Tag Archives: Jerusalem

March 26, 2017 · 6:09 am

Inside Israel

The Shuk in Jerusalem

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 —

Blessed greetings dear sisters and brothers, in The Name of Yeshua – Jesus – King of kings, Lord of lords, may He alone be glorified and lifted up and may you be blessed and edified.

Passover may well be the central theme song of Judaism. Although still three weeks off, here in Jerusalem it feels as if it is fast approaching.

As a child there was a sense of holiness and a sense of weightiness mixed with the excitement of the preparations:

^“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part…” (1 Corinthians 13:11, 12)

When I was a child, I watched my Mother prepare our apartment, particularly the kitchen, meticulously hiding away the everyday dishes, cutlery, pots, and pans in a box way in the back of the uppermost cabinet shelf. Carefully, lovingly, unwrapping the Passover item, the special dishes saved only for this most special holy time. The dishes had been my Grandmother’s dishes. My sister and I would look at them with wonder.

Since immigrating to Israel I have learned of the traditions of some of our other ancestors who had been dispersed to different ends of the earth when God’s Hand of righteous Judgment came upon our people. We became the wandering Jews, ( having been well warned by the Prophets and written Word and The Spirit of God). I learned that the Jews from Ethiopia, for example, would break all of their dishes and have the potters make new ones for Passover each year. Others would bring (still a custom here in Israel) their dishes, pots, and pans to huge boiling caldrons set up on various street corners where they’re submerged into boiling water for a specified amount of time before being pronounced “kosher for Passover.”

The shuk is also filled with ‘ahat pa’ami’ or disposable tins and dishes that many use during Pesach (Passover). I remember pulling out the haggadot – special soft covered books that contain the story of Passover, songs, directions for the order of the service, and an awful lot of cryptic teachings this and that Rabbi said.

My favorite part were the illustrations, often woodcuts, dramatic depictions of the Biblical events. Even when we couldn’t understand the words, we would gaze at the pictures in hushed tones of reverence.

There was the great challenge for the youngest children: the four questions. We had to memorize them, sing them in Hebrew (or English if we couldn’t yet master the Hebrew sounds). The questions: “Why is this night different from all other nights?”

But the part that always frightened me was the parable of the four sons. The wise son who asks, “What are these commanded by The Eternal God?” The wicked son who asks, “What do you mean by this service?” The simple son who asks, “What is this?”

Which one was I? I did not know.

My sister and I would polish the special silverware used only for Passover, and clean the Passover candlesticks and matzo holder.

Yes, there was in my young mind a sense of something holy, but what it was, I didn’t know.

Now, as I read and re-read again and again, The Books. I come to Exodus, a thrill runs through me. What is Passover?

Well, there is redemption. Slaves, sold under bondage, redeemed through the blood of the lamb and the death of the firstborn. Through works? No, through mercy by grace in mystery. Because we deserved it? No, but HE Who created us all, chose us for this part.

Forty two years ago, when I was Redeemed by The Blood of THE Lamb, I wept with shock of recognition. What a work! Redemption promised 5,000 years ago and The Blood still prevails. A lamb for each house, applied on the doorposts. The remarkable book of Exodus where we read such clear examples of obedience AND disobedience, of rebellion AND submission, of provision AND complaining, and we are commanded to REMEMBER.

Is THAT the central theme of Passover?

To REMEMBER? REMEMBER our slavery, REMEMBER our deliverance through The Blood, REMEMBER our trek, our teachings, our rebellion, our stiff necks, OUR GOD, and His overcoming mercy.

That’s the conclusion that I came to quite a while back. REMEMBER. THANKFULLY we are told that The Holy Spirit would bring ALL THINGS TO REMEMBERANCE THAT HE HAS TOLD US. OH HOW WE NEED HIM!

As my train passed by the shuk, there they were: THE GARLIC.

I DID laugh. Huge piles of freshly dug up garlic, earth still hanging from their big bulbs, were stacked high on palates at the shuk entrance. Well? What have we got to complain about NOW that so many of the people leave the land that we have been promised for vacations abroad during this wondrous season? That was one of our FIRST complaints and reasons for wanting to turn back. We REMEMBERED, but it was the wrong thing.

“We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;” (NUMBERS 11:5)

We have them ALL here now, right HERE, growing wondrously out of this land promised to us. The desert that He makes to bloom and blossom and produce, but the grumbling and complaining continues because only HE can change our very NATURE, just as He is changing the NATURE of the desert into a fruitful field producing all that I have just seen at the shuk.

Yes, in the midst of writing this, I had to stop, since my bread man has begun slicing my husband’s favorite onion bread by 9:30. My husband likes it NOT sliced. My pita people have a spicy flat bread that he likes only AFTER 9:30, on Tuesday, my day off, I stop everything and run down to the shuk, determined to just do what needs to be done and head RIGHT home.

But, oh the richness of what I learn at the shuk and on the train at that hour. I thank The Lord that HE Who told me, and allows me to “what you see, write”… also shows me such jewels in the midst of each day!

Pesach – full blast. Two very old men were engaged in a loudly animated discussion of the Torah readings leading up to rosh hodish (the first day of the month) in this most special of months while a third, enjoying the sheer thought of it all, was singing the synagogue liturgy at the top of his lungs. Although my apartment is just two stops from where the train line begins, the train was already jammed with religious school girls, university students, shopping wagons, baby carriages, and disabled with walkers. Pesach preparations requires EVERYONE to be on the move.

I remembered a day last week that I had planned to share with you when there was a hefetz ha’shood – an unidentified package (thankfully USUALLY someone’s forgotten lunch or shopping) was left at the tracks and the bomb squad had to be called to take care of it. Everyone groaned as our train stopped for an unspecified length of time and people weighed the length of the prospective walk to their destination against their strength. I stayed seated as I was still a good 40- minute walk away and had much to carry. A young Haradi (ultra orthodox – black and white clothing with long side curls) man stood by the door and decided to step outside for a smoke. He kept tapping the door open to make sure that he could get back on, but, in an unusual move, the train driver SUDDENLY just locked the doors and took off, leaving several outside the train. When we stopped at the next stop, this young man boarded the train again, red faced, huffing and puffing, having RUN the entire way and to my amazement, grabbed THE BABY CARRIAGE he had left on the train.

Everyone applauded but I pointed up ward, “Toda L’El!” Thank You Lord. I said and he nodded grinning widely and meekly.

The things one gets to witness on the train and bus. What wonders!

Today, the shuk was LOADED with new and wonderful looking produce, crowned, of course, with the fresh GARLIC. These garlic aren’t dried, but are still moist. The early ones have yet to divide into what we know as the cloves. They are still one large, highly fragrant, moist bulb with very tall leaves. I resisted and bought just 3 to roast with our chicken this Friday. By next week the wonderful braids and wreaths of garlic – such a lovely gift to receive or give at Pesach – will begin to be seen. Although breads and baked products are still available, very soon they won’t be and bakers will receive their well earned vacations. Many of them still work in old style hot kiln ovens, Middle Eastern style, baking through the night or from early morning. I am impressed by them, working so hard. Macaroons and other kosher for Pesach food have already appeared in assigned places for the incredibly diligent who have already cleansed their homes of leaven.

According to my daughter, who married into a Haradi family, what we have translated into the English word leaven isn’t accurate. According to the interpretation that she has learned, the word means fermented of a sort applying to wheat products. Since The Lord looks upon THE HEART, my heart is free about the possibilities of the definition.

When a tender soul searching to please a Holy God tries to sift through the multitude of traditions and translations that have come to us over 5,000 years. MAY HE LEAD US TO THE ROCK THAT IS HIGHER THEN US TO SEEK AND FIND HIS FACE AND WALK IN HIS LIGHT. May we REMEMBER HIM and truly GLORIFY HIM in the midst of all of the preparations that He offered to us as a tool to bring us to REMEMBERING. HE IS ONLY WONDERFUL.

God BLESS you and keep you and make His Face to shine upon you and give you His Peace. Lovingly,

your sister J

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March 19, 2017 · 8:17 am

Inside Israel

The Shuk in Jerusalem

Greetings dear sisters and brothers,

May THE LORD be seen, glorified and blessed, and may you be encouraged and blessed. May all be for His glory alone Who shed His Blood for our atonement.

Well, after my last rant against the expression of Purim seen first and loudest, I am stirred again by the meaningful side of Purim, the rising expression of which grew louder as the days of Purim came and went out last night in Jerusalem.

I am blessed to be in the best fellowship in the whole world. Our meeting last night set my heart on turning from distractions to focus on what was really in front of my eyes.

