Category Archives: Kingdom of God

July 21, 2013 · 1:12 pm

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 …

Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Matthew 6:16-18)

Blessings to you from quiet, subdued Jerusalem. May The Lord give us His Light into all that will glorify Him.

We had incurred some ‘city hall’ issues that needed to be attended to, and being my day off I needed to go down to city hall to see if they were open during their usual hours or if they were closed for the tisha b’av fast.

Things like that change every year. One year it will be open, and another close. One year everyone will seem to be fasting, and another not. One year I will hear weeping and prayer through the night and another not. This year, our city hall was closed and, interestingly, so were most of the shops on Jaffa Road.

The law states that restaurants and places of entertainment should be closed but other stores do as they wish, so in the past I had only seen restaurants or stores with religious owners closed. Being that so many were closed, I did not have to maneuver the crowds and had ample opportunity to observe. It surprised me how many cafes were open. I understand that there must be service for tourists, but this year I did not see many closed. Many tourists were, in fact, on the streets and some of them were obviously wondering what had happened.

Grocery stores, the shuk, public transportation, and so forth all function as normal on tisha b’av and it has been an individual choice for the 19 years that we have been here: to work or not to work. The train was blissfully, well, not ‘empty’, but there were some seats at times and no pushing. So it struck my funny bone to watch a family of tourists from Europe, armed with maps and plenty of food, having succeeded (with the help of passerby) at buying tickets in the automated booth, observe the bright yellow ‘IN-OUT ‘arrows painted on the sidewalks. I told you about our unsuccessful campaign to teach locals to ‘let the crowds off of the train BEFORE you rush on’.

I was reminded just how different life is here as I watched the dad of the visiting family observe the arrows, instruct his family where to stand, push one of the teenagers further back on the arrow, and wait for the train. It was so, well, ‘neat, orderly, and EASY’. Why can’t we do that? Cultural differences can be glaring and humerous and I have found that my response is a test of my walk with The Lord, one I don’t always pass. Yet, He is patient to help me learn.

There are other interesting things. Since it is also Ramadan, Moslems are also fasting during the day hours, and Jaffa Road was full of Moslem Arabs, as well as Jews, strolling along the street. The religious or observant men who are fasting today are obvious. The tradition is not to cut your hair or shave from Shavuot (Pentecost, the feast of weeks) to lag b’omer (the ‘bon fire’ night) when you can cut your hair and shave for one day. Then it begins again until tisha b’av, so, by now the fasting men are obvious not only because they look quite ‘holy’, serious, hungry and sad, but because they are also very shaggy.

It started me thinking even more about fasting and what it is for and WHO it is for.

Probably many of you have read the old book, God’s Chosen Fast by Arthur Wallis, but even if you haven’t, or if you have read others, my favorite text simply came from the scripture mentioned above in Matthew 6, which I interpreted this way:

‘Fast unto ME…secretly…tell only ME…and I will search your heart’s motives and either set them straight (my heart’s motives) or change them. Do NOT appear unto men to fast.’

To me, that seemed simple enough. So in my life, and maybe yours, there have been ‘seasons of fasting’ and ‘choices to fast’, times of regularly scheduled fasting and other times when it seems woefully impossible to fast and even failed attempts. Among the faces that I see around me today there are some whom I am sure are really seeking God. I heard that there were many many thousands at the western wall last night for prayer and reading of the book of Lamentations as well as full synagogues all over the city.

During the news broadcasts there is time given to a rabbi to share a devotional explaining tisha b’av, and since I listen to the news in English I can only hope that what is shared on the Hebrew news is deeper, somehow more meaningful. In my readings of the prophets the reason for the fast rings loud and clear. It is NOT to mourn the destruction of the temples and the dispersion, NOR hatred between brothers, but to REPENT FOR THE SIN that turns our faces away from our God toward other things and other gods and causes our hearts to harden and REQUIRES punishment. The fast itself accomplishes nothing without the heart, eh? And I’m thankful that God can turn our hearts and open the eyes of every hungry heart. I am praying that He will appear to hungry hearts today.

But the grave events that have historically impacted the Jewish people on tisha b’av did not stop today. We were shocked to receive today’s news (article below is part of an article from ynet just now):

EU bans contracts between member states, settlements

New decree restricts any Israeli entity beyond 1967 lines from EU funding, prizes, grants. Housing Minister Ariel: Decision reminiscent of Holocaust

The European Union has decreed that contracts between EU member states and Israel must include a clause stating that east Jerusalem and the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) are not part of the State of Israel and therefore not part of the contract, it was reported on Tuesday. (*Please note that they also included the Golan Heights)

The decree, which will go into effect Friday, will forbid any cooperation, awarding of grants, prizes and funding for any Israeli entity in the specified areas.

