MEM

When things look bleak do we fail to trust YHVH? Or do we begin to doubt His promises; questioning His presence or His leading?

His promise:
(All Scripture from the NAS unless noted.)

Heb 13:5 …I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (AV)

Deuteronomy 31:6 "…He will not fail you or forsake you."

John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

1Chronicles 28:20 …Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake …

Consider what happened to Israel when they failed to trust YHVH. After being delivered form Egyptian slavery (Egypt sometimes pictures sin), they saw no water and failed to trust.

Exodus 17:7 He named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us, or not?"

Gill: and because they tempted the Lord; ...saying, is the Lord among us or not? as if they should say, if we perish through thirst, the Lord is not among us, nor takes any care of us; nor was it he that brought us out of Egypt, but Moses; nor is he in the pillar of cloud and fire, as is said… and thus they tempted the Lord, though without this they had full proof, by many instances, that he was among them, and even in a very extraordinary manner.

GNV Notes: When in adversity we think God is absent, then we neglect his promise and make him a liar.

MHC: They began to question whether God were with them or not: They tempted the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?

Numbers 20:13 Those were the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel contended with the LORD, and He proved Himself holy among them.

Numbers 20:24 "Aaron will be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

Psalm 106:32 They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, So that it went hard with Moses on their account;

Psalm 76:7 You, even You, are to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?

Such distrust brought YHVH’s anger even on Aaron and Moses.

Psalm 95:8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,

Acts 7:39 "Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,

Exodus 34:9 He said, "If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession."

Deuteronomy 31:17 "Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, 'Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?'

Jeremiah 25:7 "Yet you have not listened to Me," declares the LORD, "in order that you might provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

Malachi 1:6 ‘…Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the LORD of hosts to you …’

Romans 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Isaiah 3:8 For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence.

Psalm 42:5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence.

Ecclesiastes 5:6 Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

Acts 3:19 "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

Jeremiah 4:1 "…And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, And will not waver,

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord…

Psalm 112: 7 He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

Psalm 31:20 You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.

Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy…

1 Timothy 6:14-16 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

Re 4:11 "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."

YHVH be praised and bless us with your presence!

Proverbs 3: 11-12 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loathe His reproof, For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

Jonah tried to flee from YHVH’s presence; Adam and Eve tried to hide for His presence.
Ps 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

When things are not going well trust in YHVH’s loving and merciful care.

“Act as though it were impossible to fail.”

When we are fully trusting our Father and Yeshua our Savior we can move forward in confidence because we are living by His every Word. Our actions will show forth our confidence in the Almighty; it is His presence in our lives.

John 14:20-21 "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."

Hebrews 13:6 so that we confidently say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?"

It was Yeshua who told us again and again not to be afraid but to believe.

Act as though it were impossible to fail.

1. John 1:14 states that the Word became what and made His dwelling among us?

2. Paul’s preaching had great success in Thessalonica among the Greeks: however, because the Jews were jealous, Paul had to do what?

3. Name the island where Paul wanted to spend the winter on the way to Rome?

4. What had the Jews in Rome heard about Paul before he came?

5. What was Huldah’s occupation?

6. Which king of Israel had a navy (fleet of ships)?

7. Who said, “No! He is to be called John”?

In our pursuit of humility:

“Here is the path to the higher life. It is the lowest path! This was what Jesus said to the disciples who were thinking of being great in the kingdom and of sitting on His right hand and His left. Ask not for exaltation. That is God’s work. See that you humble yourselves, and take no place before God or man but that of a servant. That is your work: let that be your one purpose and prayer. God is faithful. Just as water seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds the creature empty, His glory and power flow in to exalt and to bless. He that humbles himself-that must be our one aim-shall be exalted; that is God’s aim. By His mighty power and in His great love He will do it.” Andrew Murray

This can be no greater example of what we are trying to convey in this MEM issue. When we fail to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of Eloah (God) and before man we will begin to exalt ourselves; putting YHVH to the test. It is our Creator who desires to exalt us if He can enter in to do so. Read the above quote again and again, ask the Father to reveal the true meaning so Yeshua might be exalted in your life.

Written in 2003

Now calculate a trillion.

...why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

...why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

...why you don't ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

...why "abbreviated" is such a long word?

...why doctors call what they do "practice"?

...why you have to click on "Start" to stop Windows?

...why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor, while dishwashing liquid is made with real lemons?

...why the man who invests all your money is called a broker?

...why there isn't mouse-flavored cat food?

...who tastes dog food when it has a "new & improved" flavor?

