A Christian Devotional

[Shammu]

Rejoice in His provision!

Deut 16:15 Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.

Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) started on Friday night throughout the world. The feast of Sukkot commemorates the time in which God led the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years, providing them with every need on a daily basis – shelter, food, water and clothing. Interestingly, during Sukkot, the book of Ecclesiastes is read in the synagogues-- but Ecclesiastes speaks of the vanity of materialism.

How can we find a balance between feasting in God’s provision and wallowing in worldly materialism? The answer is simple.

If our focus lies on all of our abundance without acknowledging the Provider, then it is all vanity! But if our focus is on the Lord and His desire for our lives, then He provides us with all that is pure and holy.

Feast in the Lord for all that He has provided and enter into the season of Sukkot!

[Shammu]

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 8:9-10 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Roughly 2500 years ago, there was a special Sukkot celebration in Jerusalem. The people of Israel were exiled and dispersed all across the Babylonian empire. Later, they were given the right to return and start construction on the 2nd temple of Israel. Nehemiah 8 speaks of the special celebration that happened at that time. We read how Ezra taught the people out of the book of the law and how they responded in weeping and repentance before the God of Israel.

Interestingly, Sukkot is a holiday in which the people were commanded to rejoice, yet they were weeping in repentance. And then, in verse 9, they did! Isn’t it true that joy always comes after the mourning?

The word for strength in Hebrew is ”mah-oz”. Not only does it mean strength, but it also means fortress and rock. When we commit our lives to walking in repentance and practicing holiness, then we will live in a constant state of joy. As the Apostle Paul said, Rejoice always! In our joy we find our fortress, our rock – the stability of our lives!

[Shammu]

Draw from the wells of Yeshua!

Isaiah 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

During the Feast of Sukkot, the Jewish people took part in a water drawing ceremony on the last day of the feast. They would go down to the Pool of Siloam, draw water and bring it to the Temple Mount. Then they would pour out the water and recite Isaiah 12, "and with joy you shall draw water out of the wells of salvation." In Hebrew, the word salvation and Yeshua (Jesus, in Hebrew), are the same.

Imagine the scene at the time of Messiah's appearance. It is likely that in the midst of this ceremony, He stood and proclaimed, "If anyone is thirsty, let Him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me as the Scripture said, "from His innermost being shall flow rivers of living water."

This promise is true for us today. Our Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever. He did not promise a sprinkling or a tiny stream. He promised rivers of living water. Claim this promise today -- claim the fullness of life in Him. Draw from Him the peace that passes all understanding. Draw from Him pure love -- agape love. Draw from Him the joy that makes the trees clap. Draw all that you need, but in order to draw from Him -- you must go to Him. One cannot draw water from a well unless one goes to the well. Go to the well that never runs dry -- go to your well of Yeshua!

[Shammu]

Enter in!

Psalms 105:3 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.

As we close out the fall feasts here in Israel I’m meditating on the deeper significance of this season. I’m realizing how God’s ordering of the festivals contains a deeper meaning than one might see at first glance. It’s not just about apples and honey and building tabernacles. The Lord gave the Jewish people these feasts as a beautiful picture of His ultimate plan; repentance, faith, atonement, forgiveness and joy. He carefully ordered these feasts to call us to a profound internal reflection designed to lead us from sin and alienation to reconciliation, fellowship, freedom and great joy.

Beginning with Rosh HaShannah and the days immediately following, (commonly called the Days of Awe) we are invited to a season of deep self examination and repentance, culminating at Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). This highest holy day reveals the way in which God forgives our sins through the offering of a spotless lamb, which lays the foundation for the joy of reconciliation with God and one another experienced at Sukkot.

As we can see, this entire sequence is a precise picture of the Lord’s New Covenant redemptive plan. We cannot enter the joy of the Lord except through repentance, faith and redemption through His Son.

Enter the joy of the Lord! Let’s examine ourselves today, confess our sins, trust in the absolute forgiveness of God through faith in His Son -- and REJOICE!!!

[Shammu]

Continue rejoicing!

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Ok, last sukkot devo.

Sukkot is known as "The Feast" in which God commands us to rejoice. As we conclude this feast of rejoicing today, I think it is only fitting that we commit ourselves to a life of joy. "But how?" you say. We need to make a choice --- a choice to rejoice! Wow, I'm a poet and didn't know it, lol! Let's reflect on what the Lord has done for us this year and commit to live above our current circumstances and look ahead toward what He is going to do for us in the future!

