 As we approach the start of the Biblical Fall Feasts I try to understand why Christianity and the Church in general have been reluctant to celebrate the Biblical Feasts, especially regarding the fact that all the Feasts speak about and celebrate our Messiah, Jesus Christ and prophesy about His return and reign as King.Is there the same religious spirit that corrupted the hearts of the Pharisees now present within the leaders of today’s mainstream and commercial churches? Institutions that have gained so much power and control like the Roman Catholic Church that they would rather deny the return of the King than to give up their earthly power and rule. Is it also this rebellious and prideful spirit that has led Christianity to disregard the Biblical Feasts because it speaks of Messiah’s rule and reign? Now read the Parable of the Landowner spoken by Messiah. Matthew 21:33-46 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to tenant farmers and went on a journey [to another country]. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his [share of the] fruit. But the tenants took his servants and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent other servants, more than the first time; and they treated them the same way. Finally he sent his own son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son and have regard for him.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This [man] is the heir; come on, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ So they took the son and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to Him, “He will put those despicable men to a miserable end, and rent out the vineyard to other tenants [of good character] who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.” Jesus asked them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘THE [very] STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED and THREW AWAY, HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE; THIS IS THE LORD’S DOING, AND IT IS MARVELOUS and WONDERFUL IN OUR EYES’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to [another] people who will produce the fruit of it. And he who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces; but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was talking about them. And although they were trying to arrest Him, they feared the people, because they regarded Jesus as a prophet.” - Amplified Version For me this parable is playing out before our eyes just as it played out as our Messiah walked on this earth and among His children. The Pharisees and the institutionalized religion of the time rejected Messiah because of their own pride and not wanting to relinquish what they perceived as rule and power over God’s children. We see the same disregard within some organized and institutionalized churches today that have mistreated believers and gathered riches and power for themselves. They have misused the stewardship that was their responsibility and inheritance just as the Pharisees did. They would yet again deny Messiah and deny the return of the King in order to hold onto the earthly kingdom they believe they have created for themselves. However we know that Messiah’s eminent return will bring forth His Kingdom and His sovereign reign will be established over all the earth and no earthly machination can stop His return as His children know the time is soon approaching. Is Messiah also saying that the church disregarded a kingdom because of their disobedience, just as the Pharisees gave away their priestly inheritance? Now lastly read what the Apostle Paul writes and how he in fact encourages us to not let others judge us for wanting to keep and hold fast to the Sabbath and Abba Father’s Festivals. Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore let no one judge you in regard to food and drink or in regard to [the observance of] a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. Such things are only a shadow of what is to come and they have only symbolic value; but the substance [the reality of what is foreshadowed] belongs to Christ." I pray you are blessed and encouraged to seek the Word of our Heavenly Father and be motivated daily to follow the ways and come under hearing to the ways of our Messiah, Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMasiach. Let us be blessed in celebrating with pure and humble hearts the Biblical Fall Feasts that point to our Messiah’s eminent return. Shalom Brothers and Sisters Courtesy of Philia Contributor Daniel Prinsloo   “God Blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” -Genesis 1:22 NASB Bless. To be Blessed. This is a term that we often use as believers. It is a term that rolls from our speech very easily in our worship services and conversations. It is a term that we are comfortable repeating because it sounds ‘churchy.’ It has become a religious word. It is a word that is decorative and adds flavor to our speech. Much like an accessory on an outfit, the word bless is a point of emphasis. When we offer a blessing, we appear to be offering some sort of supernatural well wish upon the circumstances of that utterance of blessing. It is a term that we seem to use in all parts of speech. It can be a verb; a noun and it can even be used as a descriptor to modify the subject of our speech. It is a term that is used as a greeting as well as a send-off. As a greeting, ‘what a blessing it is to see you!’ As a send-off or a closing to a conversation, ‘God Bless or Blessings!’ As a descriptor ‘what a blessed morning!’ With the veracity of our use of the word, it sparked my interest in learning what this word actually means. As I stated before, we use the term in all sorts of ways. I feel that if we use the term, it is appropriate that we understand what we are saying when the term is used. In this chapter, I am going to examine the word blessed as it is used Biblically. To begin, let’s look at the dictionary to see if we are able to discern an accurate definition. Dictionary.com lists the word ‘bless’ as a verb. They offer three definitions as follows: 1. To consecrate or sanctify by a religious rite; make or pronounce holy. 2. To request of God that bestowal of divine favor on: Bless this house. 