Category: Teshuvah Devotional

The season of our repentance, Teshuvah.

 

Grace that does not change you, is counterfeit. If you have received a feeling that makes you comfortable with sin and in sin, it is not The GRACE of God. Grace that is of God is life changing and alters everything about you. It is the grace that gives you a born again spirit and you are granted inheritance as sons and daughters of God. The GRACE I am speaking of is the very grace that ushers you into change, repentance, and falling in love with The Redeemer of your soul.

Oh Sweet Season of Teshuvah

 

Oh sweet Teshuvah

Season to break up and  plow

Sweet season of Teshuvah

God’s appointed time of repentance is now

 

Sweet season of repentance

Time to look around

Time to dig in

Break up my fallow ground

 

Repentance is a commandment

Not a curt suggestion

Sin cannot be embraced

Accepted left unquestioned

 

Jesus is not ok

With even a hint of sexual immorality

The kingdom of God

Requires holiness in totality

 

Return and Teshuvah

With your whole heart

Repentance prepares the ground

For the planting a new crop

 

Oh when harvest is in veiw

And the fields indeed are white

Looks like repentance

Is holiness to the sight

 

The fields are white unto harvest

What did our Lord see

Righteousness as a picture of purity

Was it repentant souls He did mean

 

So repent and Pray for revival

Weep and intercede

For we shall come rejoicing

Bringing in the sheaves!

 

Baskets filled with fruit

Precious fruit of The Vine

Now I think we are getting it

Repentance is the beginning of time.

Poem written by laurette laster © 2018 September

 

God has appointed times and He has set seasons. Set them as, He has decided when the fullness of something has been reached. His appointed times and seasons are lasting ordinances according to Leviticus 23. The seasons that lead into our breaking up the fallow ground of our hearts has been leading us to this very season. There are times of favor and set seasons and a time for us to repent. If seasons were not important to God and to understanding the kingdom of heaven why are they needed? Were they not created to teach us about kingdom principals, and the stages of maturity? If this were not true, God would not have made seasons a lasting ordinance. We know because of the Cross, of Jesus Christ, the gates of salvation are open to all who call upon His name, Today. We can make a change anytime, right? Slow down, maybe we shouldn’t be so quick with this argument. Now is the season of God’s favor, the grace of God has appeared to all men we read in the book of Titus, it is  grace that grants us the ability to repent. However this grace that is spoken of in the book of Titus is the grace that teaches us and instructs us. What is the instruction that comes with this grace? This grace is to renounce ungodly lifestyles and to live sensible upright godly lives in this present age. Grace is never to overlook or embrace sin. I pray you realize this. God knows the condition of our heart. I pray you also are sharing this truth with others.

I am so concerned with sloppy agape and greasy grace messages that are pouring forth. Jesus died for sinners; God loves sinners so much that He made a way of escape by sending His only begotten Son to die for sinners. You and me. God is not alright with His children being deceived and living perverse lifestyles. Yes, I know all about The Good News. I am a grateful changed recipient of The Good News, and a born again believer because of The Good News. Yes, I know my Savior Jesus Christ. I know Him!! But I also know the cost of His life given for sinners, that they would come to repentance and desire to come out of sin. Jesus death, burial, and resurrection, had nothing to do with defending sin or sinful lifestyles. It certainly wasn’t necessary for sin to be embraced. We are born into sin, that is why we must be born again.

We can be sure God is going to judge sin. God does not want to judge people, He will judge sin. Grace is poured out so that you will be not be bound or ensnared with whatever sin has you, when judgment day comes. We should not be deceived, whatever a man soweth that also shall he reap. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.… Don’t be misled–you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Galatians 6:7-8 (NLT, KJV, BSB) Eternal life is from The Spirit. Eternal life is real.

Early on in my Teshuvah writings I quoted A.W. Tozer saying that the old church used to pray for the gift of tears. To pray for the gift of tears is to have sin break our hearts. To see someone lost and totally deceived should give us the desire to snatch them out of hell’s fire. The affects of sin and the willingness to embrace sin breaks my heart. But this behavior also breaks our Father’s heart, especially if the believers are not actively trying to snatch the deceived out of the fire.

Twice the past week I have heard stories of Jesus being ok with perversion and one person actually said, they thought Jesus was rejoicing in heaven because a foreign country legalized perversion.

I can promise anyone who is readying this right now, Jesus is not rejoicing at any perversion. The truth is we cannot make a law to stop sin, and we cannot repair the human soul that is being ravaged by sin, by simply creating and passing laws that state sinful lifestyles are acceptable.

