08/05/2021

Shabbat Word

08/05/2021

Shabbat Shalom!

Covid-19 continues to ravage the world. Every night, I pray this Psalm for the continued well-being, security and prosperity of Yahuah’s people, Yisra`el, His land, Yisra`el, His set apart city Yerushalayim and my family spiritual and physical.

Psalm 91:1-16

91:1) He who dwells in the secret place of Ha`Elyon,

Will rest in the shadow of Shaddai.

91:2) I will say of Yahuah,

“He is my refuge and my fortress; My `Elohiym, in whom I trust.”

91:3) For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler,

And from the deadly pestilence.

91:4) He will cover you with His feathers.

Under His wings you will take refuge.

His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.

91:5) You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day;

91:6) Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday.

91:7) A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it will not come near you.

91:8) You will only look with your eyes,

And see the recompense of the wicked.

91:9) Because you have made Yahuah your refuge,

And Ha`Elyon your dwelling place,

91:10) No evil shall happen to you,

Neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.

91:11) For He will give His angels charge over you,

To guard you in all your ways.

91:12) They will bear you up in their hands,

So that you will not dash your foot against a stone.

91:13) You will tread on the lion and cobra.

You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.

91:14) “Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him.

I will set him on high, because he has known my name.

91:15) He will call on me, and I will answer him.

I will be with him in trouble.

I will deliver him, and honour him.

91:16) I will satisfy him with long life,

And show him my salvation (yeshu`ah).”

Psalm 33:1-11

33:1) Rejoice in Yahuah, you righteous!

Praise is fitting for the upright.

33:2) Give thanks to Yahuah with the lyre.

Sing praises to Him with the harp of ten strings.

33:3) Sing to Him a new song.

Play skillfully with a shout of joy!

33:4) For the word of Yahuah is right.

All His work is done in faithfulness.

33:5) He loves righteousness and justice.

The earth is full of the lovingkindness of Yahuah.

33:6) By Yahuah’s word the heavens were made;

All their host by the breath of His mouth.

33:7) He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap.

He lays up the deeps in storehouses.

33:8) Let all the earth fear Yahuah.

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

33:9) For He spoke, and it was done.

He commanded, and it stood firm.

33:10) Yahuah brings the counsel of the nations to nothing.

He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.

33:11) The counsel of Yahuah stands fast forever,

The thoughts of His heart to all generations.                   contd…)

.A Word

The Only Non-recyclable Commodity

In my living room there was a blue wall clock. At least, I called it blue. Men generally see colours in primary (red, blue, yellow), secondary (orange, purple, green) and tones (light, medium, dark) and black and white. Women (again, in general) see a multitude of colours, tints and hues. This may be due to the woman’s need to detect when food is going bad. My wife calls the clock duck egg blue.

I digress; another topic for another day.

During the day, the clock was not noticeable. However, if I got up in the night, then clock seemed to have a very loud tick. I know that the sound does not vary throughout the day, but it is more noticeable in the quiet hours. Especially if I am trying to sleep! Each second passes with a loud TICK, the next second with a loud TOCK and time moves inexorably onwards. Some people say that there was no beginning of time and there will be no end of time, but this is in a metaphysical sense. For a person, there was a definite beginning and there will be a definite end. At FGA we believe that a life begins at conception and not at some arbitrary time during the gestation period.

Time (as we know it) will end when a person dies. For those who have not accepted Yahuah’s salvation in Messiah Yahusha as their personal Saviour there will be an eternity of punishment. For Believers, there will be an eternity of peace.

“He spoke a parable to them, saying, ‘The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I do not have room to store my crops?’ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But Yahuah said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared — whose will they be?’”(Luke 12: 16-20).

When the Master told this parable of the Rich Fool, He was warning of taking life for granted. The Rich Fool did not, could not nor would not consider that his life would be called into account. That is like the vast majority of people today. They make plans for some future date, but sadly tragedy intervenes. Many advertisements warn people to make sure that they have a current will, just in case a person dies without one in force. This is fine for those left behind, but what about the person who dies? What provision have they made for their eternal state? What provision have you made for your eternal state?

Scripture clears states that all people will sin and that there will be a penalty to pay and that a life will be demanded from us. That was the whole purpose of the life and death of the Saviour, Messiah Yahusha. To ‘believe on Messiah Yahusha’ is to accept that, as sinners, there is nothing we can do to remove the punishment that is required as the life is not perfect. However, the life of Messiah Yahusha was perfect in obedience to Father. Messiah gave up His perfect life and it was accepted by Father as the substitutionary sacrifice to remove all the sins of those who believe or accept this perfect sacrifice on their behalf. It was His life that took upon Himself the punishment due to all sinners. If only the sinner seeks forgiveness, turns away from their old life of sin and accepts the new life offered by Messiah.

This new life in Messiah is available to all but is conditional to the person accepting Messiah prior to their death. Even if it is done with the last breath and is genuine repentance and acceptance, the eternal punishment awaiting sinners is removed and replaced by eternal peace.

