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Isn’t it exciting to come across a bit of prophecy in Scripture and suddenly recognize it for what it is? And it’s even better when you realize that it is unfolding right before your very own eyes! I love when that happens.

It doesn’t happen often but when it does it can be stunning. Even more so when we stumble across a Scriptural gem just sitting there plain-as-day that we never “noticed” before and no one has introduced to us previously. That’s when things get really exciting!

Daniel, a personal hero of mine, was a man who was given many prophetic dreams and visions. And yet, I can imagine Daniel had that same stunned and excited feeling when he discovered relevant prophecy in the writings of other prophets.

We know of one such instance:

In the first year of his (Darius) reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. (Daniel 9:2 KJV Unmasked)

Daniel came to his understanding in the first year of Darius. That was also the first year of Cyrus who set the fulfillment of that very prophecy in motion (see Ezra 1:1). So Daniel came to understand the prophecy on the verge of its unfolding. His response holds an interesting lesson which we will consider in a moment. But let’s consider something more basic first.

How did Daniel work out that bit of prophetic understanding? Even though Daniel didn’t tell us I think it’s easy enough to figure out. Let’s look at Jeremiah. Here are the verses that were likely the key that the Spirit used to unlock Daniel’s understanding:

For thus saith YHWH, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith YHWH, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith YHWH: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith YHWH; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. (Jeremiah 29:10-15 KJV Unmasked)

Wow! That was it? Sitting there right out in the open. And yet it apparently took Daniel decades to notice it. It’s impossible to imagine this was the first time he had read those words. He had to have been over eighty years old at that point!

The more believable explanation is that the words never “hit home” for Daniel before then. He had read them on previous occasions but they had never made an impression on him. That’s how Scripture is often times. It’s almost always very plain, open, and easy to understand…at the right time.

The Holy Spirit is involved in presenting the truths of Scripture to us as we need to become aware of them. The trick is for us to be continually (ie. daily) in Scripture to allow the Spirit to reveal His truth to us at the right time.

But besides exposing ourselves to YHWH’s Word regularly, there is another vitally important lesson for us learn by example from Daniel’s “discovery.” Let’s continue where we left off with the Daniel passage:

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto YHWH my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; (Daniel 9:3-4 KJV Unmasked)

Why did Daniel respond this way to his understanding the relevance of Jeremiah’s prophecy to himself? There is a very subtle lesson here that is easy to miss if we just assume that Daniel’s response was random or generic in nature.

I think Daniel did something more important than simply react to his discovery. Rather, Daniel acted in fulfillment of the prophecy when he realized it’s application to him. Let’s look again at the prophecy in Jeremiah:

For thus saith YHWH, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith YHWH, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith YHWH: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith YHWH; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. (Jeremiah 29:10-15 KJV Unmasked)

See that? YHWH said He would accomplish what He wanted done by Babylon in seventy years. At that point, Judah would turn to Him and seek Him earnestly and diligently. Then He would turn away Judah’s captivity.

Daniel not only understood the prophecy, he understood the response of Judah that would lead them out of captivity. As a man of Judah taken captive, Daniel understood and acted upon the role Judah would play in the fulfillment of the prophecy. He turned to YHWH with prayer and repentance as indicated in Jeremiah.

Compare the Jeremiah and Daniel verses again. Daniel not only understands that captivity time is drawing to a close, but he also understands that the people of Judah will respond to YHWH in a certain way at that point to bring the event about. So Daniel responds appropriately!

When the Holy Spirit reveals prophetic truth to us from Scripture it is for a reason that likely involves some kind of action by which we become a part of the fulfillment. That’s why we are given an understanding.

Even Daniel didn’t understand all the prophecy given him to write for a future generation. That’s because it was for someone else:

And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. (Daniel 12:8-9 KJV Unmasked)

Daniel was given understanding of those things he needed to understand. The same goes for us, I believe. When we see for ourselves something from Scripture we can be sure that the Holy Spirit has revealed it to us for a reason. And what is that reason?

Usually it’s to get started preparing, responding, and/or teaching an application to the revelation. It is a call to present action in light of advance understanding of what is coming. We become a part of the fulfillment of prophecy when the Spirit shows it to us from Scripture and we respond in accordance to what has been revealed.

And what if you don’t see these things revealed so that you can respond? You will. But you need to be in Scripture regularly, all the while seeking the Spirit’s revelation of what you need to know today. If you don’t have a daily Scripture reading program that would be a great place to start.

Just read something, even only a chapter (5-10 minutes) each day. Before too long, you will be “noticing” verses as if for the first time. They will be ripe with meaning just for you.

Relax, be patient, and read. When the “gem” sparkles at you, grab it! Consider why the Spirit should have brought it especially to your attention. Then seek an understanding from the Holy Spirit as to how you might apply what He has shown you. Then you must apply it. He won’t keep showing you new things if you refuse to follow through on what He has already shown you.

Eventually, He will show you prophecy that applies to you. But at first it is more likely that your revelations will be moral or relational (with Him) in nature. Those are far more common. But they are just as exciting when they appear. You know they are hand picked by the Spirit just for you!

So let’s keep in Scriptures daily and respond with action. And when the Holy Spirit reveals something prophetic to us we will be prepared to respond. And responding to revealed prophecy can be very fulfilling indeed!

Abba, Father, thank you for placing your Spirit within us to reveal to us your Word. Help us to expose ourselves to your Word regularly, help us to hear your Spirit in your Word, and help us to respond as your people. We ask this in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen.

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Copyright 2010 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce and distribute hereby granted if the following four conditions are met: 1) The article must be reproduced in its entirety and the content may not be modified in any way. 2) Author’s name and copyright information, including these permission conditions must appear with article. 3) Author’s contact information (jim@jimzboran.com | www.jimzboran.com) must appear with article. 4) Article must be freely distributed without charge or financial gain.

Yeshua promised us persecution. It is the mark of a true follower of Messiah and He taught us that we are blessed when we experience it. He also taught us that we should be very happy to find ourselves in the same lot as YHWH’s servants who have preceded us:

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12 KJV)

Note the keywords “for righteousness sake” and “falsely.” We are blessed when people revile, persecute and “say all manner of evil against” us falsely. The reason they make up all manner of stories is because they hate our desire to live a righteous life under the New Covenant. And the stories are not true. If we are accused of wrongdoing for wrong we have actually done, that is not persecution.

If we strive to live by the Spirit we can expect (as in “count on it”) those who live by the flesh to become very nasty at times. I feel safe in assuming we all have personal experience to back up the experience of YHWH’s followers in scripture: few can be more vicious to His servants than the religious status quo.

But that is good. It separates the real from the fake. Persecution for our faith is a mark of authenticity. It is a mark that has been shared by Messiah Yeshua and all His servants throughout all the ages.

And we need not be overly concerned about those who undertake to work against YHWH by oppressing His servants. In fact, we need not be concerned about them at all. The matter already concerns YHWH and He is taking note. In fact, He is taking their actions very personally.

How do I know this? Just look between the lines of the parable told by Yeshua as recorded in Matthew 25:32-46.

You’ll recall that in “the end of days” the righteous and the cursed are separated into two groups like goats and sheep. Our Messiah commends the righteous for ministering to Him in the hours of His greatest needs. Astonished, they respond:

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:37-40 KJV)

Obviously Messiah has taken very personally the mercies and ministering extended to the very least among us. Doing good to them was counted as doing good directly to Messiah.

As for the cursed, Messiah orders condemnation to Hell. The goats, like the sheep, are astonished:

Then shall they [the cursed of 25:41] also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. (Matthew 25:44-45 KJV)

Every time the needs of even the least among us are ignored Messiah is personally offended. Presumably these cursed “goats” had the ability to do something for the needs they saw but chose not to do so. Ignoring those needs was counted directly as ignoring the needs of Messiah!

So we have those who served Messiah by serving the needy. And we also have those who ignored the Messiah by ignoring the needy. But missing from the parable is another group that is appears in Scripture and in life: those who outright oppress the needy.

There are some who would be doing a great service to the needy just by ignoring them. Instead, they seek to cause harm out of fear, envy, greed, pride, selfishness and a host of other flesh-inspired motivations. What might Messiah say to them in that day of judgement?

We don’t know but, following the parable’s formula, it might go something like this:

“I was hungry, and you stole my bread by making it impossible for me to find work or to be even mildly profitable in business. I was thirsty and you poisoned my well and then encouraged my neighbor to withhold water from me. I was a stranger, and not only did you leave me out in the cold, you made sure I was shunned by any who might be inclined to take me in by telling all manner of lies to destroy my reputation and to cause people to fear me without cause. I was naked, and you sought to keep me uncovered and vulnerable. I was sick, and you made sure to try to weaken me unto death. I was imprisoned and you sought to add false accusations against me in order to further lock me away out of spite, fear, envy and jealousy.”

There are some who that fall in this unspoken category. Ironically, coming under the oppression of this group is a great opportunity and is therefore, a blessing.

To take advantage of the opportunity, we must not get suckered into joining their wickedness. Yeshua commanded that we repay evil with good. Their evil is our opportunity to be salt and light for Messiah.

And we must also focus on continuing in YHWH’s service without becoming discouraged. We must not allow our faith to be shipwrecked by evil-doers and evil-deeds committed against us as has happened to so many others.

Finally, we need to bear the “beatings” such persecutions bring as a servant of the Lord. We must rejoice because we find ourselves in the way of our Messiah, His apostles, and all His prophets and servants throughout history. Indeed, we find ourselves walking the same path as all who will live godly in Messiah:

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2 Timothy 3:12 KJV)

You may not bear marks upon your body in your own situation, but the marks you bear upon your soul in service to YHWH are not in vain. Our Messiah is taking such actions very personally.

Father, we thank you for your Word that teaches us how to pursue paths of righteousness in a wicked and sin-twisted world. Grant us the grace and mercy to respond to evil with good and to bear up under testing with patience and faith in your protection and deliverance from our oppressors. Have mercy on our oppressors and grant to them the eyes to see their sin and the grace to repent and seek first your Kingdom and righteousness, as you have done for us. We thank you for the promises and hope we have in your Kingdom. We trust you will bring to pass all you have said and wait patiently for your vindication. We ask these things in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen.

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What do you think? Please leave a comment below and let us know! Thank you.

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Copyright 2010 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce and distribute hereby granted if the following four conditions are met: 1) The article must be reproduced in its entirety and the content may not be modified in any way. 2) Author’s name and copyright information, including these permission conditions must appear with article. 3) Author’s contact information (jim@jimzboran.com | www.jimzboran.com) must appear with article. 4) Article must be freely distributed without charge or financial gain.

Serving the Messiah, building His Kingdom, ministering to the needs of others in His Name. The work is never finished. In fact, it seems to increase the more we move forward.

But reading His Word, meeting Him in Prayer, being still and knowing that He is God… Somehow there never seems to be enough time to do those things too. They get pushed aside “until later” all too often…

Our intentions are good but there is so much to get done. And so little time to do it in. We tend to decide to get the pressing things done today because we feel pressure to act now. But we must stop ourselves!

Let’s catch our breath and remember Mary and Martha:

Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:38-42)

The need was NOW for Martha. Martha had received the Messiah into her house. She was the hostess and it was her responsibility to make sure the hospitality was in order.

The amount of work pressing on her caused her to feel burdened, hindered, and “cluttered-up” (that’s what “cumbered” means) from all the running around to serve the guests.

And there was Mary sitting down. True, it was at the Master’s feet to listen to His teaching. But harried Martha had her hands full. With Mary’s help, Martha might be able to sit down and learn that much sooner. Yeshua seemed slow to recognize this so exasperated Martha “nudged” Him a bit.

Yeshua’s words, a picture of grace and mercy in tone, likely caused Martha to sit down right then and there. Let’s listen again and try, once more, to really hear them this time:

Martha, thou art careful (ie. full of care) and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part…

How tempting it is to be “care-full” and troubled about many things as we serve our Messiah, trying to do all that is urgently needed. Ironically, if we take the bait, we end up not doing what was actually needed.

What isn’t needful is to be caught up in the many things we might easily be troubled and filled with care about as we minister to others. Yet all too often that is exactly what we occupy ourselves with. But we must learn to be different.

What is needful is that we be “caught up” in keeping a front-row seat with our Messiah. For me that means Bible reading, reflection, and prayer. These are the “living” things which are so easily put off until later so that we may undertake all the “dead” things that need to be laid to rest now. Poor choice. Messiah Yeshua told us the good choice: Him.

So now picture all of us, along with Mary and Martha, sitting at the Master’s feet listening. Who will be getting up to do a quick tidy-up? By YHWH’s grace, next time it won’t be me! How about you?

Abba, Father, thank you for your patience with us. Forgive us for those times when we are full of care and troubled about many things. Help us to focus on those things that are needful: to keep in close communion with you through daily prayer, Bible reading, and Spirit-led doing of your Word. Grant us the grace to be able to distinguish between the urgent and the important and help us to do those things that are most needful. We ask these things in the name of our Messiah, Yeshua. Amen.

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What do you think? Please leave a comment below and let us know! Thank you.

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Copyright 2010 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce and distribute hereby granted if the following four conditions are met: 1) The article must be reproduced in its entirety and the content may not be modified in any way. 2) Author’s name and copyright information, including these permission conditions must appear with article. 3) Author’s contact information (jim@jimzboran.com | www.jimzboran.com) must appear with article. 4) Article must be freely distributed without charge or financial gain.

Like the apostle Paul, we want to be able to come to the end of our lives being able to say:

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith… (2Ti 4:7 KJV)

That “fight,” like all fights, is fought one round at a time. Each round is comprised of all the blows, blocks, feints, and parries that unfold moment by moment. For good fighters, those moments arrive and pass in an unscripted but artfully executed manner.

The moves are not thought about nor are they planned. They are just acted out moment by moment automatically in response to each moment at hand. They occur artfully (and effectively) because of the “instincts” the participants have developed through hard-training and ring-experience.

As believers, we need to train hard in the battle strategies and techniques of our Messiah. We must work them until they become ingrained in our mitzvah “muscle-memory.” That way they will play out automatically in the heat of day-to-day battle in the world.

We need to listen to our “trainer,” the Holy Spirit, and continually return to the “fight manual,” the Scriptures. Through these we learn, practice, and work out in real life the Kingdom rules, strategies, and technique for fighting the good fight. And we must do this over and over and over again until they become our immediate and automatic response in the heat of battle.

Here is one such important Kingdom principle for fighting our good fight that we should all focus on and “train” with early:

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom 12:21 KJV)

What evil is afoot around you today? How are you responding? We must train ourselves to respond automatically to evil with good. That is the Kingdom strategy for overcoming evil. We are to pound evil into the ground with good.

If repaying evil with good is not our automatic response, we must practice, train, and gain some more experience.

First, let’s hold up our past responses to evil against the light of Scripture and the leading of the Spirit. This is not for our condemnation but for our edification. We are merely analyzing what we are now doing wrong and right.

We can’t see that ourselves. We must turn to our trainer, the Holy Spirit, to help us understand our fighting manual, the Bible. We must read and listen. We must study and pray. And submit ourselves to honest introspection.

Where have we done well? Where have we not done well? Where are our strengths in responding to the evil around us and where are our weaknesses? It might be helpful to work through this analysis on paper, either as a one-time project or as an ongoing process in a journal. Whatever works for you.

We give our experience, successful or not, value by reviewing our past performance and constructively considering how we could have done better. Again, better is determined by the Spirit and Scripture. That is where we have to take our evaluation.

Then we must work on improving and refining our technique for doing good over and over in a controlled environment. Why wait for an attack from the world before we respond with good? Let’s get practice at doing good everyday.

By doing good in non-threatening environments, we can focus on getting great at doing good. The Spirit and Scripture will provide the specifics for you to practice good in your environment. But you must seek it out. You might benefit here by making a list of possibilities. But don’t forget to choose some and actually carry them out.

With such a list in hand, we need to get into the ring and practice our technique. The more practice we get in doing good, the better our technique will be and the more automatically it will come forth under the stress of evil attacks.

Finally, we must get into the fight. Not our controlled practice, but the actual all out conflict of evil in the world. We must not cower and be defensive against evil. We must learn to overcome it with good. This actual “ring-experience” using our technique of beating evil with good will make it a part of us.

It is one thing to practice a technique in isolation from attack. It is quite another thing to apply technique effectively against someone who is not only working to prevent you from using your technique, but is also applying their own technique to overcome you.

The fighters I’ve seen that always lose are those who constantly are on the defense. They take cover, or worse they cower, from beginning to end. We must fight the good fight proactively! Get out there and hit the world with some good! What good? Listen to Scripture and the Spirit. And then get in there and swing!

For us, we need to proactively engage the evil in our lives with good. We will take our bumps and bruises as we learn. Yes it hurts. It’s a fight. But as we learn to more effectively fight evil with good we will more often overcome evil with good. And the blows thrown at us by evil will be less and less often damaging or even painful.

What about the concept of “looking out for number one” that is so foundational to the fight philosophy of the world? That is not our style. We already have Number One looking out for us. It’s just that we know we are not number one:

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Rom 12:19 KJV)

So now we are free to fight His way: we must overcome evil with good. We will not lose even when we are losing something in the eyes of the world. And we will be winning in the eyes of the Kingdom when we fight the good fight as competitors skilled in the ways of the Kingdom style of defeating evil.

We can’t lose! Let us fight evil boldly by overcoming it with good. We have the Holy Spirit as our trainer and the Scriptures as our fighting style manual. And best of all: He is in our corner!

Abba, Father, we thank you for your Holy Spirit and your Word that makes us effective Kingdom fighters for good in the evil of the world you have left us in. Let us be proactive in our capacity of salt and light, taking the offensive against evil everywhere we find it, to the glory of your Name and Kingdom. We ask these things in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen.
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What do you think? Please leave a comment below and let us know! Thank you.

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Copyright 2010 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce and distribute hereby granted if the following four conditions are met: 1) The article must be reproduced in its entirety and the content may not be modified in any way. 2) Author’s name and copyright information, including these permission conditions must appear with article. 3) Author’s contact information (jim@jimzboran.com | www.jimzboran.com) must appear with article. 4) Article must be freely distributed without charge or financial gain.

As a youth, a child of the sixties and seventies, I was often encouraged to “dream big dreams.” So I did. And I enjoyed planning, thinking, and gathering information about how to accomplish some big thing or another.

But somehow, for all that mental activity, plans never seemed to materialize. They would just fall by the wayside or be transformed into new big dreams that never happened either.

Thankfully I learned a “secret” many many years ago in regards to this. A secret that is the key to actually making something happen rather than just dreaming about it. No, not some new-age-based and supposed “law” of the universe involving even more dreaming and thinking. Rather, it is a “secret” right from the wisdom literature in the Bible.

Often people seem to make the mistake of thinking that desiring, dreaming about, and planning out a goal is the way to bring it into being. Desire to achieve a goal can be shown in many ways: eagerness for results, positive thinking, wishful hoping, or excited planning to name a few. But any way one expresses it, desire is just not enough. It is a start, but the key to crossing the finish line lies elsewhere:

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. (Pro 13:4 KJV)

One of the “D” words here is the key. And the other one isn’t. Unfortunately many pick up the wrong one. What matters is not the desire but the diligence in which we pursue our goal.

Diligence is the secret ingredient for moving dreams from our head and heart and bringing them to fruition. As an object lesson, everyone I know who dreams but never sees their dreams come to life is lacking in diligence toward their stated goals.

Of course, there is an extreme danger here which requires due caution on our part. Many are diligent about pursuing goals that are out of YHWH’s will, or worse, rebellious to His will. Because diligence is a key to making things happen in the world, ungodly goals are often acheived. Though they might achieve some success…even astounding success… in the world’s terms, an ultimate price is paid for doing so. As Yeshua said:

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mat 16:26 KJV)

But on the other hand, If YHWH has placed a dream within us we must pursue it with diligence. Taking the dreams He places in our hearts and applying ourselves diligently to pursuing them is a kind of good stewardship of what He has given us to work with. It’s also a sort of “partnership” with Him.

He gives us the dream, we apply ourselves to it diligently, and He opens and closes the doors necessary to make it happen. He works out His will in the world and we are participants in that.

So it is very important that we seek the Spirit’s leading in finding and evaluating our goals. But it is also important, vitally so, that we diligently apply ourselves to pursuing those goals. First and foremost with prayer, and then step-by-step and day-by-day keeping up with the Spirit until we achieve the dreams we have determined are YHWH’s goal for our lives.

And “day-by-day” introduces a “key” to successfully applying our key of being diligent. But I’ll leave that for tomorrow!

Abba Father, thank you for calling us into partnership with you as we diligently work toward those dreams you have placed in our hearts. Help us to clearly see and follow your Spirit into your will for our lives as we seek to be diligent in those things to which you have called us. We ask these things in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen.

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What do you think? Please leave a comment below and let us know! Thank you.

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Don’t miss a Minute Message! Get it delivered daily to your e-mail. Simple and free sign-up with this form!

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Copyright 2010 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce and distribute hereby granted if the following four conditions are met: 1) The article must be reproduced in its entirety and the content may not be modified in any way. 2) Author’s name and copyright information, including these permission conditions must appear with article. 3) Author’s contact information (jim@jimzboran.com | www.jimzboran.com) must appear with article. 4) Article must be freely distributed without charge or financial gain.

How exciting it is to look into Scripture and hear the Holy Spirit speaking to our spirit and giving us understanding of vitally important matters! And a good part of what we understand serves as an advance wake-up call in order to help us avoid having sorrow and disaster swarm into our lives through sin and rebellion toward YHWH. We are thankful that YHWH has provided “watchmen” to give us the benefit of advance warning.

Watchmen were people assigned to stand on the city walls and watchtowers in order to observe what was happening off in the distance. It was their responsibility to sound the alarm if they should see trouble on the horizon. That gave the leaders and people within the city a chance to proactively prepare and respond to what was coming.

As New Covenant people our primary “watchmen” are the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. They provide ample warning about disasters that come as a result of our choices in life.

Besides these primary watchmen, YHWH has further blessed the body of believers with gifts of supplementary watchmen empowered by His Spirit to effectively serve the body.

These supplementary watchmen are anointed and called to point toward, and amplify, the voices of Scripture and of the Spirit for the benefit of some who might otherwise miss the alarms sounded. Many in the body of believers miss the right message because they have not yet developed an ability to distinguish the voices of Scripture and the Spirit from the babble and hubbub of “the street.” (See Ephesians 4:8-16).

Besides clear warnings, these supplementary watchmen also are held responsible by YHWH to provide true warnings when the enemy has infiltrated “the city.” These infiltrators come with the intention of preparing the people for destruction.

These impostors “prepare the sheep for slaughter” by giving false warnings about non-enemies to create dissension, making issues out of non-issues to create distraction, and giving false assurances of peace where YHWH has said there is no peace.

Even though we have the Spirit, the Scriptures, and those Spirit-gifted and called to serve the body as watchmen, we are all responsible to look out for the welfare of fellow citizens of the Kingdom. So we should all perform the function of watchmen by sounding the alarm to our brothers and sisters in Messiah who may not have heard or be aware of dangers to our faith and practice that have been shown to us.

This is both a great opportunity and a great responsibility within the body of believers. It is also a source of great frustration and discouragement if we do not understand how to sound the alarm like true watchmen.

There is an important lesson about watchmen in YHWH’s charge to a watchman:

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. (Eze 3:17-19 KJV)

It must be understood that watchmen are not primarily debators or teachers. They are messengers. They deliver a message of warning in a time of danger. They are held accountable for not delivering the message and they have fulfilled their obligation by faithfully delivering the message.

They are not held responsible for those who ignore, out of disbelief or hard-heartedness, the warnings of Scripture. It is the responsibility of the individual hearer to respond or not respond.

Oddly enough, many don’t want to hear the alarm. They ignore it because it would upset the little world they prefer to be occupied with for as long as possible. That usually means they wait too late to avert disaster. This can be both discouraging and frustrating if we somehow feel that we are being ineffective in sounding the alarm to them because they weren’t convinced or made willing to respond.

But our effectiveness in providing warning in the name of YHWH is not measured by our effectiveness in changing people’s minds. Rather it is measured by our faithfulness in delivering the right message. What is done with the message is between YHWH and the hearer. Our faithfulness has been fulfilled in the delivering of the message.

And there are many who need to hear. So the wider we deliver, the more effective we have been. We should not waste precious time repeating the alarm to those who have already heard and are already heeding it. What is the point?

And we also shouldn’t waste too much time and energy with those who have heard the alarm and choose to ignore it. Like true watchmen, we should set our focus on clearly and accurately communicating the alarm to as many as possible. That is our responsibility. The heeding of the alarm is the hearer’s responsibility.

The function of a watchman is to warn. As many as possible. We are not charged with changing peoples minds or getting them moving. Too much time focused on convincing those who are obstinate against the warning results in lost opportunity to warn those who would be willing to heed the message. It’s also needlessly discouraging. We are setting ourselves up for an impossible task if we set out to change people’s minds. That is a job for the Spirit.

We are just messengers. So let us fulfill our general duty to the body by sounding the alarm like true watchman: clearly, faithfully, and to as many who have not heard as YHWH gives us ability.

Father, thank you for your watchmen, the Spirit, Scriptures, and the anointed who serve your people by sounding the warning of sin and it’s consequences. Help us to be hearers of the alarm. And responders. And having responded to the alarm raised in our own lives, may we be good brothers and sisters by raising the alarm to those who may not have heard. Help us to be effective in functioning as watchmen, looking to the Spirit to do the teaching and convincing while we faithfully and clearly deliver the message. We ask these things with praise and thanksgiving in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen.

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Permission to reproduce and distribute hereby granted if the following four conditions are met: 1) The article must be reproduced in its entirety and the content may not be modified in any way. 2) Author’s name and copyright information, including these permission conditions must appear with article. 3) Author’s contact information (jim@jimzboran.com | www.jimzboran.com) must appear with article. 4) Article must be freely distributed without charge or financial gain.

Having been around for a number of decades I’ve been able to observe some social and cultural trends in the making. The hip-hop culture is one such movement. As the hip-hop generation developed I noticed an interesting phenomenon arising in the way some young folks approach the ordinary task of walking down the street.

In simpler times I learned the basic one-foot-in-front-of the-other move. Plain, but it works. The only stylistic concern was the don’t-bounce-up-and-down-as-you-go convention that was popular in my day. Not so today!

Today, in the some places, we can see all kinds of crazy machinations of hips and legs with accompanying foot-flips and shin shimmies… all accentuated with body sways and shoulder swirls… and counter-balanced with arm-flails, wrist-flicks, and neck-cricks. Shear poetry in motion. And that’s just walking down the street!

Of course my description is tongue-in-cheek (for most cases). It’s all fun to observe and, if that’s how one chooses to walk through town, it’s none of my concern. Live and let live. If you don’t like how someone is walking, walk another way.

However, it occurs to me that some who seek to follow Messiah have adopted a similar flashy-but-affected-and-afflicted walking phenomenon in their spiritual walk with Him. And in our spiritual journey it does matter very much how we walk.

Some folks add all kinds of funky twist-turns-swings-and-sways to their faith walk. They do manage to get a lot of attention. But do they ever arrive? And in what condition do they arrive? And who has been led into throwing themselves into spiritual “traction” by copying such religious contortions?

Really, how we walk in the way of Messiah Yeshua is pretty simple and basic. But it’s often not taught that way. What walk have you learned? There are many versions but only one original. Everything else is just an imitation.

Here’s the real thing:

But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation (behavior) the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Eph 4:20-24 KJV)

That’s the way we are taught by the Bible to follow Messiah Yeshua. Have you learned something different? It wasn’t from Messiah! And anything else is just a cheap imitation.

The real walk in Yeshua is to stop chasing our old worldly pursuits, let the Spirit change and shape our perspective, and pursue those things that are righteous and holy.

Put off the conduct of the world. Tune your mind to the Spirit. Put on righteous and set-apart conduct.

Stop. Listen. Go.

Paul words this simple teaching a little differently in Romans:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service [Go]. And be not conformed to this world [Stop]: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind[ Listen], that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:1-2 KJV)

Some folks go through all kinds of twists and turns in their walk in an attempt t be “with it” in the worldly culture around them. Their version of the Bible, the “Jesus Improvised Version, Expanded” (JIVE) teaches the funky-faith-dance walk of 1) embrace the world, and 2) keep in tune with the old spirit, while 3) putting off righteousness and holiness. (As if righteousness and holiness were some sort of abhorrent sin! It boggles the mind.)

Strange way of walking in Messiah. In fact, so strange as to not be a walk with Messiah at all. Not according to the way we’ve been taught in the Bible. That strange walk only gives the impression of the real thing. A Christian moonwalk of sorts.

Do you remember Michael Jackson’s “moonwalk.” It was an incredible “walking” illusion in which his legs gave the appearance of walking forward while in reality his body glided backward. That’s what some folks are doing in their walk toward YHWH! They give the appearance of moving forward while in reality they glide backwards. I don’t think they even realize that is what is happening. But we realize it.

And so let’s just stick to the plain old simple approach to walking with Messiah that we’ve been taught…by the Bible. Put off the “old man,” “world,” “flesh.” Get in tune with the Spirit through Bible reading and study along with prayer. Do what you’ve read in the Bible as the Spirit leads you to do.