I was so upset by this that as I prayed I did receive the gift of tears. Dear God how have we allowed this to happen. Why did I have the gift of tears? Because if this is true and the persons saying these things truly believe it, they have been turned over. If there heart does not convict them of sin, the bible says they are illegitimate. “God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline and conviction of sin in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:7-11 ESV)

I am crying out and interceding and praying for the salvation of  lost souls. I repent for our forefathers who didn’t see the depth of degradation that was headed our way when they didn’t defend our walls.

God is LOVE. The God kind of Love (Agape), is higher than human emotions and feelings, His love is purer than fleshly desire. This agape  love of God is protective and profound. God is the designer and the choreographer of this performance. So in saying that we must accept that God is Sovereign, God does not change. Culture may change; laws may change due to walking away from God and His ways, but God Does Not Change. The purest form of love is discipline. We have marching orders and God has made His ways clear. In order to have a real and honest relationship with our Father we must know his word.

When I was young and ignorant my mother didn’t let me run amuck because I thought it felt good. No, and thank heavens she didn’t. I am so grateful that she had standards. Yes I broke the standards, but I sure did not do it while she was watching and I never mocked her, especially  to her face. We do not need anyone to help us sin our way to hell. Our flesh is leading us there. We are well able in our flesh to make sinful decisions. I made enough mistakes and sinned all by myself.

I am interceding for the revival of the human soul. There are twenty eight stanzas to Ecclesiastes chapter 3, and I believe prophetically we are in the second half of verse three. A time to down and a time to build up. We must break down the lies of personal choice-” if it feels good do it.” Theses lies have led others to become desensitized to sin.

As a church and as His body and the Bride of Christ, we should turn and return do Teshuvah and to weep before our King and ask to repair the walls. The walls are in ruin and I am heartbroken over the condition of some of our young people. I cry out for the walls around our souls and the souls of our young people to be built up. We must intercede for the ones who haven’t heard the real grace message.

 

There is a time for everything under Heaven. A season for every purpose. This is the season of Repentance, returning and doing deep introspection of our souls. The plowing needed is to uproot lies and prepare our fields for the planting of The Lord. Break up the fallow ground of our heart in order to have a closer more intimate relationship with our Father. I pray nothing hinders our relationship with God, in Christ Jesus. I pray God is pouring out over us, the anointing that breaks yokes off of people’s lives. I want to see people set free to become who God says they are.

Acts 3:19
New International Version
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NKJV
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;
A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.”

Do you know what time it is? It is time for the church to build up!!

Let us pray

Dear Heavenly Father, I come before You today to say thank You for Your grace. It is Your perfect loving grace that leads a person to repent. Lord at this time, a time to tear down and a time to build up, I pray Your perfect grace pour into the lives of Your people. May each of them see and recognize the open windows of heaven over their lives. May they see, and in seeing, stop and return to You with their whole heart. Oh God I cry out for the revival of souls. Lord Jesus, I pray that minds, wills and emotions be brought into right alignment with Your will. I pray that blinded spiritual eyes be opened, and for ears to hear what Your Spirit is saying during this hour to the church. Help us Lord to take The Good News to those You are speaking to. I pray they repent and be changed. Amen

Don’t miss this season of Teshuvah; The Lord is calling us to bring our whole heart and to come away with Him. There is a promise for us and our household included when we repent and return.
Teshuvah is my favorite time of the year.

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you Shalom!

Until next time, thank you for listening with me. Laurette

 

Today I keep hearing the phrase can you dig it. Can you take the sharp word of God and dig up your fallow ground?

Oh sweet season and time to plow, Teshuvah is my favorite season and it is now. Excerpt from tomorrows poem 🙂

• see below

God will supply everything

That you need

He’ll give you a harvest if

You’ll plant the seed

The seed may be large, or

The seed may be small,

What is sown in the spring

May be reaped in the fall

Whatever you sow is

What you shall reap

Each seed has a life and a law

It must keep

So target with care the seeds

That you sow

Your life will be known by

The crops that you grow

disclaimer* I did not write this poem, the author is unknown to me, If you know the author of this poem please share with me. Greg saw this on a plaque last year and shared it with me. I thought it was fitting for todays writing so I added it.

“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” (Hosea 10:12) Read Hosea chapter 10.

