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What does Yom Kippur (this day) mean to a follower of Messiah?

 

Even if your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).

Do followers of Jesus really understand this day? I think we have missed some really key components of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when we have inadvertently dismissed what the foundations of God’s Grace and foreshadowing’s of His Messiah are in the Old Testament. The Hebrew Festivals and Holy Days show such amazing glimpses into the Love of the Father and Sacrifice of The Son,   Today (yesterday from sundown to today at sundown) is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). It is the most holy day on the Jewish calendar since Moses. The focus of today is the most important issue facing humanity- atonement and forgiveness for our sins.   In Temple times, Yom Kippur centered on the sacrifice of the two goats described in Leviticus 16. After the priest had confessed the sins of the nation over one goat -  the chatat (sin goat) - it was to be sacrificed for those sins. The second goat - the azazel (scapegoat) - was also to have the sins of the people confessed over it. But instead of being slain, this goat was set free into the wilderness.. By so doing, the people of Israel were to realize that their sins were taken away from them as they trusted in God's way of atonement. These were God’s instructions.   History also reveals a very extraordinary part of the Day of Atonement’s goat ceremony. The Talmud (Yoma 39b) tells us about a crimson red thread that was attached to the scapegoat and, each year, the thread would miraculously turn white. For the rabbis, this revealed the truth of Isaiah 1:18, that God had cleansed the people of their sin. Then it is recorded that astonishingly, around the year 30 C. E. about forty years before the destruction of the Second Temple, something changed. The thread stopped turning white! Do we in the church today even KNOW that time table and what happened?   The Messiah came at that time and fulfilled what those two goats had foreshadowed. The thread, no longer turning white, was a sign to the world and His People that God sent his Son to be the propitiation and atonement for our sins (Romans 3:23-25).   It is fascinating how ALL of Scripture points to our Messiah! All of the history of God’s People point to the Messiah.   In closing – This Chapter, also in Romans, really conveys what I believe is God’s Heart for how we approach the wholeness of Scripture, His Chosen People (through whom He sent our Messiah) and the History they exhibit through following His Appointed Times ( what some would call Jewish Holidays).  We are grafted into THAT root. How much more ‘RICH’ we are when we realize where we get our nourishment!   Sorry folks, but I am a ‘context’ kinda gal – so you’re gonna get the whole chapter…   New International Version    Romans 11 11:1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 11:2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel: 11:3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"? 11:4 And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 11:5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. 11:7 What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 11:8 as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day." 11:9 And David says: "May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. 11:10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever." 11:11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 11:12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring! 11:13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry 11:14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 11:15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 11:16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. 11:17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 11:18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 11:19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." 11:20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. 11:22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 11:23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11:24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! 11:25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 11:26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 11:27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." 11:28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 11:29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. 11:30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 11:31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. 11:32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

And again – in another translation…..

The Complete Jewish Bible

Romans 11

11:1 "In that case, I say, isn't it that God has repudiated his people?" Heaven forbid! For I myself am a son of Isra'el, from the seed of Avraham, u of the tribe of Binyamin.

11:2 God has not repudiated his people, v whom he chose in advance. Or don't you know what the Tanakh says about Eliyahu? He pleads with God against Isra'el,

11:3 "ADONAI, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I'm the only one left, and now they want to kill me too!"w

11:4 But what is God's answer to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not knelt down to Ba'al."

11:5 It's the same way in the present age: there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

11:6 (Now if it is by grace, it is accordingly not based on legalistic works; if it were otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.)

11:7 What follows is that Isra'el has not attained the goal for which she is striving. The ones chosen have obtained it, but the rest have been made stonelike,

11:8 just as the Tanakh says, "God has given them a spirit of dullness eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear, right down to the present day."

11:9 And David says, "Let their dining table become for them a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a punishment.

11:10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can't see, with their backs bent continually."

11:11 "In that case, I say, isn't it that they have stumbled with the result that they have permanently fallen away?" Heaven forbid! Quite the contrary, it is by means of their stumbling that the deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy. a

11:12 Moreover, if their stumbling is bringing riches to the world - that is, if Isra'el's being placed temporarily in a condition less favored than that of the Gentiles is bringing riches to the latter - how much greater riches will Isra'el in its fullness bring them!

11:13 However, to those of you who are Gentiles I say this: since I myself am an emissary sent to the Gentiles, I make known the importance of my work

11:14 in the hope that somehow I may provoke some of my own people to jealousy and save some of them!

11:15 For if their casting Yeshua aside means reconciliation for the world, what will their accepting him mean? It will be life from the dead!

11:16 Now if the hallah offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole loaf. And if the root is holy, so are the branches.

11:17  But if some of the branches were broken off, and you - a wild olive - were grafted in among them and have become equal sharers in the rich root of the olive tree,

11:18 then don't boast as if you were better than the branches! However, if you do boast, remember that you are not supporting the root, the root is supporting you.

11:19 So you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."

11:20 True, but so what? They were broken off because of their lack of trust. However, you keep your place only because of your trust. So don't be arrogant; on the contrary, be terrified!

11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly won't spare you!

11:22 So take a good look at God's kindness and his severity: on the one hand, severity toward those who fell off; but, on the other hand, God's kindness toward you - provided you maintain yourself in that kindness! Otherwise, you too will be cut off!

11:23 Moreover, the others, if they do not persist in their lack of trust, will be grafted in; because God is able to graft them back in.

11:24 For if you were cut out of what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree!

11:25 For, brothers, I want you to understand this truth which God formerly concealed but has now revealed, so that you won't imagine you know more than you actually do. It is that stoniness, to a degree, has come upon Isra'el, until the Gentile world enters in its fullness;

11:26 and that it is in this way that all Isra'el will be saved. As the Tanakh says, "Out of Tziyon will come the Redeemer; he will turn away ungodliness from Ya'akov

11:27 and this will be my covenant with them, . . . when I take away their sins."

11:28 With respect to the Good News they are hated for your sake. But with respect to being chosen they are loved for the Patriarchs' sake,

11:29 for God's free gifts and his calling are irrevocable.

11:30 Just as you yourselves were disobedient to God before but have received mercy now because of Isra'el's disobedience;

11:31 so also Isra'el has been disobedient now, so that by your showing them the same mercy that God has shown you, they too may now receive God's mercy.

11:32 For God has shut up all mankind together in disobedience, in order that he might show mercy to all!

Good Afternoon Everyone!!

I am so very sorry I have not been a very dedicated blogger and I apologize. My Dad was in the hospital with a very bad kidney infection but he is out now and seems to be doing better my sister came over last weekend with my neices and nephews and we had to take my 3 year old nephew Jayden to the ER  he had a very high temperature and they diagnoised him with some kind of throat infection and gave him Tylenol w/ Codeine I have been real busy with College and worth actually while I am typing i am doing overtime.. we are backlogged so we are trying to catch up on everything.... well you all have a wonderful blessed day.. I know what I will be doing when I get gome... LAUNDRY....

Blessings,

Alyssa

All that I need....

is Jesus!   

I realize that life has been a bit too hectic for me.   I need a bit of a break!  So, I am taking just a short time off from blogging.....for about a week or so!  :)   I am just going to focus on the two most important relationships that I have......Jesus and my husband! 

I pray that you all have a good week or so and that you too will enjoy spending time with the most important relationships you have!  :)

Preparing our children for this future

Today - our son turns twenty-two, (22), TWO DECADES AND TWO YEARS, older than when I HAD him....sorry, it echoes through my mind and heart just how fast our children have grown up. 

So today I will take out the little outfit we brought him home from the hospital, lay it on his bed and wait for him to come home from work and see it.  His sisters will decorate the cake I baked for him this morning (A Star Wars theme this year) and we will go out to his favorite restaurant tomorrow for a dinner.  That is how our home 'does' birthdays....low key.

He has his 'intended wife' chosen and is waiting for the right time to propose. We approve of her. He has our blessing - we don't have much else to give him but that.

But what have we given him thus far for his future?  Well, we are seeing the fruits of our years of training as he matures - yes there were times we wondered - but there they are: A good work ethic, a passion to do God's Will, a frugal mindset of a good steward and an unconditional love for all. Thank the Lord that our bumblings as parents have still produced an honorable man after God’s Own Heart.

But, did we know we were preparing him for THIS future? The one with the economy looking as it does?

Well, yes, we did.

God told my hubby (okay no audible voice or clouds, but deep DEEP within his heart) that our children would be launched out at a tumultuous time and to prepare them to be content and productive regardless of the circumstances.  The foundations of society are all shaking - but the foundation in our Savior is solid. That is the basis of how we have prepared them.  From there we built on growing food, storing for hard times, sharing what we have with others in need, productive time vs. entertainment and the outcome is now three adult children with tools to face an uncertain earthly future with a certain Peace.

Yesterday, as my big strapping son was talking with us in the kitchen while his baby sister fixed dinner (Thursday is her night), he shared with me the topic of the economy as viewed by his peers in a class at college.  He said it was mentioned that "those old people in their 50s (ok, even he laughed at that being old) will all be okay, because, well, they know how to work, they already have worked....we (college kids) don't know how to work yet. We're going to have to give up so much fun stuff because we just can't afford it"

Ouch.

Well, it's a truer statement than they realize - not that college makes you know how to work - but the generation our kids are in have lost the working mindset.  My son said he sat there and half laughed and half cried. Laughed because he doesn’t' feel that way and he was thankful that we raised him weird, and half cried because, he worries for his generation.

