Shabbat Shalom!!!
Here and now:
I have been contemplating to go to office today but my Spirit says to rest, still my mind is racing towards monitoring workers in the office that I do not find useful. I could not rest while they are still there but I am indeed forcing myself to rest today in obedience to the command of GOD written in the 10 Commandments to observe the shabbat as the 7th day of Rest even though the Philippines governance ruled by catholic faith changed the 7th day of rest to 1st day which was a Sunday, my heart wants to follow the WORD of GOD in THE BIBLE. Still I am making sure the workers are monitored in Marides this morning with a work output expected of them.
SOAP
Torah Shabbat Reading:
NITZAVIM (You are Standing) / Vayelech (And He Went)Deuteronomy 29:9(10)–31:30, Isaiah 61:10–63:9, Luke 24:1–12 / Luke 24:13–43
Deuteronomy 30
(RY: iv, LY: vii) 15 “Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil — 16 in that I am ordering you today to love Adonai your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings ; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them; (LY: Maftir) 18 I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess.
19 “I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants, 20 loving Adonai your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him — for that is the purpose of your life! On this depends the length of time you will live in the land Adonai swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.”
Haftarah Nitzavim: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 61:10–63:9
B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Nitzavim: Romans 9:30–10:13; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 12:14 –15
Romans 10
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Hebrews 12:14-15
New King James Version
14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
Complete Jewish Bible
Parashah 52: Vayelekh (He went) 31:1–30
(LY: ii) 4 Adonai will do to them what he did to Sichon and ‘Og, the kings of the Emori, and to their land — he destroyed them. 5 Adonai will defeat them ahead of you, and you are to do to them just as I have ordered you to do. 6 Be strong, be bold, don’t be afraid or frightened of them, for Adonai your God is going with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Haftarah Vayelekh: Hoshea (Hosea) 14:2(1)–10(9); Mikhah (Micah) 7:18–20; Yo’el (Joel) 2:15–27
B’rit Hadashah suggested reading for Parashah Vayelekh: Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 13:5–8
5 (4) “I will heal their disloyalty, I will love them freely; for my anger has turned from him.
6 (5) I will be like dew to Isra’el; he will blossom like a lily and strike roots like the L’vanon.
7 (6) His branches will spread out, his beauty be like an olive tree and his fragrance like the L’vanon.
8 (7) Again they will live in his shade and raise grain; they will blossom like a vine,
and its aroma will be like the wine of the L’vanon.
9 (8) Efrayim [will say], ‘What have I to do any more with idols?’ And I, I answer and affirm him; I am like a fresh, green cypress tree; your fruitfulness comes from me.”
10 (9) Let the wise understand these things, and let the discerning know them.
For the ways of Adonai are straight, And the righteous walk in them, but in them sinners stumble.