The EU’s funding, direct and indirect, of Israel bodies which operate in the settlements has long drawn fire from various organizations within the Union. The EU is severely opposed to Israeli construction beyond the 1967 lines and has acted repeatedly to draw a clear line between Israel and its settlements in the West Bank.

The latest decree resulted from the EU Foreign Affairs Council’s directives of December 2012, which stated that “all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967.”

However, the directive will not harm funding for research institutes, such as the Hebrew University, which employs settlers in their staff. Government ministries, which have offices in east Jerusalem, such as the Justice Ministry, will still enjoy the EU’s cooperation as well.

An EU official said on Tuesday that Israel should not be surprised with the directive, as the issue has been repeatedly addressed and forewarned by EU officials.

The new directive, said the official, is in line with opinions in the EU which have been prevalent for several years.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office MK Ofir Akunis said in response: “It’s a wrong and regrettable decision. Such steps – even before the Palestinians announced they are even ready to return to the negotiation table – are pushing the peace talks away, not drawing them closer.”

“Let them know even in Europe – Judea and Samaria are not ‘occupied,’ they’re the homeland of the Jewish nation.”

Housing Minister Uri Ariel said in response to the decree: “This decision is tainted by racism and discrimination against the Jewish people which is reminiscent of the bans against Jews in Europe over 66 years ago,”

Minister Ariel added, “The Israeli government must not, under any condition, be a part of any future agreement which includes a clause that Judea and Samaria are not a part of the sovereign State of Israel.”

The Yesha Council stated that “To our regret, in Tisha B’av Europe has returned to a policy of boycott and segregation against the State of Israel. Europe’s unrestrained support of the Palestinian Authority has turned it into a non-neutral element.

“The Israeli government must instruct the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry to immediately halt all European projects in Judea and Samaria until this unilateral decision is aborted.”

So, the day is drawing toward a close and our landlord just came and told us that she is looking into selling the apartment that we live in and asked if we want to buy it. Thankfully, she told us that we would be able to sign another one-year lease so I have another ‘issue’ to help learn the stance of faith vs. doubt (fear, worry, sin) Again I have not heard more from our younger daughter but I have been overwhelmed with the loving prayerful response on her behalf. God bless you!

I must go so will sign off quickly.

Loving blessings,

your sis J

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July 19, 2013 · 1:28 pm

Larry the Lizard Slayer

wildherps.com

I had no intention of causing the little lizard problems, but it’s hard to convince him now because he’s dead.

It all began with me looking out the window and seeing a six-inch fence lizard resting on the patio. I opened the door and watched him scamper toward the BBQ grill. I followed him with my finger poised on the camera button of my i-Phone. He dove into a hole in the butane tank which proved to be his downfall.

Although his head and front legs fit through the hole, his larger back legs could not. He was stuck. I tried helping, but his fear proved too great. I walked away and prayed, asking the Lord to free him.

The next day, I checked again. He was still stuck.

On my walk around the neighborhood, I decided the lizard was in desperate straits and needed help now. I prayed and asked the Lord to relax the lizard, maybe even put him into a deep sleep.

I softly crept up behind the lizard. I reached down and gave him a quick jerk, hoping to surprise him and free him at the same time.

Let’s just say, it did not work out quite like I planned. He died in my hand.

I felt terrible and asked forgiveness of the Lord for killing the lizard. An empty feeling hung on me for hours like a funeral shroud. If only I wouldn’t have bothered the lizard, he’d still be alive.

Now think about it, okay?

There are probably 500, 000 of these fence lizards in my neighborhood alone, ranging in size from itsy-bitsy to six inches, measuring from head to tail. Cars, lawn mowers, cats, birds, snakes, and dogs remove thousands of them every week from my area. So, what’s the big deal, right?

He lived in my yard, under my care. I let him die for no good reason at all.

Do you know what made me feel better?

I received a letter in the mail from a child we sponsor in India. Her words warmed my heart, knowing she thinks I’m someone special, but in reality, I’m not. She’s the special one who God laid on our hearts to love and help.

If you’re interested in knowing how to sponsor a child in Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope program, click here.

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July 15, 2013 · 3:53 pm

Prayer: So Easy To Talk About, Yet So Hard To Do (Part 7)

When J. Hudson Taylor was born in 1832, his mother and father prayed, “Lord, grant that he may work in China.”

The parents saw little evidence their prayer had any effect on their son’s life as he grew up in Yorkshire, England. In fact, he became a skeptic and wandered far from his Methodist upbringing. But when Taylor reached his teenage years, God grabbed his heart while he read a Christian tract in his father’s apothecary shop. A short time later, Taylor felt God had called him to be a missionary to China.

