... again I say, rejoice!

Shalom,

Praise the Lord, my brothers and sisters. This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24) I have not blogged in awhile, but as I was sending out the weekly Torah portion to our congregation and friends, this sentiment bubbled up from within. I felt it apropos to encourage those whom may be struggling with the issues of life. Take comfort in the realization that the devil did not create this day. Your Father in Heaven is the creator and no matter what comes your way, realize that He created today and because of that, we will rejoice.

You must understand that our Father is not sitting up there nervous about about your situation. He is not wringing His hands wondering what's going to happen to you. He is not mulling over all of the different scenarios that could happen as a result of your dilemma. NO! He is as calm as the day He rested from His work on that glorious first Sabbath. He saw this day because He created it and knew you would be in the predicament you are in before you got in it.

If He is not distressed, then you have no reason to be distressed. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying you have to act as if you are not going through whatever it is you are going through; like on Ostrich sticking his head in the sand. What I mean is this; do not let your situation rob you of the Shalom that has been provided for you by our Lord and Saviour Yeshua!

The difficulties of life are inevitable. Still, we must rejoice IN all things. Notice that I said, "IN" and not "FOR" all things; there is a profound difference. Our Lord does not take pleasure in the things that disparage us, no, He, too, is not pleased when His child is hurt or offended by the wiles of the enemy. But, as a child of royalty, you have access to immense spiritual authority and power!

No matter what the enemy brought your way, know that our reaction should be to rejoice in any circumstance you find yourself in. You need money? Rejoice because He is the supplier of all our needs! You need healing? Rejoice because He is the Great Physician! You need a companion? Rejoice because He is the Lover of your soul! You need faith? Again, I say rejoice because He is the author and finisher of YOUR faith!!! Again and again and again I say REJOICE!

How do you rejoice in the midst of anything you face? A good place to start is to rejoice in His word. Read it, study it, let it rise up within you and bring peace to your very soul. That is what we are about to do right now. (If you desire the weekly Torah portion, respond to this blog with your email. I will include you on our weekly Torah list to study along with us.) 

Lastly, remember, He has a name  that will cover anything you are facing- pick one. The Wonderful counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince Of Peace- pick a name, any name! What do you need? In any of those names you can find the name above all names; that is Yeshua!!! He says this in His everlasting Word, "...call upon Me in the DAY of trouble and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Psalm 50:15. Hallelujah, again, I say, rejoice! 

...Now Boarding

Shalom my dear brothers and sisters. It has been a few weeks since my last blog and weather, sickness and busyness are just some of the factors to blame.  Still, the Lord has been gracious in that I have not had to miss any Sabbath teachings. 

This past Sabbath was a continuation of a theme that we have been studying for the last few Torah Portions; namely, the sacrifices and how they were prescribed.  The message this past Sabbath echoed the same theme.  In the midst of my message, it was evident that the protocol in which a sacrifice was ordered was very detailed in the Torah.  It’s as if the Torah was a divine instruction manual with detailed information concerning how the sacrifice was to be implemented.  Indeed, Torah does mean “instruction”.

I looked at one of our members who is an aircraft mechanic and said that the Torah is like nuts and bolts.  My dear brother knows how to tighten those nuts and bolts on that aircraft he is working on.  But, all of the nuts and bolts and steel and prescribed manners of putting those things together serve one purpose - to defy gravity. 

So, as we search out these prescriptions, we plainly see Yeshua throughout the instruction.  Why?  It is because the goal of Torah is Yeshua.  Ephesians 4:13: “Till we all come in the unity of faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, onto a perfect man, onto the measure of the stature (attaining) of the fullness of Christ”.  Roman 10:1-4: “For Christ is the end of the law (is the goal of Torah) for righteousness to everyone that believeth (or the goal)”.  Attaining Yeshua is the aim of Torah. 

So, all of the nuts and bolts of Torah are what gives us the ability to defy spiritual gravity and attain righteousness beyond ourselves.  Hallelujah!  The sacrifices made in Torah were to cover up unrighteousness, but with the sacrifice of Yeshua we have been cleansed from all unrighteousness.  No longer is our sin simply covered up, our sin, because of Yeshua, has been washed away.  Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Lastly, one of the verses we focused on proclaims or foreshadows this very verse.  Leviticus 6:27 said this, "…and when there are sprinkles of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place."  Praise God that the blood of our Yeshua was sprinkled upon our garments that were soiled with sin and now we have been washed and made clean by that very blood that He shed. 

