Tag: Prayer

Going to the Courts of Heaven

(Job 23: 2-7; Esther 5; Zachariah 3)

“Divine justice is available to every believer”

The high priest, Joshua was found before the Lord in the courts of heaven with Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary and to accuse him. Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, a representation of his sins. Satan well knew about Joshua and readily stood by his side to bring accusation against him. But the Lord rebuked Satan and forgave Joshua’s sins. He said, “Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel. If you will walk in My ways and keep My charge, then also you shall rule My house and have charge of My courts and I will give you access [to My presence] and places to walk among these who stand here” (Zachariah 3). Satan had legal issues against the high priest Joshua, due to his life of sin. He never rests until he fulfills his evil desire to kill and destroy God’s people.  YAHSHUA said that the devil had come to kill and destroy, but He had come to give life abundantly. After forgiving Joshua, the Lord dressed Him in the robe of righteousness and warned him to walk in obedience in order to continue in his position of serving Him. The high priest was set free from the devil’s accusations after the Lord forgave him. This experience is not unique only to Joshua; through our life’s journey on earth we too have walked in disobedience to the Lord, causing an open door for Satan to have his way against us. But John, in his first epistle, assured us that if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive and purify us. And as He did for Joshua He will do for us too.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

You Who Seek God

(Psalms 69:30-33)

Man, without God is lost in his corrupted mind and heart, without direction as one blind in the midst of chaos. Created in God’s image, he chose to give it up to go his own way, or the way of the serpent- the devil, to the point of discrediting the very existence of God. When Adam heard the news through his wife, he didn’t seek God for answers. He decided to eat the forbidden fruit with her. Man then lost the image of God. They hid themselves, instead. Feeling ugly and guilty for the decision they had made, then in the awareness of their nakedness, they were ashamed. Hiding from God was their solution to their problem of committing the first sin. Sin that separated them from the Creator, Who often came to the garden to talk to them. Their action of disobedience broke their relationship with God; they no longer had Him to visit them. Separated from the glory of God, Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, never to enter it again. They suffered two separations: from God and from the beautiful place, the Garden of Eden, where they lived. It must have been a place like heaven, free from sin and misery it causes. Free from weeds, bugs that destroy; a soil that was perfect and easy to manage, where Adam and Eve benefitted from for their sustenance. Who would like to change it? Satan did. The enemy of humankind had one goal in mind: to destroy men’s relationship with God and take them under his control. As a result, we all became a fallen race from that time on and needing to return to God for our spiritual, physical and mental restorations, through a relationship with Him. You see, God longs to have fellowship with us; He longs to bless us; He longs for us to call on Him in times of trouble. The Psalmist said, Test and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who hopes in Him (Ps. 34:8).

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

The Upstairs Room

It was close to YAHSHUA’S last Passover, when He sent two of His disciples to a definite place to prepare it for His last Passover Super with them. He said, to them, go into the city, and a man carrying an [earthen] jar or pitcher of water will meet you; follow him. And whatever [house] he enters, say to the master of the house, The Teacher says: Where is My guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples? And he will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready; there prepare for us (Mark 14:13-15). He had come to the end of His earthly ministry and needed a time alone with those called apostles to warn and to teach them and to prepare them for the ministry He was leaving behind for them to continue. That was the time and place when YAHSHUA, alone with His disciples, ministered to them by washing their feet; the time when He constituted the new covenant of His blood; the time when He gave a new commandment- to love one another as He loved them; that was the time and the place where He uttered His priestly prayer for them and for us. There were many disciples who followed Him, but He chose only twelve to be His messengers. These were the ones He explained the meaning of the parables to, who experienced a deep relationship with Him as His friends, who experienced the mount of transfiguration, and who witnessed His anguish at the Gethsemane Garden in the crucial moment of His decision. The last words from YAHSHUA to His disciples were printed in their hearts to change yesterdays and today’s world. Peter’s life was changed from a coward to a courageous outspoken man for the sake of the message he was given to tell; The doubtful Thomas died as a martyr in India for obedience to go and preach to all the world the message of salvation. John died on the Patmos Island, after they tried to kill him by putting him a caldron with boiling water. All died as martyrs for their Messiah. Nothing would stop these disciples from taking a stand for their Master, after the upper room experience.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Hezekiah Prayed

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, I beseech You, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly (II Kings 20:2-3).

