OVERVIEW OF DANIEL MONDAY WITH THE LORD

OVERVIEW OF DANIEL As the book of Daniel begins, King Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem and rel

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER – MONDAY WITH THE LORD

  THE NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER The National Day of Prayer has its roots deeply established in the

GOD’S APPOINTED DAYS ROSH HASHANAH (FEAST OF TRUMPETS) part 7

   Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets) – part 7 The first four feasts were fulfilled by Je

 

OVERVIEW OF DANIEL MONDAY WITH THE LORD

May 16, 2012 in MONDAY WITH THE LORD, Teaching

OVERVIEW OF DANIEL

As the book of Daniel begins, King Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem and relocating captives to Babylon—and Daniel was one of those captives.  He was a strong, healthy young man full of wisdom, knowledge and understanding, trained in the Law of Moses and deeply committed to God.  In his daily routine, he would often be seen kneeling and praying openly and unashamedly.  Looking only to God, he sought help, direction and wisdom, especially in the affairs of the king, which included the interpretation of dreams and visions.   He was faithful, righteous, and a man of God.  Because of his tender, young age, he was chosen to serve in King Nebuchadnezzar’s royal court.  Henceforth, all twelve chapters have the same geographical location—Babylon.  He remained a captive, in Babylon, and never returned to Jerusalem. The lives of the four kings which are woven into twelve chapters make the study of the book of Daniel exciting especially in light of the current events taking place in Babylon.

Daniel lived his entire adult life, in Babylon, with a deep personal commitment to his God while serving in the royal court of four pagan Kings—Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus.  The first example of his service to the King is found in Chapter 2 when he is called to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue with a golden head … feet and toes of iron and clay.  The interpretation of this prophetic dream is still considered by theologians, scholars and others to be the foundation by which most Bible prophecy hinges. Equally as important, to his commitment, was his God-given ability in the art of interpretation of dreams and visions which was a result of his profound commitment to prayer and intercession.  The study of this prayers recorded in this book sets forth a good foundation for those who desire to pray for loved ones and/or country.  In contrast to the dream of chapter two is, his own personal vision (outlined in Chapter 7),  left with him in deep distress.  Then in Chapter 8 (his second vision) Gabriel is sent to explain the vision but he was instructed to “keep the vision a secret, for it belongs to the future.”  Daniel’s three personal visions, while serving in the royal court, are recorded in chapters 7, 8, 9.

Making a simple outline and/or spreadsheet of the chapters will help you understand the time frame and sequence of events.  To illustrate this point, study the following:  King Nebuchadnezzar, ruled by sword and force, a man of vision, loved beauty and the Gods—Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4;  King Belshazzar—Chapters 5, 7, 8;  King Darius, Chapters 6, 9, 11, 12;  King Cyrus (called by God “My shepherd,” in Isaiah 43), Chapter 10.   Notice the twelve chapters of Daniel are not in sequential order. Why? I don’t know. One thing you do not want to do is change or manipulate the scriptures.  Therefore, take the time to make a simple outline and/or spread sheet which reveals much of what cannot be seen by just reading.

The prophetic overview of the book of Daniel is:  Chapter 2 – the statue;  Chapter 7 – the four beasts;  Chapter 8 – the ram and the goat;  Chapter 9 – the seventy weeks and Chapters 11 and 12 – the political systems.  Each one of these chapters is bulging at the seams waiting for you to research it out. They require much focus; follow Daniel’s example for each dream and vision with great anticipation, yet prayerfully asking God for discernment, understanding, and wisdom.  The deep prophetic secrets in the Scriptures are waiting for you.  Begin to study them out—then start feeding someone else… perhaps the twelve chapters of Daniel?