Because the battles of yesterday remain until they are finally fully played out in the final days. Our Pastor pointed out that the human hero-vessel in the drama of the book of Esther is not really Esther, but Mordechai, and all of the other intercessors who STOOD and cried out with long endurance hidden and buffeted, doing their part. I shifted my eyes to his role and the obedience of all through the ages who have taken their portion and walked faithfully.

Listening to an everyday conversation at the Doctor’s office where I work spoke of the same premise to me: being faithful to the calling in which we are called.

Since Purim isn’t a “commanded holiday, not one that God commanded us to celebrate but one that we took a vow to observe as is noted in Esther chapter 9. It is a half-holiday with schools and public offices closed, but most work places are on what is called a “sabbath footing” or a part day of work.

The other doctor chose to take a full holiday, so we took emergencies only until 1:00 PM. Two older ladies were sitting in my small part of the office, waiting for their turns to see the doctor, and the talk moved to Purim and how it is celebrated today. It touched me as I listened and softened my too-quick-to-judge attitude.

One woman was in her late 80s and the other was 90. Appropriately perhaps, their names were Rachel and Rebecca (Rakel and Rivka in Hebrew). “I love Purim,” Rakel began. “I love seeing everyone having so much fun, being so loose and free and not intense but relaxed.” (Huh! I hadn’t thought of THAT part. We live in such an intense, serious country.)

“I love watching them too,” said 90 year old Rivka, “but they don’t know how to REALLY celebrate it, these young ones.”

I watched as Rakel answered and Rivka shook her head in agreement. “Ah, but we went before them and they watched us and they learn. We teach and they learn and that is what it is all about.”

That is what it is all about, each of these holidays. The passing of the torch, just as Christmas and Resurrection Sunday are used in the Church at large, to turn our eyes toward Him, to remember and worship AND TEACH OUR CHILDREN THAT THIS IS OUR GOD, CLOTHED IN MAJESTY, FAITHFUL, HOLY.

“He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.” (Psalm 103:7)

May we KNOW HIM and HIS WAYS so that we might teach our children more than His ACTS alone. Yet in these holidays we get to share His acts and pray that it stirs them to a wonder about His greatness and omnipotence.

My husband and I sat with a cup of tea in one hand and in the other, a noisemaker called a rash rash in Hebrew, or a gregor in …ah? Whatever form of Jewish mixture language I grew up with in New York. I was reading the book of Esther to him on Sunday night. (My husband is dyslexic and prefers that I do all reading).

Traditionally whenever the name of Haman is read, the irritating noise from the noisemaker is sounded. TRUE, most people read the scroll (migalat Esther) in groups and in Hebrew together, but my husband wanted to stay home and read in English this year. It’s different in the large groups. Talk about making a racket! The children, all sugared up on candy and decked out in costumes are standing on tiptoe listening for every mention of the name Haman. I must admit that it keeps them alert to listening.

On Saturday night at our fellowship we read it aloud, a different brother or sister reading each chapter. There it was read in Hebrew, but my husband and I read it in English. We talked about the time in which it was written, the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem, and the carrying away the people into captivity. Jeremiah’s preaching. The prophets. The kings. This was the time of Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra. Indeed Ezekiel was among the captives. How important each one who obediently fulfilled his purpose was in the intricate puzzle of it all.

And here we are today. We are again facing enemies who want to destroy us. The eternal question seems to be: “Who among us will look to God and trust and obey Him?” It seems to me that what happens depends much on the answer to this question.

So yesterday, I rode the bus and train to work. There were small Queen Esthers and Mordechais, full of smiles and carrying baskets, rushing through the cold wet streets to bless people with a “Purim Se’may’akh” greeting. At work my desk began to pile up with sweets, fruit and nuts and an occasional tube of hand cream.

Someone even gave me a festive card telling me that a donation in my name had been given. Kindness like this makes us feel like family and enjoying ourselves.

And that was yesterday.

And today: PASSOVER CLEANING BEGINS. AAAARRRRGGGHHH!

I went to the store and could barely get through the aisles as the “not kosher for Passover” food was being hurriedly moved to one aisle while the other aisles were being thoroughly scrubbed.

AND THERE IT WAS – CENTER STAGE RIGHT BY THE DOOR – THE MATZO!

“ALREADY?” was everyone’s response.

Yep, it’s time. Scrub out the leaven, both inside and out. A time to REMEMBER and a time to TEACH and a time to walk and seek Him Who is FAITHFUL through all of these ages, faithful to EVERY promise in His Book. I know that you also have no doubt that HE WILL DO IT. May we fulfill our part, no matter how small or big.

God BLESS you. May He draw each of us nearer to His heartbeat and may He Alone be glorified.

Lovingly,

your sister J

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March 5, 2017 · 8:40 am

Inside Israel

The Shuk in Jerusalem

“And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” Exodus 5:2

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:36

I greet you with love dear sisters and brothers and with the prayer that this letter will bring glory and attention to The Lord only, and by His mercy, also edify and bless you.

PURIM is NOT one of my favorite holidays. Don’t get me wrong, I love the book of Esther, which is full of direction and wisdom for all of us who seek to walk with Him. It is wonderful to focus on the blessed place before the throne and the humility and obedience in God’s chosen vessels. The book is rich with history as well. A history that repeats itself and so we can learn about the faithfulness of our God, Whose precious Name isn’t even mentioned in the small book, although His Presence and faithfulness is so clearly evident.

It’s also lovely to remember the things that impressed me when we first made aliyah, immigrate to Israel, and to recall the way that the day was celebrated. Although EVERYONE did not take part in the Esther-fast even back then, it WAS still a big part of the time period.

There was the gathering for the reading of the scroll of Esther (‘magillot Esther’) and the giving of baskets of goodies and fruits. And living in the Ancient Walled City – or at least in the new part of Jerusalem – made it even more special as WE got to celebrate ‘Shushan Purim’ (the second day of Purim celebrated by walled cities as directed in the book of Esther). There were children decked out in mostly homemade costumes. So many little Esthers and Mordachais, carrying baskets to give to others.

These things are still here, but not to the extent that they were some 22 years ago. Costumes of all sorts, cheap shiny costumes designed to make one into super heroes and super NOT heroes, seem to look sexier and grosser with each passing year. Painted faces begin appearing as people practice for what? I don’t know! Oh, sort of a Halloween type of exhibition. I have heard a number of people say, “Purim! A time to get drunk,” as if this was what it was all about. Yes, drunkenness was part of the tradition handed down with the holiday, but it has become central now. I see far fewer Purim baskets for sale, and I am NOT looking forward to Purim this year.

Of course there will STILL be the reading of magillot Esther and there will STILL be some fasting and there will STILL be some baskets given out, but that intangible something has changed. The “party spirit” has replaced the sense of the Holy and it makes me sad.

Perhaps I’m being too hard, critical, judgmental. Nonetheless, this is what I see building up, even more this year than in past years. Perhaps next Saturday night (and here in Jerusalem next Sunday night) will usher in a reversal and I will have to eat my words. I hope so. I really do. I will pray to that end, especially as new Haman’s rise up around the world in modern form as such a REAL and PRESENT threat.

Perhaps that will sober us and remind us that it REALLY took an Esther and a Mordechai to prevail with God. It WASN’T and ISN’T a given now. If my observations turn out to be a wrong call, I will HAPPILY let you know! I am sure that it brings JOY to The Lord to know that many Christians around the world have taken up the mantle of Esther and Mordechai, and WILL be interceding for God’s purposes to be fulfilled!

Purim marks something else on our calendar as well and it’s already in the air. When Purim comes, Pesach (Passover) is NOT FAR BEHIND.

“And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” Exodus 5:2

You all know well that Scripture tells us that GOD hardened Pharaohs heart, and that indeed, he was raised up for the purposes that he fulfilled: that God would display His Mighty power and glory, and that He would have an instrument with which to judge the gods of Egypt. God’s ways surely aren’t ours.

So over the next month, the entire nation will prepare for Pesach – the CENTERPIECE of who we are as a people and nation. I read this morning in Acts 2:36:

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

and a thrill ran through me! “…LET ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL KNOW ASSUREDLY THAT GOD HAS MADE JESUS, WHOM YOU CRUCIFIED, BOTH LORD AND CHRIST.!”

ALL the house of Israel! What a revelation that will be (according to Zech. 12 and so many other places!). It is really the revelation that the entire Passover Seder is about and represents and perhaps THIS YEAR will be the year for removing the blinders from the eyes of my people to SEE our Messiah. To LOOK upon Him Whom we pierced and respond with hearts prepared through two thousand years of wanderings. May it be! true this year.