The Bible registers King Hezekiah as a good king. He walked in the way of the Lord. He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his [forefather] had done. He removed the high places, broke the images, but down the Asherim, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until them the Israelites had burned incense to it; but he called it Nehushtan [a bronze trifle]. He trusted in the Lord and was confident in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that neither after him nor before him was any one of all the kings of Judah like him. For he clung and held fast to the Lord and ceased not to follow Him, but kept His commandments, as the Lord commanded Moses; and the Lord was with Hezekiah; he prospered wherever he went…( II Kings 18:3-7a).

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Prayer, a Salve for Every Hurt

Prayer, empowered by faith, is the vehicle that takes our needs to the courts of heaven. YAHSHUA’S sacrifice for mankind was complete when He, at the time of expiring, caused the curtain of the temple to be torn in two from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51a). With that, YAHSHUA was reconciliating mankind to God. No more sacrifice of an animal was necessary by a high priest on behalf of the people. YAHSHUA fulfilled the Law and its demands on the altar of the cross. And how much more surely shall the blood of Messiah, who by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the living God?  (Heb. 9:14). Because of Him, heaven will be open and God’s courts will be always ready to receive those who come to Him in sincerity of heart, presenting their needs.

YAHSHUA, as our High Priest acts on our behalf in time of our needs. The Bible tells us that The Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearning and groaning too deep for utterance…The Holy Spirit intercedes and pleads in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God (Rom. 8:26, 27b). In a beautiful harmony of agreement, the trinity performs the act of mercy and grace toward mankind. YAHSHUA’S sacrifice of love extends to us His people, for He understands the pains and hurts we suffer in our life-time on earth.  Prayer is the bridge that connects us to the heavenly Father. If only we could perceive what is happening in heaven when we pray, we would spend more time in communion with our heavenly Father. Lives are touched, lives are changed and many times we do not even know the results of our many prayers. Before His ordeal, YAHSHUA prayed for us. A priestly prayer that salve flows from it every time we read it. It brings us comfort and a sense of His love towards us even after so many years.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

The Writing on the Wall – God Warns the World

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHASIN- NUMBERED, NUMBERED, WEIGHED, DIVISIONS (Daniel 5:25).  The interpretation of the matter:  MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingship and brought them to an end; TEKEL, You are weighed in the balance and are found wanting; PERES, Your kingdom and your kingship are divided (Dan. 5:26-28).

God, in His mercy will always warn before His judgment falls on people. Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, although having witnessed the ordeal his father went through for not honoring God, did not take to heart to have a change of heart toward Him. So, he was found wanting and deserving of judgment, which took place that same night. That same night, he was killed, and Babylon was conquered by the Persians and the Medes; his kingdom was divided as the message was interpreted by Daniel (Dan. 5:28,30).

The writing on the wall is an indication that God had had enough of men’s evil behavior. Here, the judgment is directed to King Belshazzar, although, the country felt the impact of being taken by Persia and the Medes. In other times, judgments were directed to the nations, not specifically to a person. The only specific persons were individuals who were saved from the judgments.  Take for examples the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, when fire and brimstone showered the cities and only Lot and his family were saved, and in the days of Noah, only Noah and his family were saved from the universal flood, when the entire world went under water, after being warned for 120 years. We are at the time when confusion has taken over; when truth is thrown down on the streets, when evil is good and good is evil. A delusion of errors has taken the minds of many to believe a lie, even those who profess faith in YAHSHUA has been taken with them.