3. To bestow good of any kind upon: a nation blessed with peace. While these definitions are not completely inaccurate, the intent of the word ‘bless’ is misrepresented. These definitions, as I have found, do not fully communicate the intent of the word. As we often do as humans, we make everything about us. We use the bless, as implied in the dictionary definition, in an attempt to benefit from or receive some sort of personal gain. In this usage of bless, we seek God to provide for us by alleviating or adding something to our requests. We use the word bless as an impartation of well-wishes upon something. If we ask the Father to bless someone, we are, according to our dictionary definition, asking the Lord to act in goodness toward that person. Using the word this way is not wrong, but this interpretation of the word bless is not wholly accurate. It is limited in the true scope of the word. The fault, in our interpretation of bless, lies in the focus or benefactor of the use of the word. Like I said earlier, we use the term bless as a means to a personal end, in many ways. If we look at scripture, which is probably where we should look initially to gain understanding of spiritual matters, we find the first use of the term ‘blessed’ in Genesis 1:22, as written at the opening of this chapter. Verse twenty-two of Genesis one describes God’s actions toward the animals of the sea and air He created on day four of the creation week. The Word says that God filled the waters with “swarms of living creatures” and He made birds to fly above the earth. God looked upon His creation and He saw that it was good. Verse twenty-two reads: “God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” It is interesting to note that the blessing was not in the fact that God instructed His creation to “be fruitful and multiply.” The blessing, by God, actually came before what we mistakenly consider to be the blessing. In human terms, the instruction of “be fruitful and multiply” seems to be the blessing. God imparted the animals with the ability to be well and to propagate. But this is not the blessing, this is an instruction from God. As the animals complied with God, they functioned within the instruction. This same language is also found in the account of the creation of man on day six. Genesis 1:26: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps o the earth. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on earth.’” We have been created in the image of God. We are His image bearers, meaning that we are imparted with His attributes. We have the ability to carry the attributes of God as a witness to our culture. God gave Adam the authority to have dominion over the things that were created. The task assigned to Adam was to expand the Kingdom of God, the Garden, into the rest of the earth. Adam was to be a human representative of God’s grace and authority. As descendants of Adam, and as image bearers of the King, we too are charged with being a witness to righteousness as we walk this world. We are to build His Kingdom. Now, in a casual reading of the text in Genesis, it is easy to claim that the authority that God gave to Adam was the blessing. We often misinterpret that God blessed Adam and Eve by giving them the ability to be “fruitful and multiply,” but as we will come to see, this was not the blessing. The blessing, in Genesis 1:26 came before God gave them instruction to be fruitful. The ability to be “fruitful and multiply” was given as instruction delineating the task set before Adam and Eve. Again, when Adam walked in obedience to God, he was walking in God’s instruction. Like Adam, we also have been given the instruction to be fruitful and build the Kingdom. We are instructed by God to work (1 Thess. 4:10-12) so that we are not dependent on anyone. Our independence gives us the freedom to be generous and share with those in need. As believers, we are also called to build His kingdom, to multiply. The great commission, given by our Savior, instructs us to take the message of repentance and salvation to the world (Matthew 28: 16-10). In our work and witness, we follow God’s instruction. We are obeying the instruction that was given to Adam, but this is not the blessing. Remember, the dictionary definition of bless is to request or bestow. If we apply this understanding to the term bless, it does not make sense for God to request that He bless. Why would God have to request that He bestow a blessing upon that which He created? God does not need to request of God to impart divine favor, He is God. He is the divine favor! Our interpretations are often inaccurate. Like we often do, as humans, we twist everything to be about us and what we can gain. We perceive a blessing as a request lifted up to God and then God acting on our behalf to bestow us with and answer to that request. In the text from Genesis, we misunderstand that the blessing of God was that Adam was given the ability to accomplish the task set before him. Like Adam, we too have the ability to accomplish what has been set before us, but in our ability is not the blessing. In our determination to follow the instructions of God, we are acting in compliance with His image. In our work, we are bearing His image. As He is the Creator and Sustainer, we too have the ability to create peace, joy and hope as well as to sustain and provide for others. Life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). We have the ability to speak life or death into someone or into a situation. We have the ability to uplift and encourage or to demean and destroy. In this, we function, in a limited way, as God’s image bearers. Our authority to speak life into this world is in accordance with instruction given by God, but this is not the