As with an airplane, we are seeking to arrive at a destination.  Spiritually we have already attained Torah by being - in Him.  Naturally we are seeking to attain Christ or Christ-likeness in this world by living in this world – through Him.  When we land this plane at our final destination, it will be in the world to come - with Him.   

The Standard

Our Sabbath service this weekend was absolutely fulfilling.  It seems that the last few Sabbaths have been executed with such an atmosphere of the Ruach HaKodesh that we have all left the sanctuary awestruck.  After some prayer and fasting and waiting on the Lord, it is becoming more and more evident that The Lord’s Table is, in no doubt, a mandate of the Lord.  Believe me, I have had some doubts over the last few weeks, but what just happened this last Sabbath has all but erased any doubts whatsoever.  Our Sabbath message simply confirms the beauty of what God is doing in our midst at this very hour. 

In Exodus 32:15, it says “And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hands: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written”.  The Midrash explains that the tablets were made of blue sapphire to represent the heavenlies and God’s throne.  It also states at the beginning of the Aliyah (31; 18) that these tablets were written with “the finger of God”.  What an awe-inspiring passage! 

The thing that stands out is that the commandments were written on both sides, a fact that one of our Garland group members took notice of.  What is even more miraculous is that the letters were bore through the entire tablet, yet somehow you could read both sides as if you were reading normally!  I can’t go into the implication fully in this short blog, but I can speak to what this means for us today. 

If, like Paul said, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, then we have a type of Arc of the Covenant resting within side our temple.  And, if that is the case, then we also have the tablets within the Arc inside of us.  I can’t even begin to go into the fact that they were broken and our Lord and Savior, our covenant maker, was broken.  Also, we come to the Lord broken, and so many other things could be said, but let’s focus on the fact that commandments were written on both sides.

What does this speak to us?  If the commandments are the standard we should keep, then our lives should reflect those standards from every angle.

As I mentioned in my message yesterday, if you’re in the grocery aisle and someone in front of you drops a $20 bill, and someone behind you sees that person drop that $20 bill, because of the standard you carry within your heart; your temple, you pick that $20 bill up and hand it back to its owner, because your standard goes before you.  The person behind you was hoping you would not see it so that he could pick it up, but then he sees you do the right thing.  That is why the commandments were written on both sides.  It shouldn’t matter whether you are coming or going, the standard should be well visible to anyone watching you.  As the scripture says in Deuteronomy 28:6, “Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out”, we are blessed because of the standard that we bear in our lives. 

My brothers and sisters, always remember that the world is watching you.  We will be judged more severely by the world because of who we claim to represent.  Let us endeavor to not bring shame to the name that is written across our hearts; Yeshua, Jesus, Jesu, our Rock, our Fortress, our Redeemer, our Friend, our Savior, and our Lord.  Selah!    

Deep Within

We had a wonderful Sabbath service this morning and the only reason that I am doing my blog tonight instead of tomorrow is because of a conference that I am going to be involved in. The details are on my website, www.davidsalinasministries.com.  So, I hope you can make it.

The depth of our message was profound.  The implications of the message reverberate deep within our spirit man.  I say deep because the Holy of Holies was the deepest spiritual place on the face of the earth in the Temple time.

 

Our Torah portion landed on the elements that were on top of the Arc of the Covenant.  Two Cherubim facing each other and the mercy seat were placed on top of the Arc.  The Word says that the manifest presence of the living God would appear in between the two angels, just above the mercy seat.   Verse #17 of our Torah portion instructed us to make a mercy seat. 

I find it such a beautiful thing that the Lord instructed us to fashion a mercy seat  and that He would appear above the mercy seat, not judgment seat, not throne, not even a casual seat, but a mercy seat.  It says to us that God will meet us at the place of mercy.  I am so thankful that He would meet us at a place of mercy, as opposed to meeting us at the seat of judgment.  I am one who is in need of His mercy daily.  And the Apostle Paul made it very clear that we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit.  So if the Spirit of God is within us, just like He was in the temple, then there must be a place of mercy where we can go to whenever we are in need of His grace. 

 

It should cause you to rejoice at the realization that His mercy endures forever and no matter how many times we mess up we can trust that His mercy shall endure. 

The Word says that God would instruct Moses concerning the commandments at that place.  As we seek the Lord at the mercy seat, we can rest assured that He will guide us, instruct us, and comfort us regarding every circumstance or situation in our lives. 

 

Still, like everything else, we must endeavor to enter into that place where the Shekinah glory of the Lord is ever present.  We have within our inner man access to the Spirit of the Living God and some of us fail to utilize the great mercy and grace that has been afforded to us by our precious Lord and Savior. 

