Not long ago, we went to see a life-size replica of the tabernacle in the Negev desert, a couple hours from where we live. It was really fascinating. As we went into the Holy of Holies, the guide shared something I never heard before.

According to Jewish tradition, even to this day, when a son dies, his father tears his shirt as a sign of his agony and mourning. You can see this at traditional Jewish funerals worldwide.

Years ago, right when His Son Yeshua (Jesus) died, His Father tore His veil. It is because of His great mercy toward us, that He allowed His Son to die for our redemption. And the tearing of that veil allows us to enter the Holy of Holies and fellowship with Him.

Today, we can come to the throne boldly — not because of anything we've done –but because of God's wonderful compassion. Let's enter the Holy place with the Lord today — worship Him and thank Him, boldly make our requests known and expect Him to do great and mighty things!

Matthew 5:45 That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Lord is quoted in this scripture in Matthew and it contains an important principle which I think we sometimes tend to overlook. Many believe and even teach that if someone acquires much material prosperity, then God has surely given them favor, and that if someone is undergoing extreme trial, it must be because they have sinned or that they lack faith. But the Lord says that the sun rises and the rain falls on both the righteous and the unrighteous alike. A life of good circumstances does not necessarily mean that God is with us. And likewise, a life of trial and suffering does not mean that God is not with us!

If we base our lives on our circumstances, we are no different than people without God. What makes us different from the world is that we have something far greater than our circumstances! We can live victoriously both in want and in plenty because we have a relationship with the living God!

There is nothing wrong with rejoicing through the good times but we need to rejoice through the bad as well! If you're going through some hard times, choose to rejoice in the Lord today! We have a greater treasure and a more amazing victory when our lives are centered upon Him at all times!

A disgruntled church-goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained: "I've gone to church for thirty years now, and in that time I have heard something like three-thousand sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. I think I'm wasting my time and the Pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This began a major controversy which went on for weeks until someone wrote in this reply:

"I've been married for thirty years now. In that time my wife has cooked some three thousand meals. For the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this … they all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work…”

Hmmm. So true. We need our spiritual nourishment to be able to do the work of the Lord effectively! Corporate worship, fellowship with our brothers and sisters and Godly counsel are a great means to get it!

God does not want us to isolate ourselves! He wants us to be in consistent fellowship with like minded believers, teaching and exhorting one another, singing psalms and spiritual hymns together! Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb.10-25)! There’s so much work to be done!

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy Devotions.

Daniel 9:26 And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

The Book of Daniel prophesied in this passage, that the Messiah will come and be cut off, and then the city of Jerusalem and the sanctuary (the temple) will be destroyed. The city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army led by Titus in 70 AD. Consequently the Messiah of Israel, whoever he is, had to have come before the year 70 AD. There is only one person whose identity and life perfectly fits the description and timing contained in this prophecy; no one else even comes close. This same Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), ride a donkey into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9) and die for the sins of the world (Isaiah 53). He fulfilled at least 100 other prophecies at His first coming. He is Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth.

But for nearly 2,000 years most of Yeshua's own Jewish people have been searching and waiting in vain for their Messiah, blind to His true identity and first appearing.

Now we who do know Him might look with condescension on our Jewish neighbors, but we ought to be careful that we're not making the same mistake in a way; waiting for a fulfillment or a promise that has already come, and missing it because of blindness, jealousy, worldliness or pride. Yeshua is our fulfillment in life; having received Him and known Him, have we still missed that reality?

Don't forget to center your life and your hope on Him. He is the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE! With so much work to be done, let's make sure our lives are centered!

Revelation 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

The word "midst", in the Greek, is 'meros' which literally means "the middle". In the 'meros' of the throne in heaven is the Lamb of God. The very focus of heaven — the center of attention — is the Lamb of God!

So often we receive emails asking specific doctrinal questions about this new "revelation" or that new "teaching", and the very first thing I must ask myself is — is Yeshua (Jesus) in the center? If all of heaven is centered on the Lamb of God, how much should every doctrine be centered on Him? And how much more should our lives be centered on the Lamb that was slain for us?

The Lord expects us to test all things (1 John 4:1), and see if they are of God. Let's not get distracted with doctrines in which He is not the center.