Gilda Bueno

Ask Jesus Now Ministries

 

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER – MONDAY WITH THE LORD

April 29, 2012 in MONDAY WITH THE LORD

 

THE NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

The National Day of Prayer has its roots deeply established in the Old Testament. To illustrate this point in 2nd Chronicles chapter 20 Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, is warned that a great multitude of men composed of Moabites, Ammonites, and others have gathered and are marching against Judah. To add further stress to the situation, it was also reported the vast army was coming from En-Geti which is about 30 miles from Jerusalem. The wilderness of En-Geti is on the western side of the Dead Sea, a terrain known for its difficulty i.e., rocks, caves, etc. This unexpected element of surprise caused a great amount of fear. But he quickly resolved within himself, to call a national day of fasting and prayer to inquire of the Lord. These two things, fasting and prayer, when combined together are effective, powerful, and they change things because it is focused on the power of God and God only. The response from God was “listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow you go down to face them, for the Lords is with you.” When they arrived they only saw dead corpses. You must read the end of the chapter to understand the full impact.    The epistle of James also emphasizes this point by reminding us that if you need help or are in trouble “…the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” In the same chapter Elijah prayed “earnestly” that it would not rain on the earth and it didn’t for three and a half years.  Then he prayed again and the sky poured its rain upon the earth.  Are you getting the message? This Thursday May 3, 2012 IS the National Day of Prayer. Join others as they gather to pray for……   Don’t let your voice be silent, establish deep roots of prayer just like those who have gone on before us i.e., Jehoshaphat, Elijah and perhaps your parents or loved ones.

Gilda Bueno

ASK JESUS NOW MINISTRY

 

GOD’S APPOINTED DAYS ROSH HASHANAH (FEAST OF TRUMPETS) part 7

April 22, 2012 in FEASTS OF THE LORD, Teaching

 

 Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets) – part 7

The first four feasts were fulfilled by Jesus both symbolically and literally at His first coming. Of the last three yet to be fulfilled, Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets), points toward the end of the church age and Jesus second coming. Since the first four feasts were fulfilled on the very days God commanded His people to celebrate them, it is reasonable to conclude that the remaining three feasts will also be fulfilled on the actual feast days as well.

[Leviticus 23:23-25]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ “

The first day of every month was begun with the blowing of trumpets, but there was deeper significance attached to the blowing of trumpets on the first day of the seventh month. The Feast of Trumpets heralded the beginning of the period known as the High Holy Days with The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) occurring on the of the month.

The ten days from Rosh Hashanah (the Feast of Trumpets) to the Day of Atonement (both inclusive) are known as “the days of awe“, a time of national repentance for Israel, a time of penitence, prayer, and fasting in preparation for the Feast of Tabernacles. The Ten Days of repentance are seen as an opportunity for change, a person’s fate being suspended until Yom Kippur when there will be no turning back. “If they do well, they are inscribed in the book of life. If not, in the book of death.”

I strongly suspect that these Days of Awe are symbolic of the final days of the age during which repentance is yet possible… when mankind (and/or the church) will be given their last opportunity to repent before the tenth day which will be Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement. The blowing of trumpets announces His manifestation to the world.  The First time we hear the cosmic trumpet blown by God is in Exodus 19:16-20.  Then we see the prophetic picture painted in 1 Thessalonians:

 

1Th 4:16-17 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

 

Rev 22:20 says “Surely I am coming quickly.”

We don’t know when this trumpet blast will sound but as believers in Yeshua we must trust that what He has fulfilled in the past, He will continue to fulfill in the future.  We don’t know when this time will be, but may I urge you to be ready!  Don’t let Yeshua sound His trumpet and yet find you sleeping – this is what the passage in Matthew 25:1-13 is talking about.  Be ready for the day of the LORD! What a promise He has given us, what a blessing!

Shalom,

Bobbie Watson

Kedoshimministries.wordpress.com

Ask Jesus Now Ministries

 

 

GOD’S APPOINTED DAYS Shavout (Feast of Weeks/Pentecost) – part 6

April 22, 2012 in FEASTS OF THE LORD, Teaching

 Shavuot (Feast of Weeks/Pentecost)

 The 4th Feast of the Lords Appointed days is called Shavuot (which means harvest).  It is also referred to as the Feast of Weeks and in the Greek it is called Pentecost.  All these names are for the same feast I will therefore refer to it as Shavuot, the original Hebrew name for this feast.

[Leviticus 23:15-17] And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the Lord.

Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks, came fifty days after First-fruits. This is another agricultural feast.  There are two important encounters with God that happened on this exact day.  The first is found in the book of Exodus where God revealed Himself to Israel on Mt Sinai and gave them the law.  The second is found in the book of Acts chapter 2. This feast was a prophecy of the day of Pentecost (Pentecost means fifty) and the coming of the New Covenant. The disciples were commanded to tarry at Jerusalem “for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4) which they did. However, they did not have long to wait. The coming of the Holy Spirit occurred on the next Jewish holiday when Jews from different countries came to be in Jerusalem to celebrate the completion of the harvest season. This annual feast was none other than the Shavuot or Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and once more God descended on those first-century believers with a mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire and other demonstrations of the Holy Spirit, once more establishing a covenant with His people.