As we look to our Lord we recognize that He suffered the most cruel and agnoizing of deaths -- yet while facing His death -- JOY was set before Him! The author and finisher of our faith looked past the here and now -- and was focused on what was coming! Let's do the same.

Despite today's problems, let's look toward eternity. Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, the things that God has prepared for those of us who love Him!!

[Shammu]

Embrace the desert!

Psalms 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

The average American who reads this passage probably thinks of green pastures as wide areas of unending soft green grass. But here in Israel the climate is so dry, that there's really no such thing.

Long ago, the shepherds of Israel learned to find grass where most people wouldn't think to look. Here, green pastures are created as the breeze from the Mediterranean Sea brings moisture into our arid climate. It is from this moisture that a kind of dew settles upon the sides of certain hills creating little tufts of grass -- just enough for one day's feeding for a flock of sheep. The shepherds would lead their flocks through the hot parched desert in search of these. It's no wonder those sheep would obey the shepherd's voice. They would easily die in the desert trying to survive on their own. The sheep learned to depend on the shepherd to daily lead them to their sustenance.

How many times does it feel like we're walking aimlessly through the desert and there doesn't seem any refreshment near? When our lives our bombarded with trial after trial it can feel this way. But we must keep in mind that though we are walking through the desert, our Shepherd is leading us to green pastures to be refreshed. And it's these times in the desert that God causes us to depend more upon on him. These thirsty times are special times -- times to be embraced!

Don't despise those desert walks with the Shepherd and don't be afraid. God has something special for us there -- and there are green pastures near.

[Shammu]

Build your legacy!

Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

At a time when thousands of people were dying each year of rabies, Louis Pasteur, pioneer of immunology, was working on a vaccine. Just as he was about to begin experimenting on himself, a 9-year-old boy, Joseph Meister, was bitten by a rabid dog. The boy's mother begged Pasteur to experiment on her son. Pasteur injected Joseph for ten days-- and he lived. Decades later, of all the things Pasteur could have had etched on his headstone, he asked for three words: JOSEPH MEISTER LIVED.

We are called to save lives too. Our greatest legacy will be those who live eternally because of our efforts.

Thousands of people are dying each year, so many who don't know the love and truth of their Messiah. Let's make ourselves available to be used by the Lord for His Kingdom for Christ's sake!

[Shammu]

I'm hungry! Where's the fruit?!

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

I've never had a green thumb but I recently found out that my name (George) means "farmer" or "worker of the earth".

What does a farmer do? If he or she is a good farmer, he works hard at preparing the ground for the sowing of seed. Each year, he waits in expectation for a harvest. Hopefully he toiled the ground well and the seed sank deep into the rich soil. Hopefully his watering was consistent and the seed will grow and bear large delicious fruit. But really, he can't know for sure until many months later when it's time for the harvest.

Perhaps you know that one of the trees for which Israel is best known is the olive tree. It doesn't take months, it takes YEARS for an olive tree to develop fruit! Hmmm.Who wants to plant a tree that doesn't bear fruit for many years? But guess what, once it starts bearing fruit it can keep producing on it's own for dozens of years! That was an encouraging word to us personally.

But we are all called to be farmers -- to bring in God's great harvest! What we often lack is the patience to wait to see fruit! We want those seeds to sprout right now and we lose heart when we don't see instant results.

The Lord promises that His Word will not be sent in vain, but will accomplish what He pleases and shall prosper where He sends it! Our job is to be faithful and patient! Let's not get discouraged when we don't see our seed producing. It will bring forth fruit in His timing! Be patient! Keep planting! And expect a bountiful harvest!

[Shammu]

Step out!

Psalms 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

When Jim Burke became the head of a new products division at Johnson & Johnson, one of his first projects was the development of a children's chest rub. The product failed miserably, and Burke expected that he would be fired. When he was called in to see the chairman of the board, however, he met a surprising reception. "Are you the one who just cost us all that money?" asked Robert Wood Johnson. "Well I just want to congratulate you. If you are making mistakes, that means you are taking risks, and we won't grow unless you take risks!" Apparently, Mr. Johnson wasn’t joking! Years later, Johnson & Johnson remains one of the largest multi-national manufacturers of pharmaceutical, diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical, personal hygiene, baby and biotechnology products.

