How Long is Forever? A repost.

I am reposting this because it is so important and I don't want it to go unnoticed in the archives. :-)

Forever, always, everlasting, eternal...These are the words that I see when I read scripture referring to Yahweh's commandments and His ordinances, which used to confuse me when I believed that the law was done away with. However, I emptied my cup that was full of other people's doctrine and I then started delving into scripture and praying that God would reveal the truth to me. I had received the love of truth and God made good on His promises to give to those that asked. My eyes were opened and for the first time I saw the truth. I see the veil being lifted all over the world and things, that at one time caused confusion, are now beginning to make sense. I only hope that I can show some of that truth with this blog and that people take the time to seek the truth out for themselves. Not in another man's teachings, but in the Word of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments ALWAYS. ~Deuteronomy 11:1

Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is Yahweh, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy FOR A THOUSAND GENERATIONS  with those who love Him and keep His commandments. ~Deuteronomy 7:9

Regarding the Feasts of God-

You shall eat neither parched bread no parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever thrioughout your generations in all your dwellings. (Firstfruits) ~ Leviticus 23:14

You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute FOREVER in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. (Tabernacles) ~Leviticus 23:41

Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and ALWAYS keep all of My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children FOREVER.~ Deuteronomy 5:29

Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children FOREVER, when you do what is good and right in the sight of Yahweh your Elohim.~Deuteronomy 12:28

The secret things belong to Yahweh our Elohim, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children FOREVER, that we may do all the words of this law. ~ Deuteronomy 29:29

It is an interesting fact, that the LAST verses in the LAST book of the Old Testament, before the blank page that separates the Old from the New, are this:

Malachi 4:4-6~

REMEMBER THE LAW OF MOSES, my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for ALL ISRAEL, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

This is right before the "new" covenant starts, in which the "law" has supposedly been done away with. Why would the last words of God's spokesman, Malachi, be "REMEMBER the law of Moses", if it was just going to be done away with on the very next page?

The new covenant is spoken about prophetically in Jeremiah 31:33- "But this is the covenant that I will make with the HOUSE OF ISRAEL after those days, says the Lord: I will put MY LAW in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people."

Ezekiel also points to this new covenant in 36:27- "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them"

So, God promises to give us His Spirit, and that Spirit will guide us into walking in His statutes and doing His commandments.

The Old Testament ends with God telling his people to REMEMBER HIS COMMANDMENTS.

Then Yahshua comes and does away with the law...NO!

"Do NOT think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, TILL HEAVEN AND EARTH PASS AWAY, one jot or one tittle will by NO MEANS PASS FROM THE LAW UNTIL ALL IS FULFILLED." Matthew 5:17-18

Have heaven and earth passed away? NO! Then ALL is not yet fulfilled, and the law remains.

If the word of God is true, and the word says the commandments are everlasting, and Yahshua says that the law has NOT been destroyed, and that it will remain until ALL is fulfilled, WHY do we insist upon saying it was done away with?

More from Yahshua: "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?" ~Matthew 15:3

Yahshua quoting Isaiah: "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" ~Matthew 15:8-9

Yahshua again answering a question about how to have eternal life: "Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. BUT if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." ~Matthew 19:17

And finally in Revelation, which is prophecy that has yet to come: "And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Yahshua the Messiah."~Revelation 12:17

And again in Revelation 14:12~ "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yahshua."

In the end the dragon is going to make war with the people that keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Yahshua. If you have one without the other, he is not concerned with you.

This is yet to come! The commandments are eternal! God is pleased with those that keep them. So much so that He calls them saints in the end.

The Covenant terms for Israel have never changed. That's what God's word says. He says they are everlasting, forever, always, throughout all our generations. The prophesy about the new covenant says that the terms remain the same...you want to be my people? Walk in my ways. In the end times, those that keep the commandments are called saints.

Could the word be wrong? Is it not truth? Are we walking in truth?

He seeks those that worship in spirit and in truth and truth is an absolute. God is a God of absolutes. When everything else in this world relies on feelings, emotions, and subjective experiences, we can trust that the word is absolute. God is absolute. Love is absolute. Truth is absolute.