Part of the instructions for celebrating this feast was that they were to bring to the temple two loaves of bread, specifically commanded to be made with fine flour and baked with leaven.  These two loaves of bread were to be used as a “wave offering” for the people. It is more than likely that the two loaves of bread that were brought to the temple on Pentecost represented both Jew and Gentile – the great mystery spoke of in Ephesians that Jew and Gentile become one new creation through the blood of Jesus Christ.

(Ephesians 2:14-15).”For he is our peace, who hath made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us … to make in himself of two (Jew and Gentile) one new man, so making peace”

Yeshua again is the fulfillment of this feast.  Because of His death, burial and resurrection, His Holy Spirit returned on this particular feast day of Pentecost when all the Jews from every tribe and nation would gather together as commanded by the law.  On this day as the Lord’s people were gathered as commanded the Holy Spirit of promise descended on the believers and every one heard every one else speaking in their own language.  It was because of Yeshua’s death that the Holy Spirit of promise came – and it happened on THIS feast day…

Historically, Yeshua has fulfilled all these 4 feasts.  What God sets as a pattern in the past will continue as a pattern in the future because the LORD is the same yesterday, today and forever.  The final 3 feasts we will cover are prophetic in nature because we are still waiting for Yeshua to come and fulfill them.  I can’t wait to share it with you!

Shalom,

Bobbie Watson

kedoshimministries.wordpress.com

Ask Jesus Now Ministries

 

 

GOD’S APPOINTED FEASTS – FIRST FRUITS part 5

April 2, 2012 in FEASTS OF THE LORD, Teaching

FIRST FRUITS

Welcome back to our study on the Feasts of the Lord.  Today we will be covering the 3rd Spring Feast called “First Fruits” and seeing how Yeshua (Jesus) our Messiah fulfilled this feast. Let’s open our bibles to the Book of Leviticus chapter 23 again beginning in verse 9 and read through 14. I will start you off:

[Leviticus 23:9-14]And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest….

The Feast of First Fruits, on the 16th day of Nisan (which falls on our solar calendar we use today during our March-April), was a celebration of the harvest, when a sheaf representing the very first of the harvest was waved before the Lord as a symbolic gesture that dedicated the coming harvest to Him. (This sheaf was likely to be barley, which was the first crop to ripen).

Jesus rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits. His resurrection was like a wave offering presented to the Father as the first-fruits of the harvest to come at the end of the age. The Apostle Paul said…

1 Corinthians 15:20,23 But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.”…”For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”

In John 11:24-26 Jesus says He IS the resurrection, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

 

What does the first fruit show us? The first fruits show us that there is more to come. Jesus is just the first of the ripe grain. There is a whole harvest yet to come. We – the believers of Yeshua and in His resurrection will be the remaining harvest that will come in when the harvest time has come.

So Christ is the first fruits and here we have picture of the resurrection of Jesus Christ because He was raised on this very day on the 16th day of Nissan, on the Feast of First Fruits.  During the month of Nissan the people would gather in Jerusalem and celebrate the first three Feast of the Lord Passover on the 14th, Unleavened Bread on the 15th, and First Fruits on the 16th. So what you have is a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ’s resurrection is showing you that because Christ has been raised from the dead you can now walk in newness of life. That’s cause to celebrate!

Until next time, Shalom!

Bobbie Watson

kedoshimministries.wordpress.com

Ask Jesus Now Ministries

 

GOD’S APPOINTED FEASTS – UNLEAVENED BREAD PART 4

April 2, 2012 in FEASTS OF THE LORD, Teaching

Unleavened Bread

As we continue to study out the Feasts of the LORD, His holy convocations, His appointed times, you will see, these feast are rich in history and prophecy! Let’s unravel the Feast of Unleavened Bread today.