While I waited for the bus the other morning, I was listening to the Church bells in the Old City ringing in the early morning sunrise. I had the opportunity to be in the Old City one night as I got to meet a new friend there. While I listened to the bells, I recalled a conversation that I overheard.

The Old City is FULL of tourists, and maps and information signs are posted everywhere. A local tour guide led a small group (3 men) to the entrance of the Muslim Quarter. I heard one of the tourists ask, ‘Why is there so much fighting over the Old City? Why is it SO important to these 3 religious groups?’

The tour guide pointed to Temple Mount and said, “Well, this area is holy to the Muslims because Mohammed went to heaven on the winged horse from here. To the Jews, the holy Temple was built here not once but twice. The Christians…well…it is not so important to them. They have a few buildings, but it is really only the Church of the holy Sepulcher that is important to them.”

I was taken by surprise. My mind ran to the promises, the history, the battles, the depth and width and length of the meaning of this tiny area that has seen so much bloodshed. The three men shook their heads. Ok. They were satisfied, now they “knew.” They walked on. I took a breath.

My older daughter said something that, to me is profound. She said, “The stones in Israel are covered with flowers. That is the definition of Grace.”

It truly IS impressive to see the stones of Jerusalem, some massive, some not so, but all compacted together, pressed in tightly, dignifying Jerusalem with a uniqueness that can only speak loudly and clearly of GOD. For He uses stones to teach us so much. And, yes, coming out of these stones, which will be dry and hot all summer, flowers grow out of seemingly IMPOSSIBLE places.

I was shocked when we arrived in July of 1994 and saw what appeared to be strings of a sort of orchid pressing through the stone, standing alone, not in groups or even two plants together. Each a sentinel of sorts, here and there. Other flowers, tiny, fragile, breaking through the hard Jerusalem stone, alone, beautiful in their shout of David defeating Goliath all over again. She was right. They SHOUT ‘GRACE!’

I think that I need a double portion of GRACE as I see Purim approaching this year.

Probably when I see my little 3 year-old granddaughter dressed as Queen Elsa. I will tell her that she is the PERFECT QUEEN ESTHER and melt like a flower pushing through the rock. GRACE, GRACE, to this mountain too!

Shalom with love from Jerusalem. Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers and patience.

Your sister in Jerusalem,

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February 12, 2017 · 9:04 am

Inside Israel

The Shuk in Jerusalem

Blessings dear Brothers and Sisters, planted by the rivers of waters by The Master Husbandman. May we bring forth much fruit for His glory. May you be blessed and encouraged, and may HE ALONE be blessed and glorified.

Today is Tu b’shvat: the birthday of the trees, the celebration of the fruit, a day for planting trees, eating fruit and singing. Another opportunity to give thanks to The Lord, The Giver of all good things and to turn our eyes UP and say heartily to HIM, “THANK YOU.”

It is not a commanded holiday and the stories of the roots of the traditions are varied, as well as the carrying out of them, but it is ALWAYS good to stop and take notice and thank Him. That is what we do here today.

All through my growing up years in the diasporia, which for me was America, a FIRM Jewish tradition was to “BUY TREES IN ISRAEL” for every occasion, but especially as a memorial to a loved one. I still have framed here in my apartment a tree certificate from 1947 when my family planted trees in memory of my Grandmother. Planting trees in Israel IS something we all did.

The name tu b’shvat is simply the date, the 15th of the month of Shvat. In Hebrew, numbers are traditionally the letters of the alphabet (or, aleph bet) and tu (written ‫טו in Hebrew) stands for the 15th. For the sake of living in the modern world, Hebrew ALSO incorporates numbers, but in scripture and on the calendar, the letters are still the rule. That is one of the reasons that Israelis often SEEM ignorant when a Christian is seeking to share scripture with them and perhaps referring to “Isaiah 53,” when to a Jewish person it is familiar as Yeshi’a’hu nun gimel. Ah, the joys of communication!

Back to tu b’shvat.

Coming home from work on the train yesterday I wondered at the different atmosphere. Usually, on Friday afternoon, the train is full of Yeshiva students from English speaking countries traveling to their host homes for Shabat. It can be NOISY and BOISTEROUS! I looked around and wondered at the more pleasant atmosphere. Where were they all? AH YES! Tu b’shvat! They were likely at ceremonies in the forests, planting trees and learning about the sacredness and the history of the land, the promises, what the trees do and how they are to be treated according to scripture. One example is found in Levit. 19:23-25:

“When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.”

This ordinance is still observed today, even on many of the secular kibbutzim.

At Shabat dinner last night, with our daughter and family, my husband and I recalled our first tu’b’shvat here in the land after our aliyah. We were both in ulpan (language class) and so along with the 5 months of intensive language learning we are also taught our history, geography, culture, and every other thing that you can think of. On tu b’shvat we were piled onto buses and taken to the forest to a tree planting ceremony. We took pictures of one another as each one planted our first seedlings into the soil of our ancient homeland: Eretz Yisroel – The Land of Israel.

It was quite an emotional moment as I prayed also, silently, that our family would be well planted and bear fruit for HIS kingdom here, rooted beside the living water. It was at the beginning of our journey.

You know that Israel has gone from desert to GREEN in the years since 1948 and that the distinction between Israeli territory and Arab territory is actually called “the green line.” It is easy to distinguish that “green line” as one drives along. I have mentioned before that God is indeed God of the living and is life giving. It is a blessing to be reminded of this in the bursting forth of the abundant white almond blossoms filling the countryside right now.

I made my usual Friday morning stop at the shuk to pick up a hot challa for Shabat dinner, although I did not make it to IFI prayer meeting due to not feeling well. I hadn’t yet gotten dried fruit to give as gifts, so stopped at a dried fruit and spice shop and picked out an arranged plate of various fruits and nuts, prepared for tu’b’shvat.

“You are my first customer of the day,” the sales man grinned at me. “I included these special raisins here. They are better than the Kazakhstani ones. You will like them. AND, I will only charge you 60shekels instead of 65 since you are my first customer,’ he said proudly as I gulped at the price.

It’s always fun to be the “first sale of the day” and to wish them a day of blessing.

We read of the early rains and the latter rains in the scriptures and we have now entered them time of the latter rains – even as we pray for such spiritual LATTER RAINS. The rain now is softer. The ground rich and able to absorb it and with the sun bursting forth more strongly than it has all winter, you can literally FEEL the earth coming alive again, stirring, swelling with new life.

Some of us are physically past the time of bearing fruit, but we never pass the spiritual time of bearing. No vacation from His work in us, thankfully NOT for us to weigh and measure the bushels or we’d all likely give up. HE does the producing and HE does the assessment AND the multiplication AND the feeding of the multitude AND the dunging. We get to ABIDE. But we also get a stern warning that is so appropriate for the day we live in. Oh I take it to heart for I’m SO easily deceived through the weaknesses of my own nature: Matthew 7:15-20:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

I pray for you and for myself this tu’b’shvat that we will ABIDE in The Vine and bare much GOOD fruit for His glory. May we be thankful for the fruit in and through one another and trust Him to bare that fruit through us as we gaze at Him. Thank you for your prayers, your gracious care, your thoughtfulness.

Lovingly,

Your sister J in Jerusalem

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February 5, 2017 · 10:57 am

Inside Israel

The Shuk in Jerusalem

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

May you be blessed and encouraged…and O Lord, please be glorified and blessed.

Mountains of garbage, sometimes life feels like that and sometimes it is right outside your window. Thankfully they are collecting it now, but there is nothing quite like a garbage strike in Jerusalem and the symbolic timing of it seemed perfect to me.

I haven’t been feeling too well lately, so I groaned as I came downstairs in time for the 6:30 a.m. train, 15 minutes later than the train that I would take if I were planning to walk part way to work. My morning exercise. But the groan passed through my lips as I read the moving sign (in Hebrew, Arabic and English) which said: “Due to disruptions on the tracks, there will be no train service between the Central Bus Station and Damascus Gate.” That means that I would have to find a bus at the Central Bus Station and weave my way to work.

I joined the other disgruntled early morning passengers in wondering what the disruption was this time. Rock throwers? Unidentified packages for the bomb squad to dismantle? I pray for the security workers to be kept safe. At the Central bus station another groan arises as we see that the next bus is still 18 minutes away.

The morning is cold and rainy and the bus stop already full when our train arrives. Three more trains will arrive and deposit yet more displaced travelers every 6 minutes. When the bus finally does arrive, I am thankful for the fact that age is honored here and younger people generally rise for their elders. So, on this very crowded bus I have a seat, and I praise God for it, and thank the young man who gave it to me. The seat affords me a good view of the piles of garbage.

