Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways (דֶּרֶךְ - deh-rech) please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
A young reporter approached an old man on his 100th birthday. "Happy birthday, kind Sir! Can I bother you to answer one question? In all your years, of what are you most proud?" he asked.
"Well," said the man, "I don't have a single enemy in the world."
"Really?!" shouted the reporter, "That's just incredible -- how inspiring to us all!"
"Yep," added the centenarian, "outlived every darn one of 'em."
Sadly, each of us has acquired an enemy or two in our lives. While it's our human nature to find fault in others and make an occasional unnecessary enemy, sometimes it has nothing to do with us! I mean, you wouldn't believe the kind of hate mail we get from people we've never met! What can we do to make peace with enemies like those?
"He" is the operating word in the verse above. Did you catch that? He, that is, the Lord, makes even [a man's] enemies be at peace with him. All we have to worry about is making sure that our ways are pleasing to the Lord and He will do the rest!
The word "deh-rech" in Hebrew, is 'way' in the verse above. Derech can also mean journey or path. When our path is straight, and God is the focus of our journey, then our ways will please Him and He will make even our enemies be at peace with us. Let's rededicate our lives to the Lord again today and see Him bring the victory.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]There are times in our lives that we are going through a spiritual valley and we want to get victory — we want to have answers — we want God’s power to flow through us again.
This evening will begin the Biblical feast of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur, which literally means Day of Coverings, can be a day of deep reflection on what the Lord has done for us. As Yeshua (Jesus) died on the cross 2000 years ago, the Gospel describes how the veil in the Temple was torn in two. This profound spiritual event reveals that the Lord gave all whose sins are covered by His blood access to the Holy of Holies, as He had become our High Priest in addition to being, Himself, the perfect sacrifice for sin.
As we celebrated Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets) and are in the midst of “Yamin Noraim” or the days of awe, the days between the Feast of Trumpets and Yom Kippur, it is the season of repentance.
This is the season that the shofar (rams horn) is blown to heed the call of warning to repent from our sins and be clean. The shofar’s unique sounding blast is a wake-up call to all who will hear.
As we find ourselves in the midst of the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe), our hearts are centered this week on repentance as we prepare for Yom Kippur, which is approaching this Friday. In this spirit, I want to share something I discovered while studying the Jewish roots of many of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) parables. I came across an insightful teaching from a Jewish Rabbi, which I believe holds a valuable lesson for us today.
After our very small wedding in Jerusalem, my wife and I planned to have the big ceremony she’d always dreamed of, in Havre De Grace, Maryland. Rivka had it planned it to the tee. It was an outdoor wedding next to the longest standing lighthouse on the east coast. We were going to wow our guests with an entrance by way of sailboat. Ten dancers with candles in glasses were to proceed my beautiful bride as I awaited her under our hand-crafted chuppa, lit by the sunset on the bay.
Between Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur are ten days. These days are known as “Yamim Noraim”, “the Days of Awe” — or also translated, the “Awesome days”. In Judaism it has been long believed that these days seal your fate for the upcoming year — and also allude to your final destiny, concerning whether your name continues to be written in the Book of Life.
One of the major themes of Rosh Hashana is called Akedat Yitzchak, which means the Binding of Isaac. According to Jewish tradition, God told Abraham that the ram’s horn – otherwise known as a shofar – should be blown on Rosh Hashana to remind people of the sacrifice that God provided Himself when Abraham was about to offer Isaac on Mount Moriah.