B.E.S.T. Shabbat

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."” (John 8:32) To listen to the audio-only version click below  Giving Opportunity Message   Last chapter we looked at the liberation that comes from the “chesed” of God, His secret counsel that protects and delivers us strategically into a kingdom of abundance. Chesed is often defined as “mercy” or “lovingkindness”. This is the outer court reality of chesed, by which we mean that when we look at the impact of chesed, we see the operation of mercy or the expression of the loving-kindness of God. When we look deeper, to the inner court reality of chesed, we see that the word as defined by three main ancient Hebrew letters or characters, “chet”, “samech”, and “dalet” give us the composite definition that chesed is the secret counsel of the Lord that He encircles and protects revealing His covenant love. Psalm 85:10 tells us: “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.” (Psalms 8...

"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...

"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one" John 17:22 (NASB) Click here to listen to " Being One " We have spoken last chapter about fragmentation as the strategy behind the current attack on the freedom that exists through those who have yielded themselves to the Lordship of Yeshua. Fragmentation is about the segregation of society and thinking into discrete areas of life that ultimately serves the purpose of totalitarian control. Yeshua called this a divided kingdom. "But He knew their thoughts and said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls." Luke 11:17 (NASB) Fragmentation has left us with a world culture that has replaced the leadership of the Kingdom of God with a secular leadership. This is really about slavery. We are being asked to surrender our God-directed freedom to deal with the existential fear in our hear...

"Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of  that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus . Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind  and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the  upward call of God in Christ Jesu s ."  Php 3:12-14 (NASB) Click here to listen to  " The Upward Call " Each of us has been chosen, by our Abba-Father  for a call .  These times that we live in  with all of the fears and  shaking that is going on can make us feel that we are  just trying to survive .  This is NOT our destiny! We have been  “laid hold of” by Christ Jesus . I want you to see that picture. Think of it like  He has knocked at the door of your house  and has taken you into His custody .   But unlike a prisoner of th...

“Love is not easily provoked” 1 Cor. 13:5 Click here to listen to " Love and Provocation " We often refer to the word triggered for the concept of love not being easily provoked or easily angered. We realize that when we are angered that we are swept up in the emotion.  The root of anger or provocation for anger is often a question of perspective.   I once heard that when you dissect getting upset or angry over something, it often is rooted in an unmet expectation.  There is in us a sense of expectations of how things are supposed to occur.  This expectation set becomes the gauge or monitor for how we respond to life’s circumstances. We can call it our “fairness” filter.  We expect based on our experiences and learning to have certain things turn out in a certain fashion. For example, if people have generally been honest with us then we expect honesty from people. However, if we have grown up in a deceptive environment where lying was the norm, the...