blessing. To truly understand the concept of blessing, we have to look at the original language. The first scriptural appearance of the word bless is found in the text I shared at the opening of this writing. “God Blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth (Genesis 1:22 NASB).” The Hebrew word used here in this first appearance of the word bless is: בָּרַךְ (barak). This word appears over 300 times in the Hebrew (Old Testament) scriptures. Before I get into the Hebraic definition of the word בָּרַךְ , (barak, bless), I want to talk briefly about the hermeneutical concept of “the law of first mention.” Hermeneutics is the theological word for Biblical interpretation. There are a number of hermeneutical principals that are used in the process of interpreting scripture. The “law of first mention” is “the principal that requires one to go to that portion of the Scriptures where a doctrine is mentioned for the first time and study the first occurrence of the same in order to get the fundamental inherent meaning of that doctrine.”1 In other words, we are to place an emphasis on the accuracy and intent of the use of a Biblical concept upon its first appearance in the Bible. It is beneficial to look at how a particular Biblical concept was used in its first appearance. That 1 Cooper, David PhD. Hermeneutics: the Science of Interpreting Scriptures, messianicassociation.org. accessed on 8/9/18. Initial context of the concept or word will be carried throughout the remainder of Scripture. We are to understand the “law of first mention” as that when God first reveals a truth, the foundation for that truth has been determined and defined by God. As we interpret Biblical truth, we are to base our interpretations upon that original intent of the concept. If our interpretations do not fall into compliance with God’s original intent for a word, then we are in error in our usage and understanding of that concept. God determines truth, we do not. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon defines the word בָּרַךְ , (barak, bless), in this way: 1. Kneel down 2. Bless The Lexicon goes on to define the word bless according to various parts of speech and contextual usage based on tense, but the definitions all revolve around the concept of kneeling. When I first saw the actual meaning of this word, I was shocked. In my mind, I tried to incorporate God’s intent for this word with the way that we actually use the word in our speech. How do we reconcile the word bless with how we use the term? There are two aspects of the term bless that we have to come to know in our attempt to fully understand the meaning of this word. Let me start by defining our ability and obligation to bless God. I will list just a few verses that speak of blessing God. This is not an exhaustive list, I am only pointing out a few to add clarity to our understanding of the word bless. All verses are taken from the NASB. “Come and see the works of God, Who is awesome in His deeds towards the sons of men. He turned the sea to dry land; they passed through the river on foot; there let us rejoice in Him! He rules by His might forever; His eyes keep watch on the nations; Let not the rebellious exalt themselves, Selah. Bless our God, O peoples, and sound His praise abroad, who keeps us in life and does not allow our feet to slip (Psa. 66: 5-9).” “A psalm of David. Bless the Lord, O my souls, and all that is within me, bless His holy name (Psa. 103: 1).” “A Song of Ascents. Behold, bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord, who serve by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the Lord (Psa. 134: 1- 2).” “Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which the Lord had done in Israel, in delivering them from the hand of the Egyptians. So Jethro said, ‘Blessed be the Lord who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know the Lord is greater than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when they dealt proudly against the people (Ex. 18: 9-11).” “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for HE has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant- as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old- Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days (Luke 1: 68- 75).” In all of the verses listed, there is a recognition of the awesome authority and dominion of God. In recognizing the attributes of God, a sense of awe overshadows the speakers in the listed verses and they are compelled to revel in the mighty works of our Creator. The verses point to God’s deliverance, provision and diligent, unshakeable will to be true to the covenant He makes with His people. Because of the overwhelming weight of God’s glory that fell upon the speakers in the listed verses, they were compelled to pay homage and bless God. From this short sampling of verses that speak of blessing God, we can gather that it is appropriate and vital that we recognize what the Lord has done for us. It is essential that we recount the innumerable times that the Lord has delivered us from that which seeks to destroy us. As believers, it is imperative that we recognize that God will not forget nor nullify His covenant. In this recognition, the Name of our almighty Father is lifted up above all else. He is exalted and given His rightful place of honor. To bless God then, is to stop and to kneel before our mighty provider, to kneel before our Savior and Redeemer, to kneel in splendor of His immaculate glory. In blessing God, we set ourselves aside and honor Him. To bless is to kneel before our mighty King! This is one aspect of the fullness of the word bless. Looking back to our dictionary definition, we see that this understanding of requesting or bestowing favor does not quite fit into the Biblical model. I do not think it is wrong to use the word bless in the typical ways that we do in our speech. But I think it is beneficial to remember what we are actually saying when we use the word. Our act of