2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Living by faith financially can be a wonderful thing. Back in Yeshua's (Jesus') day, people didn't have savings and money market accounts, mutual funds, and IRA's. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that those things are bad to have. What I'm saying is that those of us who live without them have an opportunity -- an opportunity to see God provide in miraculous ways!
One month when we first came to Israel, we had reached the end of our finances on a consecutive number of unexpected crises. Now we had to pay our rent and our bank account was almost totally depleted and we were getting a little nervous. "Lord!" we cried. "We came here to Israel to be a light and to do your work, what's going on?! We need a miracle!"
I kid you not. The next day, our phone rang. Someone who didn't know a thing about our ministry called to let us know that while he had been traveling in Europe he met a woman who found out he was coming to the Land soon and gave him an envelope to give us as soon as he could. Wouldn't you know it, that money was the exact figure we needed and it came just in time to pay our rent.
It wasn't long before we realized that living by faith would become a way of life for us. After a few miracles like this one, we stopped getting nervous. We knew that God would always come through.
John Guest said that "It is remarkable to think that God has given us a partnership with him in directing the course of human events. It is extraordinary to realize that our prayer can change events and circumstances in the world around us. But what is just as remarkable is that when we pray, we change. More often than not we become the answer to our own prayers as we open up ourselves to God in prayer.
If you're struggling today, struggle no longer! God is faithful! Let's ask the Lord to help us begin to see our needs as opportunities to see His miracle-working power!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]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!
In the beginning of Psalm 2, David points out that the kings of the earth are against the Lord and his "anointed" [Mashiach "Messiah" in Hebrew]. David recognized the true authority of God and advises the kings and rulers of the world, as well as their subjects, to "kiss the Son, lest he be angry." The act of "kissing the Son" would be one of homage to a king, and would indicate submission to the kingship of the Son. Those who are wise will do so before the Son, the Messiah, comes to judge the world!
When the twelve spies were sent into Canaan to spy out the land, ten returned with a bad report. Their assessment was that it was impossible to conquer the land that God had promised them. Forgetting how God had led them with a pillar of fire by night, and fed them manna from heaven during the day, brought forth water out of a rock, and parted the Red Sea, they saw the situation with only their natural eyes, failed to walk by faith, and succumbed to fear.
When we moved into this place five months ago, the bushes in front looked terrible. The yard hadn't been cared for in so long that the bushes had grown into the trees, pulling down the branches, creating a thick wall of dry, dusty and intertwined shrubbery and blocking out the sunlight. Almost everything in the front yard was dead from lack of sun and sometimes even rain.
Since we returned to our home in the Negev Desert in Israel, we've noticed that the usual "desert scene" we are so accustomed to, has completely blossomed with grass and flowers -- what an amazing difference! It suddenly occured to me, as we were delighting in the beauty of it all, that the seed was already there! No one planted it. All the hills, now rolling endlessly with green -- they are not owned by anyone. Miles and miles of grass and wild flowers suddenly shoot forth where there was nothing but brown before! It was just waiting for someone to water it! And God brought the rains.