What does scripture say about love and Torah?

How does love fulfill the commandments? Does it mean that nondescript love takes the place of the commandments? OR, does it mean that THE COMMANDMENTS ARE LOVE???

Rom. 13:10 Love works no ill to his neighbor (does no wrong, no Torahless actions against his neighbor): Therefore, LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF TORAH. (If you are loving your neighbor you are not doing Torahless actions or works against him...how do I know this? Read the verse that is before this one.)

Rom. 13:9 For this (because of love to your neighbor) you shall not commit adultery, shall not kill, shall not steal, shall not bear false witness, shall not covet AND IF THERE BE OTHER COMMANDS (and we know there are) they are comprehended (or understood without speaking them again) in this (commandment), love your neighbor as yourself.

Look at the example of how Messiah showed his love to us.

Eph. 5:2 Walk in love as Messiah has loved us as He gave himself as an offering and sacrifice to God as a sweet smelling savour.(Sacrifice and offering are works of Torah. Messiah's works of Torah are love to His brothers...right? Messiah shows us that walking in love is doing deeds of Torah. TORAH IS LOVE THAT PRODUCES FRUIT of eternal life.)

Phil. 2:8 Being found in fashion as a man (Messiah sent to earth in the form of man) Messiah did humble himself (as a man) and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. (Messiah shows the example of what obedience is. Obedience was to do the works of Torah in His body. Complete obedience to the point of death. Remember the scripture says that obedience is better then sacrifice! Adam is our first example of disobedience to Yahuah's word and we see what comes from that...the penalty of death. Messiah shows what comes from doing Yahuah's instructions...life! Yahuah has given us His word because it is life to us. Messiah demonstrates to us that doing Yah's word is the ULTIMATE LOVE...No greater love hath no man than he lay down his life for his brother...the works of Torah are love!

1John 2:5 Whoever keeps His word, (Torah which is Messiah before He came as a man) in him is the love of Yahuah perfected. This is how we know that we are in Him (in Yahuah). Is this message a "new testament" message that did not exist prior to Messiah being sent as a man or was this always what Torah taught us? 


 Lets look at what else the scripture has to say.

1John 3:11 This is the message FROM THE BEGINNING, that you love one another.

Now you ask about faith because we know it is true that faith is the buzz word for those who believe there is a separation between new and old testaments. Let's look at this.

Gal. 5:6 In Messiah Yahushua, neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which (does) works by love. (see James ch. 2:20...faith without works is dead. AND James 2:24 you see that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. What kind of works? Arbitrary works, undefined works? Did Messiah just do willy nilly stuff? NO! He did the will of His Heavenly Father...He did the works of Torah...love fulfills the Torah. If you honor your heavenly Father, you will seek to do His will. Not the sacrifice stuff, that is what Messiah did once for all. Messiah did the parts of Torah that you and I couldn't do. He was sinless so His blood could cover sin. The "new testament" says that Messiah came because of our sin which needed covering from before the face of a righteous Father. But we can still do the good works of Torah also as we keep the commandments as our Father gave them.

In the example above you see that without faith in Yahuah and Messiah, doing works of Torah or not doing works of Torah are fruitless. But, if you add faith to the works this produces the fruit of eternal life. The fruit of the word of God is eternal!

Eph. 3:17 (the hope) that Messiah (the spirit of the word/Torah) may dwell in your hearts by faith (because you believe that Yah's word is true) that you who are rooted in LOVE (remember what is the example of love?) may understand the depth with all the saints, and to understand (what is) the love of Messiah.

That is the desire of our Heavenly Father, that we may understand the meaning of His love toward us and how he desires us to honor Him as a Father which is the first commandment with promise,by love for him and faith that He is true, that our days might be long in the land!

Chanukka...The celebration of Dedication

Shabbat Shalom!!! It is finally Sabbath...look forward to it every week and this evening is the first day of Chanukka also. I just read a really great article about Chanukka that talks about how it came about and the prophecy that is in Chanukka for us today. Chanukka means "dedication" and the article gives a brief summary of the story of the dedication of the temple. I would suggest that you also look for a more detailed article on the Macabee's and the Feast of Dedication as it is a historical story that all believers need to know. Chanukka is not a Feast that Yah commands us to keep as it, in and of itself, does not point to Yahushua's works but it is a feast that Yahushua kept while on earth and you can read about Yahushua observing Chanukka briefly in the book of John in the 10th chapter. But here is the article from the website of Daniel Randleman at "Emet Ministries". It is a worthwhile read as it points out prophecy that is relevant to us in this day and should be understood by all believers as we are to be wise and know what our adversary desires to do against the children of the Most High!

Please click on this site to read a very important article that you need to read and understand if you are a believer in these days: http://www.emetministries.com/NEWARTICLES.htm

If for some reason this article does not come up when you click on this link (since it is a link for "new" articles)...the name of the article is "Dreidel Discoveries". The articles are kept in alphebetical order on the site...please look it up.

Be Blessed

Lot of catch'n up to do!

Well, I haven't blogged for sometime. Need to get into the swing but soooo many things to do lately. We had Thanksgiving at our house which went well. We had Craig's parents and his sister and her family and Corey, Megan and Bee over. Seemed to go as smooth as it could. Then some friends came over to visit and we had Jordan (Tanner and Caleb's cousin) and Jason (their friend) and Miss Bee spend the night. Corey and Megan went on a "black Friday" midnight shopping trip and were out late. It was B's first all-nighter at Gra-ma's!! She was very good. She loved all the boys being here, she thought she was just one of the gang and just wanted to hang out and play.