blessing God, is in a recognition of who God is and what He does for His people. We should try our very best not to relegate the word bless to a simple nonchalant term in our everyday speech. To bless is to worship our Hope. Be diligent, my friends, in remembering that we are heirs of an eternal promise and take hold of the enduring hope set before us (Hebrews 6: 17-20). As we can see to bless God, is to kneel before His authority and revere His Name, but what of the fact that God also blesses us? In the Biblical definition of blessing, should we suggest that the Almighty bow before us? Should we suggest that God, Himself kneel before His creation? No, not at all. He is the Creator and the King. He bows before no one, but the concept of kneeling still applies to the blessings of God. Let me explain by citing the Aaronic Blessing. Aaron was the brother of Moses. In the book of Exodus, God calls Aaron and his sons to become priests ministering to the Lord. This was the establishment of the Aaronic priesthood, the Cohanim, that ministered to God, the Father, through the Tabernacle and Temple periods of Jewish history. God gave Moses and Aaron instruction on reciting this Priestly/ Aaronic blessing in the book of Numbers chapter 6 verses 22 through 27. This blessing was to be spoken over the Israelites in order that the Name of the Father be upon them. In English, the blessing reads in this way: “The Lord Bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” God, the Father, instructed Aaron to pronounce a blessing over the people. The blessing was a request that the Lord look upon the people. God’s instruction to Aaron was that Aaron speak God’s presence over the people. In other words, Aaron was to ask that God pay attention to the people. This is how we are to view the blessing of God in that Biblical framework of kneeling. Not that God kneel before us, but that He turn His face toward us, offering us His recognition. Is this interpretation consistent with other accounts in scripture? Let’s take a look at a few verses to clarify the point. “Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; save me in Your lovingkindness (Psalm 31: 16 NASB).” “O God, restore us and cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved (Psalm 80:3 NASB).” “Make Your face shine upon Your servant, and teach me Your statues (Psalm 119:135 NASB).” We see requests lifted up before God of salvation, provision and instruction. The blessing of God comes when He turns toward us. He blesses us by recognizing our call and looking upon us as His children. In requesting of God to receive a blessing, we are not suggesting that God kneel before us, but that God hear and pay attention to our voice. We are asking God to shine upon us His face of love and peace and console us in His presence. A blessing of God is knowing that He is in control (Psalm 90:2, Colossians 1:17) and that we are in His hands (Isaiah 41:10, John 10:28-30). In view of the Biblical definition of the word bless, we have an obligation to bless God. We have an obligation to kneel before our Father and King offering Him praise. Our act of kneeling before the Father, will express our allegiance to His will on earth as well as in the heavenly realms. In our blessing of God, we lift His Name above all names, declaring Him as King! In blessing God, kneeling before Him, it will cause Him to see our obedience. He will remember our submission to Him and He will in turn hear our call. He will turn His face toward us, He will bless us with His countenance and offer us the peace of His presence. James sums up this mutual act of blessing when he writes: “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you (James 4:10 NASB).” If we cry out to God for a blessing, we must first fall to our knees in recognition of His authority. In our submission, He will lift us up. “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on earth (Genesis 1:27-28 NASB).’” God created us. He looks upon us and He blesses us with His presence. Because He looks upon us, we have the authority to take dominion of this world, suppressing evil, and declaring the true and rightful Kingship of our Lord! Courtesy of Philia Contributor Corby Shuey @ Becoming Bereans www.becomingbereans.com   n 2 Kings 20:1-11 and 2 Chronicles 32:24-26 we find the extraordinary account of king Hezekiah, a righteous and honorable king of Judea who became ill and was told by the prophet Isaiah that he would die from his illness. Hezekiah wept and prayed to God and three days later he was healed and fifteen years added to his life and reign as king over Judea. (Also read Isaiah 38)2 Kings 20:1-7 “In those days [when Sennacherib first invaded Judah] Hezekiah became deathly ill. The prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not recover.’” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Please, O Lord, remember now [with compassion] how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth and with a whole heart [entirely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father (ancestor): “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I am healing you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life and save you and this city [Jerusalem] from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.” Then Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And they brought it and placed it on the [painful] inflammation, and he recovered.”2 Chronicles 32:24-25 “In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and He answered him and gave him a [miraculous] sign. But Hezekiah did nothing [for the Lord] in return for the benefit bestowed on him, because his heart had become proud; therefore God’s wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.” The miraculous healing of king Hezekiah led him to become prideful and during the fifteen year extension of life that God blessed him with, Hezekiah was instrumental in two key events that would lead to the ruin and captivity of Judea. Hence the will of one man changed the livelihoods of an entire nation. Hezekiah’s pride led him to invite ambassadors from Babylon to view all the treasures of Judea. This led the Babylonians to see Judea as a future conquest that would leave Jerusalem in ruins and led its people being taking as captives to Babylon. 