Thank you, Father for your absolute wisdom and your unfailing love. Have mercy where mercy is due, and give grace as well. Love us like you did ancient Israel, who were stiff-necked and stubborn, yet you did not destroy them. Teach us your ways and lead us into life everlasting. Open our eyes that we may see, and give us ears to hear. Teach us to love the way You intended us to; Love for our fellow humans and Love for You. Father, you are the same yesterday, today and forever. I thank you that you are the one constant I can always rely on. Thank you for your Spirit that will guide us into your ways and teach us all that we need to know. Keep us in your loving, forgiving, arms during trying times, and teach us to not forget you when times are easy. Father, may we bless you in our actions, words,and thoughts. May we be ever mindful of how we are blessing you, instead of always wanting to be blessed. Keep us humble enough to admit our sins when we first commit them, and humble enough to always return to you quickly, never lingering in condemnation. Uphold my steps in Your paths, that I may not slip. Thank you, Father.

Tradition- The Sabbath Day

“It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.” Priest Brady, in an address reported in The News, Elizabeth, New Jersey, March 18, 1903.


Matthew 15:3~ Jesus (Yahshuah) replied, "And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?" NLT 


“I am going to propose a very plain and serious question to those who follow ‘the Bible and the Bible only’ to give their most earnest attention. It is this: Why don’t you keep holy the Sabbath day?...

“The command of the Almighty God stan ds clearly written in the Bible in these words: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.’ Exodus 20:8-10...

“You will answer me, perhaps, that you do keep the Sabbath; for that you abstain from all worldly business and diligently go to church, and say your prayers, and read your Bible at home every Sunday of your lives...

“But Sunday is not the Sabbath day. Sunday is the first day of the week: the Sabbath day is the seventh day of the week. Almighty God did not give a commandment that men should keep holy one day in seven; but He named His own day, and said distinctly: ‘Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day’; and He assigned a reason for choosing this day rather than any other - a reason which belongs only to the seventh day of the week, and cannot be applied to the rest. He says, ‘For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it’, Exodus 20:11, Genesis 2:1-3. Almighty God ordered that all men should rest from their labor on the seventh day, because He too had rested on that day: He did not rest on Sunday, but on Saturday. On Sunday, which is the first day of the week, He began the work of creation; He did not finish it. It was on Saturday that He ‘ended His work which he had made: and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.’ Genesis 2:2-3...

“Nothing can be more plain and easy to understand than all this; there is nobody who attempts to deny it. It is acknowledged by everybody that the day which Almighty God appointed to be kept holy was Saturday, not Sunday. Why do you then keep holy the Sunday and not Saturday?

“You will tell me that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. Changed! But by whom? Who has the authority to change an express commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken and said, ‘Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day’, who shall dare to say, ‘Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of worldly business on the seventh day: but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead?’ This is a most important question, which I know not how you answer...

“You are a Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and the Bible only; and yet, in so important a manner as the observance of one day in seven as the holy day, you go against the plain letter of the Bible, and put another day in the place of that day which the Bible has commanded. The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the Ten Commandments; you believe that the other nine are still binding. Who gave you authority to tamper with the fourth? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really follow the Bible, and the Bible only you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered.” Excerpts from “Why Don’t You Keep Holy the Sabbath Day?”, pages 3-15 in The Clifton Tract, vol. 4, published by the Roman Catholic Church 1869.

“The arguments...are firmly grounded on the word of God, and having been closely studied with the Bible in hand, leave no escape for the conscientious Protestant except the abandonment of Sunday worship and the return to Saturday, commanded by their teacher, the Bible, or, unwilling to abandon the tradition of the Catholic Church, which enjoins the keeping of Sunday, and which they have accepted in direct opposition to their teacher, the Bible, consistently accept her (the Catholic Church) in all her teachings. Reason and common sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicism and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.” James Cardinal Gibbons, in Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893.

Prayer Request

My husband has applied for, interviewed and is now waiting for a response from an amazing job in Wyoming. We believe God has put this job in our path and that He has this all in His hands. We were supposed to hear from them today, but did not. If you can just take a moment to pray for Tim to GET this job, it would be so appreciated. This will be an answer to a long time prayer when he gets it. So say a prayer for a fellow brother tonight or tomorrow. This is a life changing job.

Thank you friends.

Updates

Thank you to all who prayed for us. Court went well, as far as we can tell. We STILL have not received the new order, and Gavin's mother has 21 days after the date they signed it, to object. We are still believing God has good plans for our family, and that includes our little Gavin!

Plans- wow. We are moving to Wyoming! We will be leaving in less than 3 weeks. Jobs are hopefully lining up, housing lining up and in the mean time we are selling everything! I've made $200 in the past 24 hours and that is before our yard sale this weekend! We are so blessed. God is good to us, even when we might not deserve it. He completely surprises me. 

School starts this next week...which is a load all in itself. Packing, selling, storing, teaching, AHHHHHHHH....so much to do. 

Calling All Prayer Warriors, RISE UP!