If you will return, O Israel, return to Me. Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem….” (Jeremiah 4:1, 3)

The above scriptures have a common phrase, “Break up your fallow or unplowed ground.” Just what does it mean for me and you to do that? If we read and apply these scriptures we understand that we are to the work of breaking up the fallow ground.

Strong’s Concordance nir or nir. 5215a, 5215b. nir or nir. 5216. Tillable, untilled, or fallow
ground. Transliteration: nir or nir Short Definition: ground. …

Till you the untilled ground (figurative of unaccustomed moral action); construct only רָבאֹֿכֶל נִיר רָאשִׁים

The phrase “unplowed ground” (NIV) or “fallow ground” (KJV, NRSV) is the Hebrew noun nîr, “the tillable, and the untilled, or fallow ground.” It is land that could be productive, but for whatever reason is neglected, untended or unplowed. This is a description of a field that is not tilled, plowed, and prepared for planting. In these scriptures we are privileged to have a front row seat and to hear the prophets and we witness their speaking the Word of the Lord. The prophets are not merely suggesting, or sort of instructing, no they are commanding the people to break up that land — spiritually! The people are commanded to get to work and to plow the plow able land that they have.

Each prophet observes two things about fallow ground: Fallow ground, unplowed, unprepared soil is unusable for any serious crop. God speaks to us that we must “break up” our fallow ground so that it is usable.

Fallow Ground definition in Strong’s Concordance is ground that is unusable due to neglect, and ground that is unused!

Fallow ground is unused ground. You may have many areas of your life surrendered to God and under cultivation for a crop of righteousness and the fruit of the Spirit. But perhaps we should look a little deeper and check to see if there is a parcel of ground, or a part of our life — that we haven’t surrendered to The Lord. Are there some areas that you never got around to cultivating, to planting, and therefore never had to worry about harvesting? It’s there but it’s unusable due to neglect. Perhaps you’ve put off plowing this particular piece of land (area) because it’s too difficult or too painful. Perhaps you can’t imagine that The Lord is calling you to be a fruit bearer and grower, and can’t imagine the fruit and grain that can grow there so you’ve never bothered. Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint, the people perish, A nation without God’s guidance is a nation without order. (Proverbs 29:18) (NIV, GNT, KJV)

Do you believe you are disqualified because of past sin? Maybe you do not realize the Lord wants your heart. The Lord does not want to hold your sins against you. He made a way through The Cross of Christ that we can repent and be born again. You have to allow the plow of His word and truth to enter your heart and turn under (reprove) that old stuff.

The word of God is alive and sharp and will break up the fallow ground of your heart. See Hebrews 4:12, the word divides, digs deep. Can you visualize the disc’s of a large plow digging into and cutting deep into the ground? Yes the plow of truth may be painful at first but oh when harvest time comes, and we bear the fruit of righteousness…… when righteousness rains down, how sweet it is. When you decide to work till the ground, your heart then becomes good ground, usable ground, and fruitful ground for the kingdom of God. Ground that by following His commandments He can shower righteousness down on.

This is exactly what this season of Teshuvah and the season of our repentance are for. It is an appointed time for us to work our ground. It is a time and a season to repent and agree with the word of God and no longer have areas of your lives untended or uncultivated. The parable of the Sower we talked about yesterday, Jesus instructs us what unusable ground looks like. You cannot be shallow or allow the cares of the world to choke out the words of Jesus and His ways and expect to handle the responsibility of the harvest.

But God is the great Vinedresser. If you’ll break up the additional fallow ground in your life, he will extend and enlarge your fruitfulness. I do not want to have any fallow ground in my heart. How about you?

Elul is fast drawing to an end and the Hebrew month of Tishri is right around the corner. This is the beginning of the “Days of Awe.” Tishri is the beginning of a new year in Jewish agricultural terms. I am going to allow The Sower to sow good seed and I am going to watch so that the wicked one does not deceive me.

“The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks sense.” (Proverbs 12:11)

Let us pray

Dear Heavenly Father. I have neglected my field and my ground. I have reserved an area and kept it hidden away. I thought it would go unnoticed, I now realize You want all of my heart. It is with my whole heart I am to return to You. I have areas that are not plowed up and turned under. Lord I need Your grace and Your help to break up my fallow ground. I know Your are calling me to address and plow all of field. Your desire is made know at the level ground of the Cross. You and I are only joined at the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Cross is the place where all of my sins can be forgiven. I know the Cross of Jesus Christ is level ground, there is no sin too small nor is the a sin too large. I know that my sin (s) is not what is disqualifying me, it is my refusal to identify my actions as sin and then  bring them before You. It doesn’t matter what the world allows and says is alright I have Your truth written in my mind and I know this is sin. It  is what disqualifies me from receiving the kingdom of God in my heart. Today I repent and bring before You_______________. I do not want to drag this around another season in my life. Oh Lord Jesus shower me, shower down righteousness on me. I long to be fruitful ground.  Amen

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you Shalom.

