Tending the Temple Daily

  What is freedom? My idea of freedom has certainly evolved over my lifetime.  At 8 years of age, freedom was my mom trusting me to walk 2 blocks over to my friend's house, my mom had faith that I'd be ok and reach my destination. Well, kids could do that back then.  At 14, freedom was my motorcycle and the license to ride it on the streets. Freedom was the job I got with my motorcycle as transportation. At 16, freedom was a car. At 18, freedom was my high school diploma, and leaving home. Freedom was making adult decisions regarding my life, and consequences that came with those decisions.  Fifteen years later, freedom was a turtle candy from the Dollar General Store, and the twenty minutes I had away from two little kids and an overbearing husband to stop by the Dollar General Store for the shopping. Freedom was the $.75 extra in my pocket to buy that turtle candy. During this time I learned that freedom was faith. Faith that the promises of Yah were true. Freedom ...

  Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. As I was recounting my recent leap of faith, to a friend, I saw the concern in her eyes. Quickly, I mentally ran over what I said to elicit such a look from her. Yeah, I could see it, from a human perspective, my leap has landed me in an unsure spot. No employer, no income guaranteed, no job benefits like medical insurance. Yet, I only felt peace. I flashed a smile. Surely it reflected the calm I had.  I recently posted about taking a leap of faith. Those big life decisions can stir up anxiety, fear, sleeplessness, digestion issues, and more. What we desire is peace. I got some peace when I understood t...

  Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Like all followers of Yahusha/Jesus, from my generation, I look for hints and instructions regarding His second coming in the Holy Scriptures.  We want to be ready, right? And we'd like to avoid the coming destruction if we can. Revelation 18 is where we find that familiar phrase we heard firmly proclaimed from the pulpit growing up in church, "come out of her my people". Revelation 18 is describing "end times" events regarding the second coming. It speaks of the destruction of Babylon, and Yah's people are warned. Warned to "come out, so as to not be partakers of Babylon's sin and her destruction". He wouldn't warn His people for no reason.  There are numerous ideas of exactly who, where, or what is Babylon.  Go back a chapter to Revelation 17, and we get a poetic detaile...

  A few months back I wrote about stress and changes. Well, here we are at the precipice of the situation.  There is a right path and a left path, either way, I must jump. I cannot continue along the path on which I currently walk. That road ends Tuesday.   I have fasted and prayed. I have lost sleep and been distracted.  I cannot focus, my thoughts always drift back to the decision before me. I am looking forward to Tuesday solely because I want the stress to stop. And the only answer I get from my prayers is this: There isn't necessarily a right or wrong choice here. The important part is to walk in righteousness whichever path I take. Both trails are short, both have trials, and both are lined with the potential for blessing.  Often in life we find ourselves in situations, dealing with circumstances not of our choosing. And we go forward,  navigating the best we can with Yahusha, The Word, as or guiding light.  Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp...

   The level of respect you give others is a direct reflection of your heart. Luke 6:31, Philippines 2:3, Romans 12:10, 1Peter 3:8, Mark 12:31 I use this blog as a method to work out my thoughts and understandings. I began this one thinking the topic was "them", as I progressed through the scriptures I realized I was the subject. Yah humbled me with each and every verse. I deleted much of what I had written, and started over.  I am often told that you teach people how to treat you.  Yes, to an extent I agree, however, how people treat you is something that comes from within them. They treat you in the manner that demonstrates how much they value you and your relationship, it's what they believe you deserve. Whether it's a two second interaction like in traffic, or a more personal relationship like family, friends, or work relationships, they can only give to you from the reserve of what fills them. A person with kindness, humility,  and generosity will display t...

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ I remember the first time I really read these verses. Terror struck my heart. Clearly Yahusha is referencing people who claim to be His followers here. Who else would call Him Lord? Who else would  cast out demons in Yahusha’s name? Who else would do wonders in His name? Athiests don't, Pagans don't, Muslims don't, those who practice Judiasm don't.  Who else could it be? He is speaking of "Christians" here, Christians who do not do the will of His Father. Once I understood that concept, my next step was to find out what exactly is the will of our Heavenly Father. I must d...

  There has been an underground assembly of believers in Yahusha somewhere since right after He resurrected. In the west, during my lifetime, we have  heard about the underground church in China and N. Korea. But with the current anti faith sentiment around the world, we are likely to see underground believers in every region over the earth.  Right now Christian faith leaders are reporting a surge in the number of believers.  From nearly every denomination,  and in many different countries, people are coming to faith in Yahusha/Jesus. This is encouraging indeed. At the same time, persecution and martyrdom against those who have faith in Yahusha/Jesus has also surged.  In 2024, ten anti-abortion activists were sentenced to Federal prison for praying in front of a Washington DC abortion clinic Also in 2024, Adam Smith Connor, a British Army vet was convicted of praying near an abortion clinic. 2023-2025 Isbel Vaughan Spruce was arrested twice for silent praye...

