"I Will Fear No Evil" Psalm 23:4

A short time ago Iranian rockets and drones were in the air on their way to Israel. We believe many people throughout the world were concerned for our Jewish friends who live in Israel. As we now know, these rockets and drones never reached the land of Israel! We believe our Almighty God prevented this attack! Hallelujah!

Please notice the title for this message is "I Will Fear No Evil." Each day we spend time on the computer observing Jewish men and women at the Western Wall. Every one of them has the Word of God in their hands and are either reciting portions of it or praising God in song. This is always a very special blessing as we begin our day.

Many people worldwide are concerned and even some are fearful as we observe the hate filled demonstrators at their colleges. In most cases, this hatred is leveled towards Israel and also the Jewish students. We desire to intercede for God's protection, please join us as we pray portions of the following Psalms:

Psalm 23 {Vs. 1-4}

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." 

Psalm 83 {Vs. 1-4, 13, 16}

"Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, and do not be still, O God! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, 'Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.' O my God, make them like the whirling dust . . . fill their faces with shame."   

Blessing,

Frank 

   

     

God Is In Control

This past weekend in Israel proved without a doubt that indeed "God Is In Control." Iran for the first time in history determined that they were going to invade Israel. Probably, the leaders of Iran believed they could destroy Israel with the invasion of drones and missiles headed towards Israel Saturday night. However, our mighty and powerful God had other plans. Bless His Holy Name.

News reports all over the world showed in detail this attack headed toward Israel and suddenly it ended. It was interesting to listen to the same news reports trying to explain why this attack suddenly stopped right at the border of Israel. Many reports said the drones and missiles were too old to complete this nighttime attack. Other reports said Iran changed their minds. However, we believe "God Is In Control" and He stopped this attack on Israel exactly at their border. Hallelujah And Praise The Lord!

We do not know how those on the ground in Israel were responding during this failed attack. However, this we know, everyday Israelis recite and sing the Psalms as a way of honoring and worshiping Jehovah God. As an example, let us study the 23rd Psalm and worship with the Jewish People.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of The Lord forever."

Blessings,

Frank

  

"The Truth Shall Make You Free" John 8:32

Many college students today are very loudly proclaiming that the land "From The River To The Sea" should be destroyed and all the people living on that land should be destroyed also. They actually believe that this is the solution to have Jews and Arabs living safely beside each other. When the truth was presented to them, they were surprised and somewhat embarrassed. The truth is that 7 million Jews and 2 million Arabs would be eliminated in the "From The River To The Sea" scenario.

Well, what is the truth concerning the land referred to as Israel? Jehovah God was establishing the Abrahamic Covenant in the 15th Chapter of Genesis and said to Abraham, "To your descendants I have given this land from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates." When you look at a map of the Middle East, this land given by God to Abraham and his descendants does indeed include almost the whole current Middle East. This Is The Truth!

We could end this message now because we have validated the truth about Jehovah God's original plan for the land in the Middle East. However, there are numerous other references in Genesis about God's original intent for this land as follows:

Genesis 13:14,15 - "And The Lord said to Abram . . . Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are . . . For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever."

Genesis 17:8 - "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan."

Genesis 22:19 - "In blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants . . . And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies."

Genesis 26:3 - "Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands."

Yes, The Truth Shall Set You Free!

Blessings,

Frank

  

      

Christ Appears To Mary Magdalene

"But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her 'woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.' Now when he had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, 'Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned and said to Him, 'Rabboni!' {which means teacher}. Matthew 20:11-16

We feel the above story about Mary not knowing Jesus when He first appeared to her after His Resurrection from the tomb is also a very important part of the Easter story. It is possible that Jesus appears to us and speaks numerous times each day and we do not realize it. How can we be more aware of His presence in our lives every day? Here are a few suggestions: Continuous Prayer, Studying His Word, Looking For His Presence In Every Situation and Loving People As Jesus Loves Them.

Psalm 138 shows how much God Loves us and answers all our prayers:

Vs. 1 - "I will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing praises to You."

Vs. 2 - "I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name."

Vs. 3 - "In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul."