Oh, Craig and Corey are both laid off from work right now. Corey is hoping to go back to his job in January. Craig isn't sure yet when he's going to get called back, BUT, he sure has gotten a lot of stuff done here. He built a wall in the living room area to enclose all that glass and keep the place warmer in the winter. It looks really nice. He got right to it and did it pretty much all by himself. Next, he plans to work on the garage...oh my, that's gonna be a LOT more challenging! The boys and I are just plugging away at school. Tanner has been gobbling up books on computer programing and has begun to design ( when I say design, I mean write code to create) a web page. He has started his own blog and is now getting ready to study some graphic design so he can add his own graphics to the games he's creating on his computer. He's a smart fellow! Caleb and I are pulling up the rear and just holding down the fort while everyone else gets the big stuff done!

I finally have most of Grandma's stuff taken care of, just a couple of loose ends to close up. It's taken almost an entire year to close things up...our legal system is a joke and is certainly designed with attorneys and state in mind. I still miss her sooo much. I thank the LORD for her nearly every day, what a blessing she was to me and my boys. Thank you Father for my family that is here with me now. What a blessing they are to me, all the boys and the two girls. Please Keep us close Father!
Well, gotta get some up-to-date pics to add to blog...sometime soon!
Blessings all,

Bee loves her kitties!

Here is Miss Bee, her boy, and her kitties! She loves her boys and her kitties. She always wants to hold the kitties...one in each hand! She's so pretty!

Long time no blog...

Wow, it's been a really long time since I sat down to blog. Been pretty busy getting ready for school (going along well now), then had Sukkot which took us away for a week. It took a week to get ready for, a week there, and a week to unpack and recoup, So, really it was a 3 week camping trip!! Now, I'm on to stocking up the pantry so I can put up some dried soups and stocking up on my essential oils and herbs for tinctures, teas and poultices for the up coming season. I love to mess with this stuff. I plan to do better at my "naturopathic studies" so I'm equipt to treat and protect. There may be a time soon coming when this info needs to be known to us and I'm praying I'm prepared. Yah willing.

I've got to get some pics up on the blog so everyone can see how we're all doing!
Be blessed, Traci and family

PS Got some really good scripture study stuff to share...pray I get the chance to share it!

Observing Holy Days or Holi-days?

Lambs or bunnies...I choose "The LAMB."

There is a difference between Holy days and holidays.  There is also a difference between the times and days, new moons and Sabbaths...on one hand you have those determined by Abba, on the other, you have those determined by man.

This is briefly written to point out that there days determined by Yah which are to be observed and there are days determined by man which Yah does not delight in...do we know the difference...do we care to?  

Which one should you keep?

(This post does not detail the instructions given by Abba to keep the Feasts and Sabbath.  The instructions for these days and their observances are found in Leviticus ch. 23)

Several places in the bible talk about observing times, days, new moons, and Sabbaths.  Is all observing of times, new moons and Sabbaths against Abba's instructions or is it just those "times" that man has set up...

 Let’s look at scripture to see if we can make Abba’s instructions clear:

2 Kings 21:6  (21st Century King James Version) 
6And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards. He wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.

II Chron. 33:3-6 3For he built again the high places (high places are places men built to worship "other" gods) which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for the Baalim, and made Asherah (Ashteroth/Dianna queen of heaven/easter) poles, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 
4Also he built altars in the house of the LORD (he built his alters for false idol worship in the house of God), whereof the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem shall My name be for ever." 
5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 
6And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger.

God said:

Deuteronomy 18:10 (21st Century King James Version) 
10There shall not be found among you any one who maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or who useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 
11or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 
12For all who do these things are an abomination unto the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. 
13Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. 

Paul reprimands the Galatians for returning back to their old ways from which they came from…Paganism:

Galatians 4:9-10

9But now after ye have known God, or rather are known by God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements unto which ye desire again to be in bondage? 
10Ye observe days and months and times and years.

The observing of “times” that is being spoken of as evil was in reference to the "times" and practices which are NOT prescribed by God. These “times” that made God angry are the ones that come from the practice of idol worship done by those who didn't know Yah and were following after false gods and seeking signs and making sacrifice to these false gods.

Jeraboam is the prime example of this because he determined to change Abba’s Feast Days and the location where the Feast was to be held according to Torah.  Jeraboam made the change according to his desires, and did not honor the instructions given by Yah.

1 Kings 12:25-33

25Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim and dwelt therein, and went out from thence and built Penuel. 
26And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. 
27If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah."

28Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!" 
29And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. 
30And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. 
31And he made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. 
32And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. 
33So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart, and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel; and he offered upon the altar and burned incense.

**This Feast that Jeraboam changed the date and location to, is the Feast of Sukkot.  According to Torah, it is to be kept in the seventh month on the fourteenth day in Israel.

See Hosea 2 (especially verse 11)  This chapter of scripture gives reference to the bride who is practicing adultery by following after other gods and observing false feast days. God says He will take them away from her.

Amos 5:21-22

21"I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell the scent in your solemn assemblies. 
22Though ye offer Me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

Again, you see Abba is expressing His displeasure of their idolatry practices, not displeasure in the times and feasts that are set by Him.

The days determined by God that we are to observe are set in place because of their prophetic significance to teach us what to look for and set in a time period that we are to expect to see it come to pass. They deal with the prophecy related to the Messiah and His comings. Satan desires to hide those days and replace them so that we won't see or understand who the Messiah is or what He will be coming to do or when He is to come. I believe the reason why satan puts it in men's heart to change these days is so that we will not understand what we are looking for and be blind because he hopes that we will miss Messiah. 