Then, Hudson Taylor’s training began in earnest.

Taylor read George Mueller’s newsletter and believed he needed strong faith and a prayer life like Mueller’s to succeed in China. To accomplish this, Taylor moved miles away from home to live in a poor area. He vowed to never ask people for help, but instead, like Mueller, he prayed, asking God to meet his needs. An absent-minded employer and sickness brought him close to starvation and death, yet God proved Himself faithful, delivering and healing him.

In 1853, Taylor sailed as a missionary for a new missionary society to Shanghai, China. The society seldom sent funds and Taylor refused to ask for help. “Depend upon it. God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack for supplies,” he proclaimed.

After seven years of hard work, he built a church of only 21 believers in an inland city. But because of illness, he and his wife returned to England. It was during his stay in England, when he felt defeated and depressed, that God gave him a vision for a new missionary society for China. Struggling with the vision and his lack of faith for it, Hudson Taylor eventually told God: “All responsibility as to the issues and consequences must rest with You. I am Your servant and I will obey and follow You.”

From this point forward, Hudson Taylor began praying for missionaries to join his missionary society: China Inland Mission. By 1895, 641 missionaries and 462 Chinese helpers at 260 missionary stations were the results of his prayers, more than half of all Protestant missionaries in the nation.

Missiologists and historians refer to Taylor as ‘one of the profoundest Christian thinkers of all time’, ‘a visionary pioneer’ and ‘one of the four or five most influential foreigners in 19th century China’.

Taylor’s own assessment was somewhat different: ‘I often think that God must have been looking for someone small enough and weak enough for Him to use, and that He found me.’

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July 14, 2013 · 9:46 am

Inside Israel

What are your thoughts occupied with as we heard toward tisha b’av next Monday night and Tuesday? I’ve been thinking about those little mistakes in communication that snowball into huge conflicts between people and communities. The children that grow up estranged because their parents were too busy to say “I love you.” The couples that stopped listening to each other because they didn’t understand each other. The religious sectors that split apart because they never took the opportunity to learn to value each other.

When we talk about Sinat Chinam (baseless hatred) in Israel, it’s important to realize that so many of our fights can be avoided if we take the time to maintain the relationships we have, and fill them with love and beauty instead of jealousy and suspicion. If we can do that as a nation, we’ll never have to fast on tisha b’av again.

Wishing you an easy and meaningful fast.” (from the local ‘janglo’ weekly letter)

Greetings and Blessings, dear sisters and brothers, May The Lord be glorified, blessed, worshipped… may you be blessed!

As ramadan is being observed by the world’s Moslems, the tisha b’av fast appears on the horizon. Tisha b’av (or 9^th day of the month of Av on the Hebrew calendar) is observed this year beginning Monday night the 8^th through Tues sundown the 9^th. Aside from the fast day of Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, this is the most solemn fast day of the Jewish year. It is not observed as widely as Yom Kippur (which is commanded in scripture and actively observed by a large majority of Jews) but it IS observed by a surprising number of even secular or nominally observant Jews as well as the religious.

As I have told you recently, I have been going through this interesting season of having my morning devotional reading ‘disrupted by The Lord’ after 37 years of following His initial directions to me, and have been having an intense time reading and re-reading the major prophets again and again (along with other portions in New Covenant and Psalms), so this day is making a very present and living impression on me this year, even more so then in past years.

The 9^th of Av commemorates the actual date of the destruction of BOTH the first and second temples and the punishment of the surviving remnant being sent out of the promised land of Israel into the diaspora. You can read Jeremiah’s account of the date in Jeremiah 52:6-7 –

6 By the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

7 Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the plain.

I have also shared many times over the past years lists of the unusual number of cataclysmic events that have taken place among the Jews through out modern history on this same date.

People prepare for this time of often very real repentance and heart searching in many ways. The very religious men do not shave or cut their hair from Shavuot until tisha b’av, so there are many fully bearded men around right now. There is also a general feeling of mourning in the air and I have heard many greetings which include a blessing for Jerusalem. The teaching is that the judgment of God comes upon the people of Israel mainly for ‘brother hating brother’ (sinat chinam, in Hebrew). Of course this is partly true according to the scriptures as hatred, or lack of love, produces selfishness, oppressing, cheating, theft and the like. But the Scriptures make it clear that there are other reasons for the judgment of God upon the children of Israel: (I have been writing them down during these 6 months of reading through the major prophets). Some of them are:

Forsaking Him (our first love); serving other Gods (like material goods, the flesh, new age ideas…?), worshipping the work of our own hands, giving heed to seducing spirits (counterfeit works of a spirit other then HIS); defiling His land; rebellion; pride; not finding delight in The Word of The Lord; covetousness; dealing falsely; will not hear correction; following the dictates of our own heart; forsaking Shabat; following Eastern ways; arrogant tongue; despising this inherited land; lack of mercy…oh my, the list goes on.