Leviticus 23:6-8 “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. “

The Feast of Unleavened Bread began on the 15th of Nisan (March-April) or the day following Passover, and continued for seven days until the 21st of Nisan.  It’s a reminder that the Israelites had to obey and follow immediately and leave the land of Egypt and travel to their promised land.  They were not to wait until a convenient time, they were not to wait until the bread had risen, they were to leave in haste the moment they were told to leave without hesitation or further preparation.  (Exodus 12:33-34)

Leaven, in the Bible always symbolized evil, sin and/or false doctrine. Both Jesus and Paul warned about leaven… Luke 12:1 “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

And Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 16:6; Luke 12:1

Sin, like leaven, has a polluting quality. It doesn’t stay small or contained for very long, but quickly spreads… eventually affecting our entire being. The symbolism of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is “God’s people can not continue in the same old patterns, we must search out and remove every speck of sin in our lives.” However this is only possible after putting faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The blood of Jesus was shed for us and that blood, when we apply it in faith to the door of our hearts we are no longer slaves to sin for the Son has set us free. Therefore, I no longer have to practice sin. We can keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

1Co 5:7-8 “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Paul is assuming in this letter, to the Corinthians, that we would continue to celebrate these feasts.  Jesus was buried ON the day of the Feast of Unleavened bread.  The very Spirit of Obedience that enabled Jesus to the walk He walked and the cross He died on is the same power of obedience that lives in us now through the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit continues to transform us as we become more like Jesus. (Romans 8:29, Ezek 36:27).  Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are now dead to sin and are able to live without the judgment of sin in our life. Jesus has fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

I hope you are enjoying these brief lessons of the LORD’s feasts and how they relate to Jesus our Messiah.  Stay tuned next week as we visit the Feast of First fruits.

Feasting on the LORD’s Word, Shalom to you!

Bobbie Watson

Kedoshimministries.wordpress.com

ASK JESUS NOW MINISTRY

GOD’S APPOINTED FEASTS – THE PASSOVER part 3

March 30, 2012 in FEASTS OF THE LORD, Instruction, Teaching

 

 The Passover

 God’s plan of salvation for mankind is summed up in these feasts which relate to Israel’s agricultural seasons and therefore falls into three clusters. The spring and Summer Feasts symbolize the inauguration of redemption while the Fall Feasts its consummation.

  • The first 3 feasts PASSOVER, UNLEAVENED BREAD, and FIRST FRUITS occur in rapid succession in the spring of the year over a period of eight days. They came to be referred to collectively as “Passover.”  The fourth feast, Harvest or “FEAST OF WEEKS” occurs fifty days later at the beginning of the summer. By New Testament times this feast had come to be known by its Greek name, PENTECOST, a word meaning fifty.
  • The last three feasts Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles extend over a period of twenty-one days in the fall of the year. They came to be known collectively as Tabernacles.”
  • Leviticus 23:4-5These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover”.

The Passover feast listed here in Leviticus is truly the “crown jewel” of the feast we are going to be studying.  The Passover feast that we celebrate today is a reminder of Israel’s release from bondage out of Egypt in the book of Exodus chapter 12.  The Hebrew word “Pesach” means to pass over, to exempt or to spare. Passover, which begins on the 14th day of Nisan (the first month of the Jewish calendar which falls around March-April on the solar calendar we use today), celebrates the exodus of the nation of Israel out of bondage.  The night before the final ‘plague’ which caused Pharaoh to release the Israelites, they were given very explicit instructions… They were to sacrifice a lamb and place the blood upon their door posts.  That night the angel of God “passed over” the houses of the Jews that were covered by the lamb’s blood, but caused the death of the first-born of all families in the houses that lacked the blood. Every year at the Passover feast there would be a reenactment of this ritual to remind the Israelites of their deliverance from the destroying angel and slavery under the Pharaohs of Egypt. (See Exodus 12:1-14)

Jesus fulfilled this feast both symbolically, and quite literally.

On the 10th of Nisan, Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on the very day the actual lambs to be slaughtered were selected. He entered the city as the sacrificial Lamb chosen by God, which however was not understood by the people at the time.

Four days later Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation for the Passover, when the other lambs were actually slaughtered (John 19:14 tells us that as Jesus stood before Pilate; it was the day for the preparation of the Passover and it was about the 6th hour).  Jesus literally became our Passover lamb: 1 Peter 1:18-19For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

John 1:29Behold the “Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.”