As we snake our way toward the Shuk, the piles become mountains and the mountains become slimy with crushed fruit and vegetables melting in the downpour. It’s ghastly. I had tried to make sense out of this particular city strike, which we had heard rumblings about for a while. No one seemed to know quite for sure WHAT the gripe was, but the city was claiming that a large amount of extra budget grant promised had not yet been paid. It was not designated for any particular project that I could discern, nor was the problem paychecks, and certainly not for the garbage collection, so it sounded to me like coercion.

I understood later that there were plans (carried out a bit later because at 6:30 the disrupted tracks were still clear) to pile the train tracks in the Shuk area with garbage. By the time that I returned home the tracks were indeed covered with tomato/banana/orange volcanoes. Yech! The whole city, called His by God Almighty, was filthy and that saddens everyone. I know that when my home is messy it is hard to come before The Lord and I thought about what a blessing cleanliness and order are. It is easy to hide an explosive device in the disarray of garbage. I find that if I am cluttered, the enemy of my soul has an easier time hiding and attacking as well.

But thankfully, before I finished writing the above two days ago, the garbage strike ended and the army of sanitation workers labored through the night to restore order to the city. My “garbage-meditation” ended with several days of cleansing rains and cold winter weather. The sun broke out, clear and clean through the newly washed air, bright, crystal clear, revealing what the summer dust storms had veiled.

Rain, sun and yes even fertilizer…and the inevitable happens. The branches begin to swell and small buds press their way into the tips of branches. The older I get, the more years I see it, the more WONDERFUL it is, HIS FAITHFULNESS no matter what our own personal devastation is, the upheavals of death and war and horrors, the seasons reflect His faithfulness THROUGH IT ALL. It blows me away EVERY TIME!

Two mornings ago, I heard the first morning bird wake the dawn. My, it’s COLD out and yet the morning bird knows his season and returns. My husband looked out the window later the same day. “Hey! There’s a PARROT in the tree outside.”

He was right. We have these smallish wild parrots here, several kinds actually and I love watching them. They are green and have a wonderful song. Another first sign that the cold winter WILL eventually pass.

In the Shuk, the price of strawberries has not come down this year. Come to think of it, none of the prices have. We are blessed with amazing strawberries and different kinds of Clementine’s and other citrus throughout the winter. Winter grapes, apples, and this year persimmons still fill the Shuk stalls. Soup pots boil with wonderful fragrant vegetable and bean soups, lentils, barley, roots and all sorts of spices blending to design the beautiful Middle Eastern tapestry that I admire and give thanks for. He has been so good to us, in spite of our unfaithfulness.

The Middle East. I often have to shake myself and remember that, yes, I live in the Middle East. I hear the minarets’ shrill electronic call to Moslem prayer at least in the morning hours when the traffic is not yet causing all sound to blend into a dull roar. I see the streets full of children running in large groups, laughing, as crime against children is not an issue here thankfully. I see the general public sitting at outside tables lining the streets in all weather, cold or hot, wet or dry, drinking coffee or eating yummy salads, shakshuka, or an endless array of healthy Middle Eastern food or ice cream.

Soldiers run up to one another like piles of puppies, jumping on one another and hugging, uzzis (weapons) bumping, backpacks full of dirty laundry, which means they are heading home. Clean means they are heading back to base. The trains and buses full of young soldiers, girls and guys. Yes, it’s my home now and I do find that I take it for granted and forget that this scene is so unique.

The Shaheen family was in the Dr. Office where I work. I’ve mentioned before that we have a number of Christian Israeli Arab families who come to the Doctor with whom I work. They know that I am a believer and I greatly admire them. They are such a small minority in the midst of rabidly growing Moslem extremism. They come against dangers from Moslems and are not fully part of the Jewish society. They stand alone, and generally their faith is more of a traditional faith then a deeply rooted one in The Word and Spirit.

I watch their children struggle (very often a similar struggle to the children of Jewish believers here, as we are also a small group) with the temptations to be accepted and become radicalized. They are generally very patriotic to Israel and often the children find themselves in a love relationship with a Jewish partner and the problem deepens. I ask the Shaheens how their children are doing. I can see the worry in their eyes as they tell me that two are studying in France. France has become a strong radical hotbed. Their other son, Rami, is here and he is a joy, but he is not finding someone, a good girl, to marry. The name “Rami” is also a Jewish name and Rami has been raised well.

My heart goes out to these and prayers for God to honor them with godly spouses.

The Kobti family has successfully raised their children. All are doctors or professionals in other lines, and most married Christian Arabs who were living in other countries, but one lovely young man’s wife has become an Israel basher to the grief of the whole family. I often think of this faithful group of people knowing that it is God Who walks with each one of us through the paths of His own choosing.

On another subject, a long time ago I remember explaining that city land taxes (called arnona) are paid by renters here, sort of a double whammy. When we first made aliyah going on 23 years ago, we found that our life savings wasn’t enough to buy an apartment. It is EXPECTED here that citizens will own an apartment and not rent.

Immigrants from many countries receive an apartment grant but from the richer countries this is not so. We were among those who fell through the cracks, and so we have rented for all of these years, and will continue to do so, unless He chooses otherwise.

I remember when we first made aliyah, we were told IMMEDIATELY that you do NOT plan to do more than one bureaucratic chore in a day. For example: You need to go to the post office. Do NOT plan to also go to the bank. AND if you should need to go to City Hall or Bituach Leumi (sort of national insurance office) figure two days at least per chore. I laughed back then. I THOUGHT that it was a joke. Wrong! Well, I have gotten used to this now, but had to laugh at a text message that I just got from a friend, a dear sister who is a volunteer here and is renting her own apartment and learning the ropes. Her plan was to go to City Hall today and straighten out her arnona bill.

Her text read: “Not today…computers down.” I had to chuckle and wonder if the City is continuing its strike action. Please forgive me sharing these inside jokes with you. If our enemies knew how things are run here, I suspect that we might be in trouble, but perhaps that is the beauty of all of the belegan (uproar, confusion, mess), the fruit reveals the Merciful Hand of God Almighty Who put us here and certainly not our own efficiency.

But some things are particularly fun.

I just checked the Jerusalem weather on our nifty little local site and it showed a lighter jacket and a CLOTHES PIN, meaning: yes, it’s a good time to dry clothes. I love it! When we first came the morning weather report would be complete with “open your windows and air out the mold” and “don’t forget to take a sweater today.”

AND there was an elderly man at the bus stop who scolded our (then) slightly rebellious 13 year-old daughter, “TIE YOUR SHOE LACES YOUNG LADY! THAT IS SLOPPY!” She dutifully bent over to tie them. It is not considered interference here, it is considered “family.”

Thank you for truly being my family. I am encouraged through you. I would ask for prayer for many things, but one in particular, I have been deeply exhausted lately, more than usual. I KNOW that He is The Source of all strength. I thank you for prayers.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Lovingly,

Your sister J in Jerusalem

(Below, I am enclosing an article from the Jan. issue of HERALD OF HIS COMING that touched me deeply for those who might be interested)

God Has A Word For This Hour

This is a tremendous hour in human history. There are ominous movements in the world. But I am constrained to ask, Has the Lord no plan for this hour? Has the church no message? Is there no word from the Lord concerning the spiritual recovery of this hour? If not, then this is the first time in history that a major crisis has arisen under a silent heaven.

Before God destroyed the earth with a flood, He put His message of warning in the mouth of Noah. When God judged Egypt, He sent Moses and Aaron to Pharoah with a divine pronouncement on their lips. God raised up Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah in times of crisis in Israel and Judah. They had God’s word for the hour in which they lived (Heb. 11:7; Ex. chaps. 5-14; 1 Kgs. 17:1).

And God has a word for this hour!

A Call to Repentance!

People are awakening to the fact that we are living in a solemn hour, and that our nation’s greatest need is a revival that will bring us to God. There is a swelling tide of intercession to God – pleading for God’s intervening mercies and for a new Pentecost upon the churches.

What was true of Israel of old is true of us today. Whenever declension of spiritual power is felt, the root cause is sin in the church. Whittled down a little closer, the root cause of conditions in the world is the sin of individual Christians. This is a time for flaming messages, inspired of the Holy Ghost, preached fearlessly by men who do not fear the consequences – calling men everywhere to repentance!

Unconfessed Sins

In God’s program for this hour, repentance must begin with Christians, who must turn in penitence from their worldliness, prayerlessness, indifference, and the dangerous sloth and sleep. They must repent of their carnal strivings for position and place, and of their deadly church quarrels and denominational jealousy. The unrepented, unconfessed sins of God’s people have chilled the atmosphere of the church until people are driven away.