For his birthday - he bought me a dehydrator and his Daddy a soothing fountain for his office.  Our son said that he didn't do anything to get born, so we should get the gifts for his birth.  I'd say he's prepared.

Sorry. This got long!

Bless you for reading all the way through -

Best Blessings!

Donna

http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store

Sammie.....

Here is Sammie, before his grooming!  That is my husband in the picture with him!

Sammie after his grooming!  (Note:  We prefer the longer haired Sammie, but he had some major matting behind his head that had to be cut out  and so his whole body was cut short!   We are looking forward to him growing out his hair once again!  We miss the fuzziness of his hair and the more "manly" look that he had  )

He doesn't even look like the same dog!  We are looking forward to his hair growing some, but he still is cute!  He is the best natured dog ever!  He gets along with any and all dogs and loves people too! 

Our dog Holly loves him and has started to eat her food without us having to bribe her with scrambled eggs or chicken broth on it.  She seems so much happier!   Here is a picture of them playing!

Midst of the storm kind of Peace

If we follow the news and the ticker tape RSS feeds of global events, it would seem easy to get worked up and fretful. I mean, it all looks oh so very tense out there in the 'world', doesn't it?

In addition to the blessing of the release from numbness (see last post) there has been a great time of learning that God is doing in our home. The latest is: Peace - regardless of the circumstances around us.

It's almost as if I (we, our family) welcome the rough times now. I can't say it has always been like that. Actually, I'd say until learning not to take things or people for granted that I've been the biggest whiner in the past. Now I realize that I was allowing confusing times, uncertain income, where to live, what do DO with my life, how will my adult children live in this time, on and on and on to dictate my outward appearance of peace. 

Oh, not the real peace (the one no one sees that is deep inside because of Christ) but it covered THAT REAL PEACE UP - even when it WAS there! 

How on earth can I share what I had covered up with worry or trying to control circumstances? I can't. *I* was in the way of real peace being evident to others.

So, that's why now I say - 'Come Messiah Come' - even though it may get tougher, it's almost like a welcomed storm, just to be able to SEE HIS PEACE in the midst of it all now!

Best Blessings!

Donna Miller

The new dog we are getting!

We really didn't plan to get another dog so quickly after putting our two dogs down, but someone we knew was helping a friend to try to find a home for their dog.    He is a Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever/Poodle Mix).  His name is Sammie!  He is just a little over 1 years old and weighs 70 lbs.  So much for getting a small dog!  They say he is a great dog that just loves other dogs which is good.  They say he is easy going which is better!  Our dog Holly is definately an Alpha dog, but loves other dogs and has seemed lonely without her companions!    We get him on Sunday!  :)

I am going to try and post a picture...we will see if it will work!

Sharing God's Lessons - Battling the Numbness

WOW. Started typing this and it went blank...so I will be obedient and just type what God has been working in my life, my families lives and it has been kicking my teeth in....

In a candid and vulnerable conversation with our youngest daughter, she was struggling with 'controling her female emotions' but feeling 'numb' at the same time. Some of you ladies likely 'get' this...I did.

These words just 'came out' of me the other day, and I get NO GLORY from them because they really are something that God must have done....out came....

"To overcome the numbness, we have to first allow God to help us not take people, relationships, circomstances, our own lives for granted. Taking for granted is like capping off all of our feelings and building a protective sheild that doesn't allow feelings."

This has opened some FLOOD GATES in our home.

Not sure if anyone here 'gets' this or if it has the same impact as it has had on us...but God is really moving here and we are FEELING more for each other, for His Son, for the Blessings....not emotionally, or dramatizingly...but deep, real and open.

Wow!

Just wanted to share.

I think this blog will become more like that...sharing lessons God is working through our family....if ya'll don't mind....

BEST BLESSINGS~

Donna Miller

What a great reminder! :)

I was reading a favorite blog of mine this afternoon and heard this song.  It is such a great reminder, based on Romans 8:31-39.    The song is playing currently on my blog titled "I Belong" by Katherine Scott.  

I needed this reminder today!  How about you?

Here is the blog I was reading in case you are interested!  http://eyesofwonder.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Update on my pregnant neice...thank you for prayers!

The last we heard, she had begun bleeding (not due for almost 2.5 months) - but that has stopped.  She is under the care of the doctors who are monitoring her very closely now.  She went for an ultra-sound and we have not heard from that as of yet. The baby's heartbeat is fine and now that the bleeding has stopped, they feel she is going to be able to carry to term or very close with, of course, much more monitoring than usual.

Thank you ALL for your immediate prayers and lifting her before the Lord. She has been pretty calm with this prengancy up until this incident, and it has rattled her a good bit.  Please continue to pray for her peace (of course that will help the whole situation too if she can remain calm) since this is her first baby, it's all new to her!

Praise God the scary part seems to have passed!

Thank you again!