Messianic Judaism, a Brief Look at Jews Who Profess Yeshua as Messiah

I just finished reading a book that I just know will be on my
"Lifetime Top 5" list forever.

It's called, "Your People Shall Be My People" by Don Finto, former pastor of Belmont Church of Christ in Nashville, TN.

As I was reading his book, there were several times that I just put it down and hit my knees and confessed before God the sins of the generations before me, against the Jewish people.

You see, my family origin is primarily German. Anti-semitic jokes were the norm in my home growing up. It was nothing to say we had
"Jewed someone down" when we got a good deal on something.

I remember too, this attitude that the Jews were just hard-hearted and a lost cause because they had rejected Jesus.

How sad to see that today, with new eyes and a new heart. How sad that those who were teaching me didn't know their history very well.

The first century church was made up of Jewish people! The Jews came to Christ first..then the Gentiles later. Acts 10 shows us that the Jews were actually surprised to find that the Gospel, the Messiah was also for the Gentiles!

It wasn't until some Gentiles were baptized in the Holy Spirit, that the Jews realized it was ok for them to receive water baptism too!

When I was growing up, there was almost an attitude of pity toward the Jews for how blind they were.

Just writing this breaks my heart today!

If the Gospel was first for the Jew and then for the Gentile, why in the world aren't we reaching out to Jewish people in love and introducing them IN LOVE to THEIR Messiah?!

I'm not talking about beating them over the head...the LORD knows that they've had GENERATIONS of persecution in the name of Jesus. ( Tragic, as this was never God's intention..just an example of what happens when man doesn't observe the FULL counsel of God's Word enough to know what GOD'S plans are..and instead man depends upon his own fautly plans.)

I'm talking about in love, showing a Jewish person from Scripture how Yeshua fulfilled all of the prophesies made about the Messiah. To do this, we must know and realize the importance of the Old Testament, and not be blinded into thinking that we are just "New Testament" believers.

Jesus didn't first show up in the New Testament..He first showed up in the Old Testament!

Well, to summarize...reading Don Finto's book truly pierced my heart. I told Shane last weekend that I would move to Israel in a minute and live to love on God's chosen people...and to break bread daily with fellow believers in Yeshua.

This was HUGE for me, because I've never even wanted to go on a tour of Israel!

Then, someone sent me this news footage from an Israeli station today. It's really amazing.

We need to remember to be praying for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, in Israel...and for those whom they will share the good news of Messiah with, to have hearts open to hear and consider what the truth of Scripture really is.

Enjoy the footage. Link is below.

In Him,
Jesica

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6244392868781886952

Beautiful Blessing to Yeshua

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M4_IlbaZHA

I just watched this with the kids, and then asked them, if Jesus were here right now, and you could say something to Him face to face, what would you say?

Caedmon, usually my verbal one, said, "Thank you".

Brennan said, "I yuv you!" (translation....love you)

Hope you enjoy this.

The thing about this that spoke volumes to me is the fact that the man who did the painting, took no credit at all for himself. Even to the point of wearing a jacket with a hood so that he wasn't the focus, but Jesus was.

That's how I want to live my life.

So that God gets all the glory, and I am in the shadows.

Hope you have a great day!

Jesica

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I found this picture of Brennan yesterday, on an old disc, and just had to post it. Isn't she precious? How can it be that it feels like this was last week..when it was actually years ago?!

Do you remember, when you were a kid, that it felt like it would take FOREVER to be 18 years old..the age when you were just SURE you'd know everything about everything?!

And yet as an adult, time is quite different, isn't it? When we have our babies, it just seems to FLY by!

This picture brought such sweet memories back for me. Brennan was such a sweet little baby...so gentle and happy. Really, she's still that way...except for the occasional pouty fit. :)

Makes me realize once again that the Bible is really true when it tells us that our lives are but vapors...not only can they be gone in an instant..but even the stages of our childrens' lives seem to disappear before our very eyes, as they mature on to the next season that God has created for them.

Gotta go now...my baby girl is still young enough for me to squeeze a hug out of her, and my son is ALWAYS willing to hug his momma...so I gotta go get some loving! :)

Oh, did you know? The promised Messiah of Israel is risen indeed!

Without His resurrection, there would be no salvation for mankind.

Do you know that?!

Do you know that He appeared to over 500 people after He rose...a testimony to the fact that He did, in fact, rise.

Guess where He is today? Seated at the right hand of the Father.

Guess what He's doing today? Praying ( the Scripture calls is interceding) always for those who are His.
In Scripture, we are called saints. (This means holy ones.)

Do you know Him, and the power of His resurrection?

Do you know that He died to set you free from bondage..the bondage of sin?

Do you know that once you are His, you are no longer a slave to sin?

Do you kow that you are a slave to that which you obey?

If you don't know Him..but want to know more about what I've told you...please post a comment, or e-mail me at azswimmer@msn.com.

I'd love to give you the Scriptures from both the Old and New Testaments, which will show you that Yeshua is truly the Promised Messiah of Israel...but that even if you are a Gentile
(non-Jewish person), you may have a true relationship with God...the great "I AM".

