THE FEASTS OF THE LORD: WHAT HAS BEEN / WHAT IS TO COME

From my limited knowledge of the Feasts of our Lord, the time between Rosh Hashana (aka:Feast of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (aka: Day of Atonement) is referred to as 10 days of repentance and reflection (aka: Ten Days of Awe). It is the beginning of a New Year and is a time to specifically look at our lives, repent of what is not pleasing to God and ask ourselves how can we better serve Him. Taking time to reflect on our lives in light of the Word of God is something we should be doing always, but our Father intended us to specifically and deliberately make time to focus on just that on His schedule, His time clock. I'm sure we can agree that these 'traditions' that we have overlooked for 1600 years are rich with God's plan in helping us stay focused and obedient. And I have found that knowing what little I do know about them and how they are not only rich in the traditions of our Lord and His ideas of how things should work, they are also a reflection of our Savior. Spring Feasts have already been fulfilled and Fall feasts are yet to be fulfilled by the coming of the Son of God, Christ Jesus, Yeshua Ha Mashiach, the King of Glory. We know that our Messiah's return will be announced by the sound of trumpets (Feast of Trumpets) and conclude with that awesome Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and then comes the Feast of Tabernacles which remembers when Israel dwelt in tents in the desert after coming out of Egypt ( aka: reflective of sin or separation from God) and God tabernacled with them in the desert. The Feast also reminds us that when the trumpet sounds, and Christ returns, He will Tabernacle with us, in Person, on earth. The Feast of Tabernacles will continue to be celebrated even after our Lord returns, according to Zechariah 14:16-19. I do not share this information to bring confusion to the Body of Christ. My knowledge is very limited but enough for me to believe celebrating what our Father established from the beginning, only for our benefit, adds a richness in our understanding of His plans for us. I understand and every evidence recorded in secular history, proves that man changed the traditions of God and made their own traditions by rearranging these celebrations to accomplish their political agenda and having done all of this without any authority to do so. Man does not have authority to change what God has written in His Book. I can't help but believe that as that Day draws nearer, the Church would be stronger, and more prepared to finish the race, if we could enjoy the connectedness of knowing the plans that our Father set forth from the beginning to help us develop strong bonds with Him and strong bonds in our families when children are raised to celebrate, on God's timetable, the Feasts which not only remind us of our past but point to our future in Christ Jesus as well. For my seminary educated brothers and sisters, for the Messianic Community, and my Jewish friends, please understand that my knowledge is limited and here only expresses what I have in my heart. Salvation is in Christ alone but at some point we have to ask ourselves, if none of this means anything, why did the apostles, the early Church and Jesus Himself keep these traditions. Ask yourself how they got changed and then ask yourself if it is time to get on God's time clock, God's schedule. I believe when the Church returns to her Jewish roots, we will see God's power unleashed in our lives and in these last days. I believe the Feasts of the Lord are one more component of knowing our Father and how He thinks and how He has planned for us. Galatians 3 teaches that "they who are of the faith, the same are the children of Abraham." That gives us the same DNA, by adoption, as those who believed before us. Why then should we resist the blessings of keeping God's plan for us, for our families to remember what has been and what is to come?

WHOSE WORLD IS THIS?

Are you always asking why there is so much evil in this world if God is God? "Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God." (2 Corinthians 4:4) Whose world is this? Whose Blood has redeemed you from the god of this world if only you can believe and follow Him?

NEVER GIVE UP!

Things not going so well? Starting to question why you are even caring about what people say? Wondering why there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel? " These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (Jesus speaking John 16:33) No matter how you 'feel', GET UP, DRESS UP, SHOW UP and NEVER GIVE UP

CARRIER? SLAYER? OR ENABLER?

ARE YOU A VISION SLAYER? When God called Moses to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt, He called Moses! He placed the Vision in him and even though Moses was reluctant, he submitted to the call. God gave Moses an assistant, his brother Aaron, but the Vision and the anointing to bring the Vision to pass was in Moses. Aaron, despite his weaknesses, was an Enabler of the Vision, not the Carrier of the Vision. When the Vision grew beyond Moses’ capability to deal with all the details, his father-in-law suggested that Moses select righteous men to deal with the issues, only bringing the most difficult cases to him for resolution. These men were not the carriers of the Vision, they were the Enablers. At no time in the Word do we ever see God pouring the same vision at the same time into multiple persons. This would create confusion as there cannot be multiple heads directing the process. God works through one man, who then builds a team that is committed to enabling the Vision. In today’s culture, we witness an element committed to maintaining control over the Vision Carrier. This ought not to be so! If the Vision Carrier is called of God, he is the Primary, Anointed, Called-out one to birth the Vision. The rest of us are either Vision Enablers or we are Slayers of the Vision. The Vision Carrier is not and should not be subject to the personal prejudices and opinions of those not committed to being Vision Enablers. The Vision Carrier is not beyond making mistakes, take Moses for example, but the bottom line is, he makes the final decision. Just like in a marriage, the two may not be able to agree on a given subject, so the husband then is charged with making the final decision. And it could very well prove to have been the wrong decision, but Christ is his head and they will work it out. It’s the same with the Vision Carrier, he is the one who will answer to the Father for every decision he makes. Our job is to come along side and work with the Vision Carrier to bring the Vision to pass. If we are not Enablers of the Vision, then we work against God and have become Vision Slayers. Check yourself!