Likewise, we believers are called to take some risks so that God’s Kingdom may grow! So often, we cower at the opportunities He makes available because we are too afraid things won’t go the way hope and others might be disappointed or sneer at our failure. But God wants us to go forth boldly, sometimes taking a risk or two, so that we may accomplish great things for Him! Yes, sometimes we’ll get it wrong and there may be a hard lesson to learn. But we will learn-- and eventually great things will happen as result of our courage and persistence!

The time is short and there is so much work to do for the Kingdom! We cannot afford to stand in the sidelines any longer! Let’s ask the Lord to cause to us have courage and go in boldness! God’s Kingdom won’t grow unless we start taking some risks!

[Shammu]

Don't lose sight of the source!

Luke 17:15,16 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

In ancient times, lepers were social outcasts because of their highly contagious disease. In this passage, ten lepers came to Jesus begging for mercy and He graciously healed them.

Can you imagine? These lepers had an awful disease. Their bodies were slowly deteriorating -- and worse, they were shunned from their friends and family and forced to live in a community of only those who were too withering away. Suddenly merciful Jesus comes along and "poof!" the sickness leaves them! How life changing! These people must have been overjoyed! Now they could go back to their families, their homes, their communities and live normal lives!

But as I reread this story today something struck me. Only one of them returned to thank the Lord! But how often do we do the same? We get so focused on our blessing and forget about the One who gave it!

Just as the Samaritan returned to Jesus to thank and worship Him who had redeemed his life, we too must thank God -- for every good and perfect gift comes from Him and He deserves all the honor and the glory! And as a matter of fact, one of the cornerstones of effective prayer is entering His gates with thanksgiving and praise. Let's start thanking God for all His goodness toward us!

It's easy to get caught up in the blessing -- God has given us so much! But let’s be sure that we make daily habit of thanking God first!

[Shammu]

Cower no more!

Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Living in the middle of the desert, my wife has taken up a new interest in desert walking. Now, a desert walk is not your average walk. The
other day, my wife stumbled over a rock and found herself a few inches away from a good sized yellow scorpion. For those of you who don’t know, yellow scorpions are considered the most dangerous in Israel – a sting from even a small one can be fatal.

When that rock was overturned and the scorpion came scattering out, Rivka jumped back, frightened of what could happened next. Interestingly though, it seemed to be a little disoriented, wavering to and fro and getting ready to strike in the wrong direction. Thankfully, that gave her enough time to flee the scene.

Later, a good friend of ours here who knows a lot about desert life shed some light on the matter. She told us that these creatures live where it’s dark, such as in crevices and under rocks. And when they are suddenly exposed to the light, they do in fact become disoriented. “We need not fear them for this reason,” she said, “When we come upon a scorpion that way, they are easy to kill.” She went on to explain, however, that it is at night that we really have to be careful. "It’s dark out, so they’re out and about. They can see us coming from a far and strike before we even know it".

Hmmm. Seems like there’s a good analogy here. Scorpions live in the darkness, and when suddenly exposed to extreme light, they are caught off guard and become confused. This gives us power over them -- we need not be afraid.

In the same way, when we’re walking in the light, we need not fear those temptations and distractions that come up from the darkness to paralyze us with their poisonous venom. They too can be exposed, brought to the light, caught off guard, and tread upon once and for all!

We have victory over the enemy! Let’s cower in his presence no more! Let’s step on the spiritual scorpions that have kept us bound up for so long!

[Shammu]

Look at your feet!

1Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

I was telling you about my wife's adventures during her newly found love for desert walks. Many people think of the desert as miles and miles of sand, I know I did. But the Negev Desert is actually very rocky. The ground is hard, dry, steep in some places and full of loose rocks with creepy things lurking underneath. Rivka sometimes takes this one particular off the beaten path down a very steep hill into a beautiful valley and back up to the other side and was telling me about her first time walking this route:

"Some people are outdoorsy kind of people. I would not qualify myself as one at all. So when a good friend first introduced me to this rough terrain, I can't say I was entirely up for the challenge. It's more difficult walking down than it is walking back up, believe it or not. You really have to use your upper body weight and especially your knees to keep from slipping forward on the way down. The first time I did this, I held onto my poor friend for dear life. But as we were hiking down that day, I noticed something profound. When I was looking down to the bottom of the valley, I held on way tighter than when I was looking right at my feet. When I looked down right at the steps my feet were taking, I was able to go for a five or ten minutes at a time by myself without holding on. But as soon as I looked too far ahead, fear and doubt that I could make it down consumed me."