It is high time for the pulpit to thunder and burn with the power and fire of the ancient prophets and apostles of our Lord! It is high time for God’s people to awake from their Laodicean slumber, and strip themselves from their love of the world and love of self, and from the deceit, sham and hypocrisy of their shallow professions – and to turn to the Lord with all their heart, with fasting and tears, and with contrition and confession and restitution.

Where is the church “terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:4)? Where are the Lord’s people whose prayers, like John Knox’s are the terror of evil rulers like Bloody Mary, Queen of Scots? Where is the Gospel being preached with such unction and power from God that the enemies of God say, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also” (Acts 17:6)?

Why are not these things true of us today? Because of the failure of God’s people, because sin is tolerated in their lives and hugged to their bosoms. It is not perhaps great, blatant sin. It may be only a multitude of little chiseling sins which have cooled off our love for Christ and our passion for lost souls, and dulled our spiritual ears so we cannot hear the voice of the Lord, and dimmed our spiritual sight so we have lost the vision of a world ripe for harvest, and palsied our hands and made us unfit for His service – leaving us carping and critical Christians (Song 2:15; Eccl. 10:1; 1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9).

“By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them” (Matt. 7:20)

In the Song of Solomon, which contains wonderful church truth in figurative language, the Heavenly Husbandman says: “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes” (Song 2:15).

If we are to see a great harvest, we must take out the little foxes. They seem innocent and harmless but they kill the fruit. The little sins and compromises with the world, the flesh and the devil – these kill our usefulness. They must be taken out of our vineyard of the Lord.

Let us confess and forsake all. We will be amazed to find how greatly we need a spiritual housecleaning if we will let God search us and the Spirit probe us to rock-bottom (Psa. 139:23-24; 1 Chr. 28:9).

Some of us will find we have not put God first in our lives but rather we have given place to personal ambition, carnal comforts, and have yielded to the demands of friends and relatives and made God second.

Some of us have sinned directly towards God by rebelling against His known will and stopping our ears to His call to lay down our lives in His service.

Then there are the gross sins of the uncrucified self-life – self-will, selfpleasing, self-glorifying, selfseeking, self-pity, self-confidence, selfish affections, desires, motives, choices – all of which grieve the Spirit and unfit us to answer the call of the Lord to His people in this hour.

Some of us readily get angry, pouty, irritable. There is among us an unforgiving spirit, jealousy and envy (Jas. 3:14-18). With others there are secret and presumptuous sins – but they are not hidden from God (Psa. 19:12-13). There are also the deadly sins of gossip, backbiting, talebearing (Jas. 3:2-13; 2 Cor. 12:20). All of these God hates (Prov. 6:16-19). They close His door of blessing and hinder His answer to our prayers for our home, our community, our nation and the world.

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear…. Your hands are defiled…your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth” (Isa. 59:1-4).

We need God! We tremendously need a revival of the supernatural. Nothing but a great visitation of the grace of God can in any wise redeem these present perilous hours. Impending disasters warn us. God’s Word warns us. The Holy Spirit warns us. “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law” (Psa. 119:126). “Revive Thy work in the midst of the years” (Hab. 3:2).

I believe this is God’s hour for the Spirit’s outpouring. But God’s great present purposes in grace are dependent upon the whole-souled response of us – His people.

Therefore it is of vast importance to us whose hearts have been stirred about a visitation of God – that we leave no stone unturned in ourselves, meeting conditions for revival in our own heart, in our church, our community, our nation and the world.

Even if we cannot find in Scripture a specific promise of God’s mercies to us in this hour, there is, in almost every divinely sent message of judgment, the promise of salvation and deliverance if men and women will humble themselves and seek the face of God in repentance and in faith.

Think of the salvation of Nineveh, that wicked heathen city of ancient times. God’s prophet Jonah was sent with the message of doom, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jon. 3:4). No mercy was promised. But the king and the people must have reasoned like this, “If God had no gracious thought toward us, He would not have sent us this warning.” So they repented in sackcloth and ashes and with fasting cried mightily unto God, and God was moved to mercy and revoked His edict of judgment (Jon. 3).

If the God of all mercies would do so much for heathen Nineveh, when she repented, will He not do as much for His own people, if we repent and turn from our worldliness and selfishness to seek the Lord till He come and rain righteousness upon us (Hos. 10:12)?

Plus God

The annals of sacred history are filled with accounts of God’s undefeatable minorities. To the worldly-wise they appear foolish, weak, contemptible. But – plus God, they have become mighty, invincible, unquenchable and triumphant! They have time and again altered the course of history, and changed the face of nations. Without strength, they have wrought prodigious works. Without influence, they have transformed their generation. Of such was the Apostle Paul, Luther, Wesley. Thank God their tribe has not perished in these – our times.

What would happen today if Christians would cease to trifle and go all-out for God? What if we would obey the Lord and fast and pray day and night, that we might be avenged of our enemies (Luke 18:7-8)? What if we would get right with God, and with each other? Without doubt this would bring a visitation of God.

I pray you do something today about the evils and dangers all about us. It is a time for fasting and tears and prayer unceasing. Begin today! If you will, we shall have one of the greatest visitations of all time!

Revival Is the Beginning of a New Obedience to God

“If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; then I will give you rain (revival) in due season, and the land shall yield her increase …and ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you…And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight” (Lev. 26:3-8).

– Selected.

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

Tagged as Christianity, Israel, Jerusalem, Prayer

January 12, 2017 · 1:38 pm

Thursday’s Prayers for America (1/12/2017)

President Barack Obama said in his first inaugural address: “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

The words, “the wrong side of history,” have been a favorite cliché used often by President Obama, his administration, and the media. The phrase casts contempt on the opposition’s viewpoint and disqualifies its possible merits on the basis of civilization’s inevitable progress from darkness to enlightenment. It is a stinging “conversation stopper,” without any need for making an effective argument. A powerful piece of sound-byte logic. (Excerpt from Common Sense 2016 by Larry Nevenhoven, © 2016, Amazon eBook)

America’s problem right now is not being on the wrong side of history, but being on the wrong side of the Word of God, especially in our nation’s treatment of Israel over the last eight years.

My prayer today:

Lord, help President Trump and his administration to move our nation back to being a staunch ally of Israel so that America will once again enjoy Your blessings. (Based on Genesis 12:3)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?

Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.

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

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

January 8, 2017 · 9:36 am

Inside Israel

The Shuk in Jerusalem

GLORY TO GOD AND GREETINGS WITH LOVE TO EACH OF YOU WHO HAS IMPACTED MY LIFE AND WALKED THE PATH FOR HIS GLORY. May God Alone be glorified and blessed, and may you be blessed and edified, and may we all grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him as we turn the page of time to 2017.

But of course, not here in Israel.

We do not go by the Gregorian calendar technically, but use the Hebrew calendar, however, the world is smaller and smaller and no country can be ignorant any longer of the fact that 2016 is swiftly passing into 2017. I, like you, pray that in the year before us we may be found in HIS peace on His path for His purposes.

Ok. I will share some light things. The times are heavy enough, but so many of you prayed for my cat scan that I feel you should come with me through it to taste some of the things here that might not be true in your home countries. Even though, my results will not be known for a while, I am okay with that.

And, indeed, there were some adventures.

Because we have the positive benefits of socialized medicine here, we simply make our appointment and wait and wait and wait for it. Most of the cost is absorbed by the health fund and our own lay out is very minimal. That takes much of the pain away from the procedure.

My appointment was scheduled at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospita for 5pm on the fourth light of Chanukah and I knew there would be a wait. I had asked for prayer because I have been allergic to iodine (the contrast dye) and so needed a two-day preparation of high doses of cortisone. I do NOT react well to cortisone in even small doses, so it was the preparation and any possible allergic reaction that I was concerned about, and your prayers were WONDERFULLY answered in that I felt, actually…wonderful.

I had high energy, got my house cleaned and to my amazement had NO PAIN in my body – the good side of steroids for a person with systemic lupus. I have not yet been healed from Systemic Lupus with which I have suffered from for years, and part of the consequences are a great deal of pain throughout my body constantly.

What FUN to be free from it, however temporary it was. Prednisone makes me particularly aggressive, so, having bitten no one’s head off, I happily arrived at the hospital early. Our government hospitals are like none that I personally have experienced elsewhere. Hadassah Ein Kerem, which has been built almost completely by donations from Jews throughout the world, sits on a mountaintop, with easy access to helicopters, with large landing pads on the roofs. I have had too many opportunities to describe the hospital to you in the past, but it is always worth remembering that it is extraordinary in its total and real integration of all races and religions. That includes the staff on all levels as well as the patients.