Stop. Listen. Go.

We can leave the flash, show, and illusion to the world, where it belongs. For us, let’s just put one-foot-in-front-of-the-other each step of the way as we leave the world behind, keep in step with the Spirit, and pursue those things fit for the Kingdom.

Father, forgive us the foolishness of our old ways. Teach us your ways and transform our minds to be in tune with you by your Spirit. Help us to walk in step with the Spirit in following the way of Yeshua our Messiah. We ask these things in His name. Amen.

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Copyright 2010 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce and distribute hereby granted if the following four conditions are met: 1) The article must be reproduced in its entirety and the content may not be modified in any way. 2) Author’s name and copyright information, including these permission conditions must appear with article. 3) Author’s contact information (jim@jimzboran.com | www.jimzboran.com) must appear with article. 4) Article must be freely distributed without charge or financial gain.

The Gregorian calendar flips over to a new year tonight. It’s a time many take to reflect on the previous twelve months while considering the direction of the coming year.

As followers of Messiah Yeshua our direction is always toward becoming more like Him in character. Some know that. Many don’t. Some may take the long road. Others take more direct pathways. But all of us in a New Covenant relationship with YHWH are going there. (See Romans 8:28-29, for example.)

So today is a great day to reflect on the road we currently travel and make changes that aim us more directly toward our destiny.

Here is a scriptural command that will put us on the direct path to becoming Messiah-like. No matter where you are at in your walk with Messiah this is a short-cut to His way. It is so Messiah-like that Yeshua is used as the prime example of its application:

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. (Php 2:3 KJV)

That’s a simple enough command to understand. It’s the application that causes us to stumble. That’s because the Adversary has very carefully placed obstacles in our way.

We live in a time when vanity, self-conceit, and contentiousness are admired, rewarded, and modeled by the world. Our days from start to finish are awash in examples and admonitions to look out for number one, toot our own horn, take offense at every imagined slight, and use others as stepping-stones to our success.

We truly live in an era of vainglory and strife! They are a signature of the “spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). Though they may seem necessary to survive and thrive in this world they are not our way.

For us, surviving and thriving in the world is a matter of YHWH’s protection and provision. I mean that very literally and not in a theoretical sense. That requires a step of faith. What a great way to start a new year!

The command in our verse today is to let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. For us the ends don’t justify the means if they require us to become involved in bitter conflict and dissension (strife) or in empty boasting and self-conceit (vainglory).

Strife and vainglory are not attractive qualities in the Kingdom. They are not even allowed. They remain under the jurisdiction of the world. That’s not our way. No matter what we are trying to accomplish.

So it’s a good time to reflect on our activity of the past twelve months and determine where we have wandered into the ways of vainglory and strife ourselves. Even if we made “godly” excuses for doing so.

Are you on that path? That’s a great thing to discover!  The danger is in continuing to go any further along that way. If you do, you’re going to step into a situation that will blow up on you. Sure, He’ll carry you out when that happens. But why put yourself through that kind of pain and destruction first? Watch where you are going and get out now!

How? Turn away from doing wrong, ask for forgiveness and He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), and then do what is right. Our verse today tells us what the right thing to do is: “in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.”

How do we accomplish that? The place to start determining that is through self-reflection, prayer, and Bible reading. Ask the Spirit to show you how to specifically apply that verse to your life in the coming months. All you need is one or two ideas, no matter how simple, to lay hold of and do day-by-day. You’ll see the path more and more clearly as you walk it. That’s a promise! (See John 14:21)

Abba, Father, thank you for calling us into your New Covenant and making us your people. Please help us walk in the pathways that will conform our character to that of our Messiah. We pray you would help us to look to you for our thriving and surviving as we turn our back to the world’s ways and leave it behind. We ask this in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen.

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Copyright 2009 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce and distribute hereby granted if the following four conditions are met: 1) The article must be reproduced in its entirety and the content may not be modified in any way. 2) Author’s name and copyright information, including these permission conditions must appear with article. 3) Author’s contact information (jim@jimzboran.com | www.jimzboran.com) must appear with article. 4) Article must be freely distributed without charge or financial gain.

Hang in there, saints! Keep fighting the good fight. Keep running the race so as to win. We may be troubled on every side yet we are not distressed. We may be perplexed but we are not in despair. And here’s a word of encouragement directly from our King:

And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. (Rev 22:12 KJV)

Keep up the good work child of YHWH! Your perseverance and faithfulness is not in vain. Your good work is appreciated by our King. He said He will reward each of us according to our work.

Of course, we are not in it for the rewards. At least not anyone I know. Rather, we look forward to His reward as a mark of His good pleasure in our service to Him. Reward from Him is an outward sign demonstrating that we have accomplished our desire: we have been pleasing and faithful servants and children of YHWH.

And that is indeed who we are. We have repented and turned to YHWH. Through Yeshua our Messiah we have entered into a New Covenant relationship with Him. His law is now written on our hearts and His Spirit is placed within us. We are His people and He is our God.