Until next time, thank you for listening with me. Laurette

By faith I go

By faith I can

Yes I will

I’ll follow Your plan

The Hebrew month of Elul is quickly coming to a close. The season of our Repentance should be producing a field ready to sow. What do you want next years harvest to produce? Plowing, planting and waiting on harvest is very hard work. If you are being stretched, The Lord may be preparing you. He may actually be strengthening you. Harvest is not a season for the faint hearted. Jesus said , “The Sower sowed the word.” In Hebrew that literally is “God decreed a thing.” I want my field and my heart to be good ground and produce a harvest, some thirty, some sixty some one hundred fold. What size harvest are we preparing for?

His Plan

Because I know

You beckon me

I will come away

Return to see

 

Fear on the inside

Muffles a scream

What if I can’t

Is this just a dream?

 

Then I remember

Straighten to steady myself

It is in You alone scripture says

My soul finds rest

 

If I don’t follow

How will I grow

I’ll push in and continue

And study to show

 

Lord order my steps

Delightful way

I’ll let go and trust

Yes, simply believe today

 

By faith I go

By faith I can

Yes I will

I’ll follow Your plan

 

 

Poem written by laurette laster © 2017

Psalm 62:5 (NLT)

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him.

Psalm 37:23 (NLT)

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

 

Poem by Laurette Laster © 2017

A few years ago Greg and I went to Circle N Diary, for some fresh milk. On our way we noticed several plowed fields. I turned to Greg and said; “Remember how The Lord showed us, referring to the plowed field,  this is a perfect picture of the season of repentance? This plowing of the fields shows us how to do the work for preparing our hearts during Teshuvah.” The season of Teshuvah is leading into Yom Teruah or Day of Shouting, also known as Rosh Hashanah, and then to Yom Kippur. We reminisced about a few years ago at this same time when Greg was working in Celina TX. By visiting and returning to rural areas, we are reminded of process and the importance of process.

 

In our quick fix, microwave societies many people may not understand the concept of ‘process’. Seedtime and harvest are the measurable process in the kingdom of God. Today we may be led to think more along the lines of keep the seed-just give me my drive through harvest. Without the process of seed and time there is no Harvest. God doesn’t skip important steps nor does He allow us to. If we were allowed to skip over this process we would not be able to relate to The Sower. If we skip the ‘seedtime’ step it will eliminate and nullify the entire process.

 

Plowing is very hard work. Often in Christianity and as Christians we get so excited about reaping a harvest that we forget the hard work and the nourishment and rest required to bring in the harvest. I have a few fond memories from years ago that I believe will describe the hard work of  harvest time.

From the time I was five until I turned twenty two, my mother owned and operated her own restaurant. Our family worked at the restaurant on and off throughout our lives. In late summer one year when I was about seven, my brother, got a job hauling hay. This was before the invention of round balers and the large road bale trailers. This was during the time when workers literally bent over and picked the bale up off the ground, and tossed the bales onto the trailer. The bales typically weighed between fifty to one hundred pounds. This was a job that got you fit and strong for sure. There would be workers on the trailer responsible for stacking the hay. When the trailer was stacked high and wide all the workers accompanied the full trailer to the barn. Then the process was repeated in the opposite order. The bales would tossed off the trailer where other workers would then begin to stack the bales in the barn. From the beginning with cutting, to drying, to baling and then the  hauling and stacking  the hay in the barn were all crucial stages of the hay harvest. Once they were baled getting them out of the field and into the barn needed to happen quickly. You sure didn’t want it to rain on your baled hay. The workers were paid by the bale, so the quicker the job was done the sooner they had cash in their pockets. Farmers wanted workers who he could count on to work quickly.

When hay hauling season started, my brother and another worker would come to the restaurant for breakfast each morning before going to the hay field. I remember as a little girl watching them eat. My grandmother was the cook this particular summer at my moms restaurant, so see would “make sure those boys were fed good.” When my brother and the other hay haulers began for the day,  they didn’t eat again until the work day was over. So eat they did, for sure. My brother’s breakfast consisted of about eight slices of bacon, six fried eggs, a large mound of  hash browns and six to eight pieces of buttered and jellied toast. I ask him one time. how can you eat all that? He replied, “Hauling hay is hard work and we will not eat again until late tonight.” I know he was telling me the truth because I actually helped in the hay field one summer while in high school. Harvest in hard work.

