“Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the sise. And knowledge to those who have understanding.” Daniel 2:20-21 

Meditate on that for a moment…

He changes the times and the seasons? 

“Nothing ever stays the same!”…my mother once told me!  I think of one of my favorite gospel singers, Janet Paschal, singing It Won’t Rain Always…Indeed, summer changes to fall, fall changes to winter!  The sun always comes out again!

Is that not an amazing thought?  

And what about this…

“He removes kings and raises up kings?”  

We have definitely seen His handiwork in action here in the United States!  The Good LORD showed us who was in charge in 2020!  Felt a lot like judgment to me for four long years!  Hey, maybe it was!  But that’s a whole other blog!

Think about it like this… the Creator of the Universe  raised up a very changed man (after allowing him to escape death by a fraction of an inch) to lead our nation with new found strength and wisdom!  

We cannot ignore what Scripture says about who puts the leaders of nations in place.*  That is something to ponder!

So, here we go…

It helps us to remember that our Savior is not a mere man who we think we put into office by our vote… but He is the One and only Son of God who died to pay our sin debt and set us free from that debt, which is the grave!

The wages of sin is death.— Romans 6:23

“Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah — indeed, sin is violation of Torah.— 1 John 3:4 CJB

Our Savior IS the Creator of the Universe…the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  (Revelation 13:8)

There is no other way… hmmm, I’m thinking of another song!  Trust and Obey… for there’s no other way…My husband wrote a song several years ago, Only One Way. 

Where do we get that concept?  

Well, Yeshua told us Himself…

“Yeshua said, “I AM the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”— John 14:6 CJB

Sounds pretty exclusive, right?  Hmmm, aren’t we told that Jesus loves everybody unconditionally?  Where is the inclusiveness that is so sought after in today’s modern western global culture?  

Well, maybe we should re-ponder…or rethink our understanding.  

Who is the Creator of the Universe?  Who created all the laws that hold everything together? 

And who asked Eve, “Has God really said?” …implying that God had evil intent when he warned them about eating of the tree in the middle of the Garden!

The Bible tells us that Jesus (Yeshua) is The Living Word, the Living Torah (John 1:1, 14; Hebrews 4:12), and He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).  He, the Word made flesh, who dwelt among us (John 1:14) has told us that He came not to destroy the Torah (Law of Moses) but to fulfill it… to make it complete.  In the original Greek, that word translated as  fulfill is pleroo, which is also translated as fully preach in Romans 15:19!

Where did we get the idea that His Commandments were no longer in effect?

“Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

1 John 2:4-6 ESV

Shouldn’t we strive to understand what it means to “keep His commandments?” (John 14:15) And, walk as He walked?

He (Yeshua) is returning sooner rather than later to set up His Kingdom!  Repent and return to Him!  Read His Word and get your house in order!

Until next time…

LaVada

* See Romans 13:1

“The Light is shining into the church, but the church doesn’t like the Light and refuses to repent— the lack of repentance prevents the Light from shining out of the church— when the church’s Light doesn’t shine darkness takes over the Nation!

“This is a prophetic indictment— and a Kingdom warning:

“The Light has come!”

–Excerpt

This got me to thinking, as we say in the Texas Hill Country!

Pastors are literally shepherds, aren’t they? They have a tough job! But we recently came across a Bible teacher who we followed years ago and then, somehow, lost track of him. It was nice to find him again. His name is Scott Hillman. He runs a ministry in Tennessee called, Apalachian Center for Torah Studies – Biblical Training Center, in case you want to look him up. I think he is somehow connected to The Vineyard JC Fellowship and Matthew Miller, pastor at The Vineyard.

But here is what I found that was so interesting. I found this “About Us” page on the website of The Vineyard right after I read the above excerpt.

About Us

Our ministry operates under the leadership of Yeshua the Messiah. He is our Rabbi and Shepherd. We strive to allow HIM to lead our ministry and worship services. We are a Gospel-Centered, Spirit-led, Torah pursuant, Family Fellowship, focused on intimacy with our Father through Worship AND the teaching of His Word. We are both natural branches (Jewish people) and wild branches (from the nations) that believe Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah and savior of the world. We believe the Holy Spirit is in the process of bringing these two groups together into One New Man.