So it is when we walk with the Lord. There's something to be said for having plans and goals for sure. Don't get me wrong. But I don't think the Lord intended for us to look too far ahead to the point of being afraid and overwhelmed. If that is you today, let's commit to just looking at our feet for a while.

God has great things in store for us ahead and sometimes the road looks long and scary. But let's just look at the obstacles right in our way for now. The more we focus on getting through one thing at a time, the closer we'll get to our goal. There's so much work to be done!

[Shammu]

Don't be chicken!

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

While walking through the forest one day, a farmer found a young eagle who had apparently fallen out of his nest. He took it home and put it in his barnyard with his chickens and there it stayed for years. It wasn't long before the little eagle learned to eat and behave like the chickens.
One day a naturalist passed by the farm and saw the eagle confined in the barnyard with the chickens. When he inquired about this strange sight, the farmer told the man his story. "Unfortunately," said the farmer, "the poor little guy just never learned to fly." "Still," the naturalist sighed, "he has the heart of an eagle and can surely be taught. Will you allow me to work with him?" The farmer agreed, but with much disbelief.

The naturalist picked up the eagle and lifted him toward the sky and said, "You belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth your wings and fly." The eagle, however, was confused. He did not know who he was, and seeing the chickens eating their food, he jumped down to be with them again. The naturalist took the bird to the roof of the house and urged him again, saying, "You are an eagle. Stretch forth your wings and fly." But the eagle was afraid and jumped down once again to be with his chicken friends. Finally the naturalist took the eagle out of the barnyard to a high mountain. There he held the king of the birds high above him and encouraged him again, saying, "You are an eagle. You belong to the sky. Stretch forth your wings and fly!" The eagle looked around, back towards the barnyard and then up to the sky. Slowly, he stretched his wings, and with a triumphant cry, he soared away into the heavens.

Somewhere along the line, we like this poor young eagle, were put in a lowly barn with the chickens of the world around us. We learned to live and eat from the ground and grew up believing that there was not much more to do than sit and cluck all day.

But the reality is that we are eagles! We were created to fly and even soar! God has great purpose for our lives! If we would only realize who we are in Him!

Let's remember who we are today and stop acting like chickens! We are the head and not the tail! We are Kings and Priests! We have great things to do for the Kingdom!

[Shammu]

It's time to cut down trees!

Col 3:13-14 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity (agape), which is the bond of perfectness.

After the Civil War, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains of a once beautiful old tree in front of her house. There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal artillery fire. She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss. After a brief silence, Lee said, "Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it."

The enemy is constantly attacking the body of Messiah. Some of his most effective tactics are anger, bitterness and unforgiveness. Paul wrote that we should never be ignorant of the enemy’s schemes (2 Cor. 2:11), and our lives should be marked with love one for another….and above all things, to put on charity. The word charity in Greek is the word agape!

Jesus has come and has forgiven us. We simply need to forgive others. We must base our relationships with others on the same criteria that God bases His relationship with us: love, acceptance and forgiveness. Our acts of forgiveness will set the captives free ... and at the end of it all, we may realize that we were the captives!

Let’s cut down the battered trees in our lives! Let’s seek to be forgivers and to put on agape love.

[Shammu]

Are you free?

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

It's good to bring those things in our lives, which are hidden in the darkness, to the light. Many times we are slaves to them and we don't even realize it! We will go through a few devotions on this topic this week. God wants us to be free, so that we can be available for Him!

Pride, rebellion, and fear -- these are three things we have all struggled with -- no matter how mature we are in age or faith. Why is that?

Rejection. Our friends have experienced it. Our families have experienced it. We, and all mankind have experienced it. It makes us feel hopeless and worthless -- And our tendency as humans is to overcompensate for these feelings by behaving in one or all of the three ways above.

The first step in getting free is to realize that God is our defense in everything we have endured and will endure. He has always been our defense. And it is our decision whether or not to call upon His Name in our time of need and allow Him to arise and demonstrate His great power.

Let's pray and ask the Lord to reveal any old wounds of rejection that have been covered over by years of pride or fear or rebellion and let's ask Him to forgive us for not allowing Him to defend us in those areas. May we begin to experience God's wonderful freedom even as we pray.