At the top of this letter I copied a small paragraph that opened a local weekly email information site, and similar exhortations and encouragements are appearing in newspapers, in short messages on radio and tv and on billboards (at least in the Jerusalem area). ‘Prepare your heart to seek The Lord…do not let Jerusalem go again…’

I was in the Old City on Tuesday and many large groups of youngsters, soldiers and older folks as well, were on ‘learning tours’, reviewing the history surrounding the destructions of the temples. They stop to read scripture and pray. On tisha b’av itself, the book of Lamentations is prayed/read during the fast and many people stay up all night weeping and even dressing in sackcloth and ashes. We can scoff at what is ‘religious show’, but I, for one, know that God hears hungry hearts and my prayer is that this will NOT be a religious tradition, but that there will be breakthroughs in hearts; that The Holy Spirit will convict, and draw the hungry to Yeshua, Whom He is well able to reveal! AND… that He will indeed, CREATE hunger in the hearts of those who may be crying out of tradition only. He is able.

I have not been well, so will close and go to bed now. What a season we live in, eh? His ways are so above our ways and His thoughts so above our…and I am thankful for that! I send you much love. God bless you and keep you and make HIS FACE to shine upon you…and give you (HIS) Shalom.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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July 12, 2013 · 1:06 pm

What Would You Do If You Saw This Scene?

(Click to enlarge)

The young girl is a member of the 300 million people-group in India known as the “Untouchables” or Dalits. This people-group is considered subhuman, impure from birth, and worthy of nothing but contempt. Anything a Dalit touches is then considered impure and contaminated, and must be thrown away.

Dalits work at the most degrading and menial jobs in India. They clean out the open-air toilets, latrines, and sewer lines with their bare hands. They work back-breaking twelve-hour days as laborers on farms or carry firewood from the forests. All for only pennies per hour in wages. Crimes against Dalits, such as rape or kidnapping as slaves, are seldom reported because the police turn a blind eye when they hear the whole story.

The Dalits are the least of the least and the poorest of the poor.

So, you can understand why it’s acceptable for the young girl to dig through garbage. She is, after all, already contaminated and who knows? Maybe she’ll eke out a few pennies to help feed her family that day.

Let’s say you were walking down the street and happened on the scene shown in the photo. What would you do?

If you don’t have a good answer, check out Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope Ministry.

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July 8, 2013 · 3:51 pm

Prayer: So Easy To Talk About, Yet So Hard To Do (Part 6)

One morning the plates and cups and bowls on the table were empty. There was no food in the larder, and no money to buy food. The thirty children were standing, waiting for their morning meal, when George Mueller said, “Children, you know we must be in time for school.”

Lifting his hand he said, “Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.”

There was a knock on the door. The baker stood there, and said, “Mr. Mueller, I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn’t have bread for breakfast and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it.”

Mueller thanked the man.

No sooner had this transpired than there was a second knock at the door. It was the milkman. He announced that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the Orphanage, and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it.

(Life and Ministry of George Mueller by Ed Reese, Reese Publictions, Christian Hall of Fame Series)

George Mueller (1805 – 1898) pastored the same Baptist church in Bristol, England, for over sixty-six years. Yet, he is best known for his orphan ministry, with stories like the above being common in his life. His orphanages cared for over 10,000 orphans at a time when destitute children were locked up in prisons to keep them off the streets.

Armed only with prayer and faith, he went through daily spiritual battles to provide for the increasing number of orphans under his care. He admitted his faith was nothing special and any believer could do it. What he did was simple enough in that he meditated in scriptures and then prayed the promises before God’s throne. He continued praying until He had peace about his prayers being answered by God.

God never failed him.

Near the end of his life, Mueller stated he had received over 50,000 answers to specific prayers from God. The amazing thing is that George Mueller never once asked people for money. Never once. Every prayer request was made alone before God.

Thousands of believers have been encouraged by the many books on George Mueller’s life. We’ll talk about one of them next time.

(Continued in Part 7)

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July 7, 2013 · 8:44 am

Inside Israel

Summer activity seems to overtake many of us suddenly and I know that some of you will not find time to read this. There is some personal news at the end of the letter though, particularly for those of you who know us. I am so glad that The Lord is the same, yesterday, today and forever and that HE isn’t suddenly ‘caught up’ in summer activity…OR in problems or illness for that matter. That’s so comforting!