In the Parable of El`azar (Lazarus) and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31), the Master tells us of the plight of a rich man who ended up in Hell. In torment, he must have wished to be able to turn the clock back. This is not possible. The time you take to read this message can never be repeated. It is gone forever. So it is in life and there is no way back. In spite of movies such as Groundhog Day, The Time Machine etc., time is not cyclic and it cannot be re-used. Therefore, it is vital that all the time we have in this life, is utilised to the uttermost.

Make no mistake! There is a place called Hell. A place of darkness and torment, but Mankind was never meant to end up there. The redemption plan of Father was in place before Creation and Hell was made for the Satan and its followers. Not for Man. However, those who have not accepted the substitute death of Messiah will end up in Hell. Believers, who have accepted Messiah Yahusha as their Saviour will end up in Heaven. The decision is yours!

If, like the Rich Fool, you are called into account tonight, where will you end up? What will be our eternal destination? Upon whose shoulders will the punishment land; yours or your Saviour Messiah Yahusha.

Please do not even wait for tonight.

Right now, is the time to make that decision and you can rest assured that Father in Heaven is waiting eagerly to hear from you.

If only we could turn back time as easily as my wife’s duck egg blue clock. We cannot. Therefore we must look ahead and prepare ourselves….now!

Ameyn

HalleluYah

Ameyn

Father, we thank you for the power of your Word and that Word was made flesh in the Messiah Yeshua so that in believing in His life, death and resurrection we may have eternal life with you.

If you want to accept Father’s offer of salvation through the Messiah Yeshua, you need to ask Him in prayer along these lines. You may use these or your own words but they must be genuine as Father knows our very hearts and nothing is hidden from Him.

“Father, I am a sinner who needs forgiveness of my sins through your Son, the Messiah Yeshua. Please forgive me of all my past sins as I accept that, Messiah Yeshua my Saviour, has taken upon Himself my punishment. By your Spirit, help me to live a life worthy of His sacrifice. Thank you, Father, for making the perfect way back to you.”

Remember, the Judge looks into your heart, mind and future.

If you have honestly said such a prayer as this, and truly renounced the sin in your life and accepted Father’s salvation through the Messiah Yeshua, then please drop us an e-mail or call us at FGA to let us know. This helps build up our faith and offers an opportunity to prayerfully support you. Even if you have Believing friends or family, we at FGA would be privileged to pray for you. Please contact us at ezra710@firstgenerationassembly.com. Having believed and prayed, now please find a local faith-based church to attend. Drop FGA an e-mail or call us so that we can rejoice with you and pray and support you over the coming weeks.

If you have sincerely called out to Father for forgiveness, then eternal life is assured. Salvation does not take away the day-to-day questions of life, nor is it a short-cut away from trials or tribulations. Nevertheless, knowing your eternal life is secure, any temporary trial can be overcome by looking at the completed work of Messiah Yeshua.

All blessings to you.

“Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth.

How good is a word at the right time!” (Prov. 15:23).

Breaking Matzah

Our Saviour welcomes all His Family to join in this memorial. If you have accepted Messiah Yeshua as your Master and Saviour please take the next few moments to seek Father and to ensure that all is right between Him and you and between you and your Brothers and Sisters. If not, please put this right before continuing.

If you have not yet accepted Him into your life, then we encourage you to seek Him while it is still possible, as time is running out. When He returns or if you pass away then it will be too late. Please do not partake of the matzah and wine as in doing so, it gives thanks for the broken body (matzah) and shed blood (wine) for and a witness of salvation.

On the night of the Master’s betrayal, He took the matzah, blessed it and broke it saying ‘This is my Body broken for you; take and eat it as a memorial to Me.’

Bless the matzah saying: Blessed are you, O Yahuah our `Elohiym, King of the Universe, who brings forth matzah from the earth.

Break and eat the matzah (sharing it if within a group setting):

After the meal He took the Cup, blessed it saying ‘This is my Blood poured out for you for the remission of sins; take and drink it as a memorial to me.’

Bless the wine saying: Blessed are you, O Yahuah our `Elohiym, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Drink the wine (sharing it if within a group setting):

Thanksgiving prayer: Blessed are you, O Yahuah our `Elohiym, King of the universe, who gives us, in Yeshua, all that we will ever need. In your lovingkindness and mercy, you rebuild broken lives. You bless us, in Yeshua, with a perfect blessing. Ameyn.

 Dates to remember

04/04/-22/05/2021 – Counting of the Omer

13/05/2021 – Rosh Chodesh 3^rd. New Moon

Father willing, we will meet again next Shabbat.

“Y’varekh’kha Yahuah v’yishmerekha,

Ya’er Yahuah panav eleikha vichunekka,

Yissa Yahuah panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom.”

(May Yahuah bless you and keep you)

(May Yahuah make His face to shine upon you and show you His favour)

(May Yahuah lift up His face toward you and give you peace.).