Vs. 4 - "All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord, when they hear the words of Your mouth."

Vs. 5 - "Yes, they shall sing of the ways of The Lord, for great is the glory of The Lord."

He Is Risen, He Is Risen Indeed!

Frank

        

  

The Land Of Israel - Part 1

Genesis 12:2 says, "I will make you into a great nation." This verse is describing Jehovah God talking with Abraham who was representing the Jewish People. Our Lord was about to describe how He will give His Covenant People the Land Of Israel.

The exact size of this land is described in Genesis 15:18 which says, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates." This land would cover almost the whole Middle East. Of course, this is a future event! Currently, Israel appears to be shrinking with the events in Gaza, the Northern Borders being attacked by Hezbullah and Arabs claiming portions of Judea and Samaria. The Jews living in Israel need our prayers!

Psalm 72 Is Entitled "The Reign Of The Messiah"

Vs. 8 - "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the River to the end of the earth."

Vs. 9 - "Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him and His enemies will lick the dust."

Vs. 10 - "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents; the king of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts."

Vs. 11 - "Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him."

Vs. 12 - "For He will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also and him who has no helper."

Vs. 13 - "He will spare the poor and needy and will save the souls of the needy."

Vs. 14 - "He will redeem their life from oppression and violence and precious shall be their blood in His sight."

Vs. 17 - "His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun and men shall be blessed in Him; all nations shall call Him blessed."

Vs. 18 - "Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things!"

Vs. 19 - "And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory."

Blessings,

Frank   

 

Returning To A Home At War

Our message this week will be different as it will revolve around a quote from the Bridges For Peace newsletter. Bridges For Peace is a ministry that exists to promote positive relationships between Jews and Christians.

The quote is as follows: "Why would someone move to a country at war? In fact, why would someone pack up their life in a prosperous, safe country like the United States or France and relocate to a country facing an evil enemy on the battlefield? There's more though. What would motivate someone to start over in a country at war that recently had its sovereign border breached by a genocidal terrorist army who massacred over 1,200 people, wounded nearly 5,000 and kidnapped 250 more, only to drag them back to their terror enclave to torture, rape and starve them? Yet during the first ten months of 2023 and throughout three subsequent months of war, 46,687 people from over 37 countries did just that. If you have not yet guessed it, I'm speaking about immigration to Israel." The author of this article is Rev. Peter Fast, International CEO of Bridges For Peace. 

Let Us Pray Psalm 122, "Pray For The Peace Of Jerusalem."

Vs. 1 - "I was glad when they said to me, 'let us go into the house of The Lord.'"

Vs. 2 - "Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!"

Vs. 3 - "Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together."

Vs. 4 - "Where the tribes go up, the tribes of The Lord, to the Testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of The Lord."

Vs. 5 - "For thrones are set there for judgement, the thrones of the house of David."

Vs. 6 - "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may they prosper who love you."

Vs. 7 - "Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces."

Vs. 8 - "For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will say, 'Peace be within you.'"

Vs. 9 - "Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good."

Blessings,

Frank  

  

"Do Not Be Haughty"

In our most recent message, we clarified the meaning of Romans 11:11 which states that salvation has come to the Gentiles to provoke the Jews to jealously. Our attitude in carrying out this assignment from God is very important as clarified in Romans 11:20 that says, "Do not be haughty."

Romans 11:17 describes Israel as an "Olive Tree" and that some of the branches have been broken off through unbelief and that Gentiles who are described as a "Wild Olive Tree" have been grafted in. {Romans 11:11} However, "Saved Gentiles" must be very careful about their attitude. Romans 11:20-21 says, "Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either."

Very Important! Romans 11:23 also says, "And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again." Let us remember at this point that Romans 11:26 says, "All Israel will be saved." 

In our support of Israel and the Jewish People, we should proclaim Romans 11:26 every day in addition to Psalm 149 as follows:

Vs. 1 - "Praise The Lord! Sing to The Lord a new song, and His praise in the congregation of saints."

Vs. 2 - "Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King."

Vs. 3 - "Let them praise His name with the dance; let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp."

Vs. 4 - "For The Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation."

Blessings,

Frank