Micah 4:8;5:2 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

There are many who are not aware of the very deep significance of Bethlehem,Yeshua's (Jesus') birthplace. Everyone knows that Bethlehem was a place where shepherds grazed their sheep, and where the Messiah was to be born, but do not realize that it was a town designated as the birthing place for lambs which were used for the Passover sacrifice. The Scriptures give significant details about this little town lying slightly south of Jerusalem.

In Micah 4:8 we read about the "watchtower of the flock", or in Hebrew, "Migdal Edar." According to the "Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah", by Alfred Edersheim, a Jewish believer in the late 1800's, Migal Edar was the location where the Messiah was to be revealed. This watchtower stood as a place of protection for the city from approaching enemies, but it was also utilized by shepherds to watch over the specific flocks from which sacrificial Passover lambs were taken.

The shepherds who were tending these particular flocks were no ordinary shepherds. They were specifically trained by the Rabbis for a holy task. They had to insure that, as much as possible, every lamb was free of any blemish or injury, in order to be used for the Passover sacrifice. Since they were instructed by the Rabbis, they almost certainly knew of those passages in the Targums (Aramaic translations) and the Mishna associating the birth of the Messiah with "Migdal Edar". For example, Migdal Edar is translated in one of the Targums as "The Anointed One of the Flock of Israel." It is also written in the Mishna that "He spread his tent beyond Migdal Edar, the place where King Messiah will reveal Himself at the end of days."

Those shepherds had strong hints of Messiah's advent in the very town where they lived, so that when the angelic host appeared announcing his arrival, they responded immediately and went to worship Him. We too have increasing signs of His soon Second Coming. Are we also prepared to respond? Our readiness to act in faith and worship will show how well we understand the signs of our own times. With so much work to be done, let us stay awake and be inspired by the expectation of his soon arrival – for, just like those shepherds of Bethlehem, we truly were born for such a time as this!

Isaiah 62:11 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

We came across this quote in our search for devotional material and thought we'd share it with you in light of the holiday season. The author is not known but he or she is surely wise.

"If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer….. but our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior."

Yes, God sent us a Savior — that we might know His forgiveness. But not only that we might know it. God sent us a Savior so that we, who have been given the privilege of this knowledge, might go and share the good news of His forgiveness with all the world!

Let's cherish His forgiveness today. Let's revel in it and let all who don't know that they can have the same!

Psalm 27:13-14 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

It was recently during Hurricane Sandy that I read how teenagers for the first time ever had to live without any electricity, and (can you even imagine) – without a cell phone! For the first time in their lives they enjoyed the privilege of experiencing what life was like decades ago. Forced to slow down, unable to text or "Facebook", everyone who lost power entered a "moment" of technological communication silence, and they waited anxiously for the powers that be to restore their normal life patterns. How many actually enjoyed this, or found some kind of relief from the tyranny of communication technology, I wonder? How many actually took any time out to “wait on the Lord”? I have to wonder if the Almighty had much more company than He was used to during this time. I kind of hope so…

The above passage speaks of "losing heart" except for the expectation of faith in the goodness of YHVH. How long could you go without electrical power before you might begin to "lose heart"? At what point would "waiting on the Lord" become your only source of hope or encouragement? How much, really, do we depend on earthly power? And how much on the power of God? Webster’s definition of "wait", is “to stay or rest in". It's a quiet place of abiding. And this kind of waiting is expectant, because in it you are awakening your conscious relationship with the God of Creation, and you have every reason to expect His comfort, love, and restorative power to flow from your communion with Him.

But for many of us, it's hard to enter silence, isn't it? So when the power goes off, we fidget until it's restored.

Is your heart weak and your earthly strength just about dried up? The word says, "Be of good courage, and wait on the Lord"; there is power and courage to be received simply by waiting on Him. Having experienced it countless times I can tell you confidently, He will renew your strength, encourage and prepare you for whatever comes next. So I say, again, “Wait on the Lord!”

2 Ch 20:17,21-22  You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you."  And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: "Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever." Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.

We've been encouraged by numerous phone calls and emails over the past few days, telling us that people are praying and fasting for Israel and believers in the land — and we so appreciate it, more than words could ever express!

For the past few days the conflict in Gaza has been front page news. In this conflict some of the most sophisticated weapons ever developed are being deployed, and yet the amazing truth is that we, as believers, have a weapon far more powerful and effective than any man-made weapon ever created — Worship!