As I went from the shuk to prayer meeting yesterday morning before going to work, my eyes suddenly ‘flashed back’ to earlier ‘first impressions’ and I was able to observe with ‘new eyes’ again some of the wonders of life here that I saw at the beginning of this part of my path. Perhaps it is because we are about to celebrate our 19^th year since making aliyah (immigrating).

We became Israeli citizens on the 18^th of July, but we left Alaska on 4^th of July (the tickets were cheaper then as people tend not to fly on that day) which was sort of symbolic I guess. We were totally clueless as to the new life that lay ahead. I had never been here before, and my husband had come once on a short ‘tourist trip’. We didn’t know aleph from bet, (the Hebrew alpha bet) had no idea where we would live or what we would do. The map that I had looked at was the map in the back of my Bible (yes…before computers!) We literally sold and gave away everything that we owned, burned all of our bridges, and at the not-so-young age of 48+ left all that we knew for what we didn’t know because we believed (correctly thank God!) that it was HIM Who was telling us to do this. We were slightly acquainted with ONE person here and she found us temporary board in a room of someone’s apartment. That is how our walk here began. Shell shock! So, 19 years later, my routines have become somewhat set, and it was a blessing to suddenly see again as if it were my first time.

Friday morning, it is my ‘habit’ to go to Intercessors for Israel 6:30am prayer meetings for a half hour before going on to work. This week, memories flooded me. I remembered my ‘wonder’ at the buses, where the radio blared and the people talked and sang and ate. Since I take the 6am bus on Fridays I had been deeply moved by the fact that the state run radio stations began (they go off at midnight and on at 6am) with the words of ‘the smah’…the prayer most important in Judaism…the words from Deut 6:4-9

⁴“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ⁵You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

These words are to Judaism what The Lord’s Prayer or sometimes the 23^rd Psalm are to Christianity, so it would be as if your radio stations would begin each day with those Words in the morning reminding the country Who we look to first above all. It blessed me to listen and to pray as the sunrise was casting its first rays above the mountains round about Jerusalem. Sadly, about the time that the train started service, the broadcasting system put an end to this practice that had been in place since we first got radio here.

None the less, the assortment on the 6am bus is almost always the same, so we greet one another as one reads the newspaper and another the book of Psalms and a third eats perhaps a yogurt or cucumber, tomato and pita…typical Israeli breakfasts on the run. On Friday I get off at the shuk to buy a challa (shabat bread) and some fruit and vegetables as everything in the city will close before sundown until after the shabat following sundown on Saturday. At 6am, very few stands are open, but there are enough for me to get what I need and then run down Jaffa Road to prayer meeting.

As I leave the shuk I watch the Friday morning ritual of the street sweepers. Do all cities still have street sweepers? Ours take their job very seriously and really do it well. I am always impressed by them as it is not what you would call the most desirable job and yet I never sense these people feeling sorry for themselves or angry or see them slacking at work. I pass the area from which they are ‘sent out’ with broom and equipment and enjoy listening to the ‘pep talk’ that they receive from their ‘commander’ who reminds them that they are cleaning the streets of Jerusalem and that they should do it proudly. They run off slapping each other on the back and ready to begin. Why does this catch my eye?

As one who is ‘always cleaning house again and again and again’…I sometimes lose both my joy and energy in the midst of the task. My task is so small compared with what faces these sweepers who work in the shuk. It is non stop mess and garbage and they keep at it with an energy, encouraging one another, that really speaks to me. If they can do this monotonous job day after day, it challenges me to do mine for Yeshua with joy and for His glory. It is their level of obvious contentment that teaches me in this day ahead of me…it challenges me to plumb the depths of the command that The Lord gives me to ‘be content in ALL things’ as I read in so many verses (here are two but then there is Heb 13:5, and so very many others. You know them I’m sure:

¹¹Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: ¹²I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Phil 4:11)

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into this world, and it iscertainwe can carry nothing out. ⁸And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 1 Tim 6:6)

So…as I walk past the ‘challenge of the street sweepers’ I come again to the ifi morning prayer meeting as I have since this particular Fri. morning group began so many years back, to pray in small groups for particular situations in our country and surrounding ones. All too soon it was off to work for me, but my ‘fresh look’ at the street sweepers kept my eyes awake.

I remembered my amusement at the lack of Western ‘political correctness’ and how everyone talks to strangers all of the time. That brought to my memory the reminder of the becoming aware that in this land of the Book and the Law…the laws are NOT ‘rigid’ as they are in the West…they are not black and white…they…hum…’float’ (for want of a better word. It took me awhile to understand this. Here is an example: In America if I took a letter to the post office, they would weigh it and tell me EXACTLY how much postage it needed. If they were wrong, I would get the letter back marked ‘insufficient postage’.

