Rev. 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one hearing say, Come! And let the one who is thirsty come. And he willing, let him take of the Water of Life freely.
With the war breaking out in Ukraine there is a lot of speculation that we are in the end of days with the apocalypse on the horizon. Everyone who knows me knows I’m not a gloom and doomer, that I do acknowledge the days we are living in, but remain expectant and focused on the birth of the Kingdom.
The book of Revelation begins with the word “apocalypse” in Greek. “Apocalypse” (Apokalupsis) can be translated as “disclosure” or the “lifting of the veil”! And we find that the Revelation of Yeshua culminates in a marriage, as the Heavenly Bridegroom unites with His Bride.
“The spirit and the Bride say, “Come!”; [Rev.22:17] In the ancient (and some modern) weddings in the middle East, the bride was veiled before being presented to her husband. In a sense, we, Yeshua’s Bride, are still veiled in mortal bodies, that is, until the time when we shall see Him, “face to face” [1 Cor. 13:12], and we shall be as He is. [1 John 3:2]. Then, the veil will be fully removed!
Yet, paradoxically, even in this world we can taste this reality and walk with our faces “unveiled”; “But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit”; [2 Cor. 3:18]. And since the veil was torn in two, [Hebrews 10:19-22] we have access to the most holy place of God through what Yeshua (Jesus) did for us!
A wedding is coming soon, and the veil of this temple, your mortal body, will be forever removed and replaced with immortality. If there are wars and rumors of wars be assured, that looking up, your redemption draws near, and a marriage supper is being prepared for you. Nevertheless, even now you go with your face unveiled revealing the glory of the Lord, and all the more as you walk in fearless anticipation of that soon-coming day when you will be removed from this veil of tears and be wed to the King of Kings. So walk unveiled until the day when your unveiling will be complete in the resurrection of the dead. As a young woman anticipates her wedding day, view these end-time events as harbingers of the happiest day of your life, when your Bridegroom sounds the shofar announcing His return for your wedding! Simply allow Him to prepare you as a bride without spot or wrinkle! [Ephesians 5:25-27]
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]The legendary preacher, Charles Spurgeon once said, "Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right."
En Gedi is a nature reserve about 40 minutes from our home. Surrounded by dry, barren, rocky ground, except to the east where the Dead Sea lies, it is an oasis, fed year round by springs of fresh water, and home to some of the most unique wild and botanical life in the world.
A father asked his son to carry a letter from their camp to the village. He pointed out a trail over which the lad had never gone before. “All right Dad, but I don’t see how that path will ever reach the town,” said the boy. “Well son, I'll tell you how. Do you see that big tree down the path?” asked the father. “Oh, yes, I see that far.” “Well, when you get there by the tree, you’ll see the trail a little farther ahead -- and farther down you'll see another big tree -- and when you reach that one you'll be closer and so on until you get within sight of the houses of the village.”
Yesterday was a big day for us, but especially for baby Obi. He was circumcised in the presence of our friends and family (many of them not believers) at our congregation in Tel Aviv. We had the chance to share about the false report we got concerning Obi's health and how the doctors told us to abort him early on. I tied in the faith that Abraham must have had, especially concerning circumcision. There may not have been a dry eye in the house. Thank you, God!
What a week we've been having! We're getting ready to fly to the States for a much needed time, to see our families and to share what's going on here in the Land. Along with all the hustle and bustle of packing, running loads of errands and training a new volunteer, we just got word that the airport employees have begun a strike and customers have not been able to get on their flights all day. Not only that, we've been having computer problems galore! As the saying goes -- when it rains it pours!
I heard a story about a man who was imprisoned during Napoleons reign. While sulking in his dungeon one day, he etched on the wall the words "Nobody Cares".
Many times, our unbelieving family and coworkers -- society in general, can make us feel small and inferior -- like second class citizens -- because we are Christians. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, somehow, we begin to believe it! We become what I like to call "mopey Christians," just moping around, keeping our faith hidden under a bushel, feeling afraid to say a word about Jesus, in fear that we might offend someone! And that's precisely what the enemy wants us to feel!