I close with this thought.  Take time today and everyday to meet with your Father, whom in His unconditional love, provided a place for you to have communion with Him, to know Him, to love Him, to break bread with Him.  And that secret place just so happens to be deep within side of you.  Amen!

 

 

From Help To Sacrifice

 

Shalom to you all.  Once again, I find myself in somewhat of a quandary.  Some of the main points of the message of Shabbat are difficult to expound upon without going into great detail.  So, regretfully I must leave the deeper points alone.  But, I can bring to light a very peculiar point that I’m sure will bless you all. 

In last week’s Parasha, Moses was faced with some very helpful advice from his father-in-law, Jethro.  Moses’ task was to bring about understanding of the Torah to the entire population of the children of Israel, a monumental task, to be sure, and warranted the advice of Jethro. 

In verse #17 of Exodus 18, Jethro says, “The thing that you are doing is not good”.  We should all take a moment to pause at this point and reflect on the call, the business, the ministry, the very life that we lead today.  How much of your effort could be better served with some help?  Who do you have around you that is waiting in the shadows that could help you in the thing that you are trying to accomplish?  It is from this perspective that Moses yields to the advice of his wise old father-in-law, and from that yielding, has set in motion judicial concepts that we see even in our own government today.  Now, let us look at our Lord and Savior as an example.

With the salvation of the world at stake; your salvation and mine to be exact, Yeshua carried the weight of the world on His shoulders.  The Roman soldiers placed the beam upon His shoulders, to carry His cross, the very thing that He was to be sacrificed upon.  The Lord endured the torture, the ridicule, and the shame of all the demonic hoards, yet He pressed on. 

It was on His way to Golgotha that He stumbled and fell.  Our Lord and Savior needed help.  Think about it.  The creator of heaven and earth, himself, needed help.  One of the soldiers called upon Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross for Him. 

My brothers and sisters, I am so grateful that our Lord and Savior did not call upon supernatural strength to accomplish the work for us.  No, He allowed someone to help Him so that we could realize that we too need help at times.  Let us never forget that the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior was accomplished with the help from one who needed salvation.  Selah…

We should be careful how we deal with and judge those whom God has placed in a position to be our helpers.  For even our Father, God, saw fit that one in need of salvation would help accomplish the plan of salvation. 

Lastly, my friends, let us take Jethro’s words to heart in verse #23, “If thou shalt do this thing, and God commands thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all His people shall also go to their place in peace.”  So, I say to you, do this thing and go to your place in peace.  Amen.

A Seat At The Table

Well, it’s the first day of the week and once again I find myself trying to decide what I will blog about from yesterday’s message. Like some of my other blogs, there were too many points in my message to be able to touch them all.  So, I will attempt, once again, to take one of the points and expound on it alone.

In our Torah portion from last week, verse #10 of Exodus 14, it says that the children of Israel were sore afraid.  It never ceases to amaze me when I read this story that after all of the marvelous signs that the Lord showed them, they would continue to be in fear.  It wasn’t that they cried out unto the Lord, it was how they cried out to the Lord.  They cried out in fear, not in faith. 

In my message yesterday, I looked at a Psalm of David, chapter 18, verses 1 through 3.  It says in verse 1, “I will love thee, o Lord, my strength; verse 2, “the Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower”.  What a way to start off a prayer to the Lord, rehearsing who He is in your heart.  Then, verse 3 says, “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from my enemies”.  This is the way to cry out to the Lord, my brothers and sisters.  Not in fear, but knowing who He is, in that there is no enemy that can come against you.  For if God be for you, who can be against you.

I went to see a movie last week at one of my favorite theaters.  I’ve been there many, many times before, but this was the first time that they had assigned seats.  I usually get to the theater very early so that I can get a good seat.  But, this time was different.  For when I bought my ticket, I had the opportunity to choose probably the best seat in the house.  I went to the concession stand and realized the person behind the counter was new.  She was a little slow, and I started to get a little anxious, because people were going into the theater.  I still had to put butter on my popcorn and was waiting for my chicken nuggets to come out.  I realized then that I didn’t need to be anxious, because I had an assigned seat.  This was different for me, because there was still a little fear that I was not going to get a good seat, but the fear was false, because my seat was already reserved for me!!

My dear brothers and sisters, this is what the children of Israel were doing.  They were so afraid of what Pharaoh could do to them from past experience, that they did not realize what God said was more true than what Pharaoh could do.