Here, oh yes, there are charts, charges and regulations…but I might well walk up to the post office lady and she might say ‘9 shekels’ and I might say ‘Oh no! I only have 7.5’ and…depending upon who she is, she might say ‘zeh lo mishonay!’ (It doesn’t matter) and either put 7.5 postage on it or take the shekel and a half our of her change purse. We don’t HAVE ‘insufficient postage’ stamps here. Period.

Then there is ‘making a scene’. Again, a man approaches a window at the post office (we do LOTS of transactions at our post offices: they are banks, we pay bills there, we submit forms there and various other tasks) and the teller says ‘You are missing a signature’. You can expect excitement! ‘WHAT?!? They TOLD me that THIS is what I need!! I CAN’T POSSIBLY come back! My kid needs this for school TODAY!’ Sometimes fights ensue…but SOMETIMES we hear things like ‘You can’t? He really needs it today? Ok.’ Stamp stamp stamp – and the customer walks away smiling. You can REASON with the clerks. You can also cry. I found that out the hard way.

As a new immigrant I cried A LOT! Suddenly I became ‘they made somebody’s mother cry!’ and others in line would rush up with water or a chair – it must have been quite humorous to watch from afar (although it never felt funny at the time). So what is this: manipulation? Mercy? Sloppiness? Protexia? Probably a combination of all three to a different degree, but it was culturally different to me. It was no longer black and white, but there were many ‘grey’ areas and this was helpful to learn as I realize that I will never fully understand the ‘ways of the system’. (although I have been told that NO ONE really understands it)

It is fun to remember some of these early impressions and lessons, particularly as planes fly over. You all know that the situation here increases in intensity daily. The sudden eruption of Egypt again – our neighbor to the south- has led to great instability in the vast Sinai region and once again de-stabilized our border. To the North of us the Syrians continue to kill one another and our hospitals receive wounded for their border area nearly daily as word of mouth travels and families in the south bring their loved ones to the border asking for mercy. Again our ‘peace’ process is gaining momentum so there are (again) bomb scares daily as that seems to be the ‘natural fruit’ of the ‘peace process’ (and the foreign governments do not seem to see the irony of this). In other words, life continues as usual.

PERSONAL NEWS:

I was deeply blessed by a dear sister last weekend. She works for a volunteer organization and they are blessed with an apartment right on the beach in Netanya that they allow their workers to use periodically for a time of retreat and refreshing. She had reserved it for last weekend and INVITED ME AND ANOTHER SISTER TO JOIN HER! Oh what joy to have a change of scenery and intensity and to share the sweetest of fellowship in Him! I have rarely received such a cup of cold water and I am happy to report that I have been so graciously refreshed and doused in Love! I had to come home early as I have had an infection and am allergic to just about all antibiotics, so needed to receive 5 days of slowly administered antibiotic by infusion, spending 2 hours daily in a nurses station after work. I was well prepared with His GRACE to go through this, for which I am so thankful.

Some have been asking how things are going with our Granddaughter. She is scheduled to arrive on 29^th July and we are SOOOO excited! She is a tender 6 years old and has had her suitcase packed for 6 weeks already! I guess she takes after her ‘Savtalai’ (Grandmother) as I have been getting stuff for her ‘room’ for at least that long! Thank you so much for your prayers!

But for those of you who know us…our situation…have followed our family, some of you for more then 35 years(!) we do have news. Our youngest daughter, who was married just a year ago, is expecting their first child! She was told (as I was) that she could never have children and they are THRILLED! Of course, she has had MANY physical and emotional problems and they are still NOT (yet) walking with The Lord… they are poorer then church mice BUT happier then larks…and, yes, I ask for prayer for them! They live in Minnesota USA and the Baby is due in early Jan. No…they have no car…no insurance…she is high risk pregnancy and is NOT feeling well…BUT…She IS a child of promise and HE IS ON THE THRONE! So I will BLESS them and pray and I wanted to share our joy with you!

MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU AND MAKE HIS FACE TO SHINE UPON YOU FOR HIS GLORY! May we be discerning and sensitive to His direction for this most narrow of seasons in which we life.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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July 3, 2013 · 10:19 am

Prayer: So Easy To Talk About, Yet so Tough To Do (Part 5)

Successful prayer depends on our relationship with the Father and little else. The following story, as related by Rev. Kenneth Hagin on one of his radio programs, demonstrates well this principle:

In the 1850’s, a slave woman watched in agony as her husband was led to the auction block. She knew her husband would be sold to another plantation and they would never see each other again. Life without him would be horrible, she thought.

As she stood there, in her hopelessness, wondering what she could do, she looked up toward heaven. “Lord, if I could help You right now as easily as You can help me, I would,” she prayed in a soft whisper.