We worship in Spirit and Truth on the Sabbath and Feast Days of the Lord. Through policies and oversight, we maintain financial responsibility for the integrity of our ministry. We are not structured as an Incorporated 501c3 business. We are a “Free Church” chartered only by God and operating under The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution.

https://vineyardjc.com/im-new/

That is pretty succinct and to the point, don’t you think? Gospel-Centered, Spirit-led, Torah pursuant….

What?

Torah pursuant?

Well, now… since, according to the excerpt above, there is a lack of repentance, perhaps it is because there is no understanding of what needs to be repented of? There needs to be true repentance of sin, right? But, does everyone understand that sin is the transgression of the law (Torah)? [1 John 3:4] If we’re not “Torah pursuant,” how can we know we are transgressing Torah?

Hmmm….that’s where the shepherds come in!

There are blessings and curses promised regarding the keeping of Torah. [Deuteronomy 11:26-26]. They were given to all the tribes of Israel right there at Mt. Sinai, in Arabia! And, we (you and me) and all believers in the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) are grafted in to Israel! So that Covenant Promise is ours, too!

The Torah is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path! [Psalms 119:105]

If you’re interested in going a bit further into this perspective, there is a great article on The Vineyard’s website by Christine Egbert, Satan’s Greatest Lie to the Church. Check it out!

Until next time…

LaVada

I recently received a newsletter from a pastor friend, which included the following:

“The Word of God is of no use to you if you do not trust and obey the Word of God. You can quote it, post it, tattoo it, and hang it on your wall—but if you do not obey it, it remains dormant, inactive, and unfruitful in your life.

“James 1:22–25 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror… and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”

“We are not transformed by exposure to Scripture. We are transformed by obedience to Scripture.”

Obedience… I have discovered on this journey that belief and obedience are synonymous!  Have you ever thought about that?   

John 3:36 says:  “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

The same holds true for disobedience and unbelief.

“Hebrews 3:15-19:  “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”

In the above passage the writer of Hebrews links the “disobedient” with those  who did not believe!

The pastor’s newsletter goes on to say….

“Do you trust Jesus enough to obey Him—even when it costs you? Even when it is inconvenient? Even when it is unpopular? Evan (sic) when it is painful? Even when it is embarrassing? Because partial obedience is still disobedience. Delayed obedience is still disobedience. And emotional response without surrendered obedience is still disobedience.”

I have to tell you that that paragraph caused me to think about my journey….actually, our journey….my husband, Gene, and I have been on a journey that has taken us into some of the circumstances that this pastor describes.  

Inconvenient…unpopular…costly?

You see, our ears have been opened to hear, and our eyes have been opened to see, that the Bible we study is all one Holy Book….it is not the “old” and the “new”….  It is one Book.  

We came to understand that we are grafted in to Israel…the  Commonwealth of Israel, as Paul puts it in his letter to the Ephesians.  So, all the promises the Creator made to Jacob, who became Israel, who became the twelve tribes of Israel, are ours, by virtue of our belief in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and His Son, Yeshua, the Messiah, and our obedience to Him!

Yes, obedience.

He (Yeshua) said, Follow me!

The first part of the book, everything prior to the blank page after Malachi, speaks of the Creator’s Salvation…Yeshua.  And everything after that blank page is a commentary on that first part!  It’s all one book, folks!  

And, like the pastor said in his newsletter, it is the Word of God!  If we believe it, we must obey it!

Not change it…add to it….or take anything away from it!  (See Deuteronomy 13)

So, that means we learn what His Feasts are…starting with the Sabbath Day.  (See Leviticus 23)

And we learn not to worship Him in the ways of other nations…we worship Him in His Way!

We study what Yeshua (Jesus) did, and then as 1 John 2:6 says, we ‘walk as He walked!’  He kept the Torah perfectly, to show us the Way!   Yeshua did not change the Sabbath or do away with any of His Commandments.

He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  —John 14:15

Invariably, people still think we are keeping His commandments for our Salvation…no matter how many times we try to explain that we are simply keeping His commandments because we love Yeshua, our Savior!

“The love of God draws us into a relationship marked by grace, compassion, and mercy. It shields us from falling into legalism, being overly critical, or judgmental. As Romans 2:4 reminds us, “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.” “

What is repentance?  It means to turn around, change your mind!

