Healing Wings

 

The Son of Righteousness
will arise

with healing in
His wings

for those in awe
of His name

will discern between true
and evil things.

**********

I can have discernment for You are with me.

**********

“Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.”

“But to you who fear My name the Son of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings . . .”

Malachi 3:18, 4:2. NKJV

Photo credit: pixabay.com

Inside Israel – Bits, Pieces and Thoughts Part 1

 

Hi and welcome to a look inside Israel today as J of Jerusalem  shares some of  what she sees and experiences as a believer in the Holy Land.  She sent such a long wonderful letter, I decided to break it up into parts. We’ll get to enjoy it longer that way.  God bless you and yours as you pray and stand with Israel. Now here’s J . . .

I want to greet you and to lift up The Name of The Lord, Yeshua h’meshiach, Jesus Christ.  May HE Alone be glorified and blessed and may you, my sisters and brothers, be blessed!  I once read the testimony of a dear Korean (I believe) believer, imprisoned and tortured during a war with (oy) China (or was it Japan!).  I have not read the book in some 25 years, but I do not forget a prayer that she prayed that ‘changed me’.  As she was tortured and near death, she wept for God (not herself! )whom, she understood, must be suffering from seeing His CHILDREN being so cruel to one another, and prayed that she would live for no other reason then “to bring pleasure to The Heart of her Father”. 

May we ALL be that sweet smelling savor!  May this letter, and each one that I write, also serve that purpose alone.

Probably some of you have seen pomegranate trees. They are a wonder to me!  Along with so many other fruit trees, flowering trees, olive and nut trees, they grow in great abundance around the country and even in the city.  To the discomfort of many allergy sufferers, our streets are lined, according to the season, with buds, blossoms or fruit of different citrus fruits, fig, shesek, grapes, apricots, peaches, olives, almonds, (too many to name really) and to my delight, pomegranates.  The flower announcing that the pomegranate season is approaching is a long, bright pink-orange one that shoots forth as if it would be a horn, but the horn ends in a crown.  Soon, TINY green pomegranates begin to appear…NOT here and there, but in abundance!  They enlarge daily, thriving in the summer heat, and soon begin to turn red.  Even spindly new trees, still in pots, bare their fruits.  It delights my eyes and heart.  In my regular morning reading (I read in order every morning –Mat-Rev, Gen-Malachi…a chapter from the first covenant, a chapter of Psalms and a chapter from the new covenant) I just finished Exodus and am in Leviticus.  I always wonder at the exacting detail with which God laid out the patterns for the temple, the garments, the offerings, and the laws of daily life.  I long not to MISS anything and yet I get something new each time.  I have often thought about the alternating “bells and pomegranates” hanging from the hem of the Priest’s garment.  How beautiful!  I wonder at exactly what it must have looked like (oh, I have seen people’s ‘replica’s, but I wonder what Betzalel, the artist assigned to the work by God Himself, made.)  ANYWAY…The pomegranates are growing daily right now and the street that I walk to work on is lined with such an array of baby pomegranates, grapes and olives that I just had to tell you about it!  J  The land that was a desert less then 100 years ago…a daily visual reminder of His Faithfulness!

As I walk toward work in the morning, I write this letter (and others) mentally in my head and wouldn’t you know that I totally forget what I wanted to remember by the time I can sit down at the computer!  :-\  I have often thought to tell you about our street cafes.  Israeli’s LOVE street cafes…even though they literally ‘sit on the street’!  I know that these are very popular in Europe as well, but I wonder if they are quite so ‘in the traffic’.  It’s the ‘hip’ thing to do… people watching while relaxing, but I never developed a taste for it…coffee mixed with exhaust fumes… resting among throngs of people walking past.  Give me a quiet corner, please.  HOWEVER, it is a good way to see what each restaurant serves before going in. Being that this IS Israel (I don not expect that this is acceptable in Europe!) people will go up to a stranger and say something like ‘That looks good!  Is it?’ and PERHAPS even ask how much it costs.  This is NOT considered ‘rude’ here…after all… we are ‘family’ and, well, ‘family’ takes care of one another.  In the winter, tall kerosene heaters (perhaps 5.5 feet tall) are set out in the midst of a group of tables to warm the hearty customers.  They give off a surprising amount of heat!  Now, since the ‘lite rail’ goes up Jaffa Road, tables line the tracks.  Even in the shuk there are cafes with tables set out among the shopping carts and hustle and bustle.  And THAT was another ‘picture’ that I have been wanting to share with you. 

What a country of polarities!  And the word ‘polarities’ seems to so categorize the extremes of opinions that are expressing themselves worldwide…and here as well!  As believers how DEAR must be the love of The Truth to each of us, eh?  Particularly as I see peoples so polarized even in the body over different interpretations of scripture, I cry out for true humility and the fear of God and that He will give me His precious gift of DISCERNMENT to know TRUTH!  May God keep us from the division that comes from pride and error (I know that often God Himself divides… may we know the difference!)

love from J!

To Accept or Not

“And Nahash the Ammorite answered them, ‘On this condition I will make a covenant with you; that I may put out all your right eyes, and bring reproach on all Israel’.” 1 Samuel 11:2
“So the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the news in the hearing of the people. And all the people lifted up their voices and wept.” 1 Samuel 11:4

The people began to weep when they heard Nahash’s statement.

Lord, we desire to pray and seek You first before we accept anything into our lives. And here’s a simple poem . . .

I Need To Know

When I hear the news
do I concede right away
think it’s a done deal
before I even pray?

Please help me to discern
just what I need to know
to stand in the gap
not giving in or letting go.

A Sign From Heaven

“Then the Pharisees and Sadducees  came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.”
“He answered and said to them, ‘ . . .You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.”  Matthew 16:1-3

When traveling, I depend on signs all the time.  Route signs, exit signs, street signs and even stop signs.

Jesus, thank You for leaving us sign after sign, pointing to You..  And here’s a simple poem . . .

Salvation Sign

Cruising down life’s highway
making pretty good time
until it turned into a race
one not of Your design.

Please keep me on the road
that leads to Your cross
the sign of my salvation
that stays me from getting lost.

Has Jesus left you a sign today?