Remember:  The "Old Testament" is the foundation!!!  The "New Testament" or more likely, the "Re-newed Testament" MUST stand on what has already been written!!!

  

 Ultimately it is this:  We have 2 choices...one, we choose what Abba has prescribed OR what man has determined in his own heart to do and then declare it is Abba's.  The choice is ours.

Just thinkin'

Prophecy today

July 30th of this year was, on the hebrew calendar, the 9th of Av. The 9th of Av on the Hebrew calendar is a very significant date in history for the Jewish people. It was on that date that the men of Israel were sent out to give report on the land that the LORD was about to give them on the other side of Jordan. The men went out and brought back evil report about the land saying that there were giants in the land and that they (the Jews) couldn't take the land because of that. The LORD was angry with those men because of this evil speaking about what the LORD had said was theirs to take because HE had given it to them. So those guys and everyone else who doubted what the LORD said didn't get to cross over into the promised land, they died in the wilderness. Since that time, on the 9th of Av bad things have befallen the Jews. On that date 2x in history their temple was destroyed. They have been thrown out of countries and many other "bad things" that you can read about have occured. This year on the 9th of Av they have begun re-building the alter near the temple mount in Jerusalem! This is one of the biblical signs that must be fullfilled before the return of Messiah. The book of Hosea talks about the restoration of the LORDs people on the 3rd day (speaking of a 1000 yrs. as being a day) after Messiah walked the earth.
The bible tells us that temple sacrifices will be resumed prior to the return of Messiah. This may be very significant to us at this particular time in history when so many things begin to unfold that point to a time that the bible says will be like no other time in history.
Scripture tells us to watch and pray as you see the day approaching. Yah is the ONE who fights the battle, we are to "be still and see the salvation of Yahuah". It is the final battle, kingdom against kingdom (Kingdom of our LORD and kingdom of satan) and it is determined which one wins already. For now, we are to be "watchmen" calling to men to be ready and to be prepared. So for now we watch, pray, and call men to keep the ways the LORD has instructed men to do because as scripture says "it is not a vain thing that you do the words of the LORD for they are life to you".

Here's the article: Temple Institute to Build Sacrificial Altar on Tisha B'av (9th of Av)
by Yehudah Lev Kay


(IsraelNN.com) The Temple Institute will begin building the sacrificial altar on Thursday, Tisha B’av (9th of Av), a fast day when Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple some 2,000 years ago.
Email readers, please click here to view the video report.The sacrificial altar was located in the center of the Temple, and upon it the Kohanim (priests) offered the numerous voluntary and obligatory sacrifices commanded in the Bible. The Temple Institute, which has already built many of the vessels for the Holy Temple, such as the ark and the menorah, has now embarked on a project to build the altar. Construction begins Thursday in Mitzpe Yericho (east of Jerusalem) at 5:30 p.m.“Unfortunately, we cannot currently build the altar in its proper place, on the Temple Mount,” Temple Institute director Yehudah Glick said. “We are building an altar of the minimum possible size so that we will be able to transport it to the Temple when it is rebuilt." Even a minimum size altar will work out to be approximately 2 meters tall, 3 meters long, and 3 meters wide. Workers have collected around 10 cubic meters of rocks weighing several tons already. The rocks were gathered from the Dead Sea area and wrapped individually to assure they remain whole and are not touched by metal, as the Bible requires.“The Torah says that no iron tools should be used on the altar’s stones,” Glick explained. “The altar represents a connection to life and to the creation of the world. Iron is the opposite – it is used to build tools of war, death, and destruction.”The stones will be cemented together with a mixture of sand, clay, tar, and asphalt. Researchers from the Temple Institute visited the Finish glass factory near Yerucham to learn how to create a mixture which would remain as cool as possible under the altar’s unremitting fires and protect the Kohanim, who always worked in the Temple barefoot.Glick said that Tisha B’av, a day associated with mourning, is really the ideal time to begin to build the Temple. “People mistakenly think Tisha B’av is only a day to cry,” he explained. “It also has to be a day of action. We have the ability in our era to begin the construction of the Temple." “There are many positive developments recently with regard to the Temple,” Glick added. “Hundreds of Jews visited the Temple Mount this week, and more and more continue to come, after undergoing the requisite ritual immersion.”The Temple Institute is searching for donations to help build the altar, which will cost around NIS 100,000 (approximately $26,000). More information is available at http://www.templeinstitute.org/main.htm.

Watch and pray

Tanner's starting Highschool!!! OMGOSH!

Here's Tanner and "B". Tanner is going to be starting 9th grade this year...High school!! I can't believe it's here already. So, we've been planning what classes (a rough idea anyway) he will be taking over the next 4 years in the event he chooses to go onto college. This year he'll be taking Algebra 1, Biology, Language thru literature, US History, Typing, Computer Sci., AND Foreign Language: Hebrew. Sounds like waaaaaaay too much stuff to me. I will be very busy working with him, although he is very independent and usually doesn't ask for much help, I find it's easier if I do some learning with him so I can keep up with him and help him if he needs it as he goes along. I learn a LOT of stuff with these guys! (I don't remember it all but It's more fun to learn now than it was when I was their age!) For Algebra, if he gets into trouble, I have a friend who has volunteered herself to us if we get stuck...is that awesome or what? He did pre-algebra last year and really didn't need any help. If he runs into trouble, he usually just works on it for a while until he figures it out. He's a smart guy. He's kinda quiet but smart. He's always smilin' and he likes to make ya happy. He's a good guy!!!