Repentance is cleansing our souls and preparing our hearts for a large harvest that is pleasing to God. We are breaking up fallow ground in order to plow and thus uproot any dead or useless roots. When we see a plowed field we know it is time to sow the field. We can trust the knowledge of the farmer, because he is investing his time and is financially responsible for the field. We can trust that agriculturally it is time to replant the field. Timing is everything. We know a prudent farmer knows when it is time to sow seeds for a new harvest.

Even if we produced and reaped a good crop last year, we still must prepare and ready our field (heart) for this seasons planting.

Rosh Hashanah is known as head of the year in the agricultural season. This day it is said is the day the books in heaven are opened and examined. God takes out the books to read and makes decisions concerning our destiny for the upcoming year. Our reward for the coming year based on last year’s crop, success or failures. It is believed during the Ten Days of Awe we can do charity and change the results of last year before He closes the books and seals our destiny for the upcoming twelve months. We understand that in Christ we are forgiven but that does not eliminate reaping what has been sown. Bad seed, bad harvest. I pray we plow under any crop failures and useless foliage that is taking up space in our field and receive new seeds and plant for new and exciting harvests.

I pray this past year has yielded a great fruit harvest. As we prepare for Rosh Hashanah and the Feast of Ingathering we need fruit. What will be in gathering if there hasn’t been a bountiful harvest? Many of our holiday traditions in the United States of America come from the Fall Feast of God. We will be looking at these soon.

 

So let’s explore this a little more deeply. Teshuvah m’ahavah, turning from love of – what?

——————–

Rabbi Toba Spitzer

What did we turn away from?  In the traditional commentaries, the answer is: love of God. In this understanding, sins are those things which estrange us from the sacred, which create a sense of alienation from that which is Ultimate and good. We become estranged from our own Godly nature, and from our divine Source. We experience a kind of hunger in our souls, a profound sense of spiritual alienation and distance from the divine. Teshuvah from love is motivated by that hunger and that thirst, a yearning for intimacy with God. As the great medieval philosopher and rabbi, Maimonides, wrote in his Mishneh Torah:

“Teshuvah is great because it brings a person close to the Shekhina, to God’s Presence in the world…Teshuvah brings close those who are far off.” (Hilchot Teshuvah 7:6)

 ————————-

 

Don’t miss the season of Teshuvah.

Teshuvah is truly my favorite time of the year.

Once a field has been plowed and planted with new seed, this freshly planted field hungers and thirsts to be watered. So it is with us!

Let us pray

Dear Heavenly Father, I now understand this unquenchable thirst and this hunger is from You and is Your doing. I realize this is You drawing me to You. This yearning to uproot the things of the world and get them away from me and to plant truth is from You. It is Your pure love for me allowing me to sense and know a change is near. As I have been uprooting dead works and preparing my heart during this season of Teshuvah, I realize it is time to think about future crops. Show me Lord what You have for me. I want to plant what You desire, show me what pleases You, Lord Jesus. I want a hunger and thirst that only You can satisfy. I turn away from ‘diet drinks and sugary sweet drinks, empty calories’ so I will crave only living water. I realize the things of the world only leave me empty and wanting more. Jesus I want living water so that I never thirst again. A water that is available through relationship only. No more religion Jesus, I want a real and lasting relationship with You.  I desire a genuine relationship that will cause others to hunger and thirst for You. Show me Your glory. Amen.

 

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you Shalom.

Until next time, thank you for listening with me. Laurette

 

Teshuvah is the appointed time and the season of our repentance. A season and an appointment for my heart check.

On Tuesday I talked about The LORD showing me that repentance is a sign in maturity. I say ‘in’ maturity not ‘of’ maturity because they are actually two completely  different seasons.  We can live and become another year older. Just because we get another year of life does not necessarily mean we learned the lessons required to take us beyond where we are in our spiritual life.

A Season in Time

A time of reflection

A time to assess,

What is working well?

What is causing duress?

A time of reflection

Take time to inspect,

Is my life bearing fruit?

The kind He expects?

 

I’m not to compare

Or look at another,

Not to be jealous

Nor envy a brother.

I am only measured

By His perfect design,

So I must access this heart

Never allow for decline.