As the slave husband slowly trudged up to the auctioneer, a young boy in the audience turned to his father. “Dad, could I have ten dollars to buy a slave?” he asked.

“Sure, son,” said his father, knowing that each slave would sell for hundreds of dollars. He handed his son the money.

“Let’s begin the bidding on this young, strong slave,” said the auctioneer. “Who’ll start it off?”

The young boy raised his hand. “I’ll bid ten dollars,” he said in a loud voice.

The crowd turned to look at the young boy and laughed in unison at the ridiculousness of the boy’s bid. Each shook his head, and yet, there were no other bids. The boy purchased the slave husband for ten dollars

Afterward, the young boy walked to the cashier, paid his money, signed the papers, and took possession of his slave.

Then, he took the slave husband over to the wife. “Here, you can have him. He’s yours,” he said to her.

…For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20)

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June 26, 2013 · 4:05 pm

Prayer: So Easy To Talk About, Yet So Tough To Do (Part 4)

I was so hungry for a Bible. Seeing my desperation, my mother remembered an old man in another village. This man had been a pastor before the Cultural Revolution.

Together we started out on the long walk to his home. When we found him, we told him our desire, “We long to see a Bible. Do you have one?”

The old pastor simply told me, “The Bible is a heavenly book. If you want one, you’ll need to pray to the God of heaven. Only He can provide a heavenly book…”

When I returned home, I brought a stone into my room and knelt on it every evening for prayer. I just had one simple prayer, “Lord, please give me a Bible. Amen.”

Nothing happened. A Bible didn’t appear.

I went back to that pastor’s house again. I told him, “I’ve prayed to God according to your instructions, but I still haven’t received the Bible I want so much. Please, please show me your Bible. Just a glance and I will be satisfied. I don’t need to touch it. You hold it and I will be content to just look at it…”

The pastor saw the anxiety in my heart. He spoke to me again, “If you’re serious, you should not only kneel down and pray to the Lord, you should also fast and weep. The more you weep, the sooner you get your Bible.”

I went home, and every morning and afternoon I ate and drank nothing. Every evening I ate just one small bowl of steamed rice. I cried like a hungry child to his heavenly Father, wanting to be filled with His word. For the next one hundred days, I prayed for a Bible, until I could bear it no more. My parents were sure I was losing my mind.

Looking back years later, I would say this whole experience was the most difficult thing I’ve ever endured.

Then, suddenly one morning at 4 AM, after months of begging God to answer my prayers, I received a vision from the Lord while kneeling beside my bed.

Later…

I quickly opened the door and there standing before were the same two servants I had seen in my vision. One man held a red bag in his hand. My heart raced as I opened the bag and held in my hands my very own Bible. (The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun, by Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway, 2003, Piquant Publishing, pages 27 – 30)

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16)

(Continued in Part 5)

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June 23, 2013 · 8:55 am

Inside Israel

He is precious and to be glorified and blessed, and as His Blood-bought body, how very precious are each of you! … for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people…” (2 Corin 6:16) WOW! May you be blessed and encouraged, as I am today with a fresh ‘glimpse’ of the fact that He is ‘enough’…He is ALL!

I had to giggle as I watched the news brief last night. In very serious tones it was reported that a ‘caucus’ on the USA has been formed in our Knesset (Parliament – Congress) to ‘study and teach about the United States, it’s government system, history, geography, social systems and culture.’ I always wondered what a ‘caucus’ was but had never pursued it.

In this case I understood it to be a committee formed to study the USA and report back and teach the other Knesset members. They all looked so serious as they sat around learning like students in a 6^th grade class, absorbing new information and ideas. The reporter explained that everyone thought there already HAD been such a thing for years, but there hasn’t been, and it was high time that we began to understand ‘where America was coming from’.

Of course, as a ‘former American’ this seemed funny to me…studying American culture in particular …but then I realized that it isn’t. As I wrote in my last email, we are still a third world country dressed up as a first world one. But we are a third world country with a passion for learning and searching out truth (yea!) and I suspect that our policy makers are puzzled at America’s approach to dealing with the current problems in the Middle East. This has been brought to a head by the situation in Syria and the current ‘policy’ to ‘arm the rebels’. Everyone here is scratching their heads and so our politicians are now going to study ‘what makes them tick over there?’ Perhaps someone would find this food for prayer.

I want to thank you for your prayers for me personally. I am walking free in Yeshua today by the power of The Blood and The Spirit, thanks to the help of a dear sister whom He used to pray with me. How thankful I am for people who pay the price to be spot on (silver bullet prayers I call it…if any of you remember the Lone Ranger) through obedience on their knees. I see now more clearly how to stand against the occasion that the enemy took to chain me up through the stress that The Lord is exercising me with these days. I am truly flooded with joy, peace AND better health today, in spite of the fact that the stress remains and increases. He is so very good! I love the way He uses His body as we walk according to His ways.