Repentance from what?  Sin.

And what is sin?  The “transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4)

And what is the law?  Torah…the Commandments of our Creator.

There is a very good teaching on one of our favorite teaching websites, 119 Ministries, called, Hebrews 4: In His Rest Now or Later?   It explains a much misunderstood scripture passage. Check it out…

https://119ministries.com/teachings/video-teachings/detail/hebrews-4-in-his-rest-now-or-later/

For several years now, we have hosted a Sabbath Assembly which meets every Sabbath day.  We also do our best to observe the Torah that applies to us as well as the other Feasts of the LORD given in Leviticus 23.  

All with tremendous blessings!

Until next time…

LaVada

(I encourage you to click on the scripture references and read them for yourself. Better still, go to the verses in your own Bible!) Be encouraged…

From the pastor down the road…

Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.”

“First declared by Moses around 1500 B.C. (Ex 15:2) and then declared by David 500 years later (Ps 118:14); it is now here declared by Isaiah some 300 years after David. It will be declared again by the Tribulation saints (Rev 15:2-3).

“God is our salvation”. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isa 45:22). That is, no other God and no other salvation. Vain is the help of man. Persons, politicians and parties all perish; guns, governments and gurus are all dust. There is salvation in none  other than The Lord Jesus Christ (Act 4:12). 

“As I often state, this doesn’t mean we aren’t to prepare our horse for the day of battle. We are to prepare; have a means of self-defense; seek to influence government with godliness and pray for our leaders. Yet, all the while, understanding that salvation only comes from The Lord. We fight, but the battle is The Lord’s. Victory will only be found in Him and through Him. We may have and utilize material things, but we trust in none of it. Salvation is not by might, nor power – but by The Spirit of God (Zec 4:6).

“”God is our strength”. “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Ps 27:1). Without His strength, we are only charging Hell with a water pistol. The Lord is our High Tower; our Fortress; our Solid Rock; our Deliverer; our Shield (Ps 18:2). Therefore, we boast in our weakness and not our strength. Why? Because when we acknowledge our weakness and trust in HIS strength – we are then strong (2Cor 12:9-10). Strength, power and courage is by The Spirit that dwells within us.

“”God is my song”. Because God is my salvation and strength, He is my song. He is my praise (Dt 10:21). It is He who we worship; rejoice in; glory in; boast in; magnify, extoll; bless and exalt forever. God inhabits our praises (Ps 22:3) and sets us free (Act 16:25-26). Strength comes through praising God and it stops the enemy (compare Ps 8:2 with Mt 21:16). When we worship and praise God, He goes out before us to defeat the adversaries (2Chr 20:21-22). The joy of The Lord is our strength (Neh 8:10).

“As we’re witnessing great darkness and evil being loosed upon the earth the closer we approach the end of the age (1Tim 4:1, 2Tim 3:1-5); we must sing the song of Moses. We must continually declare, “God is my salvation. I trust in Him and I’m not afraid. God is my strength and He is my song.” This is how we will persevere through the fiery trial that is to try us (1Pt 4:12-19).”

In HIS Love,
Pastor J.D. Link, Abundant Grace Fellowship Church

Blanco, Texas

“For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me.  

But if you do not believe his writings, how shall you believe My Words?”  

John 5:46 & 47

Yeshua spoke those words referring to the writings of Moses…  the first five books of the Bible… the Torah.

Should we not also place the words of Moses in high regard?

The following is a quote from a document I ran across, Keeping Shabbat Holy, author unknown.

“The Sabbath is a test and it is also a sign between us and Yehovah. We are told that judgment begins at the house of Yehovah (1 Peter 4:17). Many times people think of this judgment as condemnation. But it’s a process of evaluation, of learning, of growing, of learning how to walk with Yehovah. We are His people and He is showing us through His Holy Days and His laws how we can be part of His family.”

While the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt… “Then Jehovah said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain amount every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My Law or not.”  Exodus 16:4

“And on the sixth day it shall happen, they shall prepare what they bring in. And it shall be twice as much as they gather day by day.” Exodus 16:5

Quoting the unknown author again: 

“Yehovah was going to put Israel to a test! On what? “Whether they will walk in My law or not.” The fact that Yehovah here announced that He would test whether the Israelites would obey His laws—several weeks before He inscribed the Ten Commandments in stone at Mount Sinai—tells us that His divine laws already existed (compare Exodus 16:28; Genesis 26:5). He would soon reveal them anew at Mount Sinai.”

