Psalm 4: 6-8 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
We found an interesting story in an old copy of “Our Daily Bread”: In 1883 in Allentown, New Jersey, a wooden Indian — the kind that was seen in front of cigar stores — was placed on the ballot for Justice of the Peace. The candidate was registered under the fictitious name of Abner Robbins. When the ballots were counted, Abner won over incumbent Sam Davis by 7 votes. A similar thing happened in 1938. The name Boston Curtis appeared on the ballot for Republican Committeeman from Wilton, Washington. Actually, Boston Curtis was a mule. The town’s mayor sponsored the animal to demonstrate that people know very little about the candidates. He proved his point. The mule won!
Today, people all over Israel are voting for the party whom they hope will best choose a prime minister for our country. The politics here are very complicated and just crazy. We’re used to having only two options. Here, there are more than 20 choices! And many Israelis are undecided.
On a more serious note though, Israel is crying out today. “Who can show us any good?” “Who will help us to sleep in peace and to dwell in safety from all our enemies?” And really, there is only One who can — and unfortunately, His Name does not appear on today’s ballot.
The modern-day Hebrew word for Christian is “Notzree”. Notzree means watchman. God has called all of us who know Him to be watchmen and apparently, so have the Israelis.
We must be praying for Israel — that God would open her eyes to see the truth of His goodness and mercy, and most of all, His salvation. Please stand with us as we pray.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Some experts believe that acute stress can provoke changes in the heart that may lead to death. In one study, fifteen cases were identified in which people died after a physical assault, even though the injuries alone were not enough to kill them. Eleven of the fifteen showed a type of heart-cell death, similar to a reaction in experimental animals that feel helpless to anticipate or avoid danger.
During the 1990’s in an NCAA Division II national championship cross-country race in California, a bizarre twist of events took place. Mike Delcavo and 127 of the best runners in the country were battling for glory over the 10,000 meter course. About three miles into the race, Delvaco was somewhere in the middle of the pack, when he realized that the runners had made a wrong turn. So he yelled out, “You’re going the wrong way,” but they didn’t listen. Only 4 others followed Mike when he turned in the right direction…and suddenly, he found himself in the lead.
Yeshua (Jesus) is the Prince of Peace (Sar Shalom, in Hebrew). You may have already known that the word "shalom" means peace. But actually, it has several meanings in the Hebrew. Shalom means peace, completeness, prosperity, safety, contentment, health, blessing, and rest -- and not only that. Shalom is the common word for hello and goodbye.
A National Geographic article published a few years describing a real celestial event which took place at the time of the birth of Jesus reminded me of Risto Santala’s explanation in his book, "The Messiah in the New Testament in the Light of Rabbinical Writings". He wrote about a conjunction of major planets that took place which could have led the wise men from the east, to Israel.
Simeon must have been a remarkable man, one who continued to seek God all his life. The Lord rewarded him by finally revealing to him the infant Yeshua's identity as Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world, and allowing Simeon to actually hold and bless the "lamb of God".
When Paul wrote to the Philippian church he spoke of pressing forward for the prize of the high calling. Though he was physically content whether rich or poor, [Philippians 4:11] the apostle was not content with his spiritual condition, but constantly seeking a deeper, more intimate and fruitful walk with the Lord...
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