YAHSHUA warned us in Luke 21:34-36 the following: take heed to yourselves and be on your guard, lest your hearts be overburdened and depressed with the giddiness and headache and nausea of self-indulgence, drunkenness, and worldly worries and cares pertaining to this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap or a noose; for it will come upon all who live upon the face of the entire earth. Keep awake then and watch at all times, praying that you may have the full strength and ability and be accounted worthy to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man. These are the days we are living in now. These are the days YAHSHUA warned us then. That’s where we are prophetically. He instructed us to take heed, to be on our guard, and to keep watching and praying at all times. The specific prayer is that we will be worthy to escape all that will happen and be worthy to be found in His presence (rapture).  These are times of great distresses and uncertainties, worldwide. We have been warned, but have not taken to heart to understand the signs of the time. Like Belshazzar, we will be found wanting, if we do not amend our ways, not to be suffering the consequence.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Stay Here, Keep Awake and Keep Watch With Me

(Matthews 26:38-41)

My soul is very sad and deeply grieved so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me… all of you must keep awake and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthews 26:38,41b).

YAHSHUA, in His anguish at the Garden before He was arrested, took with Him Peter, James and John saying, Stay here, keep wake and watch with Me. Suffering as a man, YAHSHUA needed support in His darkest hour on earth. That was, without a doubt, His most difficult hour, as He expressed to His disciples: “My soul is very sad and deeply grieved so that I am almost dying of sorrow.”  That was His hour of decision. The tempter arrived at the garden at his “opportune time” when YAHSHUA was physically and emotionally weak. His betrayal was at hand by one of His disciples. His nation was going to hand Him to the Romans to be punished, the merciless Roman way. His nation, as a whole, had rejected Him; even one of His disciples was going to deny knowing Him. The ultimate rejection He experienced was on the cross. The hour had arrived when He had to face His enemies face to face- Jews and Gentiles, who would decide on the way He was to die. That was His dark hour. Although an angel came to comfort Him in the garden, nothing else was going to happen to free Him from His ordeal. It was that time!

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Fear, The Harmful Way To One’s Doubt

Fear, is a thing that eats the emotion, destroys the body and mind, and ultimately controls the lives of those who feed on it. A spirit, the Bible calls it by name, is not given by God, but by the enemy of the soul. Through the spirit of fear, doubt takes over the mind and leads us to a hardening of the heart toward truth. A dangerous place to be, for it is there that we will lose the chance to repent, if we keep hardening our heart toward God. A dangerous wall made of lies, keeping truth unacceptable, blinding the eyes and hardening the heart.

The spirit of fear does not work alone; it has many other spirits working along with it. It is by the hearing that doubt penetrates the soul; it is seeing and not believing that the heart closes itself to truth. In the days of Noah before the flood, God gave that world 120 years to repent through the warning of judgement, for He is a compassionate God, not willing that men should perish. But the message Noah passed on to the people was to them as if a tale told children. Wherever there is truth, doubt is sure to hide in the heart and in the mind. The danger of doubt is the hardening of the heart. In Romans, Paul warns us concerning that. When God gives the doubter up in their doubt, for refusing to hear the truth, nothing will change that, but the repentant heart.

Fear, working its way to bring doubt in the heart of men, has led many to eternal destruction, because when our forefathers chose to accept the message from the serpent, doubt entered not only their hearts, but the entire world suffered the consequence. In choosing to believe Satan’s message, they forfeited God’s message and the world became Satan’s kingdom. We see the evidence of it all around us. Antagonism, hate, jealousy, envy and many more spirits permeating human as well as in the lives of the animals. For fear of the truth, doubt found an opened door to control the mind; for not wanting to believe truth, men rejected it. The spirit of unbelief attaches itself onto the spirit of doubt. Whenever we doubt God’s words, we manifest the spirit of unbelief residing in our mind. The disciple Thomas was rebuked by YAHSHUA when he doubted His resurrection. Because he saw he believed, he was not praised for that, but rebuked by our Lord YAHSHUA saying, reach out your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand and place [it] in My side. Do not be faithless and incredulous, but believe (John 20:27).

