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Today is the 36^th day that we have been counting the omer.

Since God knows the end from the beginning, He tells Moses that after he dies, the children of Israel will turn their backs on God. God commissions Moses to write a song. In fact, God tells Moses to teach it to the people and have them learn it by heart, “so that this song can be a witness for Me against the people of Israel.” (Deuteronomy 31:19) Deuteronomy 32 records the song for us. The words are probably unlike words of any other song that we have ever heard. I encourage you to go read the words, for the Song of Moses is a picture of Israel’s history and exile.

He starts off by bragging on the greatness of Yehovah. “For I will proclaim the name of Yehovah. Come, declare the greatness of our God!” Then Moses says, “He (Yehovah) is not corrupt; the defect is in His children, a crooked and perverted generation.” (v 5 CJB) That is a sad commentary about a people who had been chosen by God to be His very own. He had taken them from nothing, guarded them “like the pupil of His eye”, and carried them around even as an eagle carries her young when she flies. Moses went on in his song to tell how they would totally turn their backs on God and would be brought to ruin. But Moses did not stop there for Yehovah is the God of redemption. He revealed that God will take vengeance on those who destroyed the nation and will avenge the blood of His servants. In fact, God will even make atonement for the land of His people.

But the most pointed thing that Moses told the people was this. “Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of these instructions. These instructions are not empty words – they are your life!” (vs 46-47, NLT)

I think God, through the book of Deuteronomy, would tell us, the ones who have been adopted into the family of God, that we must guard ourselves and our children. We must teach in the strongest manner possible the truths of God. We must not get lax or we will fall just as Israel fell. Even worse, our children will fall. The devil will destroy them by dragging them through the deepest and most devastating pits he can find. I think God is telling us very bluntly that He is not playing games. He is a gracious and merciful God, but He does not play games. I believe God would tell us the very same thing He told Israel – Listen up! Take these truths to heart and make sure your children obey every word. For this is NOT A TRIVIAL MATTER for you – these are not EMPTY WORDS; they are YOUR LIFE!

May God give us ears to hear and eyes to see His truths.

Pastor Ann

May 17, 2020

Today is the 35^th day that we have been counting the omer.

One of the greatest desires of every person on this earth is that they would have a great life, a life full of good things and a life of joy and happiness. It seems that everyone is searching for fulfillment. You may have heard of Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist who formulated a theory of psychological health. He was attempting to explain human behavior, defining conceptually the needs of each individual. In his theory, he determined that ultimately everyone is driven to achieve self-actualization. In his mind, that ultimate goal of self-actualization would result in the highest sense of personal fulfillment.

As Moses was giving his final instructions to the children of Israel, he addressed the same basic question that Maslow attempted to answer. However, Moses was a bit more specific in his answer. Maslow theorized, but then left the ultimate answer to each individual. Moses, on the other hand, gave a specific answer to every individual. He said that if a person and even a nation wanted to find their real purpose, they could not look to themselves for the answer. He told the children of Israel that a wonderful life, with all the great benefits and pleasures, was found in “loving Yehovah your God, paying attention to what He says and clinging to Him”. Why? “for that is the purpose of your life!” (Deuteronomy 30: 20)

Moses was right. He spoke the truth that he had seen play out over all the years of leading more than two million people from Egypt, through the desert, and up to the banks of the Jordon River. He laid life and self-actualization, self-fulfillment out for them that day. We may not like what he said, because we have this desire inside of us to do what we want to do no matter what it is, but Moses was not wrong. He was right. Our greatest fulfillment and accomplishment on this earth is wrapped up in one thing – loving Yehovah, paying attention to everything He says, and having an intimate relationship with Him. Nothing else will do.

Pastor Ann

May 16, 2020

Today is the 34^th day that we have been counting the omer.

As I have been continuing to read in Deuteronomy, I have been impressed with two statements that are repeated several times. One of them is, “Remember that you were a slave in Egypt….” When those words are spoken, they refer to how the people were to treat those who were foreigners, orphans, or widows.

The other has to do with the positive and negative consequences of actions – “if … then.” Moses laid it all out for them. He was very clear about things that were right and things that were wrong in the sight of God. He adamantly declared to them that if they would do what was right according to God’s character, then they would be blessed by God. However, if they chose to do what was wrong according to God’s character, then they would be cursed by God. And even with all his effort to ensure that they would choose the right, he told them that he knew that they would choose wrongly down the road.

I think that both of the statements, “remember that you were a slave in Egypt”, and “if … then”, are meant to spur us to think about where we have been, who we are, and who we want to be. Those statements remind us that we were once away from God and were slaves. We made choices that took us deeper into slavery. We were driven to repeat the same stifling, derogatory behaviors, and attitudes.

We hated where we were, and we knew that there had to be a better way. As a result of that central truth, God’s prevenient grace in our lives, we began to seek the way out. God, “who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our sins – it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5) Now, we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus the Messiah. We are to remember where we have been and give mercy and grace to those who have not yet found the Truth or are weak. Each day we are to realize that God is still forming Himself within us. We have choices to make that will either polish us to reflect Him more clearly or cloud us over so that His character is not quite recognizable. The choice is ours.

It is my prayer that we will choose to remember where we have been, who we are, and who we want to be and choose God’s blessings each day as we move toward Pentecost.

Pastor Ann

May 15, 2020

Today is the 33^rd day that we have been counting the omer. In just 17 days we will arrive at Shavuot/Feast of Weeks/Pentecost

Moses makes an interesting statement in Deuteronomy 18:15. “Yehovah will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him.” (CJB) The New Living Translations says, “You must listen to him.” In fact, Moses said that they were to HEAR and OBEY this Prophet. That is what the Hebrew word “shama´” (‘listen’) means.

All throughout time from Moses’ statement to New Testament days, the people were looking for this person, this prophet that Moses said would come. In fact, in John 1:21, the people of Judah send out priests to ask John the Baptist, “Are you ‘the prophet’, the one we’re expecting?” A few chapters later, Jesus says to them, “Do not think that I need to accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is the one in whom you trust – Moses! If you had believed Moses, you would now believe me, because he wrote of me.” But their eyes were blinded. Many of the people living at that time missed the fact that Jesus is THE PROPHET about whom Moses was speaking.

As we head rapidly toward Pentecost, it is my prayer that we do not take lightly the truth of Jesus, the Father’s Anointed Son who is our Prophet, our High Priest, and our soon coming King. It is very easy to become so comfortable knowing Truth that the gravity and power of the Truth, Jesus, becomes commonplace in our minds. It becomes habit with no forethought. We build our own kingdoms in our minds, and then we rely on ourselves just like the scribes and Pharisees did. They had built their own system and were so sure that it was perfect, that they did not even see THE PROPHET that Moses had told them would come.

We, who call ourselves believers, must hear and obey this PROPHET. The only way that we can stay fresh in our relationship with God is to be intentional each day, reading His Word, talking with Him, believing what He says and acting on it and asking for His guidance. Choose today to be intentional with God so that you can truthfully say that you “shama´” this Prophet, Jesus the Anointed One from God!

Pastor Ann

May 14, 2020