As my bus winds its way through the mazes of buildings, Medical School, cancer centers, etc., I alight at the mall and the hotel. Yes. Seriously. If you arrive at the hospital by bus, you enter past the lovely hotel (quite a blessing to family members or people receiving treatment who are not from the area) and through an excellent mall. Milling around the many shops and restaurants are doctors, surgeons in surgical gear, patients attached to all manner of tubes, visitors, happy families with brand new babies, people in casts and bandages being pushed in wheel chairs, people waiting for tests, etc. But this day was different: it was candle lighting time for Chanukah, so songs were sounding out and candles being lit in every possible spot. It was fun watching Moslem families joining in the singing and wishing their Jewish counterparts “hag sameach” (happy holiday). Happy young people were passing out the traditional sovganioat (REALLY FATTENING, deep fried jelly donuts!) free to everyone and again, Moslem families, dressed in full coverings, were feasting on them happily. It’s really quite a site!

It was the same in the CT ward. Shortly after I arrived, some young men began to sing the prayers and light the chanukiah, passing around more sovganioat, while on the TV screen, the news showed a 6 year old girl who had been in an awful car accident just before the lighting of the first candle, on Christmas eve. The car that she was in was under water and she had been completely deprived of oxygen for a full 6 minutes. She was in a coma and the country grieved for her until she WOKE UP, COMPLETELY okay. NO problem whatsoever, just before the 4th light. We all watched around the lights as the announcer spoke of the wonderful Chanukah miracle and the words were repeated through the happy ward: “A Chanukah miracle!! What blessing! The little girl lived, and she is even FINE, no brain damage, it is a miracle!”

Yes it is. Thank You Lord.

It is policy that although you have an appointment theoretically, all emergencies take precedence and there are ALWAYS emergencies. I came prepared to be there until 8. I was right. There were the car accidents. People came down from the emergency ward or surgeries. There was the prisoner standing across from some soldiers, all exchanging pleasantries. More sovganioat were passed around as the hours moved on. We all sat there with tubes in our arms exchanging stories as the chairs got harder, but our friendships deepened. One by one we were called in, and then told to wait again for our disc from our family doctor. The written report is made by a committee of doctors and takes several weeks.

Tired and hungry, I made my way to the bus in the cold rain… for which we are thankful. The wait was a full half hour for some reason, so the bus was crowded. It hadn’t gone far and we were still on the hospital compound when the driver managed to get the bus firmly stuck in the mud of a round-about. Twenty more minutes passed and another bus showed up, but alas, he was off duty and on his way home after a long day at work. We had all poured off the bus looking cold and bedraggled. The off duty driver looked at us and sighed and signaled for us to get on to his bus. He drove us nonstop, 15 minutes, up to the train station. What a BLESSING! We all thanked him and wished him a happy Chanukah. It was just a warm lovely end of a day that was, yes, perhaps difficult but made warm and lovely through the kindness of people.

Little did I know that the hard part would lie ahead. The WITHDRAWL from the high dose of steroids was unexpected by me and dreadful as my body was swollen and wracked with pain for the next couple of days, but it passed and I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!

But far more has been going on then my CT.

By this time, no one is ignorant of the situation between the US, Europe and Israel. It is on multiple levels with a big push to oust our Prime Minister. Such turmoil. Such is the TIME and SEASON that we live in. The Paris Peace Conference , which is part of “the situation,” is one of the final event’s that the outgoing American President plans to participate in. We need much prayer. The good news is that none of this takes The Lord by surprise and His plans and purposes will not be thwarted by the strength of man. The very depth of the season of adversity has given me amazing opportunities to speak with people about God: His purposes, His Word, His ways…far more then I have had over the past 22 years. I am ENCOURAGED by the fact that more and more people ARE looking to Him for answers, and I encourage them daily to read His Word.

At work, one of the patients began speaking to me. He is an older man, a bachelor, and an actor by profession. He struggles with depression and anxiety. He was telling me about it when he asked me what time I need to leave in the morning to be at work. When I said 6:15 AM he answered, “Wow! That’s EARLY!”

I smiled. “Oh that’s nothing. I get up at 4:30.”

“Why would you do that?” he asked.

The door opened. ”

Well, I also need peace and joy in my heart and assurance, so I need that quiet time to read my Bible in my own language, not like the rabbis say, but straight through and to pray and talk to God from my heart, not from the sidur (prayer book).”

He jumped up. “What? You are a true tsaddikkah (a righteous person). I was raised Haradi, of the strictest order, in Mea Sha’arim (an ultra orthodox neighborhood) – only going to yeshiva. Study study study, but the rabbis are wrong and you understand.”

I stopped him. “Whoa! I am NOT a tsaddikah. ANYONE can and should, oh we MUST, take the scriptures and read them because look at the days we live in and oh how we need LIGHT.”

He was excited and I pray for him that he WILL turn to The Word and HIS LIVING SPIRIT. I challenged him that true Peace really IS with God and then there is NOTHING to fear. He listened. I have been having more and more conversations like this.

And some funny ones.

Two women on the train were speaking English. “I know you. I went to your class for a while,” one said.

“That’s right, you were the woman who made aliyah,” the teacher said.

“NO! That’s a sore point! No aliyah! I can’t give up the leeks and garlic!” (referring to the children of Israel in Exodus crying for the leeks and garlic when they left Egypt).

The conversation got uncomfortable and the teacher sat beside me. The train got noisy so I whispered to the teacher, “I’m SO glad that I gave up the leeks and garlic some 22 years ago.”

She laughed, “Me too! Thirty seven years for me!”

We struck up a warm conversation and shared our aliyah stories. She was religious and when I told her where I came from she was suddenly taken aback and I SAW that she was one of those who had been warned about me.

I have come to know that the English speaking religious community know about me and are warned by others. It no longer freaks me out, but I seek His wisdom and protection. We continued in a lovely vain and she relaxed again as we shared the joys of the MIRACLE of KNOWING that this IS INDEED the work of God and that it is our job to seek Him and walk before Him.

We surely agreed upon this. When she got up to leave, a man with a thick Russian accent and a loud voice sat down. He was making very inappropriate statements with a halting voice and I thought that he was mentally challenged, but before I left the train I found out that he was a new immigrant from UKRAINE, here less than 6 months. He sang songs and recited the blessing for the bread and I understood that he was proud to be practicing his Hebrew. It was a JOYOUS exchange. When I left, he BEAMED and said, “ANI YISRAELI.” (I am an ISRAELI.) His ear-to-ear smile made me think of the extraordinary plan of God that man so hates.

I want to share with you a couple of verses from Malachi because the word that The Lord dropped into my heart for me to learn about in this new year was a strange one to me…it is “treasure”…as in “where your treasure is there will your heart be also’.” But I thrilled to the fact that He ALSO has a treasure.

“Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, And the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the Lord And who meditate on His name. “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My special treasures And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.”Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.” Malachi 3:16-18

May you and I be found bringing pleasure to HIS HEART in this new year before us. It may be the ONLY thing that we can do. God bless you! I send you my love,

Your sis in Jerusalem,

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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

December 4, 2016 · 7:55 am

Inside Israel

The Shuk in Jerusalem

BELOVED Sisters and Brothers in the SON whom we love together, and so also love one another, may you have HIS SHALOM, HIS blessing and HIS encouragement in The Name of our Lord Yeshua, Jesus Christ. May HE ALONE be glorified and may you be blessed.

It was interesting that our Grandbaby was born during the time of such fires (it is the fire of GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT that we need). I wrote to you during the first few days of the fires and thankfully today seems to signal the end as we have a much needed, drenching RAIN. The issues of the fires, however, were big in many ways. I had a chart released by the government of the estimated numbers, which I wanted to send out as I have seen some greatly inflated numbers and some ridiculously low ones, but alas, I seem to have lost them. This is the most accurate information I am able to glean at this moment from different sources:

On 22 November (actually the first ones began on the 18th) a wave of fires (both wildfires and urban fires) began in Israel from south as far as the Dead Sea area to Nahariya. Some of the fires occurred naturally; others were arson attacks. On 28 November, after 8 days, the firefighting services announced that the emergency condition was under control, after firefighters fought 1,773, of them at least 39 were major fires that required at least ten crews or more. The largest fire occurred in Haifa, where 527 apartments were destroyed completely 77 buildings, leaving 1,600 people homeless. 75,000 residents, about a quarter of the city’s population, were evacuated from 11 neighborhoods. Other major fires occurred in Zikhron Ya’akov, Jerusalem area as well as smaller fires all across Israel and the West Bank. Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority reported that more than 20,000 dunams (4,900 acres) of forests, brush land and open space were burnt, the largest amount since the Mount Carmel forest fire (2010).

