Mark 4:14 - The farmer plants seed by taking God's word to others. 15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately
receive it  with joy. 17 But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word.18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents  others who hear God's word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things,  so
no fruit is produced.  20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God's word and produce
a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"  The New Living Translation Version

This scripture caught my attention when it  talked about not having any roots and that Yeshua compared that to believers
trying to hear the Word of Yah and walking in it.

Why is it important to have good roots? This I got this information from Wikipedia:

The first root that comes from a plant is called the radicle. The four major functions of  roots are
1) absorption of water and inorganic nutrients,
2) anchoring  of the plant body to the ground, and supporting it,
3) storage of food and nutrients,
4) vegetative reproduction. In response to the concentration of nutrients, roots also synthesise cytokinin, which acts as a signal as to how fast the shoots can grow.
Roots often function in storage of food and nutrients. The roots of most vascular plant species enter into symbiosis with
certain fungi to form mycorrhizae, and a large range of other organisms including bacteria also closely associate with roots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root

When we fall on good soil our roots have a better chance of survival and not only survival but prosperity. This is why I
feel a good congregation is so important. The congregation can represent the good soil. Our congregation is one (and there are also many others) that the soil has been tended, watered and have soil enhancements all the time. We have
good leaders, teachers and elders that watch over the plants and the whole body helps with spiritual growth for all. We have visiting teachers and musician that keep us informed as well. Many different gifts are manifest in the body which
help each one of us to grow. There are ministries as well to help us fulfill the righteous acts that we have been called to do. The body (your congregation wherever you are) is that fertile soil Yeshua wants you to grow in and be part of.

We need to put anchor down in a congregation or home study group where our roots can be fed. When we are in good ground the word says we will produce 30,60 or even a 100 fold.

We come together to share and study Yah's word and also prayer and worship. It is fabulous!! We are meant to be together and learn to love each other. It is a real blessing. If you are struggling on your own come be part of a congregation we need you as well.


D'Vorah

 Here is link to a christian blog site that has some statistics on how having religion helps with depression. Remember what we need is a relationship with out Father not just religion.  HoweverI found the website informative. Here is the link to  the blog from which  I used the opening  image  http://prayersandapples.com/religion-acts-as-buffer-for-high-risk-depression/ 

My prayer for you is to have shalom (peace). We should not have depression as Yah children. Fight it, learn how to overcome it recognize it early and do the things He ( the Father) tells you to do. He LOVES you!! I LOVE you.

D'Vorah

Pro 31:26 KJV - She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law ( Hebrew=Torah)  of kindness.

Today I was reminded how a kind word can change the tone of a tense moment. If we learn to speak with kindness to others just as we would want to be spoken to it can bring shalom for the situation. 

As a good Father he gives us many an examples of kindness throughout scripture of how we should act. Psalms 117:2 KJV - For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of Yahweh endureth for ever. Praise ye Yahweh.

As we go through our day today lets plant some seeds of kindness along the way. If we begin to practice the words and think of kind things to say ahead of time it will be easier to say them when needed.

Sometimes we get all worked up about something and then become reactive. Sometimes we may need to make a point but using a kind tone may have more of an impact and will get an open ear instead of a shut down attitude. ( Which now you need to repair.)

D'vorah

Today I am thinking about hope. On my way to work this morning
it was a cold frosty sunrise of that pink and bright yellow/ orange sky that
looks like it goes a great distance which makes you draw your eyes to the sky
because of the bright colors. It reminded me of hope I think that is what hope
does when it draws our attention away from the everyday dramas of life to
meditate and think of the things we hope for.
We need to grow our hope
because as the morning sky fades and the sun rises so does our day and soon
another day has gone by on our dreams. We need to invest on our dreams each day.
Take time to write out some of the things you hope for and begin to pray over
them. Begin to see yourself in those roles (Walking by faith). Sometimes if you
look hard enough at this new you, you will see the courage in your new vision of
self to conquer old and bad habits that have you where you are today.


