James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
A few years ago, a rare archaeological discovery was made in Northern Israel. Archaeologists discovered a 1/2 meter statue of Hercules which they say was dated to the second century.
In Greek mythology, Hercules was the son of the Greek god Zeus, and the mortal mother Alcmene -- the wisest and most beautiful of all mortal women. Hercules was said to surpass all mortal men in strength, size and skill. How did Hercules become such a powerful mortal according to mythology? It was because his father was the Greek god, Zeus.
While this is a mythological story, we as saints of the most high have a real Heavenly Father who sits on His throne in heaven. While we live in these mortal bodies, we're called to do extraordinary things in this life! We have a Spiritual Father sitting on the throne who wants to give us wisdom from above. He wants to give us "peace that passes all understanding." And He's calling us to live a life outside this natural realm -- a life worthy of a "King and a Priest" of the Most High.
While Hercules was a myth -- your life is a reality -- the reality that God is Your heavenly Father! Don't place God in a box -- but recognize that God is calling you to live outside the box! Your life before you were born again was a "mortal" life, but having crossed over, you're now called to live a supernatural life! So live it -- because your life is an inheritance directly from your Heavenly Father!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Traditionally in Jewish spirituality, these 40 days of prayer and repentance beginning the 1st of Elul to Yom Kippur parallel the 40 days that Moses spent on the mountain [Exodus 34:28] pleading God’s forgiveness for Israel’s sin of creating and worshiping the golden calf. Interestingly, Psalm 27 is read each day of the month of Elul, along with the shofar blast in preparation for Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
As we continue our study for Elul, a month set apart for repentance in preparation for the fall feasts, we find a message hidden in the four Hebrew letters spelling the name of this special month. Alef-Lamed-Vav-Lamed form an “acronym” for a well-known passage in the Song of Solomon: Ani l-dodi v-dodi li or in English, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.”
I happened (on rare occasion) the other day to see a CNN headline, “Health Officials Brace for Three Major Viruses this Fall”. Immediately, I thought, “Not again!” Yet, scouring the headlines, it now appears that several colleges are instituting mask mandates even though there isn’t a case of illness yet. While the world is being prepared for an “outbreak” of disease, I’m hoping we may learn a lesson from history so that, perhaps, we’ll see an “outbreak” of revival!
As we enter this season of Teshuva (Repentance) during the month of Elul, we enter a unique season approaching the Fall Feasts. This month initiates a 40-day countdown to Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), and is traditionally known as the time the King would visit His people.
As we continue our study of the men who followed David, another characteristic was their ability to war.They learned how to battle with both the right hand and the left hand for hurling stones. If you have ever thrown a ball, you know that you can aim effectively with your dominant hand — but try it with the opposite hand — it’s far more difficult to throw accurately. But the men that followed David learned to throw with both arms effectively! It must have taken months of training to develop such skill.
When David was a fugitive from Saul, the men who followed him recognized his rightful place as King of Israel, and they developed a deep loyalty to him, this little band. As we read yesterday, these men were transformed from distress, debt, and discontentment [1 Sam. 22:1-2] into becoming mighty men of war. Having joined David, they quickly realized that they were joining a conflict.
Last night, Jewish people around the world will mourn Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar year. Some of you may know that a lot of bad things have happened to the Jewish people on this date, the first of which was when the spies returned with an evil report of Canaan, the Promised Land, recounted in Numbers 13 and 14. Both the first and the second Temple were destroyed on this exact date, hundreds of years apart. The Crusades began on this day in 1095. The Jews were expelled out of England on this day in 1290, and again were expelled from Spain and Portugal on Tisha B’Av in 1492. And there are many more examples of this infamous day in Jewish history!