Right now most of his interests involve thinking up business ideas, designing computer games, and graphics, reading, riding bikes, basketball, camping. His first job was selling eggs from our chickens (when we still had them) and he made quite a bit of money from that...because he never spent ANY of it (I told you he's smart)! Right now, he's been making and selling colloidal silver machines. We started it as a science project and as a way he could make a few bucks. It's a specialty item but he hasn't done too bad with it. He likes doing his own stuff. He would like to have his own business and work for himself. I think he could!

You're a great guy Tan, I hope ya have a great school year (and me too) and that we don't get overwhelmed! Love ya, Mom


Here is one of those distorted pics Tanner took of himself with his computer...fortunately he doesn't look anything like this but it is a hoot! He looks like one of those animated super hero guys!

Making Kefir and Filmjolk

This is cool! I've been making homemade Kefir and Fil milk. Kefir is a type of fermented milk which is full of enzymes, vitamins and is a live culture similar to yogurt and is a probiotic. It aides in digestion and of coarse has a lot of protein. It is said to best be made with raw milk but at this time I mostly use organic pasteurized milk. You can use cow or goat's milk and there are water kefir grains in which you can make a drink similar to soda that actually has some benefits with the live cultures in it and less sugars. The grains grow over time (the look a little like cottage cheese, lumpy like that). You add them to milk, let the milk set out over 24 hrs. Strain the grains and leave the milk out for another 24 hrs with the airlock I have on it (in the above picture) which keeps the air from going in and only lets air out. Then refrigerate for a day or two to allow more proliferation of B vitamins then, you can drink it straight or what I do is, add to you smoothie with what ever fruit you like and a little honey. Yummy good and good for you!

The Filmjolk (pronounced: feelm yolk) Is much the same process but there are no grains and the process is much more fool proof and hard to do wrong. You save out about 6 Tbsp. of liquid from a previous batch then add it to about a half gallon of milk or cream. If you use cream, you'll be making creme frache' ( a cultured sour cream!!) Leave it out for 24-48 hours depending on the temp of your kitchen. You can then drink it straight or use it is smoothies as above, or if using cream, as a sour cream for dips recipes etc. Best served raw of coarse.

Kefir, filmjolk, yogurt all add different probiotics to your diet so it's nice to have them all on hand. You can also just add to fruit and eat it that way or make dressings and such.

This is a cool website to check out for LOTS of info on kefir grains and filmjolk:

http://www.cheeseslave.com/2008/01/26/got-filmjolk/

Check out the section on "how to make homemade soda pop with kefir grains". It sounds really good. Maybe I'll try it too.

Would like to use the raw milk to make my kefir and fil milk just haven't gotten all the way there yet. I know a lot of ladies who use raw milk exclusively and I know that raw milk is full of nutrients that are destroyed by pasteurization and pasteurization is believed to make milk actually harmful to us.

It's good to make it at home instead of store bought as the store bought kefer is really full a sugars and sugars can kill the good live cultures, so by making it yourself, you know exactly what is in it and how much.

B's phone

Here's a pic of "B" talking on her phone. It's not really a phone, it's a big, flat calculator but she thinks it's a cell phone so she walks around saying, "hi" on it. It makes me laugh because it's so big but it has big numbers on it so I can see why she thinks it's a phone.

She's a hoot!

The Card

Here are some pics of us helping Braelynne Faith make a card for her mom's birthday. O my. It was quite a battle to get her to lay her little hand flat. The foot didn't go too bad but the hand, Oooooh my goodness, the hand!!!!!!!!! She really couldn't see the need for spreading out her cute little fingers and placing them neatly on the piece of paper without trying to make a fist and crumpling up the paper, aaaahhh. O well, it is the thought that counts, right?

Look at those toes, they are the cutes toes. It's cute to look back and remember how tiny they were because they grow so fast.

As "B" says, "Happy Day". She learned that when she had her first birthday. She actually said happy birthday but I guess she's a girl who doesn't waste her time so she has shortened it down to Happy Day. Sometimes she kinda sings it. Sometimes she just says it. But she just wanted to tell her mom...Happy Day!

Just Pics

Here are a few funny pics the boys took of themselves on the computer. They're always doing something wild with the computer; being guys on the news, commercials and short movies. They are quite a hoot sometimes and we get quite a chuckle out of 'em. In the top pic, Tanner is the "fattest man". The second pic looks like it could be Caleb when he's about 16, The next one is when Tanner is ALL finished with school, and I think in the bottom one, Caleb looks a little like the lead singer from the beatles! Ha!

Just for fun!

Questions from Caleb

I love it when Caleb opens up and asks questions. It really shows me the inner workings of his mind. Sometimes I really have to laugh at him because he has some pretty wild thoughts, like the time when he asked me, "Mom, what if a midget went to war and got his arm shot off and they had to give him a regular sized (prosthetic) arm"? That one actually made me laugh out loud and then I really had to ponder the thoughts that go thru this little guys mind. Ha, what a hoot! I asked him what in the world made him think of something like that, he said, "O, I just thought about one thing, then one thing led to another!"


As we sat talking about scriptures today, Caleb said to me (as his one thought leads to another thought thing kicks in) "did Yah say that there is supposed to be 24 hours in a day?" I explained to him that a man made up the time we keep on the clocks. A day as described by Yah is sunset to sunset. That is one day. In Genesis, He said, "the evening (sunset) and the morning (continuing until sunset) are the first DAY. SO...man can count the hours in a day or on the clock by dividing it any way they want, they can say it's 24 hours, 15 hours, 36 hours...and so on no matter how they divie it up, it's still man's description of time Which doesn't change what Yah says is one day. Which led us into this discussion (as MY one thought leads to another thought kicked in) EVERYTHING THAT YAH PUT INTO PLACE IS FOREVER (until heaven and earth pass away)! A day is a day still today, sunset to sunset. All the laws of nature created for this world: thermodynamics, gravity, laws governing water, motion and so on, remain true and constant forever as long as this world exists. The law of time. Time is only created for this world...why? Because Yah lives in eternity there is no end to Him. Time is created for the fallen world we live in because there is a certain amount of time appointed to us before the LORD (Yah) restores everything back to the way it was in the garden, the way it was meant to be.
So, I explained to him, ALL the laws that Yah created for this world from the very beginning are created for this world until it passes away. Man cannot change those truths that Yah has said. The laws of nature are a picture of the laws or instructions Yah gave to man. They are created for this world and they just are. Man may call them what he likes, try to manipulate them or do away with them all together but Yah has put them in place and they are created to exist here in this world FOR OUR GOOD, forever!
Yah is good. I am thankful for His truths and the opportunity we have to learn them and share them with our children.
Thoughts from this Sabbath day

How do we spend our time?

Craig left early this a.m. for storm duty in Davenport and the boys and I were sitting around talking about some scriptures we were reading and discussing how satan desires to distract us from the ways that Yah told us to go in. We talked about what we are to make our first priorities and we talked about what things can become priorities that are simply designed to distract us from the things that Yah says we are to be doing. It was a good discussion as one thing led to another. After our study, I wanted to blog about a couple of things the kids and I talked about and checked my e-mail prior to getting into the blog and someone had sent something that I read to the boys as it gave a good illustration of the talk we just had.

Here's the note:

If we can "be still & know that he is God" we can trust that he is big

enough to bring the ministry to us. We need to know what season we

are in, and focus on those important things in life. As for me and my house,

I am down to no TV & 1 day aweek internet. As my children grow, I look

back and regret that I didn't simplify sooner. This verse has been on my

heart- " Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around

like a roaring lion looking for someone to, devour." 1 peter 5:8 What a

better way to devour families but to devert our attention!!

Consider this story..A time management guru was speaking to a group of type

"A"personalities. He placed a wide-mouth gallon jar on the table in frontof him.

Next to the jar was a collection of fist-sized rocks. He carefully filled the jar with

the big rocks, until he could fit no more. He asked the group, "Is the jar full?

"Everyone responded, "Yes."He then pulled a large bowl of gravel from under

the table and proceeded to pour the gravel into the jar. The gravel fit into the

spaces between the rocks. He again queried, "Is the jar full?""Probably not,"

was the group's reply. He reached for another bowl, this one filled with sand.

He dumped the sand into the jar. The sand filled the spaces not taken by the

rocks and the gravel. Once more, he asked, "Is the jar full?""No," everyone

agreed. Finally, he reached for a pitcher of water and poured water into the

jar until it was filled to the top. The time management guru looked at

the group and asked, "What is the point of my illustration?"One man replied,

"That no matter how full your schedule is, you can always fit one more thing

into it."

"No!" the guru responded. The point of this illustration is, "If you don't put the

big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all!

"The moral of Covey's story is:

Get the important things figured out first, then fit everything else in around

them. In other words, know what your priorities are.

Yah surely knows if He is first (like the big rocks in the jar) or if He comes later in importance to us. We cannot hide what we have allowed to crowd Him out of our lives.

If we want Yah to be present in our lives and in our families, we have to purposely make Him first. Time in prayer and scripture first then He will show us the way that we are to go that day. Often we swim upstream or contrary to what others think we should be doing but the scriptures tell us the Yah's people are peculiar, doing things that the rest of the world doesn't understand mostly because people have been taught that the things Yah told His people to do are now obsolete.

We continue to examine how our time is spent because as the WORD says, "our lives are like a vapour of smoke". Life quickly passes by. Scripture teaches that we are to watch and pray as we see the day of His return approaching so that we are living a life that is prepared and ready for His return.

Just thinkin'

The beauty of seeing yourself grow old

(This is good!)

I don't need any reminders that I'm getting old. I'm reminded every day when I can't remember what happened an hour ago, what I went into a room for, or call one of my kids by the wrong name. I used to be able to remember details from years ago, now I'm lucky if I can remember my own birth date.

If all that's not enough, the physical signs are starting to crop up-the tiny wrinkles and the body aches. I sometimes hurt in random places and have absolutely no explanation why. I get phantom pains that show up and go away just at quickly as they appeared, leaving me thinking that I am being prepared for something...maybe training for bigger aches and pains down the road.

Every now and then though, something happens that gives me just a glimmer of hope. Like yesterday morning when I woke up blind in one eye.

Doesn't sound like something that would pep me up, does it? Well, that's the way it worked out.

I got up at the normal time and stumbled to the bathroom, only banging into the wall once in the process, which was when I heard a strange tinkling sound. I immediately disregarded this sound because I do well just to find my way around the house at 5 a.m., and have no hope of solving any mysteries at such an early hour.

It was when I was exiting the bathroom that I discovered that my right eye had gone all wee-wonky. everything seemed very far away and fuzzy and, try as I might, I could not get that eye to focus.

"What now!?" I muttered to myself. Wasn't it enough that I had already been doomed to bifocals? Now this? I blinked the eye repeatedly, hoping to get some semblance of normal operation. I went through coffee-making and tuning in the weather channel on television using my good eye and a fair amount of yelling.

I learned that walking around with one eye closed can make you a little seasick and noted that if I kept my right eye half open the nausea abated, but caused the right eye to twitch uncontrollably.

Once I managed to find some form of function with one good eye and one fuzzy one, the morbid thoughts started to creep in. What was all this about, anyway? A symptom of a brain tumor? The beginnings of a cataract? No matter how I tried to focus on the weather, my thoughts were inexorably drawn to my mortality.

The next thing I knew I was thinking about all the things I was going to miss when this bad eye ultimately killed me- because I am a pessimist by nature and had convinced myself in the space of less than 10 minutes that I was dying. It was optical cancer or some never-heard- of rare and exotic disease that was causing this early symptom, and I would never see my grandkids or take that trip to Ireland that I've been planning. A great sadness set in when I came to the realization that my days were now of lesser number than they were yesterday. Now I had an inkling of what my future would be... and it was short.

But I still had to go to work.

So I set about getting ready; ironing my clothes, hunting for my shoes, waking up the kids and trying not to get choked up knowing that I would ultimately have to tell them that the old lady had one foot in the grave.

I made my way to the bathroom for my shower and it was then that I found the cause of the strange tinkling sound that I had heard earlier. There was what appeared to be a small rectangular piece of glass lying on the floor by the bathroom door. I squinted at it with my good eye trying to determine what it was and where it came from. It was only when I got down on my knees by the toilet and picked it up that I let out a hoop of relief. It was the right lens to my glasses. I guess when I smacked into the wall in my sleepy stupor I did it with enough force to pop the lens out.

Just to make sure, I reached for my glasses, where they sat faithfully on the bridge of my nose, and when my finger went right through the frame and I poked myself firmly in the eye, I knew I had solved the mystery and my heart soared.

Maybe I will see my grandkids. Maybe I will see Ireland. For the time being I was just rejoicing in the fact that I could see at all!!!

This story came from the "After the chores" section of COUNTRYSIDE Mag., written by CJ Mouser. I got my usual bi-monthly mag. one day and I was sitting reading this story to Craig, not something I usually do. We sat and laughed nearly thru the whole story... the wee-wonky eye, Ha! Maybe Craig could relate to the one eye thing but we can all related to the crazy thoughts that come into our heads sometimes.
I just wanted to share this story and even tho I've had it now for prob. a couple of years now, I still laught when I read it. Hope you liked it.

Just for laughs

Before I was a Mom

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn‘t worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child so doctors
could do tests Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at nightwatching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn‘t want to put her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn‘t stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much..
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn‘t know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn ‘ t know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn‘t know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn ‘ t know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn ‘ t know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom .

Send this to someone who you think is an awesome Mom.
May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life!

Legrand Bouma...(I think)

So, have you ever wondered why...

So, have you ever wondered why we no longer celebrate the HOLIdays? Well, we traded them in for the HOLYdays. Let me explain what I mean. A few years ago, we began to study the origins of the HOLIdays (speaking of Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas). We learned in our studies that these days actually came out of worship to gods other than the one who created the heavens and the earth. In Leviticus Ch. 18: 1-4 God tells the ones who follow Him not to take on the customs of the people who are worshiping other gods and to keep HIS statutes (that means HOLYdays) which God told them that if the would do, they would live. Many other places in the bible Yahuah warns them against doing the things that other people were doing who were worshiping other gods. He gave them instructions so that they would be different, set apart, not like "the world" but special to Him.

As we studied the scriptures more, we discovered that Yahuah gave instructions to observe some specific days, He calls these days "Feasts Days" (these days are more commonly known as Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles) and He said to celebrate these days FOREVER because they are prophetic to us who follow Him. They teach us about His first coming and His second coming.

Passover is for us to remember: Exile from Egypt and the protection the blood of the lamb gave us from the death angel...fulfilled by Yahushua's death on the cross. Both occuring on the same Feast day.

Penecost is for us to remember: the giving of the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai and the Holy spirit falling in the upper room in the book of Acts. Both occuring on the same Feast day.

Tabernacles is for us to remember: This is a two part feast. It is the only Feast Day which has not beed fulfilled in it's entirety...in the "old" testament and the "new". It has been fulfilled in the "old" as it is believed Yahushua was born on this day, thus marking His first coming. Scripture foretells of His second coming which would then need to be fulfulled on this Feast day.

The reason why He tells His followers to keep these Feast Days is so we will look for His coming and to be ready. This is why we are not to put them away as many have done. He wants us to watch for Him and be ready. He gave specific instructions to keep His HOLYdays and not trade them in for man made customs because the HOLYdays are prophetic and point to the LORDs soon return. Satan is a liar and he has tried to duplicate God's HOLY and set apart days with days that LOOk like or have a similarity to the LORD's Feast Days but have no connection in teaching us to look for our Messiah who is yet to come...again!

Definitions: Holiday...custom of men

Holy day... a day set apart by Yahuah appointed by him to be perpetually observed and remembered forever thoughout our generations.