God said that He was going to lead them to the promised land and He had already shown Himself mighty and able to save.  There was a place waiting for them.  There was a seat reserved for them.  Think about that!  Rejoice about that!  Rest in that!  You have a seat reserved at the table of the Lord.  Whatever God has said to you SHALL come to pass.  No matter what the enemy has declared that he is going to do to you, he is a liar.  The truth is spoken by God, your father, your strength, your fortress, who is able to deliver you. 

So, dear friends, the next time you are cornered or caught between a rock and a hard place, don’t cry out in fear, but shout out in faith.  For just like Moses said, “See that the Lord will fight for you” (Exodus 14:14). 

I hope to see you all this coming Sabbath, so that we can partake together of the Bread of Life at the Lord’s Table.  It’s not just the name of our congregation (The Lord’s Table), but it is the essence of where we long to be at The Lord’s Table.  And, at The Lord’s Table, there is a seat reserved for you.  Don’t ever forget that no matter how hard it might be, the Lord has reserved a seat for you at His table.  Amen!     

Light In Your Dwelling

Greetings in the name of Yeshua and a very happy New Year to all who celebrate the New Year.   The reason I say it like that is because of the Torah portion that we studied this past week.  See, the Gregorian calendar, for the most part, doesn't mean very much to the Lord.  He’s on a Biblical calendar that has little to do with the calendar that we recognize.  Still, it serves a purpose when dealing with matters concerning this age.

I have just come off of a sabbatical in which I spent New Year’s Eve alone with the Lord.  It was a glorious time, but the significance wasn't in the New Year coming.  No, the significance was that I took time to spend with the Lord.  While the world celebrated a seemingly meaningless time in the Biblical context, it seemed the Lord was waiting for me and our very intimate time together.  Now, let’s look at the text of this past week’s Aliyah.

 21 The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, and the darkness will become darker.”

 22 So Moses stretched forth his hand toward the heavens, and there was a thick darkness over the entire land of Egypt for three days:

 23 They did not see each other, and no one rose from his place for three days, but for all the children of Israel t here was light in their dwellings.

Verse 21 speaks of not just darkness, but a darkness that can be felt.  While families gather for New Year’s and have wonderful times (I have had wonderful times over the years as well), we are well aware that this time can be a time of great darkness in this age, with parties that have nothing whatsoever to do with our Lord. I've personally experienced darkness during the New Year celebration before I came to Christ and it is dark.  There is coming an age, and now is, when the darkness will become darker (verse 21).  We can see it and even feel it all around us now.  But, the portion speaks of a darkness that even those in the darkness will not be able to comprehend.  How true that is today.  Even evil people are saying things are getting bad. 

My encouragement in this writing is that the children of the Lord are children of light and no matter how dark it gets we will continue to dwell in the light (verse 23).

Another  word for “dwell” is  “tabernacle” .  In the Gospel of John 1:1, it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God, etc.    Verse #4 says in Him was life and the life was the light of men.  Now, go to verse #14.  It says and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.  What does this mean, my dear brothers and sisters?  Yeshua made his tent here.  He “tabernacled” here, he dwelt here, and when he finished the work on the cross, that light was made available to dwell within us.  When you accepted Yeshua, there is no amount of darkness that can overcome the light that shines within you.  I don’t care how dark, how ugly, how scary it becomes out there, it shall not “come nigh thy dwelling” place (Psalm 91:10).  The darkness shall not overtake you.  I declare it.  I decree it.  I absolutely profess it over your lives in the name of Yeshua.     

In light of what I just said, I believe for you all a joyous and prosperous 2014.  

The Blessing

To those of you that missed our Sabbath service yesterday, I wish I had the ability in this blog to share the entire revelatory message that came forth.  Since I can’t, I would at least like to expound on one powerful point that would probably have been overshadowed by the more familiar elements of our Parashah.  Because we are studying the 2^nd Aliyah in our seven year cycle, we were able to find a most peculiar nugget within our study. 

 

The KJV says in Genesis 48:16, “Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth”.  The Chumash reads different though.  It reads, “Let them grow into a multitude, like fish in the midst of the land”.  What a fascinating twist in the text.  I won’t pretend to know why the difference, but I welcome the opportunity to explore the depth within the context. 

Israel was laying his hands on Joseph’s sons, yet he blessed Joseph.  He spoke the blessing and transferred the blessing that had been handed down from his father Isaac and his father’s father, Abraham, which ultimately was spoken over Adam by YHVH.  See, the Lord blessed Adam by breathing life into his nostrils, and that blessing was handed down through generations to Abraham, who breathed the blessing on Isaac, who breathed the blessing on Jacob, and now was being breathed upon Joseph and his sons. 