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Prayer for America

O America, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled and fallen due to your iniquities.  America, recognize and understand that the Lord, is your God; the faithful God, Who keeps covenant and steadfast love and mercy with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations; acknowledge Him Who is leading you through this great and terrible wilderness of uncertainties with its serpents, and scorpions ready to consume you; America, pull down the altars of Baal, where you sacrifice your children disregarding their cries of pain at your mercy!  Examine your ways and return to the Lord; the Lord, the Lord, is compassionate and gracious; He will forgive you!  Return to the Lord, put away your abominable false gods, for a lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations is on his way.  He has gone forth from his place to make your land a desolate waste; and your cities shall be left in ruins without an inhabitant; for this, gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail; the evil time is upon you America, for truth has fallen on the streets and uprightness cannot enter [the courts of justice].  Shake yourself from the dust, loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O America, God shed His blood for you and crowned you with loving-kindness; seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; His precious blood will cleanse you clean, when you repent of your wicked ways and turn to Him.  Take away from your midst yokes of oppression. Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you; you know not your way to peace.  The Lord waits for you, America; He will be pleased to bless you again, when you turn to Him with your whole heart and mind.

The stripes YAHSHUA suffered in His body was for you, America! The bruises He suffered in His soul was for you America, His blood shed through the crown pierced on His head, through the nail pierced hands and feet was for you America; the merciless floggings applied on His body, was for you America.  Annul your contract with the darkness and death; come to the Light, let justice run down like waters and righteousness as a mighty and ever-flowing stream, then the glory of the Lord, His holiness and goodness will shine on you from east to west, from north to south.  Seek good and not evil that you may live, and the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you.  Know in all your heart and in your soul that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord has promised concerning you.  Return to the Lord, America, circumcise your heart to the Lord and be revived to receive His blessings.

PRAYER

O Lord God of heaven, You Who keep covenant, loving-kindness, and mercy for those who love You and keep Your commandments, let You ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to listen to the prayer of Your servants which we pray before You day and night for America, confessing her sins which she has sinned against You. We acknowledge our sins and the sins of our nation before You.  We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments statutes and ordinances which You commanded.  O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere and fear Your name. O my God, incline Your ear and hear, for we do not present our supplications before You, for our own righteousness and justice, but for Your great mercy and loving-kindness.  Lord, we Your people are crying to You for mercy; hear us from heaven according to Your loving-kindness; O Lord, according to all Your righteousness and justice, we beseech You, let Your anger and Your wrath be turned away from us, Your people; listen to and heed the prayer of Your servants and their supplications and for Your sake cause Your face to shine upon us. You are just in all that has come upon us, for we have acted wickedly.  God, be merciful and gracious to America and bless her and cause Your face to shine upon her and among her, that your way may be known upon earth, and Your saving power among the nations; O You Who hears prayer, to You shall all flesh come; O Lord hear!  O Lord forgive!  O Lord give heed and act!  Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your people are called by Your name. You Who still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves and the tumult of the peoples, You, O God, You are our God!  In Your wrath, remember mercy, so that Your people who call on Your name, will not be destroyed. For who knows the power of Your anger?  And Your wrath, who connects it with the reverent fear that is due You?

In You, O Lord, do we put our trust and confidently take refuge; let us never be put to shame or confusion!  Deliver us in Your righteousness and cause us to escape; bow down Your ear to us and save us!  Be to us a rock of refuge in which to dwell, and a sheltering stronghold to which we may continually resort, which You have appointed to save us, for You are our Rock and our Fortress.  We will wait and hope for You O Lord.  We call on Your name for our salvation, drag us not away with the wicked, with the workers of iniquity, for we are your people.  Arise, O Lord and vindicate Your holy name among the nations.

In the most precious name, the name of YAHSHUA, amen!

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Esther’s Moment

A Bible story we read from the book of Esther, is more than a children’s story “They lived happily ever after” happy ending. Hard to understanding the culture of those days, we wonder why it had to be so. Reasoning the whys, we come to the understanding it was in the spiritual sphere, purposed by God Himself, for a reason or redemption of Israel as “For such a time as this.” Hadassah, Esther’s original name, was a young and beautiful maiden, who was chosen among many others to be Ahasuerus’ wife. This Persian king reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces (Esther 1:1). It all happened in a controversial and hard to understand way, when King Ahasuerus, being drunk, commanded his wife, Queen Vashti to be brought to him to show her off to the peoples there represented. But she refused to do so. For that, the king was enraged, embarrassed, and humiliated at that reaction, which lead him to divorce her. After a while, the king’s servants recommended to be sought beautiful virgins for him. That’s the background in which Hadassah- Esther came in this story of redemption of her people, Israel.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2