what seems so obvious:

When Israel painfully evacuated our own people from Gaza (Gush Katif) in August 2,005, all of the rich and productive greenhouses, the fertile land and most public buildings were turned over to the Palestinian government with the sincere hope that they would build a thriving economy and build their country and government. It was an opportunity of huge value for them at great hurt and cost to us. They burned most of the greenhouses and buildings and voted the hamas terror organization in to govern them.

The billions and billions of dollars donated to the area by the world went almost entirely into weapons development, which we are seeing now. Instead of farming or manufacturing of durable goods for their people, they dug expensive, sophisticated tunnels, built weapons manufacturing workshops and starved their people, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The people are filled with fear, anger, hatred and propaganda. It deeply grieves the hearts of nearly every Israeli and totally puzzles us (me included) how on earth this isn’t apparent to the entire world. Why is the world yelling that Israelis are using disproportionate force because our people are instructed to protect themselves in bomb shelters and follow clearly given procedures and air raid sirens and the people of Gaza are told to stand on the roofs? Their children play in the streets. Even as a believer I find this frustrating to tears.

I simply want to be sure that YOU, as believers who care and desire to know and to agree with what The Lord says, understand. I have had a number of emails from people saying that they are thankful to hear from me what is happening because their local media is so biased or shares so little, but I ENCOURAGE you to put ynet and Times of Israel on your bookmarks menu. Check them because things are moving and changing so rapidly and the lies are mutating just as quickly.

And yet we all know that all of the truth about what is going on will avail NOTHING without The Holy Spirit directing our prayers. My dear mentor whom I dare have called friend used to say that we can beat the air with many poetically and spiritually worded prayers but they avail NOTHING if not filled with the Life of The HOLY Spirit. One Word anointed by Him does the job that hours of words cannot. I call it “silver bullet praying,” the arrow that hits the mark.

A news report came in today that you will likely not hear elsewhere:

It is only a few weeks ago that 3 of our teens were kidnapped and murdered by Arabs. The killers have not been found as yet, but sadly, 3 young Israeli boys kidnapped and horribly murdered an Arab boy. These 3 were tracked down and are awaiting trial, but meanwhile the homes of these Jewish boys who killed the Arab boy are being destroyed JUST AS ISRAEL DOES TO THE HOMES OF ARAB TERRORISTS. The law is equal.

The events of these days are trying and I am likely too emotional to write about them. I would rather turn my eyes and, “Look away unto Yeshua.”

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.”

Thank you for your prayers for Israel, for us, for the plans and purposes of God to be fulfilled and to bring glory to His great Name. Thank you for your prayers for Rakel. May there be fruit for His kingdom, and MAY WE BRING GLORY TO HIS NAME. May you be encouraged, and kept in His straight and narrow path.

Lovingly,

your somewhat tired sis J

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Filed under Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare