Sailing on FAITH

Our flag is raised to join Israel and the Sea of Galilee flags!

Matthew 4:17-19 NLT

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."
One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them,

“Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”

Meet Daniel Carmel [middle]
On our second day inTiberias our guide, Abraham, had arranged for our group [51 of us] to take a ride on a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee one morning and then have a St. Peter's fish [Talapia]lunch along the shore.

It was a great plan until Abraham received a phone call while we were on top of Mt Carmel that the boat we were supposed to take had sprung a leak. He was panicked about trying to find another boat with only one hour's notice.

BUT GOD........
Need I say more?

God had this whole thing planned from start to finish.

Daniel is the only Messianic Jew who sails his own fishing boat crew along the Sea of Galilee. Yeshua is is God and he also leads worship and sings all the popular songs that we know - both in English and in Hebrew. He has produced his own CD and visits the USA to promote both his music ministry and the boat ministry in Galilee.

You can contact him for info at:

daniel@hebrewworshipsongs.com

and tell him that Stephanie sent you!
He has an amazing testimony with how he came to know Yeshua
As Redeemer [Ha-GoEl] and Lord [Adoni]

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The atmosphere on the boat that day gave a new sense of

'freedom' in Yeshua

- especially when those flags were raised and wrapped around each other

in the wind!

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Choosing JOY in FAITH,
Stephanie

Jerusalem - The HOLY CITY of GOD

Isaiah 48 [The Message]
Tested in the Furnace of Affliction 1-10

"And now listen to this, family of Jacob, you who are called by the name Israel: Who got you started in the loins of Judah, you who use God's name to back up your promises and pray to the God of Israel? But do you mean it?

Do you live like it? You claim to be citizens of the Holy City; you act as though you lean on the God of Israel, named God-of-the-Angel-Armies. For a long time now, I've let you in on the way I work: I told you what I was going to do beforehand, then I did it and it was done, and that's that. I know you're a bunch of hardheads, obstinate and flint-faced, So I got a running start and began telling you what was going on before it even happened. That is why you can't say, 'My god-idol did this.'

'My favorite god-carving commanded this. 'You have all this evidence confirmed by your own eyes and ears.

Shouldn't you be talking about it? And that was just the beginning. I have a lot more to tell you, things you never knew existed. This isn't a variation on the same old thing.

This is new, brand-new, something you'd never guess or dream up. When you hear this you won't be able to say, 'I knew that all along. 'You've never been good listeners to Me.

You have a history of ignoring Me, A sorry track record of fickle attachments—

rebels from the womb. But out of the sheer goodness of My heart, because of who I am,I keep a tight rein on My anger and hold My temper. I don't wash My hands of you. Do you see what I've done?
I've refined you, but not without fire. I've tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction. Out of Myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do.

There is nothing more breathtaking than Jerusalem! When our eyes met this Holy City there were gasps under our breath - then came the silence of all those on our tour bus. There is no describing it. The walls and buildings of this city are smaller in scale than I had imagined which makes seeing it that much more surreal. There is an air of ancient days that never left my senses the entire time we visited. Everyone in the bus said, "This feels like HOME!" For sure it was home for us.

I will be sharing passages from The Message [a paraphrase] because that is what God asked me to take along - rather than my heavy pen-noted study Bible. He had said before I left - to just 'read it like a story' and just enjoy His Presence in that place with no work - no preparation - no preconceptions on my part. I should just flow with all that He had to show me and those with me. Indeed, He led me by the hand as my ultimate tour guide.

Choosing JOY,

Stephanie

Slideshow added to header.......

"ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES!"

Justin - age 6 - my oldest little shepherd -
shares The RESURRECTION Scriptures:

1 Corinthians 15
1Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

God's Word - click on the video below!

Happy Resurrection Day!

Choosing JOY in my grandchild's heart,

Stephanie

JESUS ONLY in 2010

THE GREATEST SACRIFICE

Warning - Graphic scenes ahead...

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May We Never Forget The Reason He Came!

John 6

⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your forefathers ate manna in the desert, yet they died. ⁵⁰But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

⁵²Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"

⁵³Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

Choosing JOY in His Overwhelming Sacrifice,

Stephanie

JESUS ONLY in 2010

What Is SACRED in Your Life?

Romans 6:19b,22

... Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.... But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

1 Corinthians 1:30

It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

Ephesians 4:22-24

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Hebrews 12:14

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

2 Timothy 2:19-21
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."
In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

As we step into "HOLY WEEK" may our focus be on JESUS CHRIST alone. His CROSS is in the forefront - not a place of death - but one that offers eternal life to those who repent and believe and cleanse themselves by turning away from sin and turning to receive that new life that Christ promises to all who come to Him.

This holy week is a place of sacred reflection - but it should not be one of making commitments that are never intended to be carried out.

It is a time to examine our hearts - to purposefully make the adjustments that God requires for holiness that can only come through obedience to His written Word, and a deep commitment to prayer and intercession with the Father - from this day forward!

What must be SACRED - as followers of Christ?

• Purposeful personal time in God's Word - Daily?


• A Prayer Life with Intersession & Fasting?


• Confession?


• Thanksgiving?


• Communion?


• Serving others from the overflow of a heart in gratitude to Christ?


• Solitude?


• Silence?

The list seems like a mountain to climb - but through Christ we can get that mountain under our feet.

What are we willing to strip away - to let go of - to overcome - allowing the light of God's Sacred Holiness to penetrate into our DAILY lives - so it can grow us toward Him for His kingdom purposes?

Will you join me in reflecting with a purpose to grow?

Choosing JOY, Stephanie

JESUS ONLY in 2010

Which WAY Are You LEANING?

Job 8:13-15 [NLT]
The same happens to all who forget God. The hopes of the godless evaporate. Their confidence hangs by a thread.

They are leaning on a spider’s web. They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure.

Psalm 62 [NIV]
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

1 My soul finds rest in God alone;

my salvation comes from Him.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation;

He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
3 How long will you assault a man?

Would all of you throw him down—

this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
4 They fully intend to topple him

from his lofty place;

they take delight in lies.

With their mouths they bless,

but in their hearts they curse.

Selah
5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;

my hope comes from Him.

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Isaiah 1:7-9 [NLT]
7 Your country lies in ruins,

and your towns are burned.

Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes

and destroy everything they see. 8 Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned

like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard,

like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest,

like a helpless city under siege. 9 If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies

had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom,

destroyed like Gomorrah.

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Isaiah 10:20 [The Message]

And on that Day also, what's left of Israel, the ragtag survivors of Jacob, will no longer be fascinated by abusive, battering Assyria. They'll lean on God, The Holy—yes, truly. The ragtag remnant—what's left of Jacob—will come back to the Strong God. Your people Israel were once like the sand on the seashore, but only a scattered few will return. Destruction is ordered, brimming over with righteousness. For the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will finish here what He started all over the globe.

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Proverbs 3:5-6 [KJV]

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

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Choosing JOY, Stephanie

JESUS ONLY in 2010

The STAR Has Fallen

Isaiah 30

[selected passages]

Woe to the Obstinate Nation

1 "Woe to the obstinate children,"

declares the LORD,

"to those who carry out plans that are not Mine,

forming an alliance, but not by My Spirit,

heaping sin upon sin;
4 Though they have officials in Zoan

and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame

because of a people useless to them,

who bring neither help nor advantage,

but only shame and disgrace."
8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them,

inscribe it on a scroll,

that for the days to come

it may be an everlasting witness.
9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD's instruction.
10 They say to the seers,

"See no more visions!"

and to the prophets,

"Give us no more visions of what is right!

Tell us pleasant things,

prophesy illusions.
11 Leave this way,

get off this path,

and stop confronting us

with the Holy One of Israel!"
12 Therefore, this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

"Because you have rejected this message,

relied on oppression

and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you

like a high wall, cracked and bulging,

that collapses suddenly, in an instant.

15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:

"In repentance and rest is your salvation,

in quietness and trust is your strength,

but you would have none of it.
16 You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.'

Therefore you will flee!

You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.'

Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee

at the threat of one;

at the threat of five you will all flee away,

till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,

like a banner on a hill."
18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;

He rises to show you compassion.

For the LORD is a God of justice.

Blessed are all who wait for Him!

21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left,

your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,

"This is the way; walk in it."

22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver

and your images covered with gold; you will throw

them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them,

"Away with you!"

27 See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar,

with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;

His lips are full of wrath,

and His tongue is a consuming fire.
28 His breath is like a rushing torrent,

rising up to the neck.

He shakes the nations

in the sieve of destruction;
He places in the jaws of the peoples

a bit that leads them astray.

33 Topheth has long been prepared;

it has been made ready for the king.

Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,

with an abundance of fire and wood;

the breath of the LORD,

like a stream of burning sulfur,

sets it ablaze.

[emphasis added]

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God is loving and compassionate.

But He will not be mocked.

Our God is also a consuming Fire!

Any nation that defiles His ways will be judged.

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I will win no awards for this post.

Good thing this is an award-free blog. ;-)

Most people will leave no comment here.

I pray you are not most people.

We close our ears to things like this.

We want to know only a loving God, not one who is angered by sin.

Some will label me a 'radical' or 'controversial ' for speaking the truth because it is harsh. Do they think I like writing this? These are not my words - they are God's Word! I believe the whole counsel of the Word of God. I can't pick and choose to throw out the parts that make me queasy!

His Word stands firm and true.

Jesus was a radical. Label me what you will. I follow Him.

His Name along brings controversy.

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May we come back to the Prayer of Daniel in Daniel 9:4-19 and pray this for all the nations of the earth who have closed their eyes and ears to the LORD's instructions. May we cling tightly to the God who loves us and Who alone can save us from our 'national' iniquities for WE have sinned greatly against a Holy God.

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Choosing JOY in the wake,

Stephanie

JESUS ONLY in 2010