Application on my Shabbat readings:
Shabbat Shalom. So the parasha reading of Nitzavim and Vayelech, meaning standing and he went is a very rich Shabbat reading today as almost all the scripture reading has spoken to me in Deuteronomy 30:20, "Loving Adonai your God," paying attention to what He says and clinging to Him is the purpose of your life. And this is really what I am constantly doing. On this depends the length of time you will live in the land Adonai swore he would give to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I know that I could not live without God, not even a single moment of my life I am living without Him. I know that I breathe because of Him, I exist because of Him, and I live because of Him, through Him, and for Him. And in application to all the words that I have received this Shabbat, I will continue to rely on God. Okay? And I will continue to be a watchman as He has called me to be, and believe in His name and call on His name. Because His name there is power, and in His name lies the salvation of all man. Although I cannot pursue peace with the rebellious as Hebrews 12:14-15 instructs, I will not pretend to have peace with them, but I can guard my heart from bitterness. Because bitterness causes trouble and defiles many, and that is not what I am called to do. I know that I am called to walk in love, but also I'm called to abhor what is evil. Sometimes to abhor evil is a stronger emotion than to love the enemies. Deuteronomy 31, God is calling me to be strong, to be bold, not to be afraid because He is with me. He will never fail me. He will never abandon me. And, in Hosea 14, which is the parasha reading for Vayelech, which is also my one-year reading with Hosea 13 and 14. God is promising that He will heal the unfaithful's disloyalty. He will love those whom He has called, and He will turn away his anger. He will be like a dew to Israel, a blossom. And He will bless. But with Ephraim, He will say, "What have I to do with idols?" And I believe this is what I am also doing spiritually, cutting myself off from idol worshippers such as HR personnel who are really very hypocritical Catholics, serving God in the choir in their church, yet committing adultery against her husband with our security guard. It’s really… I cannot work with these people. And so all who are bitter like her will fall with her. And I believe this goes the same for the rebellious Jezebel in church who is defiling many. And I'm continually praying, I believe. In the workplace, I am cutting them off. In the church, I am praying for them to be uprooted. Maybe my prayers should be that they would repent, but I don't know. They think they are right with what they are doing. I don't think they will repent, and only God can heal every heart that's been wounded of misunderstanding, and everything will be settled in heaven, I know. And I want to always be the one who looks at everything in the heavenly perspective, and not siding with earthly biases, but siding with what is right and who is right. And so I will continue to, just as Paul writes in Ephesians 4, like a prisoner here in Cebu, I will continue to walk worthy of the calling that God has given me with lowliness and gentleness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit. And if I cannot do that, I cannot keep the unity and bond of peace. That's why probably God has not allowed me to enter the church, because the church is called for unity under one body and one spirit. One faith, one baptism, but I cannot tolerate the bickering of the bitter, and that's why I step away from them. I don't want to be infected by their bitter spirits. I will continue to pray for the Church as God has led me to this isolation to focus on my work and to continue in my sabbatical where I do not have to fight spiritually against the Jezebels of our church while inside the church. But even as I am outside the church, I know that I can continue to pray for God's will to be done as I groan in the Spirit. I pray that His Spirit will work in the hearts of people to protect the pure and to keep them pure, especially the leaders, Pastor Timothy Grace, David, and Kim, and that God would always show in his glory who He is standing with in the church. He’s standing with the one he has appointed to be shepherd of the church. And I pray, and I will continue to pray that people's hearts will honor and submit to our pastors, because this is what God has called each member of the church to do. Not to grieve the Holy Spirit, but the hearts of the leaders and the shepherds. And this is what I can do to help, because if I step in the church, I cannot walk in hypocrisy as others are. I don't know if I have the right to correct them. I have bore with them. I have bore with them, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace for the time that God has called me in church. I have borne with them, but this time I cannot bear them. It's difficult. I don't know. I might be able to sin in my anger if I face these rebellious Jezebels. And I am just praying for God to contend against the wicked and punish those who are rebelling against God, our Savior. I will continue to pray,
I thank you today, Father, for this beautiful Shabbat word You are speaking to me, giving life to me, assuring me, as well as keeping that dream of your promise alive in my heart, even though it's been a long time that I've been praying and waiting on you. I thank you, Lord, that you give me the strength to carry on in spite of the long years and the long wait that has gone through in my life that you allow to happen in my life. I thank you, Lord, that you're going to cut off every Jezebel rebellious spirit in my workplace, in Marides. I pray that you will just take away all these people not fit to work there because you have put the right people in our company. I thank you for the right people, Lord. And I pray that you uproot the wrong people. I always prayed this. I always want this. I want Your will to be done, God. I thank you, Lord, for keeping protection upon me, my dogs, my family, my workplace. You are faithful, God, and I want to continue to do well and to think about and to meditate and praise you because you are alive and you are doing great things. Even though I do not see, I want to see, God. I want to see, and I want to declare your greatness, your faithfulness, your holiness wherever I am. In the name of Yeshua, I pray. Amen.
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