1 Cor. 5:7 “… Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.”

As the destroyer “passed over” every home on which he saw the blood of the lamb, so God will “pass over,” (not execute judgment) on every Christian who is protected by the blood of the lamb Jesus. This is accomplished by putting faith in Jesus Christ.

There is so much more information that can be gleaned from studying the details of the Passover feast detailed in the book of Exodus and the similarities of the lamb, the lamb selection and the lamb sacrifice that is beyond the scope of this lesson.  It’s truly fascinating and perhaps I can do a more detailed study on just this particular feast in a future lesson.  Our take-away from today’s lesson is “Jesus IS our Passover lamb, and He BECAME our Passover lamb ON Passover.”  Whoever believes in the blood of the lamb of Yeshua (Jesus), has His blood written on the door posts of their hearts and on the day of their death or at His 2nd coming, judgment for sin will be passed over and they will enter the gates of heaven to sit with our LORD.

Shalom,

Bobbie Watson

kedoshimministries.wordpress.com

Ask Jesus Now Ministry

GOD’S APPOINTED FEASTS – THE SABBATH #2

March 26, 2012 in FEASTS OF THE LORD

 The Sabbath

              We have established historically and biblically what the Lord considers to be a day, week and season.  Now that we are in context we will be focusing our study series in the book of Leviticus chapter 23 which covers chronologically the Appointed Days set by God.  The first appointed day that we will see is The Sabbath – the 7th day.

Leviticus 23:1-3 The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘The LORD’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocation – My appointed times are these: For six days work may be done; but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation.  You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.”

The Hebrew root word for convocation is “miqrâ’”.  The definition of this word is “a public meeting, a rehearsal”.  The root word for Feast is “mô‛êd” and it means an “appointment, an appointed sign and time”.  So we could say that these times listed in Leviticus are historically “a public meeting or assembly held at an appointed time”.  Prophetically, we could say these times are “a rehearsal and sign for an appointed time”.  Keep this phrase in mind for all of our future lessons as it will be the key.

The Sabbath that is spoken of here would be held on the 7th day which is from sunset Friday through sunset Saturday. The Sabbath was “made for man, not man for the Sabbath, and Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath” according to Mark 2:27-28.  Although we don’t approach these days legalistically, there is wisdom in its intent and purpose. God wants to bless you! The Sabbath is about God’s covenant with us and is one of the 10 commandments listed in the book of Exodus 33! Practically speaking, if we are over stressed, we become ineffective and we respond in ways that do not reflect the Holy Spirit.  God is so wise! He knows we need rest.

The Sabbath is a creation principle.  Genesis 2:1-3 says “thus the heavens and earth were completed and God rested and blessed the seventh day”.  This is the first Holy convocation – holy being a day set apart unto the lord.  God worked for 6 days and then rested on the 7th.  God didn’t rest because He was worn out, He rested because He was giving us a pattern to mimic knowing that we needed a day to rest and refresh our souls, forget about regular work and worries, and reflect on Him.  Ephesians 5:1 says to be imitators of God, and John 5:19 says “Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”  We are to do what we see God and Jesus doing!

God’s design is for us to find rest in Him on this day.  In Christ, we find our rest every day.  Look up these scriptures: Exodus 33:14 and Matthew 11:28.

We can rest in Jesus! We can lay down our burdens and rest in Him!    The take-away from this lesson is for you to understand that God wants you to take a day of rest from your work, spend time worshiping Him, refreshing your soul and spend time with your family. Spiritually, in Jesus the Messiah we can rest from our “doing” and trying to “earn” our way into heaven through legalism and works because He has already paid the price for our sin. We are no longer slaves to this world, but redeemed children of God through Christ Jesus.  May His rest become your rest, and fill you with His peace.

Shalom to you!