I find that I have less and less opportunities on the bus and train these days to talk with people, as iphones and ipods have literally taken over. Everybody seems to be plugged in and fewer people are talking…or even looking up :-\ in this electronic age. At work today, however, I had an encounter that perhaps contains a window that is both common to all man and also unique in some ways.

The part of my job that I dislike the most concerns a list that we receive every 3 months from the health fund. The job falls to me to call some 80 or so patients who received services during the past quarter but did not pass their plastic card. (the Doctor gets paid by the card being passed) Now…this entails me disturbing people who may live cross town and to explain to them as patiently as I can in my best Hebrew that, yes they DID order something and that even if they DIDN’T pick it up, we DID do the work, print it out, etc, and that it is all recorded in the perfectly accurate computer (‘No…It didn’t make a mistake…no…I am not lying…No…it was really you…’) and that even though it is inconvenient for them to travel across town, wouldn’t it be nice to pay the doctor (since it isn’t from their pocket anyway).

Sometimes people argue and yell at me and I find that the most distressing part of my work. This month I approached it with a good and cheerful attitude…until I came to Shlomo Alkalai! I LIKE Shlomo. He is a gentle man of about 60 who has had a really tough time. I called him and asked him to please bring in his card. I was totally unprepared for the abusive yelling that followed. I finally said ‘Shlomo…I won’t listen to this. I am hanging up the phone’ which I did, and promptly folded my list and stuffed it into a corner, heart pounding in my ears. ‘That’s it for phone calls. I’m NOT up to this!’ I decided. That was last week.

Just as I was getting ready to leave today Shlomo appeared at the door with his card. Again he began to yell at me and I simply didn’t answer him. I didn’t even look at him. This was hard as I always liked Shlomo and he always liked me…what had happened? Dr. Meshulam appeared and told him to stop yelling at the secretary ‘Zeh lo na’aim!’ (literally ‘that is not nice’) he said sternly. Shlomo yelled ‘I am NOT yelling’. We looked at each other and he began to share with me some things that I already knew, and others that I didn’t. Shlomo is (I think) an accountant. He is a kind and gentle man but his wife, Ruthie, suffers for many years from extreme depression for which she has been hospitalized often and remains heavily medicated. Then she passed through several severe bouts of cancer requiring chemo and radiation that affected her legs (how they don’t know) and she is now in a wheel chair as well. She has gained about 100 pounds during this time. They have one lovely daughter who has succeeded in becoming a lawyer in the midst of all of this. She lives in Tel Aviv.

Shlomo has had to move his office into his home since Ruthie must be watched 24 hours a day. Their daughter, who works until 8 at night comes home once a week, cooks all night and spends the night so that Shlomo can go out the next day (one day a week) to buy groceries, run errands (like this one that I was imposing on him), pay bills etc. The bills have piled up and as I listened the tears began to roll down my face. I was thinking what a burden it was for him to have to come across town to run his card through. We spoke at great length, both apologizing, of course. I kept praying for access to The Holy Spirit to speak words of encouragement, but as the words kept pouring out of him I realized that what he needed to do he was doing.

Sometimes when we go through too much ‘trauma’ in our life, we sort of have to ‘recite’ it to ‘validate’ that all of this is really happening. I learned that through my own experience, particularly when you are walking a lonely path. All that I could do was listen and trust that as he saw my tears he would receive some comfort.

And now to take him to prayer. He and his family need prayer. I make a distinction between a ‘religious’ man and a ‘God fearing’ man. Here, the ‘religious’ fit certain criteria…dress a certain way, eat a certain way, pray a certain way. Shlomo is a ‘God fearing man’. A man who prays, goes to synagogue, keeps the kosher laws.

Perhaps someone will be given a burden to pray for this family, and that is why I share. I want to thank you for allowing The Lord to lay whomever He does upon your heart. I am always blessed to humility when one of you writes and asks how ‘Molly’ is or tells me that you are praying for ‘Rivka’ or ‘Amos’ or ‘the taxi driver’. It only needs to be one…but whom The Lord burdens, He also empowers. Thank you!

And thank you again for praying for me and my family and for our nation and people. These emails have been a bit anemic lately, and I apologize for that, but I offer it to Him and am thankful for a moment to fellowship with you. I would ask particularly for prayer for our younger daughter and her husband right now. Thank you so much. May we all draw ever closer and ever deeper to His Heart and may we let Him strip away all that hinders, for His kingdom and for His glory,

Lovingly,

your sister J

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