So we reject sin and iniquity and turn to walk in His ways. We do so because we love Him. We do so because He has provided the means and the call to be set-apart from this world. And we do so because that is our destiny as His people.

It is our birthright as the children of YHWH to reject sin and walk in His ways. Don’t let anyone steal that from you:

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jud 1:4 KJV)

When grace is turned into a “license to sin,” YHWH is rejected. Let’s not follow that way. We have been called to be salt and light in this dark and decaying world. We embrace Him when we live up to the high calling to which we have been called in Messiah (Ephesians 4:1).

Don’t let the congregation of the deceived trick you into joining in their folly. The cost of membership is at minimum your reward (see I Corinthians 3:10-15). For others, the cost will be much greater (see Matthew 7:21-23).

As much as some will deny this clear teaching of Scripture, the fact is that all believers will give an account to YHWH for their actions:

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Rom 14:12 KJV)

And so let us, those who revere YHWH, heed the call of Peter:

And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear… (1Pe 1:17 KJV)

Let’s spend our time here, as we sojourn among a wicked generation in a yet-broken-world, in humble reverence to YHWH. He has provided the means to walk in His ways, the call to do so, atonement for past sins and forgiveness today for when we do go astray (see 1 John 1:9).

And let us persevere in service to Him today as we look forward to the approaching day of His glorious return while we anticipate hearing, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Father in Heaven, we gratefully acknowledge that you are our Master and God. We thank you for providing the way of salvation and forgiveness of our sins. Please help us to walk in that way, embracing all that you have provided and called for us to do and be. Grant to us wisdom, discernment, humility, grace, and faith to be able to put on the righteousness you have provided for us and to walk in the good works which you have ordained before that we should walk in. We ask these things in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen.

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Copyright 2009 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce and distribute hereby granted if the following four conditions are met: 1) The article must be reproduced in its entirety and the content may not be modified in any way. 2) Author’s name and copyright information, including these permission conditions must appear with article. 3) Author’s contact information (jim@jimzboran.com | www.jimzboran.com) must appear with article. 4) Article must be freely distributed without charge or financial gain.

The book of Hebrews details how the Messiah is the ultimate High Priest over a different order than the Levitical priesthood. It also demonstrates how Yeshua is the ultimate sin sacrifice having done away with any further need for blood sacrifice to atone for sin.

But that does not mean YHWH no longer has priests. Nor does it mean there are not sacrifices with which He is pleased to have offered. Under the New Covenant we are now a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) under our High priest Yeshua. And we are also called to offer up sacrifices as well:

By him (Yeshua) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate (share, give) forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Heb 13:15-16 KJV)

We are exhorted by the author of Hebrews to offer up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving continually. The “fruit of our lips,” the choice and sweet words of thanksgiving and praise, should be always ripe and readily falling from our lips naturally.

But in all our praising and thanksgiving, we must not let other important sacrifices within our realm of responsibility fall to the wayside. Another two sacrifices with which we are called to offer in the name of Yeshua are to do good, and to share what we have with others (that’s what “communicate” means in the KJV).

The Levitical priesthood was charged with an important responsibility that demanded faithful and serious undertaking. We too should take seriously and be faithful to our charge to offer up the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, doing good, and sharing with others as appropriate.

Here’s an exercise that you may find profitable in offering your sacrifices “on purpose” rather than haphazardly. Make a “Sacrifice Notebook” to work in a few minutes each day when you come before YHWH in prayer or Bible reading. Use one side of one page each day. Put the date on the top and then separate each page into three sections. Give each section a heading: “Praise and Thanksgiving,” “Do Good,” and “Share.”

As you spend some time each day with YHWH in prayer and contemplation of His word, also give some time to listing some items you are thankful to Him for and verbalize those in prayer. Choose one or two items from your list to focus on throughout the day as a continuous offering as the Spirit brings them to mind.

Spend a few more minutes seeking direction from the Spirit on some good that you can do in your life for someone else. Let the Spirit reveal to you by bringing to mind some needs that you can fulfill in someone else’s life by doing something good for them. Use your list as a “checklist” and mark each item off as you accomplish it. Set completion dates in setting your “doing good” goals.

Finally, spend some time considering who the Spirit is leading you to share with. This may be material and/or money. Let the Spirit show you through Scripture and reflection who it would be appropriate to share with and then determine your ability to do so. It doesn’t have to be large or significant. Remember the widow’s mite.

Use your Sacrifice Notebook as a plan of action to apply yourself fully to offering up the sacrifices that are well pleasing to YHWH everyday!

Abba, Father, thank you for making us a royal priesthood. Help us to be faithful in ministering in your name the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, doing good, and sharing with others some of what you have given to us. We ask these things in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen.

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Copyright 2009 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce and distribute hereby granted if the following four conditions are met: 1) The article must be reproduced in its entirety and the content may not be modified in any way. 2) Author’s name and copyright information, including these permission conditions must appear with article. 3) Author’s contact information (jim@jimzboran.com | www.jimzboran.com) must appear with article. 4) Article must be freely distributed without charge or financial gain.