Why am I telling you this?

Consider that Yeshua (Jesus) did not change the Father’s commandments or “do away” with them!  (Matthew 5:17).  

He, essentially, claimed to be that “prophet like unto Moses.”  (Deuteronomy 18:15; John 1:45)

He did not “start a new church”… The believers in Christ did not “replace Israel.”  They were “grafted in” to Israel.

He said, “Follow me!”  (Matthew 4:19) And how do you do that?

What did He do?  Where did He go?  How did He live? Shouldn’t we be imitating Him the way Paul did?

“… as was His custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and got up to read” [from the Torah Scroll].  (Luke 4:16). [You will also find Him throughout the Gospels celebrating the Feasts of the LORD as commanded in Leviticus 23.]

There must be millions of Christians by now who have “crossed over” to Hebraic thinking in their study of the Bible and walking out their faith in the Hebrew Messiah, Yeshua.   They are believers in Christ, the Jewish Messiah, who are doing what He did, what He taught…imitating Him…being His “disciple.”  

They are getting to “know” Him by studying what Moses wrote about Him.

Will they be the ones referred to here in Revelations 14:12?

“This is when perseverance is needed on the part of God’s people, those who observe His commands and exercise Yeshua’s faithfulness.”

Until next time…

Shalom aleikhem!

LaVada

As a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I long for that to be true.  But I am not sure yet…  

John Rich was recently on with Tucker Carlson talking about his new song, REVELATION, and the Book of Revelation.  He mentioned the “great falling away” and the “man of lawlessness…”.  Mr. Rich was making the point that, in his opinion, the so-called rapture was not what most Christians think it is and certainly is not going to occur when they think it is.  His concern was that because of their believing a lie that’s been perpetrated for the last hundred years, they could miss the second  coming of Jesus!  That got me to thinking, as we say here in the Texas Hill Country…  about this man of “Lawlessness“…i.e., Torahlessness!” 

I agree with Mr. Rich.  We, in the church, have indeed inherited lies from our fathers.  But I believe it started long before Scofield.

Jeremiah prophesied about that… 

“O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.” —Jeremiah 16:19 ESV

The Apostle, John, tells us in 1 John 3:4 that sin is the transgression of the Law…he is referring to the Torah!  (The “Law” is the “Torah,” which means instructions in Hebrew!)  The Book of Acts clearly tells us how those first century believers expressed their faith in Yeshua.  They followed Yeshua… and, “as was His [Yeshua’s] custom, He went into the synagogue on Shabbat….” (Luke 4:16). Yeshua followed the Torah perfectly.  NOT so that we wouldn’t have to—but, so that we could see that it was not too hard to do!  He assures us that He did not come to abolish it! (Matthew 5:17). It is His instructions (User Manual) for living!  He wants us to live life abundantly!

The Apostle Paul talked of a great falling away that occurs before the coming of our Messiah. I truly believe that that “falling away” began in the 3rd or 4th century when the so-called church fathers changed the Creator’s Sabbath Day to the first day of the week….and literally outlawed the keeping of the Father’s instructions, the Torah!  They called it Judaizing!  

My husband, Gene, published a book back in 2009 in which he points out:

“The 29th Canon of the Council of Laodicea, which convened in about 365 A.D., stated “Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day rather honoring on the Lord’s Day resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found Judaizing, let them be anathema from Christ.”

— TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES: The Church in a Rearview Mirror – Second Edition: The Battle For Beulah Land by Gene Triesch

https://a.co/brJfgxI

The Apostle, Paul, says, “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until after the Apostasy has come and the man who separates himself from Torah has been revealed, the one destined for doom.” —2 Thessalonians 2:3 CJB

Who separates himself from Torah? The one who refuses to keep it.

Shabbat Shalom!

The devotional below came out on June 6, 2024 and we wanted to share it with you all right away, but Gene had gone into the VA hospital with an abdominal issue; so, we were a little preoccupied with that! He ultimately had surgery and is now recuperating nicely at home….working on being back in the saddle again very soon! Please keep him in your prayers!