Just goin' by the book

Prophecy in the heavens

The moon will hide the face of the sun again this month (Wednesday, July 22, 2009) in the longest solar eclipse in this 21st century. "It will be a monster, with a totality lasting more than 6.6 minutes at maximum," say Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson, writers for Sky & Telescope magazine.
You may recall that when we interviewed Mark Biltz for our May 2008 issue of Prophecy in the News magazine, we noted that he had discovered three solar eclipses that would occur on each of three annual calendar dates that introduce the Jewish month of Av for the years 2008, 2009, and 2010. The first eclipse occurred on August 1, 2008. The second solar eclipse is coming up this month — on July 22, 2009, and the third will happen on July 11, 2010. Though these dates vary in our Gregorian calendar, they occur on the same calendar date in the Jewish calendar — Av 1. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon travels across the face of the sun, thus blocking out its sunlight.
A "total" solar eclipse means that the moon is large enough (closer to Earth) to completely cover the surface of the sun, whereas, an "annular" solar eclipse means that the moon is farther away from Earth and appears smaller than the sun’s disk. A "partial" solar eclipse means that the moon only crosses part the sun’s surface, but does not completely block out its light. These three solar eclipses are "total" eclipses — last year in the far north, this year across the middle of Earth’s surface, and next year in the far south.
The solar eclipse last year (August 1, 2008) was seen in parts of the Arctic, Siberia, and central Asia. The second of these three solar eclipses will be coming up this month on July 22, 2009. Sky & Telescope magazine (December 2008) had a story about this solar eclipse, saying that it would be the longest eclipse of the century and would not be seen in this configuration again until 2132.
Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson, writers for Sky & Telescope said, "A total eclipse of the sun will cross China next summer. Unlike the eclipse last August, the one on July 22, 2009, will darken major cities, densely populated countryside, and a vast expanse of tropical ocean."
"The third total solar eclipse will happen on July 11, 2010, almost entirely over the South Pacific. Easter Island and southern Chile (at sunset) offer the only landfalls. The South Pacific is again the site of the next one, on November 13, 2012."
November 13, 2012 ... hmmm ... that’s in the fourth year of this Sabbatical cycle, near December 12, 2012, the final day in the Mayan calendar. Could these be heavenly signs?
The total solar eclipse this month will have a magnitude of 1.080 that will be visible from a narrow corridor through northern India, eastern Nepal, northern Bangladesh, Bhutan, the northern tip of Myanmar, central China and the Pacific Ocean, including Ryukyu Islands, Marshall Islands and Kiribati. Totality will be visible in many cities such as Surat, Varanasi, Patna, Thimphu, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Hangzhou and Shanghai. A partial eclipse will be seen from the much broader path of the Moon‘s penumbra, including most of South East Asia and north-eastern Oceania. The northern Iwo Jima island is the landmass with totality time closest to maximum.
On Friday, August 1, 2008, a total eclipse of the Sun was visible from within a narrow corridor that traversed half the Earth. The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow began in Canada and extended across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia, and China. A partial eclipse was seen within the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which included northeastern North America, most of Europe and Asia.
On Sunday, July 11, 2010, a third total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses Earth’s southern hemisphere. The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow will cross the South Pacific Ocean where it will make no landfall except for Mangaia (Cook Islands) and Easter Island (Isla de Pascua). The path of totality will end just after reaching southern Chile and Argentina. The Moon’s penumbral shadow will produce a partial eclipse visible from a much larger region covering the South Pacific and southern South America.
What is remarkable about these solar eclipses is the unusual way they occur on the Jewish calendar. There are several Scriptures that predict signs in the Sun and Moon around the time of the Tribulation Period. Isaiah wrote:
"Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, ... the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
"And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible" (Isa. 13:9-11).
John wrote: "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood" (Rev. 6:12).It is possible that solar and lunar eclipses over the next few years hold heavenly messages for mankind??

Courtesy of Prophecy in the News, J.R. Church

Interesting sites

I really love to visit web sites that have info on healthy living. In the polluted world we currently live in, it becomes quite a battle to know what the healthy choices are, so I have no problem learning from others ideas and experiences.

I have a couple of sites that I have recently "perused" which I liked and I will share. The first is http://dld123.com/debraslist/list.php?topic=Food#L00720 This gal has a ton of stuff on her site with mega links to stuff like: organic food, safe cookware, organic wine, and all the usual "green" and healthy topics. It's a fun site to look at. I found her while I was searching for a stainless steel Wok as stainless steel is supposed to be a "safe" cookware. I found out from her site that there is a difference in stainless steel products. Some stainless steel (18/0) does not have the alloys that regular stainless steel (18/10) has like nickle, which when the pan is scratched, leaches out into food...So it's good to do your shopping after you study the info!

Another site that I have visited is http://www.seedsofchange.com/organic_foods/default.asp . It is a site dedicated to information about genetically modified foods and such. It gives a rather extensive list of brands of foods which do contain genetically modified material. AKA, Frankenfoods! God said not to mix seeds. He's the creator and He knew it would hurt us if we did it...but for the sake of making a dollar, men will do whatever they want to do with no concern for the instructions for life that Yahuah left to us.

Just fun stuff

Ancient Paths

Remove not the ancient landmarks which your Fathers have set.
Proverbs 22:28

Hear my son and be wise and guide your heart in THE WAY... (of the ancient paths???)
Proverbs 23:19

Just Pics

This pic is a hoot. It's a few months old now but here is Braelynne and EZ. EZ is Corey and Megan's first puppy, he isn't very old here. He is a (as Corey would say) Chinese Fighting Dog...haha! He's a Shar pei (did I spell that right?) He and "B" are so cute here. He is a bundle of wrinkled skin with two tiny holes for eyes and a really big nose, cute as a button and has the best personality. Oh ya, and he hardly has ear holes, ha! Those are the qualities of his breed. He is a hoot!

We love you too EZ, you're a good boy!