 Oh how I grieve over the teaching of a lawless Messiah.  Every Sunday, from a multitude of pulpits, a lawless faith and a lawless Savior are proclaimed.  Dear Seeker, this is a huge deception. Yahusha/Jesus lived out the law/Torah fully, completely, unto death. In His obedience He eliminated the death penalty of the law for all who place their faith in Him, covering those in grace, and He was given resurrection power. Death is eternal separation from Yah. Yahusha/Jesus redeemed us from suffering that separation.  He never taught His followers to disregard the law/Torah. He desires obedience.   Matthew 5:17-30, John 14:15 Yahusha/Jesus taught a deeper level of the law/Torah, filling it full, giving a fuller understanding of the law, not discarding it.   Yahusha/Jesus is the Word of Yah, came from Yah, existed from the beginning, and was intimately engaged in the creation of all things. The Word of Yah and the Torah of Yah are one. The same. Yahush...

 Over the past 25+ years of pursuing Torah obedience in my faith walk with Yahusha, I have seen others come into the walk.  One thing many of us do, upon learning the traditions we have observed in the past were in error, is to fall into a whole other group of traditions.  Sometimes it takes a while to realize that the second set of traditions we have embraced are just as erroneous as the first.  I see it as a road with ditches on either side. The road is the true path, and the ditches are Christian traditions on one side and Jewish traditions on the other. The goal is to stay on the road, not veering to the left or the right.   This time of year lots of churches invite Messianic Jews to share a Passover seder meal with their congregants. This is intended to be educational.  But if you were to go to Exodus 12 and read the actual instructions for the Passover meal, you'd see it's a simple meal consisting of lamb, bitter herbs, unleavened bread, shoes on...

  Genesis  3:15, 12:2-4, 15:6, 26:4-5 Hebrews 11:8-10, 11:17-19 Galatians 3:5-9, 3:26-29 Romans 11:17-24 Our father Abraham was born into a corrupt generation. He was given the name Abram at birth, and later Yah changed his name due to Abram's faith. Nimrod was king over the land, and Abram's father served Nimrod by making idols. The fact that Abraham knew Yah at all seems like a miracle. Yet Abraham is credited as the Father of our faith. Faith...what is faith? The Cambridge Dictionary says faith is great trust or confidence in something or someone.  Abraham is a descendant of Noah, thru Shem. We learn thru the canonized scriptures and extra biblical books that the Melchizedek priesthood passed from Adam on down thru generations to Noah, then Shem's family line. Jubilees and Jasher tell of young Abram being instructed in the Ways of Yah, by Shem and Eber (Shem's son) Jasher 9, Jubilees 11-23 . Abraham was fully aware of the original promise Yah made to Adam and Eve, th...

  I really have to use my faith filter when I'm trying to discern thru the news feed what is true and what are sanitized stories the governmental powers want me to believe.  And dear friends, if we only see US MSM, then for sure we get only part of the story. And I would argue, a very sanitized version.  As a person who was raised to have great national pride, the sanitized news can be comfortable.  On social media I watch as my "friends" repost and proclaim the sanitized news as gospel truth. As if our government wouldn't hide anything from us. Surely the past 20 years would beg the differ. I beseech you to seek news from all over the world to get a well rounded sense of what's going on.  Having said that,  it's not easy to access international news. There are safe guards in place to discourage that.  But there are websites available that provide access to international news for a price.  I'm providing a link to an independent news program that g...

  Torah/The Word of Yah: Abba's Loving Instructions for life. The Written Word of YHVH Torah/The Word of Yah identifies sin. Romans 3:20 and 7:7, 1 John 3:4 Torah/The Word of Yah convicts us of sin and leads us into repentance. Romans 7:8-11 Torah/The Word of Yah is light, showing us how to walk out our faith. Proverbs 6:23, Psalm 119:105 Torah/The Word of Yah cannot save. Galatians 2:16, 3:10, 3:24, 5:4 Hebrews 10:1-4, Romans 3:20 Torah/ The Word of Yah can bless or curse. Deuteronomy 30:19. Psalm 119 Torah/The Word of Yah is instructions for righteous living, knowledge and good judgement.  Psalm 119 Torah/The Word of Yah reveals Yah's heart. Psalm 119, Exodus 34:6-7, Psalm 103:13-14,  Torah/The Word of Yah is the Way, the Truth, and the Life Psalm 119, Proverbs 13:14 Torah/The Word of Yah is eternal(forever) Psalm 119, Psalm 19:9 Torah/The Word of Yah is not too hard for us to do.  1 John 5:3, Deuteronomy 30:11 Torah/The Word of Yah is Good doctrine 2 Timothy 3:16-...