While most of the fires were caused by weather conditions and negligence, some of the fires were caused by arsonists suspected of being nationally motivated Arabs. Two Arab citizens of Israel confessed they deliberately set up fires. At least 35 people were arrested on suspicion of setting fires or inciting to do so. More than 15 were citizens of the Palestinian Authority and at least 10 were Arab citizens of Israel. Officials in Israel has stated that the deliberate setting of fires is a form of terrorism. As of 28 November, at least 25 cases of fires were caused by suspected arsons.

The battle to push back the flames marked among the most difficult operations ever undertaken by Israel’s firefighters. Some 2,000 firefighters battled the fires since Tuesday, many of them working in grueling 24-hour shifts alongside 450 soldiers from the Home Front Command and 69 Cypriot firefighters. In a rare move, the Palestinian Authority also sent fire crews to help. Fourteen planes from Israel’s firefighting squadron, aided by at least 19 additional planes supplied by ten other nations, carried out some 670 sorties dropping more than 1.62 million liters of liquid and foam over fire-struck areas. Russia and Turkey joined Greece, Italy, Croatia and Cyprus and the US in sending volunteers. (others too. I am sorry to have lost the list so soon. Even Kazakhstan offered assistance and fire fighters from the Palestinian Authority took part) In total, over 20,000 police officers took part in operations across the country, police said Tuesday.

I remember reading about the great Chicago fire, the day San Francisco burned, and seeing films of major cities on fire, but it was quite a chill to see Haifa, our largest Northern city up in flames and to watch other smaller villages completely burned to the ground.

As usual, Israel is at her best when there are needs and doors opened up, families drew one another in, needs were met with open arms, but it remains to us believers to pray for the many who came out with thankfully their lives but nothing else. One Holocaust survivor’s apartment was destroyed. There are many scars that need the touch of God. I have no doubt that some of you will pray.

But I have two anecdotal stories to share that you won’t read in other places:

Last Monday I went to work and there was a very strong smell of gas in the office when I entered. I searched and found nothing. We HAVE no gas in the office, but perhaps it was from another apartment. Now kicks in my immigrant mentality. I had NO idea what to do about it but to pray and to commit it to The Lord. Who do I call and what do I say? I didn’t know. So I also prayed that if I were in danger some passerby would smell it and know what to do.

About 40 minutes later Mali came to work. “WHAT’S THAT SMELL! GAS!” she yelled as I nodded my head. “DID YOU CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT?” she yelled in a panic.

“Nope. I don’t know how to do it, and they are so busy with all of the fires….” I answered honestly.

She threw her hands in the air and then ran to call them. I paid close attention knowing that now I could do this if it happened again within my memory-bank period. Then she ran around looking for the source. Finally she waited outside to direct the firemen to us murmuring, “What’s taking them so long!”

JUST as we heard the sirens, Mali looked up and noticed something dripping from our (honestly) antique iron door locks. She reached up and dabbed her finger in it and sniffed. Then she turned red. “Oh NO! False alarm! Here is the smell.” Apparently a gasoline-based oil had been used to lubricate the ancient device the night before.

At that very moment in they came, fully decked, strong, young, handsome with axes and … well…forgive my drama but with the presence of heroes. Five of them. Mali cringed. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! It isn’t gas!’

‘It smells like gas’ one of them said. She pointed to the lock and they checked it out. Suddenly the last two men stepped forward and one began to explain in English. I looked up and recognized a US insignia. I stood up.

“Are you volunteers from America?” I asked.

I wish I could explain their look, such a tender combination of real humility and pride. “Yes ma’am, we are. We came to help with these big fires that you all are having here.”

I wanted to kiss them. Before I could the leader said, “And this man here is from Cyprus. He came to help us too.”

That was too much for Mali and me. We both jumped up and down, thanking them profusely, just as the police drove up to make sure we were ok. What a touching sight. Love was reaching out in all directions.

But that wasn’t ALL. Several patients were late and complained about a huge traffic jam. “An accident,” one said authoritatively. “Always an accident.”

But it wasn’t.

Aaron HarNoie came in. I like him. I shared his testimony with you around Jerusalem Day, how I learned that he was a hero. Sometimes, once a hero, always a hero.

“I caused that traffic jam,” he said.

“Oh no, were you in an accident?” I asked.

He laughed. “I saw some guys in a car acting suspiciously, so I followed them. They stopped near a field and ran out and left some things and came back laughing. So I kept following them. I wrote their license number on my hand. When they did the same thing a second time I got out and looked in their car and it was full of fire starters and incendiaries. They drove off laughing and flicking cigarettes. Took me a long time to find a policeman but they took off and set up roadblocks. They got them, but what a traffic jam!”

Again Mali and I were on our feet. It was a day of heroes and we were humbled.

In the midst of all of the agonies that this world is in right now as it plummets toward fulfillment of His Faithful Word, there are jewels and moments that perhaps are meant to keep our hearts tender. Today an Israeli Arab lumber company in Haifa area that was not damaged donated the wood to rebuild a synagogue that was destroyed by the flames.

Keeping our hearts soft in the midst can be such a challenge in these days. On the train the other day I looked into the face of an African, probably an illegal migrant, a girl of perhaps 15. Her face was so hard and dead that my heart ached. I wondered what kind of horrors she has experienced and prayed for her to be rescued from her hell. I was in the emergency room all night on Tuesday and there was a mental patient curled up in an unresponsive ball. Her name is Olga, and I prayed for her. Awful things happen and we will grow hard and dead or MOVE TOWARD HIM WHO IS LIFE.

That challenge NEVER ends…hard things are happening more and more – even how much more we need to be turned toward HIM!

I will close this now. Since August I have been in high gear with my family issues…and as wonderful as they have been the intensity has highlighted again my limitations. Thankfully, my limitations are really His opportunities. Here am I Lord!

As we invite Him to search our hearts and lead us in His way, may His fire follow His Light and set us aflame again with our first love, that we might glorify Him in the days yet ahead, even in the midst of fires.

God bless you all.

I send my love,

your sister J

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November 27, 2016 · 3:15 pm

Inside Israel

The Shuk in Jerusalem

‫Blessings, grace and mercy to you in His Presence…The Presence of The Lord Yeshua, Jesus Christ, The Son, The Messiah, The fullness of The Glory of God. May He be blessed and praised and worshipped. For He Alone is worthy.

‫ Thanksgiving is celebrated today in America, but the giving of Thanks, offered up to God, is not unique to America. I do so thank my American upbringing for this most lovely of holidays, in the way it was intended and the message that established it. THANK YOU LORD…FOR YOU ALONE ARE WORTHY AND YOUR MERCY ENDURES FOREVER!

‫ We in Israel have been given abundant commandments and opportunity to set aside special times to give thanks, yet Thanksgiving is one of the American holidays that we personally (and many others from America here) still observe. The reactions of Israelis hasn’t changed much through the years and I always find it, well…forgive me…but ‘cute’.

‫ “You are ordering a WHOLE turkey?? WHOLE? Do you know how BIG they are?”

‫ Yes, a WHOLE turkey has to be ordered a week ahead of time.

“Is it THAT time of year again? Hodyah’ (giving thanks to God) and you have a holiday, right? And WHY IS IT ON A THURSDAY? Don’t you have to wait until Friday?” (Shabat)

‫ The turkey arrives and, of course, there is no room in my refrigerator, but the butcher wants to know how I have an oven big enough to COOK it. Even after 22 years, the poor bird is … well… “butchered” in the most colorful meaning of the word. Israelis are NOT used to eating a whole turkey so you can buy legs, or skinless boneless breast, or a neck, but no one seems to know how to – well – just pluck and clean a WHOLE one. So I get it with lots of extra feathers, patch worked skin on SOME places, and a bit of a torn leg, but I’m thankful to have it. Even at THAT price!

“How can anyone EAT all of that meat?” I am still asked at the checkout. Another checker pipes up “Oh! I know what that is. It’s for an American holiday called THANKSGIVING!” She is really proud of herself and beams with knowledge.

‫ I love it!.

‫ But Thanksgiving of course, has not much to do with turkey, although my husband remembers the year that the closest we could come was a skinless breast and a chicken draped over it for the drippings).

‫ It has to do with our God’s mercy which endures forever…even in judgment.

‫

With fires raging across the entire country, I stop to wonder. I know that some of you do not read the news so you may not know that countless fires are being fought with some 75,000 or more people evacuated. The tally changes constantly. It is complicated. After our first good rain, we have had no more. Easterly winds have dried out the land and water sources to a troubling degree.