Most of us worship God when things are going well. And while worship can and should be a daily joyful exercise, and also an expression of praise for the Lord's victories, remember that worship has also been commissioned by God's people as one of the weapons in our spiritual arsenal.

So we can learn something from Jehoshaphat. He assigned worshipers to lead the armies into battle — and Israel crushed her enemies! Worship brought forth the victory in the midst of battle!

In the midst of your spiritual battle, learn the power of praise and the weaponry of worship, to disarm principalities and powers in heavenly places. When fears, doubt, discouragement, and despair threaten to overwhelm you — try warring with worship. Learn to praise Him in the midst of the battle…and soon enough you'll be praising Him even more, for the victory!

The central fact of the gospel message is the resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus), declared in Psalm 2, the begotten Son of God. In 1952, Dead Sea scrolls were discovered in Cave 4 called the "Messianic Apocalypse". The Messiah's ministry of resurrection is reiterated in these ancient documents with an obvious reference to Isaiah 61:1-3. The scroll identifies someone who "… will heal the wounded, and revive the dead and bring good news to the poor." It is clear that at least some of the authors of these documents clearly understood the central nature and ministry of the coming Messiah, most certainly based on their intimate knowledge of the prophetic writings in the Tenach (OT)…that ministry, resurrection of the dead.

This reality of the resurrection of Yeshua and His power to raise the dead cannot be overestimated. Death is the inevitable result of sin. Yeshua became sin, bearing all of it in His body, and then was raised from death to eternal immortal glory. This wonderful fact has proliferated throughout the world, the most important and powerful message ever delivered to mankind.

An illustration from our own time reveals the pervasive hope of Messiah's resurrection and victory over death. D.L. Moody the great 19th century revivalist was called on early in his ministry to deliver a funeral message. Searching the Gospels to find a funeral sermon given by Yeshua, he quickly discovered his search was in vain. Instead of ministering at funerals, Yeshua broke up every funeral he ever attended! Death could not exist where He was. And when the dead heard His voice they sprang to life, for He truly is "the resurrection and the life."

Are you feeling dead and worn out today? Then be reminded that your Savior is Life and that He brings it abundantly wherever He is, and that death is overcome in His Presence. So GET IN HIS PRESENCE! Repent, pray, worship, read, dance, delight, intercede, seek Him with all your heart and soul. His Life is waiting to refresh, restore, and revive you.

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy Devotions

Hebrews 4:9-11 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

In Israel, Shabbat (the Sabbath) is an extraordinary day. People spend much effort to get everything perfectly prepared for this special season that lasts from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. For those of you who have ever visited Israel, you'd know that Friday morning is the time that everyone here is rushing around doing errands before everything closes. The shook (outdoor market) is packed, the buses are full, everyone is doing last minute shopping, cleaning, cooking and preparing for sundown, when all will be closed, the streets will be empty, the shops will be shut down and there is nothing to do for the next 24 hours but rest.

There is a Shabbat for the people of God and we must be diligent to enter into it. We do not labor to be justified, for our justification is only in Yeshua (Jesus) and in Him all the work for our salvation has already been accomplished. But it does take some labor to enter in. We must spend time preparing ourselves in worship and prayer and meditation on His word! But praise God! He has given us the ability to enter into His Shabbat rest, peace, joy and all the fullness of His blessings every day of the week if we will only prepare ourselves to receive it!

Let's prepare to enter into His perfect peace today. Shabbat Shalom!

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Have you ever heard about how the Eskimos kill wolves? You're not gonna believe this one!

First the Eskimo coats the blade of his knife with animal blood and allows it to freeze. He then adds and freezes more layers of blood, several coats, in fact, until the blade is completely covered with frozen blood. Next, he plants his knife in the snow, the blade facing up and goes about his business.

When a wolf finds his way to the luring aroma of fresh blood, he starts licking. Then more and more vigorously, lapping it until the sharp blade of the knife is exposed. However, by this point, so intense is his craving for the scrumptious blood, that the wolf does not notice the sharp sting of the blade on his own tongue, nor does he even realize that his ravenous craving is now being satisfied by his very own blood! By light of dawn, the Eskimo will find him laying dead in the snow.

