I received this from a friend last year and thought it was agood reminder about what we as Christians should focus on at Christmas
Letter from Jesus about Christmas --
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.
How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.
9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.
Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember :
I LOVE YOU,
JESUS
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Ha'Derek Yeshua - the Way Of Jesus
Today I visited the synagogue of Ha’Derek Yeshua ( in English The Way Of Jesus) It is a local synagogue of Jews who follow the Commands of Moses but believe that Jesus was the Messiah promised of God. I learned a lot from this experience. The service started by reading out of the prayer book; Prayers , Blessings, and Psalms are read both in Hebrew and in English. The men all wore the Talithand the women also wore a head covering during the service. When I asked the Rabista ( the Rabi’s wife) after the service what the significance of the Talith was , I was told that mainly it is simply Tradition to wear them that they do not require it and I also found out the meaning behind the verses in 1 Corinthians 11 where Paul addresses the women’s need for a head covering versus the man not being required to wear one, she explained that Paul is actually referring to closing the Talith in front of their face when praying publicly, and that women were required to cover their faces because their faces were seen as distracting and that now it is not a requirement , because the cultural view of a woman’s face has changed. And that only the men are required to wear it signifying their position as head of the household.
They are a progressive synagogue and allow women to participate in the reading of the scripture and families sit together. After several blessings were recited, the Torah scroll was retrieved from the Ark and carried through the congregation, pausing long enough so each person can reach out and reverently touch the scroll and reverently lift their fingers to their lips, again when I inquired after the service, I was told that this signified their love of the Torah (the Law of the Lord)and for their Messiah Yeshua, who is the Torah made flesh. A blessing is recited and the Torah laid open on the table, then the Torah potion is read, another blessing is recited , before the Haftarah (the Prophets) is read another blessing is recited and then the Prophets portions is read, this portion was read today by the Rabista, and then another closing blessing is said and here is where the first difference is seen between a traditional Jewish service another blessing is said and the Gospel portion is read, followed by the closing blessing, then the Torah is returned to the Ark. The Rabbi leads the congregation in a few more prayers then he plays some Praise music and everyone sits in a few moments of silent contemplation either softly singing the tunes of praise or simply praying to themselves. At the end of this time of quiet reflection The Rabbi returns to the Bemma (pulpit) and expounds a bit on the reading of the day, He talks of the Creation and how the Hebrew words are so significant and filled with meaning he talks of how the word “The day” is used and how it signifies that the meaning is that the world was created in 6 literal days. Beyond that he talked of the reference of az that is often found notated in the place of “the“ in front of a word, which is, he explains, what Jesus was referring to when He said “I am the Alpha and Omege (Greek for A and Z )” so every time that notation is seen it is a reference to the Messiah Jesus.
At the end of the short message, the Rabbi pronounced the ending blessing over us , explaining before he did that this was where Spock’s greeting came from. Lifting both hands he placed his thumbs together and then separated the other four fingers in the middle, this he said represents the ark of the covenant, the fingers representing the wings and the bridge of the thumbs, the mercy seat. The congregation raises their left hand, for that is the hand through which a blessing can be received. And the Rabbi blesses the congregation says “May the Lord bless you and keep you, The lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. “
There were many more things I learned in the service this afternoon , but I cannot go into them now perhaps later when I have had time to process them and understand better what they mean .
I am definitely looking forward to the next time I can join this small community of believers and learn more about the Hebrew Bible and how it shows the truth about the Messiah.
Until that time,
Shabbat Shalome
Lydia
They are a progressive synagogue and allow women to participate in the reading of the scripture and families sit together. After several blessings were recited, the Torah scroll was retrieved from the Ark and carried through the congregation, pausing long enough so each person can reach out and reverently touch the scroll and reverently lift their fingers to their lips, again when I inquired after the service, I was told that this signified their love of the Torah (the Law of the Lord)and for their Messiah Yeshua, who is the Torah made flesh. A blessing is recited and the Torah laid open on the table, then the Torah potion is read, another blessing is recited , before the Haftarah (the Prophets) is read another blessing is recited and then the Prophets portions is read, this portion was read today by the Rabista, and then another closing blessing is said and here is where the first difference is seen between a traditional Jewish service another blessing is said and the Gospel portion is read, followed by the closing blessing, then the Torah is returned to the Ark. The Rabbi leads the congregation in a few more prayers then he plays some Praise music and everyone sits in a few moments of silent contemplation either softly singing the tunes of praise or simply praying to themselves. At the end of this time of quiet reflection The Rabbi returns to the Bemma (pulpit) and expounds a bit on the reading of the day, He talks of the Creation and how the Hebrew words are so significant and filled with meaning he talks of how the word “The day” is used and how it signifies that the meaning is that the world was created in 6 literal days. Beyond that he talked of the reference of az that is often found notated in the place of “the“ in front of a word, which is, he explains, what Jesus was referring to when He said “I am the Alpha and Omege (Greek for A and Z )” so every time that notation is seen it is a reference to the Messiah Jesus.