Tomorrow we face a battle in the court room. My 8 year old step-son, Gavin, is being fought for. His mother moved away two years ago, to Florida. She has removed herself from his life as much as possible. She calls to talk to him once every 2 months. She does not pay her child support. She does not communicate with us. However, she has filed for custody and asked that the courts remove Gavin from our home in Michigan and place him in her's in Florida.

She hasn't been the greatest mom. She has made really bad choices. I know she loves her son, but she herself is unaware of what it truly means to love someone.

We have faith in God. That He will fight for us. But thoughts keep lurking and creeping in. Have I been the best mom? No. Have I done all I can for Gavin? No. Could I have done better? Could his dad have been a better dad? Is this going to be punishment for the areas we have lacked in? Will she win? Will she be able to take Gavin into her home, where God is not even allowed to be? Will her new boyfriend slowly take over the role of dad?

Tomorrow we find out. Tomorrow we fight. Tomorrow she fights.

We love our little man. He has been in my home since he was a year old. For the past 7 years I have raised him and loved him. We teach him about God, to love and fear and obey. He has grown so much and loves so much and is happy here.

Pray for him. Pray for us. Pray that we have favor with the courts. Pray that Nikki, his mother, is unable to spew her wretched lies. Pray that the judge sees through all of her accusations and slander. Pray that Gavin is NOT removed from our home and that we can continue to raise him up in the ways of God.

The opposite outcome is too horrible to even imagine. Taking him from his home, from his family that he has seen every day, or at least every week for almost 8 years, and putting into a situation where he only sees us for weeks in the summer, would devastate him and us.

Pray for Nikki's salvation.

Pray pray pray pray pray...

Intercessors rise up. Weep for us. Plead for us. Stand on the promises that God has made to His people.

Thank you. I love you. Bless you.

The History of the Church: on the ROCK or on the rocks?

This is a great teaching from WildBranch Ministry. It's a free download and is an hour and 18 minutes long, but worth the time! If you are a believer in the Messiah Yahshua aka Jesus Christ, and don't know early church history, you NEED to listen to this. It will hopefully open your eyes and shed some light on some falsehoods that have been propagated by the man-made religious system that a lot of us have been in, come out of, or are now in.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window...the lawn needs to mowed and I need to harvest my basil. It's warm, humid and overcast.

I am thinking...of how good this coffee tastes and how awesome it is that my hubby has taken the day off!

From the learning rooms...getting ready to look for curriculum. So many choices and I really need wisdom in this area.

From the kitchen...refrigerator pickles, roasted chicken with fresh rosemary from my garden. New potatoes with chives from the garden. And MORE zucchini bread. I love zucchini season.


I am wearing...black yoga pants, purple tank, black overshirt.

I am creating...a mess, as usual. I'm about to create an empty space in my living room and get rid of this ginormous entertainment center.

I am going...SHOPPING!!! I don't usually shop for anything but food, but a payment came in and we are buying the boys new shoes today! Praise God! Gavin's little toes are sticking out over the edge of his sandals :-)

I am currently reading...Torah Rediscovered- a great book by Ariel and D'vorah Berkowitz that says it is "Challenging centuries of misinterpretation and neglect" and I have to agree. This has been the first book I've read on Torah aside from the Word itself and I am finding out so much more than I ever thought I would and getting confirmation from what I discovered on my own in the Word. It's out of print, but I bought it used on Amazon for like $3.

I am hoping...that when we go to court on August 19th that the judge sees truth for truth and lies and deception for what they are.

I am hearing...the name Melatyah over and over again. Yah delivers...If I could choose a name for myself this would be it. It might not be the name that is written on the white stone that I hope to receive one day, but it speaks to me...

On my mind...so much...Court especially...we are in a custody situation right now with Tim's ex. Gavin is his son (I've been raising him with Tim since he was 1 year old). Gavin's mom is lost in a spiritual sense. She moved to Florida a year and a half ago to be with her new man and has not maintained contact with Gavin on a regular basis ever since. She has filed for custody and is requesting the courts to allow her to move Gavin down to Florida. We have faith that God will fight for us in this and that it won't be much of a battle at all...but the courts are strange...you never know. But I know MY GOD and HE is MIGHTY! But if ya'll could lift us up in prayer that would be very good.

Noticing that...the 20 pounds I lost before I went to Texas is slowly creeping back in. I need to get myself on track...working out...and take my calories back down. I need this weight off!