Something is holding you back from becoming what you know is the true you in our  Messiah. Ask Him to reveal those things to you and really open up to his voice  as it will come in many ways such as through someone who really cares about you,
during your worship service or even a bumper sticker, but somehow He will  communicate with you on what is holding you back from changing into what Messiah has for you regarding home, health, wealth, peace, joy etc.When he does  reveal it don’t harden your heart or convince yourself otherwise but begin to  work on visualizing yourself with the change He is prompting you to  make.Reading Romans 6 gives us an example of visualizing overcoming sin. This is the New Living Translation.
Romans 6:
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of  his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we  continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with
Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were  buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by  the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we  have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he  was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin  might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we  died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died  with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because  Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer  has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin.  But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should  consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through  Christ Jesus. 12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to
sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil  to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but  now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is
right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer  live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of  God's grace. 15 Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does  that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don't you realize that you  become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin,  which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous  living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly  obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to  sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. 19 Because of the weakness  of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you  understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and  lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be  slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. 20 When you were slaves  to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the  result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in  eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become
slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is  eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. [Rom 6:1-23 NLT]

When we have hope to change things in our lives so we can be more fruitful it may mean some things get pruned but  it also means we will have new growth and new fruit.

Shalom
D'Vorah

KJV Revelation Chapter 22:14 Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

NIV Revelation Chapter 22:14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the  tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.

Complete Jewish Bible Revelation Chapter 22: 14  How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city!  

The Scripture version interprets Revelation 22: 14 “Blessed  are  those  doing His  commands, so   that   the   authority   shall  be theirs  unto  the  tree  of  life, and  to  enter through  the gates into the city.

As you can see there is a different opinion on how this verse is to be intrepreted. I go with the KJV and the scriptures as I feel that his commandments are a life giving process that we need to be participating in to grow closer to our Father.  The will of our
Father is to love one another and to obey and do his commandments.

We must walk this life one way or another so we might as well make it one that will do the most good. Following his commandments come with many blessing as stated in Deuteronomy 7:12-13 ( among many other verses). When we choose to follow his commandments we are choosing life as in Deuteronomy 30:15. This is a good life one with blessing and peace. You will become strong and able to withstand the wiles of this world and the enemy and even become strong against the flesh. The commandments help us with all of this as we grow in the relationship with our Elohim. One of the commandments which is to love the Lord your Elohim with all your heart, soul and strength, Deuteronomy 6:5 is where we should start. Our Messiah also as we grow in faith toward him helps us to understand the Father. Our love for Elohim is what gives us the desire to obey his commandments. We love Him because He first loved us. Give His love a chance.

The commandments are all though the Torah and some list have been made by renown Rabbi's and Torah students. See this link for more information on these lists. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_Commandments. Also there is a list I use and here is the link to it. You can study these by category and I really received a blessing and a greater understanding by studying them with this list http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm .

Make the commandments part of your daily life just as reading the bible should be. The commandments are for us they are the beacon to direct our way through this life. As the scripture says it will be life for us.

D' vorah

Revelation chapter 2 verse 7
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Many times in our lives things come up and we dont understand why. We have doubts, fears, troubles and most time these things are compounded with other situations that are also occuring such as income, clutter and disasters. We dont know what to do or how it will work out we just try to get through the day. Many of us are fortunate to have wise people in our lives to help during these times. The word of Elohim and his wonderful spirit also guides us as well. But still we have these situations and circumstances that come up that we must deal with some of these take years to work through. But the scriptures encourage us to be overcomers. Why is that ? Does Yah have something to show us and to strenghten us? 

This is from the blog site http://www.squidoo.com/keys2overcoming. I liked these verses.

12 Keys to living an overcoming life.

1. Resist the devil and draw near to Elohim
* James 4:7-8a; Ephesians 6:11;  Proverbs 18:10

2. Be on guard and watch your soul
*1 Peter 5:8;  Proverbs 22:1; Psalm 19:14; 1Corinthians 10:12

3. PRAY
* Isaiah  40:31; James 5:16; 1 John 5:14; Luke 18:1b

4. Plead the blood of Yeshua  over you and keep the word of your testimony
* Revelation 12:11

5.  Give Messiah  your will, your whole self * Romans 12:1; 1 Chronicles 29:5b; 1
Thessalonians 5:23; Mark 12:30

6. Do all you know the Elohim wants you to do.
* 1 John 1:7; 1 Timothy 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:3

7. Overcome evil  with good
* Romans 12:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; Matthew 5:44; Luke  6:31

8. Show love to ALL
* Romans 13:8-9b,10; 1 John 3:14-15; Luke  6:35

9. Forgive Wrongs
* Mark 11:25-26; Luke 23:34; Matthew 18:21-22;  Ephesians 4:32

10. Sing, Rejoice, count your blessings
* Psalm  50:23;Psalm 107:1,21; Psalm 147:1; Philippians 4:4

11. Think on good  things and keep your mind on Christ
* Philippians 4:7-8; Isaiah 26:3;

12. Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart
* Nahum 1:7; Psalm  56:11; Proverbs 3:5; 1 John 5:4

