When Your Heart Points to God

For several weeks, due to a fall, my left pinky pointed to God. When people kept bumping into and hurting my digit, I thought about all those precious people whose hearts point to God. Beginning with the Apostles and each who followed and believed in Messiah in the Bible and to today there has seldom been a time when people of faith weren't treated differently. Jesus knew all about being singled out, for from His conception to His death on the cross, He was set apart. Our Saviors last words, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," (Luke 23:34), shows us a heart that points to God.

Considering all Christ suffered to set me and all who call upon His name free from the bondage of this world and the joy of seeing Him in heaven, my little finger 'owie' is like the ones children experience. However, when your heart points to God the bigger 'owie' we experience is the same one our Lord did daily. When things get difficult for us we might think, Why me? But the things we fear happened to Jesus... He was homeless throughout his ministry. Yet he spoke words of love, life and forgiveness. From His first words to His last, and until the end of this age we'll remember what He said because His words showed us God. Not God is the abstract, but a God of flesh and blood who loved us enough to redeem us with the blood of His son. Since Jesus took upon the sin of the world, and God cannot look upon sin, Jesus - the pure and spotless sacrifice - died alone. He was forsaken so we could become worthy of all God wishes to gift us.

This is what it means to take up our cross and follow Him. We take up our cross by choosing to not look at what was or worry about what we’ll be. We trust that God is sovereign. Aware that when we yield all we could end up homeless. What a ministry that would be if Jesus chose that for... "Ah, but..." Whatever you were going to say, I hope today you will choose joy, for we have so much to be joyful for when each of our hearts point to God.

Till we meet again, may God guide your way and His Word give you His peace which transcends our situations or finger 'owie's'.

A Bright Idea Let's do it 4 the Kids!

Way back when I was a kid, things were different! Since I'm a second generation American, I remember stories of how my grandparents, great uncles, aunts, and other members of their families came to America. Each one was sponsored by an American citizen. Only then could they be allowed in. To make sure they would be able to make a living, each learned English, attended citizenship classes, and became a citizen. They were proud to be part of this country and eager to bless America. My grandpa Louis and my great uncles Nate and Newman joined the Army when World War 1 began.

After my grandpa Louis retired, he loved to watch the horse races in Tecate, Mexico on Friday's. He was always home in time for our family dinner. However, there was one Friday night when we didn't eat because Grandpa didn't some home. Finally, at eight o'clock we got a phone call asking for my dad. When he got on the line we discovered the call was from a United States of America Boarder Guard. Grandpa had left home without his citizenship papers and they couldn't let him in! My dad got his father’s papers, drove to the boarder and once the guard verified that Louis Eisen was an American citizen let him in!

I'm 71 yet I have never forgotten how my grandfather was detained at the boarder because we were a country of laws. Though very young, I felt safer knowing that would happen to all who didn't belong here. During those days of 'duck and cover' feeling safe meant being able to do kid things without worrying. 

Our kids and all who live here legally need to feel safe. I have seen articles about people who have been here for many years being deported. Though each had time to become a citizen they, for whatever reason, chose not to. With MS-13 and terrorist pouring into our country, we must again act as all sovereign nations do by enforcing our laws. By doing what is necessary we will once again be The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

Why Sunday Matters Most

As the wife of a Lutheran Pastor and Messianic field missionary with Chosen People Ministries, a writer of faith stories and more importantly a believer in Messiah Yeshua, I thought it good to share these thoughts now because it seems 21 century families are not attending weekly worship as they did before.

Growing up in Synagogue or as some called it a Congregation, we Jews worshiped on Saturday because for us the new day begins at sundown. Throughout my childhood, my parents carpooled with others of our faith to get us kids to Shabbat school, which is the equivalent of Sunday school. My parents were seldom at worship, which was a common thing as far as I knew. Since my parents did not attend there were no family chats about the sermon or Bible study that preceded it. I did not think that odd until our girls, my husband and I gave our lives to Jesus within nine months.

Becoming aware that God loved and cared enough about each of us to offer His only son as the only acceptable ransom for our sins knit us together. Worshiping together as well as studying the same book of the Bible knit our hearts together in such tight bonds of love, commitment and service to God that we were changed from what we had been to what God had created us to become so we could draw others to Him.

Looking back, in light of today's trend, I see a red flag which I'll call 'Lack of Family Unity' that I believe can be changed when all family members worship together, study the same book of the Bible and talk about what they learned and how that applies to their life and the lives of others.

However, in this and most industrialized societies today, people are so busy chasing after whatever to get wherever without realizing that when we put God and His Word first, He gifts us peace, patience, joy and an awareness of what matters most. That dear friends is why Sunday Matters Most. For it is after we spend time with the Lord and our dear faith family that God's Word dwells in our hearts in a fresh new way encouraging us to look not at what we don't have or want, but at what we do have that we can thank Him for and share with others.