Around the house...more books were given to us so there's that...I really am dreaming of selling everything, buying an RV and taking off for a year on the road. This has become something both my husband and I feel we are being lead to do. Will we do it? Is it possible with the custody situation? Would the courts allow it? Well, if God is the one doing the leading and nudging...yes totally! That's both frightening and exciting at the same time. How awesome would that be???

One of my favorite things...reading under a blanket with a hot cup of creamed coffee and my two little pooches laying beside me. Doesn't sound like a good summer thing...but I welcome it at any season!

A few plans for the rest of the week...well, looking at curriculum. Preserving something. Working more in my poor neglected garden and finishing up the Michael Rood series on the Fall Feasts. Seeing some amazing insight in them!

Isaiah 51:4-8

Listen to Me, My people;
And give ear to Me, O My nation:
For law will proceed from Me,
And I will make My justice rest
As a light of the peoples.
My righteousness is near,
My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait upon Me,
And on My arm they will trust.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look on the earth beneath.
For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
The earth will grow old like a garment,
And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not be abolished.

Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
You people in whose heart is My law:
Do not fear the reproach of men,
Nor be afraid of their insults.
For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool;
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation from generation to generation.

Praise God for His word which is truth! I love having my eyes opened more and more every day to the truth of Torah.

Create in me a clean heart, Father. Break me and use me and cause me to seek You. Give me compassion, patience, gentleness and knowledge of love defined only by you. Help me speak your truth and help me to do it lovingly but without compromise. Father, forgive me for my disobedience and unbelief. Forgive my hardened heart. Forgive me for seeking my own ways. Father, may I bless you in this this walk and learn to walk just as your son walked.

This is War - Paul Washer

This is convicting and encouraging. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness...

Sin and Conviction

"You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin."

No, this is true. I have not yet resisted to bloodshed, and I am indeed still striving against sin. I thought that if sin crept in, that I was doomed. I would punish myself, hide myself from God, and sit feeling condemned for days or weeks at a time.

Sin creeps in and tries to find a home within us. Temptation nudges the desire that lies dormant, seeking to awaken the lusts that have yet to be fully purged.

"But you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: 'My son, do not depsise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourages every son whom He receives.' If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons."

The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin. By this reason I know that I am a son (daughter) and not illegitimate. I feel the weight of my sin. I see it as a loathsome thing. I hate it. It sickens me.

This should be encouraging! We are sons and daughters! While we should never treat sin lightly, we should rejoice in the fact that He has not left us when we feel convicted of our sins. TURN FROM YOUR SINS, REPENT, TURN BACK TO GOD.

Will we hear the whisper of the Holy Spirit calling out our sins? Will we humble ourselves enough to repent quickly? Will we endure the chastening that is sure to follow?

I found myself in sin about a month ago. It started out as a small nudge. At first I just ignored it and turned to God every time it would come to mind. Then the small nudge became a shove. The shove opened up the flood gates of my desire. My desire surfaced in my mind and I gave thought to a sinful act. I actually entertained the idea on more than one occasion. At the end of a very long week, going from a small nudge to a shove that lead to a sinful thought, I found myself hiding from God. I came down with a sickness that lasted another week. I slept for 4 days, almost continuously. When I woke up, all I could feel was the weight of my sin along with the weight of whatever sickness I had come down with. I was miserable, but I knew what I had to do.

I knew that I had sinned in my heart. The Holy Spirit was convicting me. Instead of acting in a repentant manner I opted for the "go and hide from God" thing which brought with it a horrible feeling of condemnation.

During my sickness, which I saw as chastisement from God for my sin, I forced myself to my knees. I prayed and opened up my bible to Hebrews 12. Within moments the condemnation I felt lifted and I was in a state of repentance.

"Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

Will we allow our sins, the conviction of them, and the repentance that should come quickly, to train us thereby yielding the fruit of righteousness? Will we hide from God? We do this because of pride, but it is a humble spirit that is quickly moved to repentance. Will we sit and wallow in our self-centered despair when sin rears its ugly head and we fall? Or will we stand firm and feel encouraged, knowing that the Holy Spirit is indeed at work within us because we are feeling convicted? Will we be encouraged knowing that even though we may feel the chastisement of God it is only because He loves us and is dealing with us as sons? Will we be encouraged knowing that He is purifying us and chastising us for our profit so that we may become partakers of HIS holiness?

"Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed!"


*disclaimer: We should be finding ourselves with less and less sin in our lives as we keep following the path of righteousness. We will sin, but those sins should be few and far between and little in comparison to the sins we once had in our lives. God is doing a work in us and we need to yield to that work. We need to humble ourselves before him and be quick to repent.