...why Noah didn't swat those two mosquitoes?

...why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

...why they don't make the whole plane out of the material used for the indestructible black box ?

...why sheep don't shrink when it rains?

...why they are called apartments when they are all stuck together?

...if con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

...why they call the airport "the terminal" if flying is so safe?

We now have just (less than) two months to Passover.

Immediately after the Passover comes a festival that shows us the next step in the plan of Yahweh. After Yahshua is sacrificed as the Passover Lamb, and we have been forgiven for our sins, how do we continue to avoid sin, since we must go on living in newness of life? How do we live as Yahweh’s redeemed people? We find the remarkable answer in the symbolism of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

When Yahweh freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He told His people that for “seven days you shall eat unleavened bread” (Exodus 12:15). Verse 39 further explains: “And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.”

The leavening process, which makes bread rise, takes time. The Israelites had no time to spare when they left Egypt, so they baked and ate flat bread. What started out as a necessity continued for a week. Yahweh appropriately named this time the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6), or Days of Unleavened Bread (Acts 12:3).

When Yahshua came to earth as a human, He observed this seven-day festival-sometimes called the Feast of Passover by the Jews because of the proximity of the Passover to the Days of Unleavened Bread. Yahshua kept it as a child and later as an adult (Luke 2:41; Matthew 26:17). The early Church, kept it as well.

Yahweh gave His earliest instructions concerning this festival to the Israelites as they prepared to leave Egypt. “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD-a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat-that is all you may do” (Exodus 12:14-16, New International Version).

This is where we get the expression of “spring cleaning”, from De leavening our homes.

Each year as the Israelites observed this feast, it reminded them of Yahweh’s deliverance of their forefathers from Egypt. The Creator instructed, “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt” (verse 17, NIV). The exodus from Egypt remains as a foundational reason for observing this feast today. Just as Yahweh delivered ancient Israel, He delivers us from our sins and difficulties.

Now notice Yahshua’s teaching about leaven, which expands the meaning of this feast.

During Yahshua’s ministry He performed two miracles in which a few fish and loaves of bread fed thousands of people. After one of these incidents, when His disciples had gone around the Sea of Galilee, they forgot to bring bread with them. So Yahshua told them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

The disciples thought Yahshua was referring to their lack of bread. However, He was using the occasion to teach them by calling on the symbolism of leaven. Yahshua asked them, “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then the disciples “understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:5-12, NASB).

Some of the members of the religious establishment of Yahshua’s day appeared to be righteous, yet they secretly practiced sinful behavior. Yahshua let them know He knew their hearts. They may have appeared righteous to other people, “but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:28).

The Days of Unleavened Bread remind us that with Yahweh’s help we must remove and avoid all types of sin-symbolized by leaven-in all areas of our life.

Symbolically we do this by cleaning our homes and our places of business and our cars and removing any bread or bread products that contain leaven or yeast from them.

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the apostle Paul taught the same spiritual lessons as Yahshua, invoking the comparison of sin to leaven. In the context of reprimanding the Corinthian congregation for its divisions, jealousies and tolerance of sexual misconduct, Paul wrote: “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Yahshua, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

The church at Corinth was obviously and unmistakably keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, to which Paul repeatedly alluded. However, Paul used the Corinthians’ faithful obedience in keeping the feast physically (removing leaven from their homes) as a basis to encourage them to celebrate this feast with proper understanding of its spiritual intent.

Today removing leaven from our homes for seven days reminds us that we, too, through prayer and Yahweh’s help and understanding, must recognize, expel and avoid sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is thus a time of personal reflection. We should meditate on our attitudes and conduct and ask Yahweh to help us recognize and overcome our shortcomings.

Paul spoke of this much-needed self-reflection in 2 Corinthians 13:5 when he told the Corinthian church: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Yahshua the Messiah is in you?-unless indeed you are disqualified.”

Paul explained the significance of the phrase “Yahshua the Messiah is in you” in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Yahshua; it is no longer I who live, but Yahshua lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of Yahweh, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

These seven days of self-examination prove invaluable in helping us to devote our lives to Yahweh and Yahshua. This week-long period also pictures our eventual triumph over sin. As Yahweh delivered the ancient Israelites from enslavement to Egypt, so He delivers us from our enslavement to sin (Romans 6:12-18).

We learn by doing. We learn spiritual lessons by doing physical things. Performing the task of de-leavening our homes reminds us to vigilantly watch for sinful thoughts and actions so we can avoid them. Yahweh knows that, in spite of our good intentions, we all sin.