Sin entices and seduces us in precisely the same way. Satan lures us to the place where he plans to ravage us with some sort of destructive fleshly pleasure — gossip, rage, sexual sin, etc. Once we give in to it's lustful pleasures, our craving for it increases. When we continue to allow ourselves to indulge, it grips us all the more. And before we know it — it completely consumes us. Our friendships are damaged. Our marriages are broken. Our testimony, spoiled. Satan has come only to rob, kill and destroy.

Let's begin recognizing our enemy's tactics upon us! There is no more time to give in to his destructive ways! We must strive to walk in holiness and righteousness for the glory of God's Kingdom! There is so much work to be done!!

Matthew 14:23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

There were times that Yeshua (Jesus) separated himself from the multitudes — and there are times when we need to separate ourselves from our lives and ministry, and spend some time with our Lord.

I love how Yeshua climbed a mountain. It made me think of an interesting analogy. Picture the shape of a mountain. It starts out wide at the bottom — the higher we climb, the narrower it becomes — and the more we must stay close to the center. As we go even higher yet, there's less room to move to the left or the right — and there's less and less ground that can be compromised — the more focused we need to be and the less we can afford to be distracted. The higher we go, the less room we have to fool around!

Whatever you may be dealing with, you may just need to separate yourself and climb up to spend time with the Lord — get centered on Him and focused on what He's calling you to.

God wants us to learn to climb to the top and focus all of our lives on His will! Let's take out some time this weekend to try it!

Psalms 89:3-4 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah. [Selah in Hebrew means “pause and ponder this!”]
Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David [in the Hebrew New Testament it’s written - Yeshua HaMashiach ben David], the son of Abraham.

New Testament genealogies of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) all identify Him as the son of king David. It was universally understood from the Tenach (OT) that the messiah would be descended from David and that he would restore the Davidic monarchy to its ultimate and most universal expression, even that this king would reign and sit on the throne forever.

Why was Yeshua's identification with David so significant? One reason is that David is the only man in the Bible about whom the Lord said, this is “a man after My own heart”. Yet we know well David's imperfections … adultery and murder — so why would God say this about him? I believe it was David's lifelong love for and abandoned worship of the Lord, and also his contrite heart (Ps. 51) and the depth of his sorrow and repentance which showed this relationship to be the most important and precious in his life.

God isn’t expecting perfection from us — His Son has provided that. Yeshua alone is the Man whose heart and actions are flawless. But David exemplified a man whose love and respect for his God were constant, if imperfect, a man after God's own heart. And this is the heart that God is seeking today, contrite, worshipful, and filled with respect and love for our God.

David provides a wonderful example for us who are as imperfect as he was. We may fall and fail miserably – but its how we get up that makes the difference. Our constant desire to preserve this most precious of all relationships will show that we too have a heart after God. I know I want to hear Him say, "Yes, you are truly someone after my own heart!"

A group of scientists and botanists were exploring remote regions of the Alps in search of new species of flowers. One day they noticed through binoculars a flower of such rarity and beauty that its value to science was incalculable. But it lay deep in a ravine with cliffs on both sides. To get the flower someone had to be lowered over the cliff on a rope.

A curious young boy was watching nearby, and the scientists told him they would pay him well if he would agree to be lowered over the cliff to retrieve the flower below.

The boy took one long look down the steep, dizzy depths and said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” A short time later he returned, followed by a gray-haired man. Approaching the botanist, the boy said, “I’ll go over that cliff and get that flower for you if this man holds the rope. He’s my dad.”

His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy.

Our Heavenly Father wants us to place our entire trust in Him and is pleased to show His faithfulness, we can trust Him to hold us even when it seems we are on the very edge!

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy Devotions.

A young woman at a textile mill in rural Texas, was new on the job. A flaming red warning sign on her sewing machine read “If Your Thread Becomes Tangled, Call the Foreman Immediately."

After working diligently for an hour or two, suddenly the young worker’s thread became tangled. Fearing the foreman’s reaction at such an early mistake, she thought, “I’ll just quickly straighten this out myself.” Though she tried desperately to untangle the thread, the situation only worsened. Finally she had no choice but to call the foreman. As soon as he arrived, the foreman could tell that the young worker had tried do do some of her own maneuvering before calling him. “I did the best I could,” she said. “No you didn’t,” the foreman replied. “To do the best, you should have called me. Now this sewing machine will need to be repaired. If this happens again, you will be fired.”

