Matthew 23:11-12 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Yeshua (Jesus) began His earthly ministry by being baptized in the Jordan river. The word Jordan in Hebrew is "Yarden" and its root is "yarad". It literally means to descend, which would make sense being that the Jordan descends from over 8,000 feet from Mount Hermon to the Dead Sea which sits more than 1,000 feet below sea level.
If we truly want to walk in the fullness of the Lord, we have to follow the example that Yeshua set before us. Yeshua descended from Heaven, He descended from glory, was baptized in the Jordan and fulfilled the calling that the Father bestowed upon Him by being our perfect sacrifice on Calvary. Yeshua totally and completely surrendered Himself to do His Father's will.
We too, must descend and surrender all that we are and all we have been given. We must truly give our lives, not for our own glory, but for His. Until we do that, we'll never be able to see all the blessings and opportunities the Lord has prepared for us since the foundation of the world.
Let's learn a lesson from the Yarden today. When we descend, we'll be lifted up! We'll see the blessings freely flow from a Heavenly source which will never run dry!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]There is an old Indian fable which tells of a mouse who was in constant distress because of its fear of cats. A magician took pity on it and turned it into a cat so it would have no more fear. Now, as a cat, it was in fear of dogs.
When Abraham is told by YHVH to offer up his son, Issac, the word “love” is spoken for the first time in the Bible. The Hebrew word for love is “ahavah”. This first mention of “ahavah”, which is the very nature of God [1 John 4:8] occurs in direct connection with sacrifice, the sacrifice of a most precious and beloved son. Abraham could not have known at that time that his obedient offering would foreshadow and typify the love of our Heavenly Father who offered up Yeshua, His only begotten Son 2000 years ago.
For those of you who don't know, Merv Griffin died on Sunday. Interestingly enough, today's devotion has to do with a show of his from way back when.
With rockets daily being hailed down from Gaza, this is yet another of Satan's many attempts to annihilate Israel and the Jewish people in any way he can. Satan is actively at work, trying to rob the world of its blessing.
The Lord (YHVH) commanded the grain offering on Shavuot, (known as Pentecost among Christians), to be made of the finest flour, baked with yeast, that is, leaven. Leaven, in the Bible, is almost universally, a symbol for “sin”, and in the OT is strictly forbidden on the altar of YHVH., yet here, in the Feast of Weeks it is commanded as part of the offering. Just six weeks prior to this festival, Israel had spent a week eating unleavened bread, a clear picture of the connection between the Passover Lamb and the removal of sin from our lives. Now the grain offering for Shavuot contains yeast; two loaves with it. Why? A common interpretation of this for NT believers is that the loaves represent Jews and Gentiles, the two types of redeemed people, who, of course, still contain sin in our lives.
We've just returned to Israel and the region seems to be nothing but a boiling cauldron ready to erupt. In just a few days, we will celebrate the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot, in Hebrew. Most Christians recognize this holiday as the Feast of Pentecost -- the time when the Holy Spirit descended and empowered His saints to accomplish the mission of global witness to Yeshua (Jesus).
Three thousand years ago, when Solomon dedicated the Temple to God, the priests offered up thousands of sacrifices. After the sacrifices were offered up — then the glory of God fell! The glory of God was so thick and heavy that the priests could no longer minister! Do you see the connection? First the offerings — THEN the glory fell!