Shabbat Word
13/02/2021
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 23:1-7
23:1) A Psalm of David.
23:2) Yahuah is my Shepherd:
I shall lack nothing.
23:3) He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
23:4) He restores my soul.
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
23:5) Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
23:6) You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup runs over.
23:7) Surely goodness and lovingkindness
shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in Yahuah’s house forever.
A Word
Keeping Your Head Above Water
“In the six hundredth year of Noach’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the deep were burst open and the sky’s were opened.” (Gen. 7:11).
Who 30 years ago had heard of a tsunami? 26th. December 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami changed all that. A tsunami is a tidal wave caused by an underwater earthquake. Now, it is all too common a word, frequently used by the media after more and more severe earthquakes. Vivid pictures were instantly beamed around the world showing the absolute devastation.
I first heard the word during a trip on the M.V. Cufic (ex-Newfoundland) during a crossing of the Pacific Ocean. The Sparks, (the ship’s Radio Officer not the Electrician), heard a general warning. In the open sea, a tsunami wave is almost inconsequential being less than a metre high and would be virtually invisible in anything less than a flat calm sea and lost in the general clutter of waves. Travelling at nearly four hundred miles an hour, it would pass by a ship in the blink of an eye. At that time, the Newfoundland was designed for the Winter North Atlantic trade and for the held the record for the greatest recorded roll of a ship from one extreme to another. This record was only beaten by a U.S.C.C. vessel that completed a 360 degree roll, but it was design to do this. So a one metre high held no problems.
At the end of the tsunami’s travels, the water depth shallows causing drag upon the wave, slowing it down. As the wave slows down, the height of the wave increases higher and higher, until it reaches landfall where the height has soared to many metres. So powerful is this wave that trees, cars and even brick buildings can be swept away. Tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes floods etc. show just how puny Man is compare to the forces of Nature.
Life can be like this; watching the wrong types of T.V. programmes, listening to the wrong type of music or even in keeping the wrong type of company, may seem inconsequential at the time. It may not be every T.V. episode or music track, but there are more and more anti-Yahuah themes, creeping into the media. Therefore, “There is a way which seems right to a man, But in the end it leads to death.” (Prov. 14:12). However insignificant these influences seem at the time, at the end of life’s journey, they will all pile up.
There are also other types of flooding catastrophes. With twenty-four hour, world-wide news coverage captured on mobile recording devices, more and more pictures are available showing flash-floods or sea-surges caused by hurricanes. Not only cars, trees and buildings swept away as though they were toys, but the cost in the loss of human life is recorded. In the Indian Ocean tsunami, the death toll was estimated at between 230-280,000.
Imagine if you were caught up in such a deluge, being swept along to your death. As you race along towards a bridge, you can see people looking down into the water. You also see life-belts on the bridge. Even if you could shout, your voice would not be heard over the roar of the torrent. If only someone would throw down a life-belt, would you not try with every shred of energy in your body to reach and grasp hold of the life-line?
You may think that you are capable of escaping the torrent by your own strength. In a water torrent, there are all types of debris that can smash into you. There are deadly under-currents that can drag you down. However, many people are killed by hypothermia. This is an inexorable draining of the body’s heat, drawing out the strength of even the greatest of swimmers. The limbs grow weak and the body cannot stop shivering. Before it is realised, hypothermia has overcome the swimmer and death follows.
Well, I have some bad news and some Good News.
The bad news is that every person has been caught up in the torrent. This torrent is called life and everyone is being swept away to hell and an eternal existence of punishment and suffering because of disobedience to Yahuah in their lives. This disobedience is known as sin. There is nothing anyone can do for you. When the torrent of life flows so fast, it sweeps everything away with it. The busy-ness of life; bills, health, work, family all work to drag us down.
The Good News is that a Life-line has been given; His name is Messiah Yeshua. “For Yahuah so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”There it is! There is the Life-line! “…that whosoever…” that means you and I and every other person that has, or ever will, draw breath “…believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). The Life-line has been given, His Son, but there is a condition applied. This condition is that a person must believe the work that His Son completed.
The belief is that everyone is a sinner and the consequence of that sin is eternal punishment and damnation. There is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it. Therefore, each and every person needs a Saviour/Life-line. That Saviour has taken upon Himself our punishment. By asking the Father for forgiveness for past sins and acknowledging and accepting that Messiah Yeshua has taken upon Himself our guilt and eternal damnation; congratulations, you have caught hold of the Life-line! Oh what joy it is to know the peace of sins forgiven!