Hmm. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have tried to do something on my own strength. I exhaust myself trying before becomes clear that I just can’t do it with out my Great Foreman. Thankfully, He hasn’t fired me yet!

It may sound radical to say but when we rely on our own strength, really, it is a form of idol worship. We exalt our own strength above the Lord’s. This is unacceptable to a Holy and All-Powerful God. Even our greatest efforts cannot compare with how much more effectively a job can get done if we would only call upon His Name!

We are weaklings in need of a great God. We cannot do anything without Him. Let’s begin putting our trust fully in the Lord today and see great things get accomplished!

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy Devotions.

How do we produce much fruit? What is the Lord saying?

In the modern world, the work ethic is, achieve and produce by working longer and harder! The focus is on getting results through human effort — we've become product oriented and the bottom line is……the bottom line! But God's way runs contrary to this approach — His way is much more oriented toward process and relationship rather than performance and production. He IS interested in results which He calls "fruit"; but not by pushing or egging us on to work harder or longer.

The Lord's way is to work with and through us so that every result or product comes out of our abiding in Him, since without Him WE CAN DO NOTHING.

This is opposed to of the culture we live in today, and to human nature in general. Think about it — we're constantly bombarded with self-help books promoting self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-control — our society is all about SELF! But God's way of success produces the results which He values; results which are not produced by self-effort, but which grow out of an intimate relationship with Him, in which we seek to constantly abide.

The only way we can become abundantly fruitful is to understand the Lord's fruit-bearing process. As we lay down self-effort, our natural human independence, and seek communion with Him, abiding in the Vine, then His power, His will, and His desires will be realized in our lives, which then, will bear fruit that remains throughout eternity!

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy Devotions.

Our little Elianna, now seven, loves flowers. Every time she sees one, she has to get down and take a whiff. It's so adorable.

Did you know that back in the days of the Roman Empire fragrances were all the rage? They would celebrate their victories with huge parades and burn incense on the altars, which would fill the entire city with its sweet-scented aroma. Even those who could not be part of the celebration would smell the incense from afar and know their army had been victorious!

This is the very effect we should have on the world around us. Our lives should be burning the sweet smell of righteousness, holiness, love, and victory! Our fragrance should be so strong that people can smell it from afar and know that we are victorious in every circumstance through the atoning work God has already done!

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy Devotions.

Life can get so hectic sometimes — we often try to do too many things at once. But when our schedule gets that hectic, we need to start investing in some quality time with the Lord. The operating word here is "investing".

Did you know that God is the best broker in town? When we invest our time in worship, prayer and the reading of His word, He takes that time and multiplies it many times over! When we give the Lord our time, He gets our minds focused and can even give us new ideas for how we can get things done better and more efficiently! I’ve heard testimony after testimony about this and seen God at work in my own life in this area. It really works!

I heard it said once that "proof of love is the investment of time". Do we have something to prove today? Let’s start by spending some time with the Lord. Spending time in His presence is the greatest investment we could ever make!

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy Devotions.

Patience is one of those things… so hard to learn it… so hard to practice it faithfully in our daily walk. It’s one of of those things I truly wish we didn’t have to learn — but God requires it of us! As I was reading through this passage again in Exodus, it dawned on me that Moses sat on the mountain for six entire days before the Lord spoke to him. He had to patiently wait for the Lord for six days!

So often we think we can just do as we please with our lives and then come running to God for a few minutes of prayer and get an answer right away but I don’t believe it is always that simple. Even Moses needed to be prepared for six full days in order to be able experience the awesome presence of the Lord! If Moses had to wait six days – then it should not surprise us if we need to wait 60 days, 60 months or even 60 years for the Lord to prepare us to receive His blessing!

The funny thing is as I’m writing this devotional, my daughter is clinging to me, insisting “Abba, hold me! Hold me now!” And I’m saying to her, “Elianna, just wait a couple minutes and let me finish writing this devotional and I will give you a treat!”

Hmmm… perhaps the Lord is saying to us today — Be patient my child, if you wait on me I will give you a treat!

Be encouraged! The Lord is preparing us for great things. Spend more time seeking Him and worshipping Him. Keep waiting at His feet. He will meet us! There's so much work to be done.

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy Devotions