B.E.S.T. Shabbat

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you." Philippians 4:8-9 This scripture is a foundation stone for successful meditation that empowers us to run the race of our calling in Messiah. The Truth- There is no peace in lies Honor- Restore the “wow” factor to your thinking Straight or Right- Discipline the mind to avoid distractions Pure thoughts- Avoid the corruption of lust Lovely - True beauty inner and outer Good Reputation- To be desired above riches Excellence- The enemy of good enough Praise Worthiness- Is God revealed and extolled in my life? These focus points are where the heart resonates with the Holy Spirit and enters into true peace. Medit...

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer." Psalms 19:14   Words and Meditations! Last chapter we spoke about using our speech for edification and not for criticism and judgments. In order to change the confession of our mouth, we need to deal with meditations of the heart. It is the meditations of our hearts that define our lives. "Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23 The key to heart diligence is the meditations of the heart. The Psalmist cries, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in the sight of the Lord. The key here is the word acceptable. It sets the objective of the meditations. In Hebrew, the word is derived from the root “ratz” which is derived from broken pieces of pottery. A broken piece or a shard would be used to deliver an important message or desire to another person. This would b...

"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Ephesians 4:29-30 Last chapter we spoke about honor and the importance of first love as expressed in the moment of honor. Honor, “kaved” in Hebrew, means weightiness. It is a declaration of the significance of someone or something in our lives. The “first” or first love is a statement of priority as well as time position. It reminds us of the time when love was most tender and captivating of our entire heart or as much as we were capable of giving. The first love of our lives so entailed us with the allure of the one to who we gave our heart that it shifted all of our priorities. At the same time, the love brought with it honor. Honor is revealed in how we hold another in our heart. Last chapter we looked...

Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household  - Mark 6:4 The key to an established heart is love. First love is the priority of love over all of creation. Love is the bedrock of reality. God is love and in Him, all things consist. Love is a choice. We have to remake the love choice every day. Love is not as Hollywood tells us something, we fall into it and somehow live happily ever after. Love requires renewal of thoughts towards the One we have set our love upon. Love requires sacrifice. We live daily, a life of living sacrifice or it is no sacrifice at all! This means we have to choose each and every day to live a life of love. We live in love. This is the true life of the Spirit. "and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:5 Often in the “spirit-filled” community, we emphasize the...