But then incredibly strong winds began to blow for a week already. The first fire seemed to have been started by negligence, but it became an opportune time for arson attacks. I believe that it was in the Haifa area (Haifa is now declared in a state of emergency) that there were over 40 fires set simultaneously beginning what became a wave of deliberately set fires across the country. Fire fighting planes from Greece, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Italy were offered immediately. The Palestinians sent in 4 fire fighting teams and there are negotiations under way to bring in a special US one of a kind firefighting plane.

‫ But to my heart, the questions include more then who, and how, but why?

‫ Many years ago now I was praying and I do believe that The Lord spoke to me. He showed me that Allah is the “god of deserts and dry places,” whereas GOD…THE ALMIGHTY GOD…IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE…THE ONE WHO PRODUCES FRUIT AND LIFE. It shocked me and I began to look. Sure enough the Moslem nations were desert nations. If you look at a satellite map of our region, you will see one green area and indeed, the line separating the Arab and Jewish areas is called “the green line.” But this should not be strange to us. After all, it WAS The Lord who said in Isaiah 35:1-4

‫“The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord ,The excellency of our God.Strengthen the weak hands ,and make firm the feeble knees.Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear !Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”

‫I had been reading in 2 Samuel 21 about when famine was in the land, and David, the man after God’s Own Heart, sought The Lord as to WHY? The Lord showed him that there was a wrong done to the Gibeonites with whom (through presumption) Israel made a treaty in Joshua 9.

‫ So, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? God FORBID that I too should be presumptuous because I don’t know. Is it a warning to us from The One who sends the rain on the just and on the unjust? Is it a strengthening of the demon-god Allah? I DO NOT KNOW. But I know to ASK Him and to SEEK His Face AND to pray earnestly for discernment and not follow any vain imaginations of my heart.

‫Psalm 24:1,2 states:

‫ “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.

^‫For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters.”

‫I DO know that the earth (ALL of it!) is The Lord’s and that He established it upon the waters, so I am praying that in spite of our clear [except for sand and smoke filled] skies, I am praying for the mercy of His water to rain down upon us and put out the fires. I am also praying for Him to turn our hearts and eyes to HIM both for help but also with hearing ears and DOING HEARTS, to follow Him. And to pour out the Living Water of His Spirit and His Fire.

WE are not worthy by any means, but the world basically knows of His promises to this land and this people, so I pray, “LORD! For YOUR GREAT NAME’S SAKE save this people and reveal Yourself to the nations!”

HOW THE NATIONS NEED HIM IN THIS FEARSOME DAY IN WHICH WE LIVE. WHAT OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM TO GLORIFY HIS NAME. Today, Lord? Pour out Your Spirit?

‫ On this generation…and on the next and next.

‫ Blessings from Jerusalem, with Love,

your sister J in Yeshua

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November 13, 2016 · 9:27 am

Inside Israel

The Shuk in Jerusalem

Dear brothers and sisters,

May The Lord be glorified and blessed and may you be encouraged and blessed because of Him.

As I was walking to work in the early morning on the day following the US elections, I found myself praying with great fear about the use of words − my use of words in particular.

My prayers were interposed with some of the MANY scriptures about THE WORD:

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” “In the beginning was The Word and The Word was GOD and The Word was with GOD…””For The Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper then any two edged sword…” the engrafted Word which is able to save your soul …receive The Word…keep The Word…abide in The Word…The Word was choked…The Word fell by the wayside…The Word bore fruit…”

They just kept coming.

Think how many WORDS we are hearing all the time. Some words are used so skillfully − strung together to give comfort and press people higher. Some are harsh and cruel and instigate anger. Some are Truthful and some are lying and it is just all so confusing. Words, flung around, influencing hearts, minds, actions. What happens when we believe a lie? What happens when we reject a Truth? AND worst of all − the way that we use words can INFLUENCE someone who believes a lie or rejects the Truth!

All of this was pouring into my mind and out of my mouth in prayer, a cry of sorts. I thought of people who have written to me and told me that I write well and should consider writing a book. And I thought back to how this writing of mine began and has proceeded forth in the world of words.

It seems to me that I have loved words since I was very young. That in one form or other I was always looking for Truth. It took a LONG time to find Him!

When I was in high school, I would spend my lunch break in the school library reading through the unabridged dictionary (no…I never got to the end). I remember well coming up to the word “ergo” which meant “therefore or hence.” Armed with this new word, I proceeded to use it in class after lunch and was laughed out of class.

But I loved words and listened as people argued and so often I wondered if they were from different planets and why no one really LISTENED or could understand the other.

Things became MORE interesting as my husband is profoundly dyslexic. Words mean less than nothing to him. Our second daughter came along and I watched how profound audio dyslexia affects communication and I became even MORE impressed by the power of words.

I will not go further in this description but my despair at the thought of the world ever communicating one to another made the impact of The Living God also being The Living Word… oh so much more important to me!

It also holds over my head a genuine fear of misusing what some have graciously called “my gift with words.”

When a person uses words well, he can very easily mislead people, particularly if he speaks with authority. We have an easy prime example (because history has already judged him, I feel free to use his name) in Hitler. His speeches, I am told, were hypnotically persuasive.

But we have a BETTER Word.

I was deeply blessed by hearing the same confession by each of my early Pastors. NONE of them felt that they had any gift of speech or natural ability with words, and they approached their calling with fear and trembling and relied with full dependence upon The Holy Spirit to anoint them and speak through them. They were the greatest examples that I could have had, and The Lord has continued to bless and challenge me by gifting me with such men of God. I am still convinced that my Pastors have been His very best.

So, Lord, what do I do with the gift of words that You gave to me?

After the US elections, I did listen to many of the speeches. Before the elections I did not hear locals speaking much about them. Here they were viewed as so aggressive and arrogant on all sides, and I chose not to focus on them as well. But AFTER the elections the talk was passionate on all sides. So I thought about the use of words as I listened to each one.

No doubt about it, Obama is a good speaker. PLEASE! I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT CONTENT, TRUTH ETC…SIMPLY HIS USE OF WORDS…excellent. If I were a young idealistic academic, there would be no question. I would be persuaded.

Words!

With smooth words:

Jeremiah 12 says “Do not believe them, Even though they speak smooth words to you.”

Psalm 55 says …”The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, But war was in his heart; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn swords.”

In Romans 16 we read “…and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.”

Words can be a stumbling block for me, too. So I turn quickly back to my prayer” “Oh Lord! I don’t KNOW my own heart! Please guard me from using persuasive, smooth words to deceive, manipulate, distort in any way or to convince someone to see something my way. PLEASE TAKE THESE WORDS AND USE THEM FOR YOUR GLORY ONLY! YOUR KINGDOM COME YOUR WILL BE DONE! ‘

And I mean it.

The Lord told me, “What you see, write. What I show you, write. Be a faithful witness.”

I WANT to be, but am I? Examine my heart Lord and lead me in Your path!

During the bloody awful second intifada, when the buses were blowing up daily, the Clintons came to Jerusalem. Bill Clinton spoke to the public at the Convention Center and I watched the proceedings on TV. His wife, Hillary, had gone to Gaza and Ramallah that day to meet with Suha Arafat (Arafat’s wife). Hillary Clinton stood with Suha Arafat in a nursery school. Her eyes were full of love and pity and she nodded in agreement as Suha told her (and the international cameras) that Israel was poisoning their water and giving them aids. Later she appeared with Bill at the convention center. He appeared very warm toward us there and he asked for anyone who was close to someone personally or related to someone who had been killed in the current intifada to please stand up. There was a moment of silence and then the entire huge crowd stood as one body and he was visibly shaken and brought to tears. I will never forget how his wife stood beside him, uncomfortable, like a stone filled with hate, NOT toward them, but obviously toward us. It was a shocker to see and I never forgot it.

At work following the elections, as I said, people started to react, really quite emotionally. Many more were relieved then I expected, but we have a number of patients who are professors and they are generally quite liberal. As we spoke, I reminded these professors of that visit during the intifada. One said that he didn’t have any memory of their visit, but another stopped and lowered his head and said “Yes, now I remember. Thank you for reminding me. I had forgotten that.”

Each of them stopped and thought about it and thanked me for reminding them.

The power of words. What a responsibility!

Perhaps the current situation will cause American Jews to finally make aliyah. May my family be among them. God can use anything to bring about His purposes.

And as we pray for the situations both near and far in our own nations and others, thank you for praying for this nation and people. May we pray His Heart for His glory and look away to Him, not fixing our eyes on the situations that shake all around us and seem to demand our attention.

He said to Martha: “Only one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that better part.” Looking unto Yeshua, sitting at His feet.

May you each be encouraged and blessed.

Lovingly,

your sister J

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