This is a word we need to give some serious thought and prayer to.

Rom 12:9 “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”

Romans chapter 12 is a great chapter on what the practical Christian life looks like. While most of the book discusses deep Theological & doctrinal concepts; chapter 12 says, “Here’s what the Christian life looks like lived out; here is Christianity in practice; here is what we believe in action.”  While I would like to discuss each one of these points, space does not permit it. Therefore, we will look at just one point Paul makes in verse 9: “God’s kind of love is genuine and sincere, not hypocritical. Therefore, abhor, hate and utterly detest what is evil; and cleave (stick like glue) to that which is good.” God loves people (Jn 3:16), but He hates evil. If we wonder how much He hates sin, we need only to look at the cross and what it took for God to free is from it. Therefore, we are to love people (Mk 12:31) and hate evil. If we love God, we hate evil (Ps 97:10). If we fear God, we hate evil (Prv 8:13). As God’s children, we are to hate the evil and love the good (Amos 5:15).  Paul says it is hypocritical to say we walk in the love of God, yet we don’t hate what He hates and love what He loves. That is not love, but a lie. God is love (1Jn 4:8), and God hates evil. Are we so arrogant, that we think we’re more loving than God; when we excuse and embrace evil and call it being “loving”? In reality, that is nothing more than (the improper) love of self – and thus, love of evil.  For instance, I’m sure we all know it’s “pride month”, when corporations work overtime to pander to the LGBT crowd and show their “love”. Is this godly? Is this what God would have us do? Is this truly love? Not in the least.  If a friend or loved one told you they were “gay”, you ought not hate them. Our heart should be, “I love you and care about you, and that will never change. However, I will not condone or embrace your lifestyle. I cannot love what God hates. I hate the lies you’re believing and the evil you’re practicing – because God hates those things and calls them evil. Therefore, I cannot call them good or acceptable. God loves you and sent Jesus to die for you and set you free; and I love you enough to tell you the truth. What is the truth? That homosexuality is an abomination to God (Lev 18:22); that you are in danger of being given over to a reprobate mind (Rom 1:24-28) and not inheriting the Kingdom of God (1Cor 6:9-10, Jude 1:7). I say this, not because I hate you, but because I love you (Lev 19:17). I tell you the truth, because I’m your friend, not your enemy (Gal 4:16).” As saints, we love the sinner but hate the sin. We show kindness, mercy and grace to people; but utterly reject the evil they believe, speak and practice. We are not perfect, nor ought we pretend to be. We ought also have no more tolerance for evil in our own lives, than in others. This is being sincere, consistent, and true to God and His Word – not hypocritical. May we not twist and pervert God’s love into something it is not. May we remember that both TRUTH and LOVE came by Jesus Christ (Jn 1:14, 17); and if we deny the truth and call it “love”, it is not love at all – and will result in tragic consequences for both us and them. In HIS Love, Pastor J.D. Link Abundant Grace Fellowship Church Blanco, Texas

We all need encouragement; we all need to be reminded… from the least of us to the greatest. We tend to forget that it is the Creator God who is in charge, not us. We have our responsibilities, don’t get me wrong, but it is not all on our shoulders to turn this ship around. We do our part….we do what the LORD has given us to do. And we TRUST in HIM! As usual, the pastor down the road put it well…

From the pastor down the road…

“O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.  (2)  Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.  (3)  Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment… (11)  Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.

Psalms 60:1-3, 11 

“Perhaps at the moment many of God’s children feel as King David did in this Psalm. “Oh God, we are cast off; we’re scattered; You have been displeased. You have made the earth to tremble and have broken it. You have showed us, Your people, hard things. You have made us to drink the wine of astonishment. Lord, turn Yourself again to us and heal the breaches. Give us help from trouble – for vain is the help of man”.

“I believe sometimes the people of God get too caught up in “why” and lose focus of the “what”. That is, instead of trying to figure out why all of these insane and unjust things are happening in the world; perhaps we ought to rather be looking at what we ought to do.

“”Oh God… give us help from trouble – for vain is the help of man”.