 

What does this have to do with a fish?  It has to do with the way a fish breathes; a fish breathes differently than we do.  Though we live in this world, we are not of this world.  The very air that we breathe is the presence of God.  As the scripture says, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” 

The reason Israel used a fish as an example is because the fish lives and moves and has its being in a different atmosphere, mainly water, and breathes the very atmosphere that it exists in.  We must endeavor to exist in the atmosphere of the Shekinah glory of God; we must breathe the atmosphere of the Kingdom.  Inhale His glory, exhale His word – inhale His word and exhale His glory. 

 

Oh, my brothers and sisters, our Kingdom nature should radiate to everyone within our realm of influence.  The air that we breathe should affect the atmosphere of all that come around us.  Breathe upon them, breathe upon your circumstance, your marriage, your finances, your very life – breathe the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) within and without your realm of existence.  Hallelujah!

 

My prayer for you is that everything that you breathe upon and everything that you bless, would multiply like the fish in the midst of the land.

Remembering The Dream

Shalom and blessings to you all. 

Obviously, we did not have our regular Shabbat service yesterday.   Yet, I was prepared with a simple message.  So, I will expound on one of the beautiful points I was going to make for your encouragement. 

We were looking at the Aliyah is which Joseph finally reveals himself to his brethren.  It was a devastating, yet beautiful encounter.  I could not help but think about when Joseph saw his brethren bowing to him.  They did not know who he was, yet it was at that very moment he remembered the dream. 

Isn’t it amazing that nine years have passed and it took this profound meeting for him to remember the dream that he once had?  Why did he not attempt to search out his father in the nine years that he had gone from the prison to the palace?  Why did he not send emissaries to search out his brothers to see if they were still bent on killing him?  Why did he not send spies to search out and to see if his father would want to still embrace a favorite son that had been gone for so long? 

The revelation rests in the circumstance in which he found himself in.  The blessings of the Lord so overwhelmed him that he forgot all of his troubles, all of his woes.  Oh, I’m sure that he probably thought about his father from time to time, as well as his brothers.  But the blessings of the Lord so overtook him, as well as the responsibilities of the purpose of his life, that it slowly slipped his mind. 

My point, brothers and sisters, is that when the promise of the Lord, the dream He has given, and the purpose of our lives culminate one day, the hardships, tests and trials that we had to endure will seem like sand in our hands. 

My encouragement to you is to be strong and very courageous within whatever you are facing today.  For in your tomorrow, a blessing will surely come as promised.

Lastly, when Joseph wept aloud, all of Pharaoh’s house heard.  Take solace and shalom in the fact that when you weep, the entire house of your heavenly Father takes notice.  As I said last week, your day of reckoning has come.   

Day of Reckoning

We had a wonderful Shabbat service yesterday. 

Of course, speaking of Joseph, an interesting illustration came forth.  It has to do with bowling, but let me first say this.

As I was ministering the Word, one powerful point rested in the fact that Joseph was in captivity for many years and, seemingly from one day to the next, went from the pit to the palace.  He had no idea the night before, when he lay his head to rest and that when he awoke the next day, it would be to a life of authority and privilege; the very inception of the dreams being fulfilled that he had oh so many years ago. 

His interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams; however, lay within two periods of 7, equaling 14.  Isn’t it interesting that his very father labored for his mother for two periods of even 7 years, equaling 14. 

My summation (in reference to the illustration I spoke of earlier) lies deeply within the fact that we do not and sometimes cannot know when our day of reckoning has come. 

Back to bowling, if you are like myself, I don’t have a clue of how to calculate a bowling score.  I bowl and hope that my score is pretty large, anywhere around 300 would be great, because I know that 300 is the ultimate goal of bowling.   I think I’ve gotten around 75 (LOL).

Still, because of my ignorance, if I make a strike or a spare, my lack of understanding keeps from knowing truly where I stand in my score.  I simply don’t know where I am.  I know I’ve done something good.  I know I didn’t do anything wrong, but I don’t know how I’ve been scored.  It’s the same with Joseph.  Year after year, first serving his father, then his brothers selling him to captivity, then his struggles with Potifer’s wife, and lastly, to be thrown in prison.  He did nothing wrong and yet was punished.  He did not know the score until his day of reckoning had fully come. 

Isn’t it interesting that we, my brothers and sisters, are about to enter the year 2014.  I firmly believe that the years of not knowing the score, but pressing on and pressing in, are about to pay off.  So, be encouraged and know that our year of reckoning is upon us.  The score will be tallied and we shall be victorious.  From pit to prison to palace we shall prevail.

Your responses will be greatly appreciated to this blog.

Shalom.