2 Kings 20:12-19 “At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. Hezekiah listened to and welcomed them and [foolishly] showed them all his treasure house—the silver and gold and spices and precious oil and his armory and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house (palace) nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say [that would cause you to do this for them]? From where have they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house (palace). There is nothing in my treasuries that I have not shown them.” Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord. ‘Behold, the time is coming when everything that is in your house, and that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ‘And some of your sons (descendants) who will be born to you will be taken away [as captives]; and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not good, if [at least] there will be peace and security in my lifetime?” The second calamity for Judea and Jerusalem because of Hezekiah’s extended life and pride was that he fathered a son, king Manasseh during this fifteen year time period which God granted him. Manasseh would become one of Israel’s most brutal and godless kings. 2 Kings 21:1-16 “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. He did [great] evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with the [idolatrous] repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons (descendants) of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places [for the worship of pagan gods] which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and he set up altars for Baal and made an [image of] Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he worshiped all the [starry] host of heaven and served them. And he built [pagan] altars in the house (temple) of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name (Presence).” And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. He made his son pass through the fire and burned him [as an offering to Molech]; he practiced witchcraft and divination, and dealt with mediums and soothsayers. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. He made a carved image of the [goddess] Asherah and set it up in the house (temple), of which the Lord said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem [in the tribe of Judah], which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name forever. And I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will be careful to act in accordance with everything that I have commanded them, and with all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” But they did not listen; and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons (descendants) of Israel. Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these repulsive acts, having done more evil than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols; therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such catastrophe on Jerusalem and Judah, that everyone who hears of it, both of his ears will ring [from the shock]. I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes a [dirty] bowl clean, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will abandon the remnant (remainder) of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies; and they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger, since the day their fathers came from Egypt to this day.’”Moreover, Manasseh shed a very great quantity of innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.” The Biblical and historical account of king Hezekiah serves as a warning that we should always seek Abba Father’s will and be content with His sovereignty. Submitting to His will cultivates humility as in contrast seeking the will of men leads to pride. The most perfect example of submitting to the will of the Father is found in the words spoken and the deeds done by our Messiah. Matthew 26:39 “And after going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible [that is, consistent with Your will], let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” Mark 14:35-36 “After going a little farther, He fell to the ground [distressed by the weight of His spiritual burden] and began to pray that if it were possible [in the Father’s will], the hour [of suffering and death for the sins of mankind] might pass from Him. He was saying, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for You; take this cup [of judgment] away from Me; but not what I will, but what You will.” Luke 22:41-42 “And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup [of divine wrath] from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done.” We see the will granted to an earthly king and it led to ruin. Then we see the gracious humility and servitude of our Messiah who submitted Himself to the will of the Father that led to the penalty of sin and death being carried out by the one and only true heavenly King as a sacrifice for His children and for their salvation. There is no greater example of humility and servitude to see our beloved Messiah and God laying down His life for His children. Let us always pray and live in the manner that Yeshua taught us. Let us truly follow Him in our daily lives. Matthew 6:9-13“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors[letting go of both the wrong and the resentment]. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’ I pray this devotional is a blessing as we diligently seek to do Abba Father’s will in everything we do. Shalom Brothers and Sisters! Courtesy of Philia Contributor Daniel Prinsloo  Philia Contributors Daniel Prinsloo and Corby Shuey |
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