Quote of the Day

Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 2:3-4 Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD (remember when you see capital LORD it always replaces His name, Yahuah, which the Jewish believers felt was too holy to say) to the house of the God of Jacob (speaking of Israel) and He will teach us His ways and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the WORD of the LORD from Jerusalem and He shall judge among the nations and rebuke many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more.

This has not occured yet in it's fullness as this scripture speaks of a time when there will be peace, but We are being "called up" or back to the WAYs that the LORD instructed Israel in, so that we all may walk in His ways, His ancient paths as the scripture instructs us to do also.

Just Pics

Under the huppah (canopy) on the deck.

G-ma and Braelynne hangin' out on the deck. Beautiful day!

Just Pics

My boys and their beards. They look like their Dad, don't they?

Rememberin' ol' Bruce. He was a good dog. We're gonna miss him. I hope dogs do go to heaven.

Quote of the Day

Happy is the man who finds wisdom and understanding for the gain from it is better than gain from silver and profit better than gold. - Proverbs 3:13,14

Recipe Korner

Salmon with Spinach & Raw Cheese Salad

Ingredients: 3 cups or more of raw spinach
1 large can (6.5 or 7 oz.) of high-quality salmon, with bones
1/3 cup of diced or shredded assorted raw cheeses such as Swiss or Gouda
3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons flaxseeds

Directions: Place chilled and drained salmon in a bowl and flake it with a fork. Spread raw spinach on a large, chilled salad plate. Place drained salmon over the spinach leaves. Sprinkle with assorted raw cheeses, sesame seeds, and flaxseeds. Top with your favorite dressing.
Serve.

Steak Salad
Ingredients:5 oz grass-fed steak, grilled to desired doneness
2 cups mixed greens
1 avocado, sliced
½ red bell pepper, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
1 small tomato, chopped
¼ small red onion, sliced
¼ cup raw cheddar cheese, grated
2 Tablespoons Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Directions:Layer ingredients on a chilled large salad plate, starting with the mixed greens and topping it all off with the vinaigrette. Serve. Enjoy!

Lemon Thyme VinaigretteIngredients:
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup finely cut thyme
2 Tablespoons raw honey
1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:Whisk all ingredients together. Top salad with vinaigrette.

Black Bean Summer Salad Serves 4-6
Ingredients:2 cups of freshly cooked black beans
½ cup of chopped green onions
2 avocados, peeled, seeded and chunked
¼ cup of fresh basil, chopped
2 fully ripened large tomatoes, chopped
2 cups frozen corn, thawed and drained
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:Drain the freshly cooked black beans; set aside and cool. After the beans have cooled, use a large bowl and combine the black beans, green onions, avocados, basil, tomatoes, corn, cilantro, juice of one lime, olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Chill. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Serve.

Jordan Rubin, The Maker's Diet

These are great recipes for this time of year when it is so hot. They are also very healthy. This is a great time of year to take advantage of eating fresh and raw!

Prophecy of Zechariah

There is a movement that is taking place at this time in history. Many refer to it as the Hebrew roots movement. Many are recognizing many untruths that are being taught in the churches today. Many are coming to an understanding that our Heavenly Father has called us into a relationship with Him that is not mingled with the worship of false gods. He gave His people some instructions so that they might go in THE WAYs of life and so that their worship of Him was for Him alone. Many are awakening to the understanding that the WORD is in union and that there is no division in it. Yahushua is the word from the beginning and the scripture says that THE WORD IS NOT TO HAVE ANYTHING TAKEN AWAY FROM IT! And it is not to have anything added to it. Scripture also says that THE WORD OF THE LORD IS FOREVER!

Zechariah gives a prophechy about a time when men will come to the Jewish people who know Yahuah and will say to them, we will go your way, we see the truth of the WORD and that it is true and lasting to every generation as Yahuah said it would.

Zechariah 8:23
Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days (a day yet to come) it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations (referance to the promise given to Abe...out of every nation, kindred and tongue will he call His people, the lost sheep), even shall they take hold of the skirt (referance to the tzi tzi, or hem of His garment) of him that is a Jew, saying,
'We will go with you: (The Way of the Torah)
for we have heard that God is with you' (The WORD of Yahuah is the way, the truth and it is the life and Yahushuah is the word of Yahuah...He is whole and complete. In Him alone the way is literally spelled out to us and for the times when we fail the way, He has made provision by Himself (His physical sacrifice of His body) so that we might not be lost again from THE WAY of life.

We, the lost sheep are being called by the Shepard. The breach of His people is finally going to be bound up (no more separation) and healed, and as always, it will be THE WORD of Yahuah that restores all things. Scripture says, one law for all, one shepard, one flock, one word, one spirit and they ALL agree.

In this "Hebrew roots" movement, we see people being "restored" to the WORD given by Yahuah from the beginning. They are beginning to keep Sabbath (friday sunset to Saturday sunset), wear tzi tzi (fringe on the hem of their garment as instructed by scripture), keep the holy Feast days (and not the pagan holidays) as the scripture instructs. People are learning about the prophetic truths that are embedded in the Feasts days that point to the return of our Messiah. No wonder satan wants the world to believe that the first half is not for us and that if we take hold of it, it will bring us death...because he is a liar! He doesn't want us to know when our Messiah will come and he also doesn't want us to recognize Him. If we don't know that He WAS AND IS THE WORD (the same one from the beginning...nothing added to, nothing taken away...it doesn't change) then we may miss Him just the way they did! Yahuah forbid.

Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, sound the trumpet!