Micah 7:18-19 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. [in Hebrew mercy is the word “ch-sed” — which has a much deeper meaning. Click here to read an explanation of the richness of this word.] He will turn again, He will have compassion on us, and He will subdue our iniquities. Yes, You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
One of the more beautiful ceremonies of the Jewish faith is called “Tashlich”. Tashlich means to cast away. Every year between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur, Jewish people around the world journey to a nearby river or stream and cast in bread crumbs as they confess their sins. As the bread crumbs are swept downstream soon to be out of sight, so they believe God will sweep away their sins.
We as believers in Yeshua (Jesus), know that true forgiveness doesn’t come by doing works, keeping traditions and taking part in beautiful ceremonies. Reconciliation with God comes by truly giving up our lives for His purposes and receiving atonement for our sin through Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah), as the Hebrew scriptures clearly show.
We all struggle with sin. Let’s take this opportunity to tashlich it today! Cast it away! The Scripture says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us, cleanse us from all unrighteousness and remove those sins as far as the east is from the west!
Let’s not be burdened any longer with sin — confess it and be cleansed! The Lord is in the business of restoration — let’s give Him our lives once again. And let’s pray for God to do a work among the Jewish people. That they would see the truth of their blessed Messiah!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]For centuries in Ethiopia, there have lived a people we now know as the Falashas. They kept all sorts of Biblical traditions and call themselves Beta Yisrael (House of Israel). As experts began to study the matter, it became clear that these were descendants of the Jewish people who came to Africa in ancient times and intermarried. Unbeknownst to many, a percentage of them became believers in Jesus over the years. Jesus (or Yeshua, as they called Him) became a part of their identity as Jewish people. Many Falashan Jews worshipped Jesus as their Messiah and continued to practice Jewish tradition.
So often in our walks with the Lord, we become focused on what we can see, what we can hear and what we can sense in the physical realm. Like that young man, we focus on the enemy’s attacks around and about us. At times we can get so focused on our physical circumstances that we forget that the Lord has already provided for us the victory!
Why is it that some believers seem to go much deeper in their walk with God than others? I believe it has to do with a desire to pursue God and not to stop until they feel His very presence in their lives. These believers decide not to settle for anything less than a growing, vibrant relationship with God, and God honors that desire for those who seek it.
This pivotal passage of scripture, Isaiah 52 and continuing into Isaiah 53, profiles a suffering servant whom the nation of Israel would not recognize. The spiritual leaders of Yeshua’s (Jesus) day were blinded to the messianic passages which pointed to the messiah’s role as a humble servant and bearer of sins.
A recent study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California Los Angeles wanted to find out, “if you had to choose between more time and more money, what would it be?” While they found most respondents answered, “more money”, they also found that those who preferred “more time” were generally happier! When I read this article, it reminded me of a story, that I’d like to share.
The Lord spoke to Moses, who led the children of Israel out of Egypt to be desperately cornered with the Red sea before them and Pharaoh’s chariots advancing upon them from behind. Overwhelmed with terror they cry out to Moses, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” Having just miraculously escaped from the miserable life of slavery, and only beginning their new life of freedom, the children of Israel were faced with the most dire threat to their existence.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve begun a series of devotions based on the Exodus wanderings of the Children of Israel, and their tragic mistakes which we can learn from and avoid. One powerful influence common to their failures was fear.