At the end of the short message, the Rabbi pronounced the ending blessing over us , explaining before he did that this was where Spock’s greeting came from. Lifting both hands he placed his thumbs together and then separated the other four fingers in the middle, this he said represents the ark of the covenant, the fingers representing the wings and the bridge of the thumbs, the mercy seat. The congregation raises their left hand, for that is the hand through which a blessing can be received. And the Rabbi blesses the congregation says “May the Lord bless you and keep you, The lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. “
There were many more things I learned in the service this afternoon , but I cannot go into them now perhaps later when I have had time to process them and understand better what they mean .
I am definitely looking forward to the next time I can join this small community of believers and learn more about the Hebrew Bible and how it shows the truth about the Messiah.
Until that time,
Shabbat Shalome
Lydia
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Of Religion and Spirituallity
Since I started going to college last year I have had my eyes opened to a lot of things, one in particular is the way most people view Christianity, or religion in general.
Yesterday was one of those days, I was sitting around with some friends, most of whom are in my world religions class and one who is a Religious Studies major at MSU, and the topic turned to the personal religious beliefs of those present, most of what I heard was not surprising, but there was one thing that stuck out to me and that was that these women were all tired of organized religion and were searching for something deeper more personal. I was at a loss for what to say, on so many levels I agreed with them, our churches have lost sight of what it means to have a personal relationship with Christ and have focused so heavily on rituals/tradition and appearance that these women equated church and the Bible with a bunch of rules that you have to follow. They didn't realize that the Bible is not about works, but Grace. Its about the fact that we can never know what is good enough, and even if we could know how good is enough, we can never be good enough. That's why Jesus had to come and die; because he was the only one who could be good enough. I am ashamed to say that I did not have the presence of mind to present this to them. I continued listening, unsure of how to voice my own thoughts and beliefs.
If I could do it over, I would say that I agree with them that many of our churches have the wrong focus, that they are focused too much on whether someone has a Tattoo, a nose piercing or wears pants and not focused on the real issue loving one another. I also agree that most religions have similarities, I was amazed myself to find many similarities between Christianity and Hinduism, they were small but they were there. However, I do not believe that all religions are equal, I believe that there is one that is the truth and all others are forgeries. I believe that there is a God who though loving is also just, and righteous. That he gave us his truth first in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Jewish people,and later through the writings of the New Testament. I believe also that there is a Devil, who was once a holy angel was not satisfied with his place and sought to over throw God and become God himself. And since he could not do that he twists what God has said and turns them into half-truths to confuse and mislead people. I believe that there is a literal Heaven and a literal Hell and that those that do not except Jesus as the Son of God will one day die and spend eternity in Hell.
What I don't know is how to convince my friends of this truth, how I can show them that this is real? To be honest Christianity is all I've ever known, and while I am sure in my own heart that it is not "just the way I was raised" I don't know how to show that to others. I pray that I can show them Jesus Love working through my life and making me a better person than I was yesterday and I pray that God will be able to use even my failures to bring them to Himself.
Yesterday was one of those days, I was sitting around with some friends, most of whom are in my world religions class and one who is a Religious Studies major at MSU, and the topic turned to the personal religious beliefs of those present, most of what I heard was not surprising, but there was one thing that stuck out to me and that was that these women were all tired of organized religion and were searching for something deeper more personal. I was at a loss for what to say, on so many levels I agreed with them, our churches have lost sight of what it means to have a personal relationship with Christ and have focused so heavily on rituals/tradition and appearance that these women equated church and the Bible with a bunch of rules that you have to follow. They didn't realize that the Bible is not about works, but Grace. Its about the fact that we can never know what is good enough, and even if we could know how good is enough, we can never be good enough. That's why Jesus had to come and die; because he was the only one who could be good enough. I am ashamed to say that I did not have the presence of mind to present this to them. I continued listening, unsure of how to voice my own thoughts and beliefs.
If I could do it over, I would say that I agree with them that many of our churches have the wrong focus, that they are focused too much on whether someone has a Tattoo, a nose piercing or wears pants and not focused on the real issue loving one another. I also agree that most religions have similarities, I was amazed myself to find many similarities between Christianity and Hinduism, they were small but they were there. However, I do not believe that all religions are equal, I believe that there is one that is the truth and all others are forgeries. I believe that there is a God who though loving is also just, and righteous. That he gave us his truth first in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Jewish people,and later through the writings of the New Testament. I believe also that there is a Devil, who was once a holy angel was not satisfied with his place and sought to over throw God and become God himself. And since he could not do that he twists what God has said and turns them into half-truths to confuse and mislead people. I believe that there is a literal Heaven and a literal Hell and that those that do not except Jesus as the Son of God will one day die and spend eternity in Hell.
What I don't know is how to convince my friends of this truth, how I can show them that this is real? To be honest Christianity is all I've ever known, and while I am sure in my own heart that it is not "just the way I was raised" I don't know how to show that to others. I pray that I can show them Jesus Love working through my life and making me a better person than I was yesterday and I pray that God will be able to use even my failures to bring them to Himself.
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