Many years after his conversion, Paul described the powerful human tendency to sin. “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of Yahweh according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank Yahweh-through Yahshua the Messiah! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of Yahweh, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:21-25).

Paul knew life itself is a battle with sin. The Bible speaks of “the sin which so easily ensnares us” (Hebrews 12:1). We have our own part to play in struggling to overcome sin. Yet, paradoxically, we must rely on Yahweh to help us. Paul explained this to the Philippians by telling them to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is Yahweh who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13, King James Version).

Our observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread helps us realize our need for Yahshua’s help in overcoming our weaknesses. Yet this feast is certainly a time for rejoicing because Yahshua freely gives us the help we need. Yahshua, the Lamb of Yahweh, was sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins, thus un-leavening, or cleansing, our lives. He continues to help us live obediently through Yahweh’s Spirit dwelling in us.

Paul tells us in Ro 2:13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;

James tells us it is the doers of the law who will be justified. Jas 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Let’s read what James also has to say about doing things.

James 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Some brethren do not believe we should keep the days of Unleavened bread. Some do but they say you do not have to remove the leaven from your homes.

The bible says we do have to keep this time for ever, and that you do have to remove the leaven, and that by doing so you are acting out your faith by your works.

I am sharing this message now with you, so that you have time to begin to clean one room or two a week before the Days arrive … You will see as you move your frig and stove how the crud has piled up over time and how hard it is to remove. This is the same as sin sneaking in to your lives and you not knowing it until one day it is exposed. Then you see how hard it is to remove or correct that sin. It is not easy.

You will learn by doing. Please consider doing the necessary work in cleaning your home so that you will be ready for the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Always remember that as you move closer to Yahweh, He moves closer to you. When you stop so does He and he waits for you to make the next move.

The more you learn and practice the more that will be revealed to you. But if you do nothing you learn nothing.

So may your spring cleaning be bountiful in teaching you many lessons from the scriptures.

Shalom

Joseph F Dumond
www.sightedmoon.com

Happiness keeps you Sweet,
Trials keep you Strong,
Sorrows keep you Human,
Failures keep you Humble,
Success keeps you Glowing,
Friends Keep You Going!

Most people are familiar with the "Ten Commandments Judge," Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama and his crusade to post the 10 Commandments in public places.  On February 1, Judge Moore appealed his removal from office last November for his refusal to obey a federal order to take his 5,280 pound Ten Commandments monument out of the state courthouse.  "The freedom to worship God is being taken from us by federal courts who misuse the First Amendment as a sword to take away our rights, instead of a shield to preserve them for us," Moore recently said.  The Judge's quest is a noble effort, yet I must sincerely and openly question Judge Moore and anyone who believes as he does.  Do you believe the 10 Commandments apply to life today?  Should they be placed in public view for all to see?

Whether or not you agree with the idea of posting the 10 Commandments is NOT the real issue of this whole ordeal.  The actual issue at stake is should we say one thing and do another.  A recent CNN poll shows that the majority of the population agrees that the Ten Commandments should be followed for moral and ethical reasons.  However, most people simply do not keep them, nor can name all ten commands.  Should leaders - judges, pastors, and politicians - ask people to obey the commands that they themselves ignore?  I'm not judging Judge Moore or anyone who agrees with him.  What I am doing is simply questioning his and our nation's integrity. 

Too many people say we should post the Ten Commandments in courthouses, schools, and libraries while those very same people do not even obey them.  Posting any Bible verse or inspirational saying does not negate the effects of people disobeying it.  Let's face the truth.  It is much easier to support the symbolism of hanging the Ten Words than it is to actually obey the substance of what they teach…

Taken from article by Rabbi Dani'el Rendelman

A pastor sharing some of his research about where we are in Bible prophecy, asked for it to be shared with other ministries and interested parties for review. The result of this sharing caused some rather negative responses. The pastor’s reply to the negativity was enlightening; consider this before responding to another’s Biblical research:

Are we prepared to search the Scripture to support our position or are we just mouthing what we have always heard, what we think, or what our doctrine says without the Word of God as proof. We can be reasoned with when we may wrongly understand some point in Scripture. Refusing to use YHVH’s Word to support our beliefs is treading on dangerous ground.

1. Flesh - John 1:14

2. Leave Thessalonica - Acts 17:1-10

3. Crete - Acts 27:21

4. Nothing - Acts 28:21

5. A prophetess - 2 Kings 22:14

6. Solomon - 1 Kings 9:26-27

7. Elizabeth - Luke 1:60