How overcoming adversity DOES help you live longer: Men who survived the 
Holocaust outlive Jewish men of the same age
 

• Research by Haifa University
  disproves a  common belief that psychological trauma shortens life expectancy by
  damaging the  victims' DNA
• It is the first to use the National   Insurance Institute of Israel database to look  at the Jewish population who 
  emigrated before and after World War Two
• Israeli scientists found 
  'post-traumatic  growth' enabled Holocaust survivors to develop enhanced 
  'personal and  inter-personal skills'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2383277/Holocaust-survivors-How-overcoming-adversity-DOES-help-live-longer.html#ixzz2oz1PAWhe

The article states:

Men who survived the Holocaust live  longer  than other Jewish men of the same age who did not go through the hell of
the  Nazi death camps, new research has revealed. 

Researchers from Haifa  University in Israel found a phenomenon known
as 'post-traumatic growth' enabled  Holocaust survivors to develop enhanced
'personal and inter-personal  skills'.

 As a result, male  survivors  lived up to 18 months longer than Jewish peers who  were not confined
to  concentration camps during the war.

Use the link above to the article to read how the overcoming actually gave them some benefit. I was a horrible experience to say the least and hopefully we will never have an experience like it and it helps us to have a different perspecitive on the things in our lives we need to overcome.

This is also from the article on the Holocaust Survivors

WHAT'S 
POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTH?

• Post-traumatic growth refers to
  positive  psychological change experienced as a result of the struggle with
  highly  challenging life circumstances


• Circumstances might include: life 
  threatening illness, war, abuse, immigration or deaths of loved ones
  


• These sets of circumstances
  represent  significant hurdles to the adaptive resources of the individual and
  challenge  their way of understanding the world and their place in  it


• Post-traumatic growth is not simply  a return  to baseline from a period of suffering but is instead it is an
  experience of  improvement that for some persons is deeply  meaningful
  


• People experiencing post-traumatic  growth  might have a greater appreciation of life, changed sense of priorities,
  more  intimate relationships, greater sense of personal strength, and  recognition of  new possibilities or paths for their life and spiritual development

 



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2383277/Holocaust-survivors-How-overcoming-adversity-DOES-help-live-longer.html#ixzz2oz4xRyAn

When we overcome, it is possible and true
that he will give us to eat from the tree of life just as he stated in Rev 2:7.  



Look at the life of Corrie Tenboom how her testimony encouraged so many. If you have not heard of her she was a Holocaust survivor and found ways to survive and remain faithful during those dark hours. Her story is a great inspiration.

So when we are faced with a situation in which we need to overcome, remember staying faithful will have its rewards. Also like the quote above from Ms. Ten Boom it is important that we put our roots down deep as possible. Which is what this website/ blog is all about.

D'vorah

4. A Healing Tongue is a tree of life


Proverbs 15:4  A  wholesome tongue [is] a tree of life: but perverseness therein [is] a breach in
the spirit. KJV

The word 'wholesome' translated in the King James Version is from the hebrew word  מַרְפֵּא  marpe'   that has the meaning according to Strong's ; Health, Healing, Cure, Sound of mind and Profit.  The word tongue is translated from  h3956  לָשׁוֹן  lashown which means tongue or speech. Speech is made up of words and the words can be defined as : Words are analogs for perceptions and actions that allow us to communicate with each other about our personal experiences, feelings, desires, and thoughts. Words are  learned through the cultural conditioning of our families, schools, and the broader cultural milieu.

Other Scriptures that confirm this truth is :
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Proverbs  16:24 ) 

Did  you know that the words you speak have incredible power to bring healing in  people’s lives? When you speak words of love, comfort, or encouragement to someone, those words have power to affect the person hearing them in such a  positive way, that the result is health in their body.

Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word  makes him glad.  (Proverbs  12:25)

Who in this life doesn’t suffer from some “anxiety?” Often the source of our anxiety  is focusing on the negative, and sometimes even things that are not true, rather than the positive things that are true. You can help someone by speaking  to them words of truth for encouragement to them and to build up their faith.

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but  the tongue of the wise brings healing.  (Proverbs 12:18)
For  those of us who are parents, our words can impart knowledge and life to our  children, which results in their good health: My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not  escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those  who find them, and healing to all their flesh.  (Proverbs 4:20-22)


Are you speaking healthy words to those around you?

 Not  only do our words have power to heal, but unfortunately they also have power to  destroy, which can result in sickness. As Proverbs 12:18 above states:  “There is one whose rash words are like sword  thrusts..”– and swords kill or  cripple people! Proverbs 18:21 says: “Death and  life are in the power of the tongue…” When we get into a conflict or argument, our words can either diffuse the situation like dousing a fire with water, or they can inflame the situation like throwing gasoline onto a fire! 
 
