My friend shared this great website with me… www.yearbookyourself.com. So I decided to do it too. She was having tons of fun with it…here are mine.

Psalms 131:1-3  A Song of Ascents; of David. LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in things too great, or in things too wonderful for me.  (2)  Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother; my soul is with me like a weaned child.  (3)  O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and for ever.

May we never grow hard and cold towards G-d, not trusting Him, but continue to have that child-like faith.

Pride says “I’m in charge, I can do it and I don’t need G-d or anyone else’s help.” There is no hope in that . Trust says “I can’t do it on my own. I am weak. I need G-d and I believe He will help me through this situation.” As Lamentations 3:24-26 says “‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.”

G-d’s heart is that we learn to have a simple, child-like trust in Him.  It’s learning to be humble, serving others. Greatness doesn’t come from bossing people around, it comes from serving them. Sometimes pressures cause us to want to rise up and be pushy and bossy. Peace comes when we learn to walk in humility and learn to put our trust in G-d.

Shalom uv’racha

Psalms 130:1-8  A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths have I called Thee, O LORD.  (2)  Lord, hearken unto my voice; let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.  (3)  If Thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  (4)  For with Thee there is forgiveness, that Thou mayest be feared.  (5)  I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in His word do I hope.  (6)  My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning; yea, more than watchmen for the morning.  (7)  O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.  (8)  And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

If G-d treated us the way our sins deserve, we’d all perish. He sees everything we do, He knows everything we think.

Psalm 103:10  He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Our sins are cast as far as the east is from the west, to be remembered no more. He didn’t say as far as the north is from the south, for that would be only some 12,429.91 miles, for the earth’s polar circumference is 24,859.82 miles. But the east and the west never meet, and thus, our sins are forgiven, forgotten, to be remembered no more. It is as David sad in Psalm 32:1-2, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

Jer 31:33-34   But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. {34} And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psa 103:12  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”

It truly is a blessing to be forgiven our sins, for G-d’s grace and mercy is so rich and deep!

Shalom uv’racha

I have a dare for you….. I dare you to walk a day in another person’s shoes. My little video here will explain it better (It’s not the greatest video as I made it on a whim and a few quick minutes…but it will give you the idea.)

I grew up listening to this on a record. There were three songs that we had that were not bluegrass or A Capella Christian. One was Hot Rod Lincoln and Through the mill and How far to Little Rock. I listened to them on the record player over and over.

Psalms 129:1-8  A Song of Ascents. ‘Much have they afflicted me from my youth up’, let Israel now say;  (2)  ‘Much have they afflicted me from my youth up; but they have not prevailed against me.  (3)  The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.  (4)  The LORD is righteous; He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.’  (5)  Let them be ashamed and turned backward, all they that hate Zion.  (6)  Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it springeth up;  (7)  Wherewith the reaper filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.  (8)  Neither do they that go by say: ‘The blessing of the LORD be upon you; we bless you in the name of the LORD.’

Israel was afflicted in Egypt.

Exo 1:8-14  Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. {9} And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: {10} Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. {11} Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. {12} But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. {13} And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: {14} And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

When you look at the nation of Israel, and all the persecution it has suffered over the years, you realize that the only reason it is still even in existence is because of the power of G-d upon them. No other nation has been without a homeland for 2,000 years, and remained a separate people. And G-d preserved them and brought them back into the land, even preserving the Hebrew language.

When you look at the history of the church and see the persecution it has endured over the years, once again it stands by the power of G-d. Read Maryr’s Mirror and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and see what people went through for their faith in Yeshua (Jesus). Read today of the persecution that has come upon the church.

The common greeting out in the field was “The blessing of the Lord be upon you”.
But the people who hurt Israel won’t get the blessing.

Shalom uv’racha

It went right over our house! The children were spazzing because it went right over our house

You gotta watch and listen to this

Psalms 128:1-6  A Song of Ascents. Happy is every one that feareth the LORD, that walketh in His ways.  (2)  When thou eatest the labour of thy hands, happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.  (3)  Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, in the innermost parts of thy house; thy children like olive plants, round about thy table.  (4)  Behold, surely thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.  (5)  The LORD bless thee out of Zion; and see thou the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life;  (6)  And see thy children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!

Blessings are contingent upon fearing G-d and walking in his ways.

A person who has come to know G-d, have that reverential fear of G-d, will walk in His ways. You see, a person who’s heart is right with G-d will manifest godly characteristics.

“Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.’” Haggai 1:5-6. All their labor was futile because G-d was not the priority in their life.

Matthew 6:31-33, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Place G-d first in your life, and G-d will provide your needs. Worrying about food, shelter, health will not help your situation one bit. Focus on G-d and He will see you through.

Shalom uv’racha