Missing the Mark

"Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Messiah, that we might be justified by faith." (Galatians 3:4)

Never has that Scripture meant more to me than it does this Yom Kippur. Struggling with all the ways I missed the mark this year, I feel like I am literally clinging to the Cross. "What is the mark?" you may ask. The mark is Torah. Mistranslated as law, Torah really means "teaching and instruction" in the Hebrew. It is Yahweh's perfect instruction to His people on how to live a holy and righteous life, reaping blessings instead of curses. I shoot for the mark of Torah every day - but how often does my dart land outside the circle, or even fall to the ground?

Tonight when the sun sets, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) begins. I have written letters to those I may have hurt or offended and asked forgiveness. I sincerely wanted to reach this day having confessed my sin to Yahweh and having done all I could to make amends with others and take an axe to the root of my own bitterness. But even with all my own efforts and good intentions, do I have clean hands and a pure heart? Am I deserving of eternal life in the glorious Kingdom of God? No.

And so here I am...on my face with my arms stretched out toward that ancient tree on which my Messiah shed His precious blood. The Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world - God's free gift of salvation to His imperfect children. Father, thank you for the Torah - the tutor that brings me to Messiah - where I am undeservedly justified by faith. If I did not have the mark to shoot for, how would I know I missed it?

Now knowing I missed it I come once again to the incredible Good News: through Yeshua I get another chance! I am justified by faith; not faith in myself, but in HIS FAITHFULNESS.

Be blessed this Yom Kippur and rejoice with me in the gift of blood sacrificed for us by our eternal High Priest.

Crushed and Blessed

It was a profound weekend in the Spirit. Several images from my time of worship and also of sighting the New Moon will remain with me a long time.

In worship a group of women known as "Hands of Praise" come forward and do sign language to the words of worship songs. They are all dressed in black, which takes attention away from everything except their beautiful, expressive hands, offering worship to the King. As I looked into their faces, though, I noticed that two of them were radiating such joy that it took my breath away; and then I realized that I knew something about these two particular women. One of them lost her home and everything she owned in the Windsor tornado a little over a year ago. Not only did she lose everything, but in the week that followed, her mother died. It was a week of unspeakable tragedy in that family. But oh, the wellspring of joy on her face as she worshiped her King! The other woman came to death's door last year and defeated it. She developed an infection that nearly shut down her kidneys and doctors gave her little hope. But Yeshua had other plans for this beautiful young woman, and as I watched her hands signing the words, "I'm forgiven because You were forsaken; I'm accepted, You were condemned. I'm alive and well, Your Spirit is within me, because You died and rose again" I saw the evidence of her miracle all over her, and something became very clear to me once again. We who have suffered much are loved much! We who have been crushed - like the oil being pressed out of the olive - are anointed with His Light! The crushing is the oil of the anointing. What a blessing!

Then last night I made my way out to the Seven Lakes Park in Loveland, Colorado, and trudged through thick, high clumps of reeds, amidst swarms of mosquitoes, down to the bank of a lake where about twenty of us gathered to await the sighting of the New Moon. I thought how strange we must look to the world! There was just nothing more important to this odd little band of people than to watch to see what the Father is doing! And sure enough, two days after the Hebrew calendar said it would be Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets) the tiny sliver of the New Moon broke through a window just above the waning rays of sunlight, and just below a bank of deep blue clouds. It was hard to spot! We had to squint and stare until finally one of the men shouted enthusiastically, "There it is! Blow the shofars!" As we all began to spot that first tiny crescent, we blew our shofars with great joy, announcing the beginning of the Feast. It was a spectacular sight: the rays of the setting sun formed a literal crown around the moon, refelected in the water below. With great joy I thought of this Day in the future when the Feast of Trumpets will at last be fulfilled and the 7th trumpet will sound, heralding the Return of the Messiah in power and glory!

Father is teaching us that no longer can we rely on ANY of man's calendars to know what He is doing - certainly not the Roman calendar, and now not even the Hebrew calendar! If we want to know when the 1st day of the 7th Hebrew month will be so that we can blow the trumpets and welcome back the King, we must do as Yeshua did: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." (John 5:19)

Yes, it was a profound weekend in the Spirit. The crushed, the suffering, the dying raised to life, and the peculiar little band of people on the lakeshore looking for the new moon all have something in common. They live in this world, but they are not OF this world. They are joyfully serving and living for the KING who is not of this world, but of the world to come!

What Is In Your Heart?

I used to have a pastor who would say, "As soon as you start walking with the Lord your God, there will be someone assigned against you to test you." How right he was!

In Deuteronomy 8:2, Moses reminds the Israelites, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart..."

I believe that in this hour we are in, we are each being tested in order to reveal what is in our hearts. The tests are never the same for any two people - but rest assured that there is probably someone in your life right now that has been assigned against you and they do not even know it. You are being humbled - and it is a test. How you handle it will reveal what is in your heart - and although this may be painful, it is always Yahweh's purpose and intention to cause us to examine our hearts that we might repent (teshuva) and come back to His straight and narrow path.

Was Bathsheba assigned against David? Was she out bathing where he could see her so that David's problem with lust could be revealed? I don't know...but I do know that when he saw the wickness in his heart he prayed the prayer that became Psalm 51: "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation (your Yeshua!) and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you." Not only was David convicted of his own sin, but he became desirous of helping others turn from their sinfulness as well - just as we should be doing in the Body of Messiah.

If Yahweh used Bathsheba to test David, she was completely unaware. Those assigned against us are probably completely unaware as well - because it is usually not people trying to throw us off course, but the spirit of Satan who works through them. When Yeshua explained to Peter the divine plan of redemption that included his agonizing death on the tree, Peter rebuked him and said, "Never, Lord! This will never happen to you!" And Yeshua responded, "Get behind me, Satan." He was not calling his friend Peter "Satan." He was speaking to the spirit operating through Peter, trying to tempt Him to forget about the Cross and take the easy way out.

As the Israelites wandered through the desert being humbled and disciplined by many tests, and by those assigned against them, Moses reminded them that this was "to teach them that man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

Is someone in your life on assignment to test you? Just be certain that all your responses line up with the Word of God. Be aware that this person probably has no idea they are tempting you in some way - and do not come against the person, but rebuke the spirit of the enemy that is working to throw you off course. Remember that Moses said to the people, "Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these 40 years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you." (Deut. 8:4-5)

Thank You, Papa, for loving us enough to test us and discipline us. Thank you for calling us Your children. Thank you for providing for us on the journey - and giving us your Holy Spirit to guide us. Amen.