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)

Words and neuroplasticity


" Neuroplasticity is the term used to describe how the
brain continues to re-invent itself. Older, unused pathways fall away, and new
ones, with repetition and focus, emerge. What we think about actually rewires
our brains—for better or worse. We now know that our choice of words has a
direct and immediate effect on our emotional response and makes our brains
inclined to respond in specific ways. This is true whether we are reacting to
spoken words delivered by someone else, or to the inner self-talk that we hear
ourselves “saying” inside our heads."

This is an amazing discovery for me as it shows we can change and that by using our "heads," as my mother would say, we can establish new ways or even better Torah ways of living and loving. We must remember if we repeat those loving sayings to ourselves and our family that it will help them to create positive ways of thinking and  behaving as well. As servants of a righteous and just King we are to speak blessings out to this world.

Lets get ready for Shabbat! 
Such an opportunity to celebrate our relationship with our Father. This is for the whole family to come together to sing, dance, study, pray, get blessings and spend time together. We have a CD that we play that has some of our favorite songs and blessings and it has become very familiar to us that we can sing and dance with the words and music. It has become part of our Shabbat.. Blessing and Shabbat Shalom. 

Below is the continuation of the Sukkot teaching. Part Three of Six

 When you lose hope, you lose life.


  I once read something that Jessie de la Cruz, a retired farm worker in South America wrote: “With us there’s a saying: La esparanza muere ultima. Hope dies last. You can’t lose hope. If you lose hope, you lose everything.” And I read somewhere else that scientists say that a human can last for forty days without food, a few days without water, eight minutes without oxygen but only a few seconds without hope.

I’ve just read a report written by Harry and Echo van der Wal of the Luke Commission. They are from the USA but are involved for a few months every year in a medical ministry in Swaziland. Through one of the regular readers of this blog we made contact and hopefully we will be meeting in the near future. I strongly advise you to read the report which you can access here. This is such a true description of how we find things ourselves. What he is describing is a situation without hope. You see people whom you know will die shortly and all that remains is to show them love and acceptance in order to restore some dignity. They are working in the northern part of Swaziland, the only difference between their ministry and ours being that they have the medical facilities to do something to help these people while we have virtually nothing in the south of the country. But the circumstances with the people are the same.
Yesterday I escorted a group of Christians from South Africa to Swaziland. We have had a two year relationship with this congregation and they visit us about four times per year. On a previous occasion they brought a doctor along and we had an extremely distressing experience at a certain homestead with a 21 year old girl. You can read about that experience by clicking on this link.
Yesterday the team brought a physiotherapist with them. Their aim is to bring a professional person with them on every visit in order to give the caregivers further training. Part of this training is for the professional person to visit a few of the homesteads where we are working and to demonstrate to a few caregivers at a time how to care for this person. We went to visit a lady who is 74 years old and has been bed-ridden for the past eight years. A few times while we were there she told us that she would like nothing better at this stage than to die.
Her story is that she started developing arthritis about ten years ago. It was becoming more and more painful for her to stand up on her own. In the meantime her husband had died and all her children had also died. Eventually she had nobody with the strength (or the will) to help her up in the mornings to get up and because of the pain she remained in bed. At this stage the muscles in her leg had contracted to such an extent that she will never be able to walk again, even if the pain should disappear. Due to her arms and hands not being used, they have also become completely unusable. And so she is really doomed to remain in bed for the rest of her life. Physiotherapy may loosen the hand and arm muscles to a certain limited extent, but she will never regain their use. And most of this was caused by a lack of education and the lack of anybody with the time, energy and will to help her to get up in the morning.
She is now staying in a small house together with her great-grandchildren. In the morning these children go to school after they had brought her food. Then they lock the house and put the key on a windowsill. Anyone, such as the caregivers wishing to visit her, take the key from the windowsill, unlock the door and enter her house. If a fire should ever break out, she will die. If anybody wishes to harm her, they can enter her home at will. She is unable to do anything to protect herself, because she cannot move from her bed without help.
As I prayed for her yesterday, I just trusted that God would restore her hope. As those people mentioned in the report of the Luke Commission, the reality is that people are fast losing hope. Our task is to bring back hope to these people.




D'vorah- When we can bring hope into someone life it can bring restoration and healing. Lets be messengers of hope.

 Hebrews 3:6b 
 And we are Elohim's house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Messiah. NLT