Shalom Dear Brothers and Sisters Deny Yourselves We all love the Scriptures that speak of blessings for our lives. Yet in Luke 9:23 Yeshua and makes very clear He says, "if anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me". This is so blatantly clear yet we skip over it as it's really not all that pleasant to think about. But we need to be thinking about it daily! Recently I counseled a young man who was living in an Arab country which did not restrict his religious freedoms or his choice to follow after the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and Messiah Yeshua. Then news came that he would have to return to his mother and sisters as his father had passed away. This meant returning to a country that right now is under military control and restriction. He gave up his freedoms and returned to care for his family being the oldest and only son. Yes, he was afraid, but after we went through a few Scriptures and prayed his strength was renewed. We keep in touch often and he is hoping to get his family out of the country if the Lord allows it. We here in the West and in other countries have so much freedom! We don't even have a concept of what it truly means to deny ourselves on a daily basis! I think we need to start being more conscience driven. I know I certainly do. Instead of ordering pizza or going out for supper once a month I would rather spend that money feeding the poor and helping the homeless in our city. We all have a role to play we need only look to the Father and asked Him, what would You have me do today to honor the words of Your Son! Maybe it means giving up a television show and spending that time in prayer for the lost and lonely. Maybe it's something as simple as picking up the telephone and calling someone who you know needs to be encouraged. What about all the lonely elderly people in nursing homes whose families are too busy to visit them anymore. I know there are programs where you can adopt a grandparent and visit them on a regular basis. This is putting our faith into action as well is our love. Yeshua said when we do these things for the least of them we do it for Him. What an honor and blessing we are missing out on when we don't do these things. There are so many lonely and hurting people in this world they need the love of Messiah! Those of us who have it need to give it away freely so that others may be blessed and come to faith. The world is sick and tired of words and preaching they want to see the truth, they want to see if we are going to put the words of our Savior into action. Do it in private so that no one else will know only your Father in Heaven and you will have eternal life! Let us love one another with the love of Yeshua who showed us how to do it! He denied Himself, took up His Cross for us so that we might have life! Let us follow in His footsteps, He never did anything He didn't ask us to do first. In other words He was the first to give His life on a cross for all of us! He was the first to give up His omnipotence to come down to earth and dwell and tabernacle among us, teaching us how to truly live a life that would glorify Him! The proper way of following His Torah. Ask and you shall receive! In this case that means instructions
B'Shem Yeshua Hamashiach, Amen In His Love, Theresa
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