Shabbat Shalom,
I write this as we prepare for our first Shabbat after our arrival in Israel. We have the wonderful privilege this year to celebrate the Festivals, here in the place He has put His Name forever – Jerusalem. We will share soon the amazing testimonies – the goodness of Yahuweh, and how He arranged for us to be here at this special time.
Please lift us up in prayer as we also have the rare privilege of sighting the new moon of Tishre that will kick off this most historic Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets). We are very excited as this has been a ‘want’ and desire of ours before Father for quite some time.
As we enter this Shabbat, I wanted to share with you a small email I wrote to a dear friend of ours. After resting this afternoon, I felt like I needed to share it with all of our blog readers. We pray this Shabbat, that you will find the rest in Yahuweh that only comes through obedience to His word and commands. Even if you are not “experiencing” His rest in your life now, though you may be following His commands, just wait.. His Kingdom is just around the corner. There is a time of rest coming, but only to those who choose to rest in Him now, though we live in a most chaotic world.
Much joy in Him,
Derek and Rivkah
We have been attacked in every possible way (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually – even verbally). Learning to trust Him in spite of the attacks of the enemy is something new to me, new to us. I believe recognizing the attack and where it is coming from is more than half the battle. Yes, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal! Approaching the end of the race lies more distractions that at the beginning. It also demands a greater focus and determination to finish. We have made that determination.
Expediency is the attitude of the Kingdom of Heaven – not complacency! Rest will not come until He has trampled all of His enemies under His feet. Yes, walking with Abba is a lifestyle of consistency and not measured upon the ‘few moments’ of discouragement. He made us, He knows we are but dust. We ‘white knuckle’ are lives so much it seems, that as much as He wants us to trust in Him, we cannot because of fear. Fear from our own failures, not His.
To restore to us the joy of our salvation, is to be reminded of the moment in time when we cried out, let go of all, and gave up of every hope of deliverance, until we saw Him ride in and pull us out of deep waters. That moment of joy, is being restored as we prayed last night.
We are a work in progress. Being thankful and grateful and joyful in every and all circumstances is the defining, honing, shaping and perfecting of His nature within us. It is not up to us to say, “what are You creating?”, but to lie still and let the transformation process progress as He sees fit. It is in our “lying still”, our “giving up”, that He does the most within us. For when we give up on ourselves for any source of help, only then can He be our rescue. As I said before in the blog, He must not only be our rescuer in times of distress, but also in times of peace. He cannot be limited to part time access to our life, but must be given full security clearance if He is to carry out the mission He began in us.
“And the Master shall rescue me from every wicked work and save me for His heavenly reign.
To Him be esteem forever and ever. Amein!”
2 Timothy 4:18