“Have we figured this out yet? Have we come to this place yet? I’m not sure we have. While more and more people are waking up to the fraud of man-made scamdemics; big pharma poison pricks; election thefts; injustice; lawfare; needless wars; climate alarmism; geo-engineering; open borders and all the rest of the globalists’ plans of a New World Order – this is not resulting in massive revival. This is not being followed by humility, mourning, brokenness, repentance and turning to Jesus with all the heart. Not that it is not happening on an individual basis; but it is not happening on any large scale.

“Rather, what we see (in general) in those who are awakening is a renewed patriotism and focus on political solutions. The problem is, there is no political solution to a spiritual problem. There is no voting our way out of a degenerate death spiral. I’m not saying don’t vote (I will be); but only that voting is going to do little to change anything. It’s kind of like putting band-aids on the cuts a demon-possessed person is inflicting upon themselves. Until spiritually treated, physical treatment won’t amount to much.

“What has been set in motion will not be reversed by a new guy in office. God’s people need to be ready physically, mentally and – most importantly – spiritually, for harder times than we’ve ever known – no matter who wins elections. Not trying to be doom & gloom, but just honest concerning the writing on the wall.

“(Ps. 60:12) “Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies.” Don’t hope in man, for it is vain (worthless) to do so (Ps 108:12, 124:1-3, 146:3). Unless The Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build (Ps 127:1). Our focus must be on Him. No one is coming to save us, but Jesus. Calvary is the cavalry. Get right with Jesus. Pray to Him; seek Him; hope in Him. He is where our help comes from (Ps 121:1-2).”

In HIS Love,
Pastor J.D. Link

Abundant Grace Fellowship Church, Blanco, TX

We have been hosting for some time now a Sabbath Assembly of Scripture Study, Prayer and Worship, first in our home and now in the meeting room at The 419 Gelato & Imports, on the square in Blanco.

We wanted to share with you a very brief video clip by a favorite Bible teacher of ours, Tom Bradford, of the Seed of Abraham Fellowship, which gives a clear understanding of some of the events we are watching unfold today in the news.

Bradford speaks of about four thousand years of enmity between Jacob and Esau. And we are still seeing the effects of that history prophesied by Isaiah in this scripture…

“remember the former things of old for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,”

—Isaiah 46:9-10

Watch the video here: Esau’s Curse Today

To watch more of his teaching on Jacob and Esau, click here.

From the pastor down the road…

“Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men. For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD. They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold… But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.”

Psalms 59:2-4, 8

Here, and in many other Scriptures, David reveals an important aspect of prayer. Those who don’t understand this aspect of prayer may find it odd – even perhaps a contradiction – that David pleads for God to awake and help deliver him from the wicked; and then proclaims that God laughs at the wicked and shall have them in derision. How are we to understand this? 

Well, I believe it is simply this: prayer is an act of faith. David knows Almighty God is going to be victorious over His enemies. He knows God will never leave him nor forsake him. He knows God knows his situation. He knows God knows these attacks of the wicked are unjust and they seek to destroy him without a righteous cause. Yet, he calls on God to help him.

You see, prayer is not informing God of anything. He is all-knowing (omniscient). Prayer is an acknowledgment of God’s power to save; as well as an act of faith and trust in God. Our telling God of the situation is not to let Him know what’s going on; but rather, we’re letting Him know we know He knows – and we trust Him for the victory. 

For instance, “Father in Heaven, You see what is happening to us. You see the antichrist system taking hold upon the earth. You see the lies and propaganda; their election meddling; their scamdemics; their endless wars; their collapsing of our borders, economy and nation; their threats and intimidation; their perversion;  their murder, thievery and tyranny, etc.

“But You, oh Lord, who sits in the Heavens, laughs at the wicked. You will have all the evil doers in derision. You will watch over and deliver Your beloved, covenant children in Christ. You will give us wisdom and guide us into all truth. You are the One who delivers from evil; who protects Your people under the shadow of Your wings; who provides for His children; who always causes us to triumph and works all things together for our good.”

Therefore, I will, “… sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defense and the God of my mercy” (Psalms 59:16-17). 

Let us not allow our hearts to fail for fear of the things we see coming upon the earth. Let us rather take courage and be full of faith, the Spirit and the Word. Let us be salt and light. Let us be proclaimers of truth. Let us be people of prayer. Our victory is in Jesus; and in Him alone our hope is found.

In HIS Love,
Pastor J.D. Link