Bobbie Watson

kedoshimministries.wordpress.com

ASK JESUS NOW MINISTRY

 

 

GOD’S APPOINTED FEASTS – THE SEASONS #1

March 26, 2012 in FEASTS OF THE LORD

 The Seasons

The focus of God’s Appointed Days is to discovering how the Hebrew Bible (what Christians refer to as the Old Testament) and the New Testament connect. We will be specifically concentrating on the feast seasons outlined in the Torah and their relation to Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah. Before we can truly understand the timing of these feast seasons, it’s important to put ourselves historically into context and know just a few things about Gods rhythm and timing.   For example, in Daniel 7:25, the Enemy will “intend to make alterations in times and in law”. Today, I think that is a good place to start so let’s dig into the Word and go to the book of Beginnings and see how the formation of the day began:

Gen 1:2 “and the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Gen 1:3 and God said, Let there be light: and there was light. Gen 1:5 and God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”

From these scriptures we can see that before there was light, there was darkness.  Creation began in darkness.  God begins in the darkness and the day in the evening because darkness can lead to light.  We see a principle at work here throughout the Bible that man begins in darkness and they come to the light (Job 42:5, and the book of 2 Corinthians are good references for seeing this principle at work).   Biblically, the days begin at sunset, and yet now, the day begins in the middle of the night – 12am. This is the first change I want us to note.

The second change of “times and seasons” is the first day of the week.  Biblically the first day of the week was considered sunset Saturday to sunset Sunday. Sunday sunset to Monday sunset is the second day of the week etc.  Friday at sunset would be the onset of our 7th day – the Lord’s Sabbath day.  Our days now begin in the dark of the night, and Monday is considered the first day of the week, and we as Christians consider Sunday our “Lords Day”.

The third change we see is the new year.  Biblically, the new year begins in the spring which is the time of new beginnings for life, which is referred to as the month of Abib (Abib was the Canaanite name for the month before Babylonian captivity.  After Babylonian captivity it became known as Nisan and is still referred to by that name today).  Now, we begin the new year in the middle of winter – January.

  Biblically the months are marked by new moons as they used a lunar cycle, and now, we use a solar calendar.  Isn’t it interesting that Daniel 7:25 in speaking of the end times, says that he (referring to the beast) will intend to “make alterations in times and in law”.  The times that are being referred to here are Gods appointed times that we are about to discuss and the times in which they fall.

Now we are in historical context of our days, times and seasons.

Bobbie Watson

kedoshimministries.wordpress.com

ASK JESUS NOW MINISTRY

 

 

STRONGHOLDS: IN GOD OR THE ENEMY?

March 20, 2012 in Teaching

Strongholds: In God or the Enemy?

Have you ever wondered why certain negative things happen over and over again? Or why certain things happen only to you? Could it be a stronghold is anchoring you down? So what is a stronghold? It is an attitude which is deeply rooted and highly defended. It can be a place of refuge or a fortress for error. Many strongholds begin by believing a lie. To illustrate this point consider how many times you felt confused, afraid or depressed. The truth is you were made in HIS image and in HIS likeness. God does not have confusion, fear or depression. According to Bobbie Wimsett of Walk Free Ministries, there are sixteen strongholds which have many manifestations i.e., a lying spirit manifests itself by slander, gossip, exaggeration etc… These strongholds can be compared to far reaching tentacles which span into every part of your life and family; it can zap your energy and cause your faith to fail. So what is the answer? First and foremost, you must recognize the stronghold that brings the attitude, behavior or thought that keeps you bound to actions that are unpleasing to yourself, those around you, and most of all God. Then you begin the simple process of repentance and prayer that will set you free. Continuing in prayer, reading and believing God’s word will give you the needed courage and strength to say no the next time a stronghold knocks on your door. Strongholds of the enemy are without mercy, painful, and costly to you and others.  You never have to wonder why certain negative things happen to you.

On the opposite side of an erroneous stronghold is faith and trust in the Lord. One example is King David who surrendered his heart and made the Lord his stronghold. Seeking and depending on the Lord, always yielded him great courage and strength in the face of the enemy, not fear. Another example of this is found in 1st Samuel 17 when he slew the giant Goliath or in Ps. 9:9 “the Lord will be … a stronghold in times of trouble,” Ps. 59:9 “… God is my stronghold,” and in Ps. 62:2 “He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold…” Faith comes by hearing the word of God, and trust grows as you experience His goodness. Today, seek Him with all your heart “don’t lean on your own understanding…” Prov. 3:5   ASK JESUS NOW into your heart – begin the life of continually growing in faith and in trusting the Lord. He is waiting for you with open arms!

For more information on The Strongholds contact: Bobbie Wimsett of Walk Free Ministries, www.walkfreeministries.info

Gilda Bueno

ASK JESUS NOW MINISTRY

 

 

 

 

 

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