Yes, Yeshua is the promised Messiah of Israel, but He's also the Messiah of the Gentiles...He's the Messiah of all mankind, and He died to give you new life in Him.

I hope that today, as we celebrate His Resurrection, you will seek Him with all of your heart and mind and soul and spirit...knowing that as you seek Him, you will find Him.

God loves you dearly, and He provided His Son as the atonement for your sins.

To lay down His life for you...that's love!

In Him,
Jesica









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Did Jesus have an Old Man?

You may be wondering why this question.

Here's the answer..yesterday in our kids Precept class, we were studying through Romans 6:4.

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

I borrowed from an illustration that Kay Arthur gave in one of her studies, and I drew a cross, a tomb, and a representation of raising from the dead on the board.

The children have already learned that the Word teaches us that our old man (old nature, old sin nature) was crucifed with Christ, and buried with Him.

Yesterday we explored why and how Jesus was raised from the dead..and for what purpose. ( Why don't you observe the verse above, too, and comment on what your answer is.)

Anyway..I asked the kids at one point, "Now, who was crucifed on the cross?".

And one child said, "Jesus".

And another child said, "our old man".

Both correct answers. Yeah team!

But then, one child threw me a curve ball...he said, "Jesus' old man".

WOW!

Well, my answer at the time was to tell the kids that Jesus didn't have an old man. That He was sinless.

Yes, He was sinless. I don't have any question about that.

BUT...the question came later, as I believe the LORD was tugging on my heart to dig deeper...to make sure that I hadn't just given the kids a pat answer because that's what I had been taught.

The whole premise of a Precept Bible study is to learn to "Discover Truth for Yourself" and God showed me that I was just answering out of rote teaching. That I didn't truly KNOW.

Here is the thought line...if Jesus came to earth and took on the form of man, became fully man, and became flesh for us...and then crucified the flesh (ours included) on our behalf...then would he have had an "old man" an "old sin nature" an "old nature?

I thought about the times that He was tempted by Satan.

Scripture makes it clear that He had a choice....and that He chose to walk in obedience to God.

If that is true, and I believe from Scripture that it is, then wouldn't it mean that He had an "old nature" available to Him, but that through the power of the Father and the Holy Spirit, He didn't surrender to it at any point?

That He truly lived by the Spirit and not by the flesh?

Do you see where I'm going with this?

It's one thing to say that Yeshua lived by the Spirit and not by the flesh, but wouldn't realizing that show us that He could have chosen to do otherwise, in His humanity?

Hmmm..lots of good questions for us here.

I'm off to the hospital right now to visit our Grandma Nell...but I'll be digging into this later. I'd love to hear your thoughts..but please, base them in Scripture..for all else is sinking sand.

Would you please pray for our Grandma Nell? She is a precious friend, and after "losing" my parents year before last, she and her husband have filled the painful gap in the hearts of my children, (and ours too!) by allowing us to "adopt" them as their Grandparents.

They have loved our children as though they were their own, and we love them so much!

2 days ago, Jenel fell off of a ladder and landed on the patio of her home. Her husband found her when he came home from work, and at first she was totally non-responsive. He shook her several times, and she came to. At that point, she told him that she couldn't feel her legs.

They took her by ambulance to the hospital, and BLESS GOD, there is no head trauma or back injury!

However, she had to have massive surgery on her foot. She is now fully equipped with lots of pins and plates.

Her recovery will be long. But, we just Praise the Name of the LORD that she wasn't killed or crippled for life.

Thank you, Lord!

She may, however, have to wear orthopedic shoes for the rest of her life, and that might just be the worst part for her. She is a sandal wearing, flip-flop loving lady!

We'll have to figure out how to put rhinestones on orthopedic shoes. :)

Please pray for her, won't you?

And pray for her roommate at the hospital too, please...she's in a lot of hurt, both physically and emotionally. I hope to have an opportunity to share Jesus with her today.

Bye now!

Me

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Please pray for Jordin Sparks , Melinda Doolittle , and Phil Stacy

OK, so I'll admit that this isn't going to be a post focused on studying the Word.

However, I gave a friend my word that I'd post this..so I want to keep it.

She tells me that Jordin Sparks is a Calvary Chapel girl..that she has grown up in that church. My friend asked me to please be praying for Jordin during this time in her life.

She is smack dab in the middle of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood...would you join me in praying for her..that the LORD will surround her..that He'll go before and behind her every step of the way?

Another friend told me today that Jordin's dad is the football coach for our local high school...I had no idea of that.

So..let's pray for her..and for Melinda Doolittle, and Phil Stacy...these are the ones that have been vocal about being Christians..I don't know about any of the other contestants on American Idol.

Let's just pray for all of them!

Happy Resurrection Day! Did you know that today is the actual day? I know that we celebrate it on Easter, but when you look at Scripture, Yeshua's death coincided with Passover...and Passover was earlier this week.

We went to a Seder dinner on Tuesday night..I'll have to write about that later. It was awesome!

Have a great day!

Jes

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