  The entire Middle East is currently engulfed in war. All my life, it's been one Middle East war after another. It has always grieved my heart to consider the families who just want to raise their children in peace. Most of the victims of any war are the innocent citizens who happen to live in the war zone. We normally get an accounting of the military personnel who have perished, but not really the citizenry. Did these families choose this? Doubtful, for sure.  Those of us who watch the news for end times prophecy events, ask ourselves each time: is this the one that ushers in the prophecies? Is this the Oholah/ Ohoibah event? Ezekiel 23 From my perspective it doesn't appear the leadership in Israel consider this scenario playing out at all. They fully expect to come out the victor. But what if they're wrong? Will Christians all over the earth loose faith? Most of them don't expect the Oholibah scenario either.  Has Jerusalem been leveled before? Has this prophecy bee...

  It has occurred to me that we have been given a glimpse behind the curtain, we are seeing a bit of the world governing body of which our scriptures warn us. Albeit we are given names of lower level individuals, we can glean much about the top tier administration. First of all, those names that have been tossed around under conspiracy theory labels for decades upon decades, probably are indeed nefarious families. I've learned not to disregard anything labeled conspiracy theory, a modicum of truth is always found within it. These "files" most likely include false information as well as truth. To muddy the waters of understanding helps the guilty to bring doubt on what is true and what isn't.  Ghouls and monsters do exist in the shadows. These ghouls and monsters feed upon the innocent, literally and figuratively, physically and spiritually. The stories we are hearing from the released files are hard to hear. It is so offensive to our senses that we just can't look...

  I have often gotten defensive when I hear a non Christian tell Christians how Christians are supposed to behave or believe.  Seems ridiculous.  How would they how? They don't set the standard. Most recently it was in the Minnesota Church, where protesters entered the Church and screamed at the parishioners, calling them bad Christians and demanding they adhere to the protesters' standard for Christian behavior and beliefs.  Christians have done similar things. For instance condemning homosexuals, atheists, or even those in other religions, for their lifestyle, when those people never signed up to align themselves with the instructions written in the Bible. Yes, the whole world is subject to the Most High and His ways, yet we will never reach those communities of people with condemnation.  Condemning isn't our job. Emulating the standards for behavior found in the Holy Scriptures is our duty, honor and discipleship. How about we focus more on our behaviors, mak...

  I wasted some good sleep this weekend fretting over an incident that happened right before the week's end. That was not the first time I have had this same experience with this same person. As a matter of fact it is something I should be expecting, since it has happened multiple times before. Yet, I had my guard down, and wham! Knowing I had to go back to that place, and encounter that person again, I was on edge. I really hate those encounters. So I reminded myself of my favorite Jim Staley quote: the trials you hate are the proving grounds for your spiritual promotion.  I prayed up, I rested on Sabbath, and fed my spirit good things from The Word of Yah. I got up Monday morning and began getting ready for the day, my thoughts went to the spiritual armor. (Ephesians 6:10-18) My belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness,  the gospel of peace on my feet, the shield of faith, and the helmet of Salvation, with the sword of the Spirit. As I stepped out my door, I thought ...

  I was just listening to Outside The Camp's latest video. (I will for sure put the link at the end by my name.) Anyhow, Andrew is street preaching in this video. He has a table with a sign, along with his video equipment.  The sign reads: Christians should not eat swine. He is set up in a high foot traffic area, enticing folks to engage in the conversation.  And several people did engage.  What I noticed right away was that if he spoke with 10 people who claimed to be Christians,  each of the 10 had a different doctrine they followed. Each had a different understanding of the very same Scriptures that were being discussed. How can that be?  Why are the words in the Bible up for personal interpretation? We do not approach writings by other authors in that manner. We don't have multiple interpretations of Hemmingway, Steinbeck,  Dickens, or Tolstoy.  We do our best to understand what that author is communicating to us. Words matter, they have finit...

  One cannot turn on any news website or social media without seeing the warning that war is imminent.  Mostly, as Americans, we can put these threats of war out of our minds, and continue our day. Why? Well, war has not been at our front door since the American Civil War. War is continuously happening,  just somewhere else on the earth.  Unless you've served in the military,  it's likely, as an American, you don't give much thought to the devastation of war. How many innocent people die or are maimed? How many people are moved from their homes and families? How many people's lives are upended because someone with power wants war? Our mainstream media will not report accurately on war, it feels more like propaganda. Independent journalists who do show us the reality are quickly silenced. We are only shown what those people in power want us to see. Keeping us ignorant is a powerful tool.  Who exactly are these powerful people who want war? We can name the wo...