B.E.S.T. Shabbat

"Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So, truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore, His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak." Isa 59:14-17 (NKJV)   We live in times when standing for what is right and truthful and built on the foundation stone of the goodness of God is seen as anachronistic and bigoted. There is a war for the hearts and minds of God’s children. Our thoughts spring out of the meditations of our hearts. What we dwell upon becomes the fuel for our lives. If our meditations can be corrupted, then...

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;" Eph 6:10-17 (NKJV) As we have been working on aligning our inner life with God’s word through the spiritual power t...

"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." Joh 14:2-3 (NAS95) A dwelling place has been prepared for us. Having recently changed the dwelling place for our family, I am acutely aware of the process. God truly chose and prepared our beautiful new home in Prescott Valley. Yet, as beautiful and well-appointed as the house was and is, it wasn’t until Lisa began to decorate it with the unique design elements that represent us, that the house began to become our home. The artwork, pictures, furnishings all carry stories that express who we are. When the Lord tells us that in the Father’s house that there are many dwelling places and that He goes ahead of us and prepares them for us, I imagine a remarkably similar process of turning a house into a home. The decoratio...

   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, 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 will be with you. (Php 4:8-9 NASB) Meditation is a conscious choice that brings unconscious results which manifest in the area of our habits. One way to think of this is to use the analogy of a computer program. Computers operate according to the power and efficacy of their programs. Programs are a series of instructions written in a language of 1’s and 0’s, a binary system that instructs the computer on how to perform various functions. Even the most apparently sophisticated computer operations are described and empowered in the programs that create those operations. In this way, computers are driven by law. They have no real independent...