If you notice, the life-line is attached to a bright orange life-belt. In the water, the life-line would be difficult to see. However, the life-belt is coloured bright orange to draw your attention to it, but is no good unless it is attached by the line to a strong point of safety. One is no good without the other. Salvation is like that.
The Life-line is Messiah Yeshua, but He is difficult to notice in a world full of distractions. At the end of His life was a Cross. This is our life-belt. If the person of Messiah can be missed, the Cross surely cannot. As with the life-line, one cannot be any use without the other. If there was no Cross, the Son of Yahuah would have been a wonderful man, healing and comforting as He did, leaving the world with some fantastic moral teaching. He still would have been the Son of Yahuah, the second Person of the Trinity, but He could not have been our Saviour. There would not have been salvation for a single person. Without the Messiah, the Cross would just have been one of the many thousands of wooden stakes upon which people died. Nevertheless, the Messiah was attached to the Cross, His life and His death on that Stake is the only Life-line we have against eternal judgement. Grab hold of it now! There may not be another chance.
Now, if you have already accepted Father’s salvation through Messiah Yeshua, imagine that you are one of the spectators on the bridge. Would you not try everything possible to throw that life-line to the people in the water? Well, there is a torrent sweeping through every city, town and village and it is in the streets and neighbourhoods of these places. Everyone is being swept away unless someone throws that Life-line; to tell of the Good News of Father’s salvation through Messiah Yeshua.
I used to go into Liverpool city centre on a regular basis. There, a man carried a sandwich board proclaiming, “Repent, For The End Of The World Is Nigh!” People used to make fun of him; I just ignored him. We did not know that this was the Life-line and the man was throwing it out to whosoever will grab hold. Before the Indian Ocean tsunami hit, I expect that not one of the 230-280,000 woke up that morning thinking that they would not see another day. Likewise, many who read that sandwich-board would not see the next day. Heart attack, stroke, accident or even murder would sweep them away to eternal punishment.
What did I need of a Life-line? I was young, healthy and fit and had a successful career, a good marriage, a nice car and money in the bank. I was being swept along by the most deadly of all torrents, called ‘Easy Street’. Little did I know that in a short time my career would be in tatters, my wife left me, gone went the car and all my savings. In fact, I ended up owing more than I ever had in savings. In the Parable of the Rich Fool, Yahuah says, “…You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you…So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward Yahuah.” (Luke 12:20, 21). If it was not for the mercy of Father, that could well have been me. It could well have been called the Parable of the Engineer Fool.
Even so, even with all the dangers of life, the most insidious danger is from spiritual hypothermia. This is commonly known as sin. Sin will drain a person’s strength and spirit, little by little until a person is too weak to see the Life-line being thrown out to them. I was not a murderer or thief and considered myself as a good person. It took the loss of everything but my life (and I am eternally grateful for Father’s long-suffering and mercy) and having to emigrate out to Canada before the Life-line was thrown out to me again. Gwen Schmunk was the person who threw it out to me. It was her simple explanation of my dire need of a Saviour and that even a ‘good’ person needs a Saviour. She led me to grab hold tight of that Life-line, and for nearly thirty years, I have clung tight hold. In fact, my wife also caught on to the Life-line when it was thrown to her, at the same time by Gwen.
It is my belief that most people never entered into Yahuah’s salvation without someone praying for them. I believe that it was Gwen’s prayers that opened our eyes. Throwing the Life-line, need not necessarily be going out onto the streets but that is the ultimate cast. We, who have caught hold of the Life-line, can cast prayers for those caught in the torrent of life. We can also pray for others who are going out onto the streets.
The Life-line is of no use if it is not thrown; and no good unless it is grabbed hold of.
Therefore, today, start throwing out those Life-lines or grab tight hold as if your very life depends upon it.
For surely it does.
Ameyn.
HalleluYah
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.
“Rescue those who are being led away to death!
Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter!.” (Prov. 24:11).
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
14/03/2021 – Rosh Chodesh 1st. New Moon
27/03/2021 – Pesach
28/03-03/04/2021 – Chag haMatzah
04/04/-22/05/2021 – Counting of the Omer
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.).
First Generation Assembly 