Oh my soul, listen

Align with His word,

Become a doer

Of what ears have heard.

A season in time

Set aside for reflection,

This is my heart check up,

And I have no objection?

 

Poem written by laurette laster © 2018 August.

 

I’ve heard that you can have twenty years experience, or you may have one years experience twenty times. When we as Christians hear about repentance we may ask the following question. Well I’m in Christ do I still need to repent? The answer is yes. Yes we repent for many reasons. In all actuality we should be growing in grace and truth as we continue our walk with The Lord. Holy Spirit is helping us. In Romans we read that we may not even know how to pray. “And, in like manner also, the Spirit doth help our weaknesses; for, what we may pray for, as it behoveth us, we have not known, but the Spirit himself doth make intercession for us with groanings unutterable,” (Romans 8:26 YLT). We can intercede for others and repent on their behalf. In intercessory prayers we are asking for The Lord to grant them the grace to repent and change. We discussed the verse, “For it is the grace of God, God’s overwhelming goodness that leads a person to repentance.”  Only after seeing and experiencing the amazing goodness of God and His attribute of beauty and love, do we experience Godly sorrow that leads to repentance never to be repented of again. There are actions, sins, overt and covert, that we will never commit again. However as long as we are growing up, speaking the truth in love, into The Head which is Christ Jesus, we must have a repentant life style. This is not to say we have a woe is me lifestyle. No this doesn’t even compare to actual repentance. Repentance is life being lived and knowing and acknowledging there is a higher way to handle situations and conversations with God. The heart of repentance is maintaining a teachable spirit.

“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning,” (Proverbs 9:9 ESV).

 

According to the Talmud, God created repentance before He created the physical universe, making it among the first things created. (Nedarim 39b).[1]

A few years ago The Lord gave me an illumination of His creation. He put a thought or an idea in my head for me to meditate and think on. Ever since this revelation came to my mind, I have wondered about this. Is this why God began with evening as His recorded time when speaking of day? Could this be why God listed night first? He called the evening the start of the day.

 

In the beginning, Genesis 1 it says; the evening and the morning were the first day and the evening and the morning were the second day, and so on.

If God were going to require something of us we can be assured that He makes the way visible and plain. We are responsible for discovering what He requires and then we must choose by having a teachable spirit to do what He requires. If this is so, wouldn’t it make sense that God would make a way for us to wash off the day’s dirt or wrongs before retiring? Of course it would. Why? Because we know and believe God is our Perfect Creator and The God of perfect order.

The Bible tells us our heart is awake while our body sleeps. We want to be clean from any offenses so we can hear clearly what The LORD wants to tell us. Remember in Exodus the children of Israel were told to wash their clothes before coming to meet The Father. Repentance is washing our minds and our souls so we can come before our Father in the morning.

Let us pray

Dear Heavenly Father. I come before you today asking that You show me and teach me Your ways. I desire to know Your ways not simply Your acts. Lord Jesus You said repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near. Usher me into all truth by Your Holy Spirit. My heart’s desire is to know You in a deeper more intimate way. Show me Your beauty and goodness, that others may see and desire You. Amen

Don’t miss the wonderful season of The LORDS drawing. He requires we return with our whole heart.

Shuv, turn or Teshuvah, return

Teshuvah is truly my favorite time of year.

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you Shalom.

Until next time, thank you for listening with me. Laurette

 

Rosh Hashanah is almost here. It is my favorite time of the year.

I love when our Lord sends confirmation. It isn’t that I doubt, because I do not doubt the importance of this season. I do however wonder if I am able to communicate the woven pattern and importance of these seasons to others. This season of Teshuvah and leading into Rosh Hashanah and The Day of Atonement are very important to our Heavenly Father.

In 2008 an employee and a friend of mine ask me, “What is Rosh Hashanah?” She said, “I know you will know.” I felt like I should know but I didn’t. In fact I had never heard of Rosh Hashanah that I could recall. I had no idea what Rosh Hashanah was. So I had to use my life line and phone a friend. The friend I called was my mom. I explained to my mom that I needed some information about Rosh Hashanah. My mom said she would get to work on this and get back to me soon. About two hours later my mom called and said she had sent me several emails on Rosh Hashanah. Mom said, “Oh Laurette, you are going to want to search this out.” And was she ever right. Thus began the journey and the search for more of Him. I am hungering more and more for more of our Lord.

Embrace

Come away from noise and hurried bustle,

Unsettled times, life’s constant rustle.

When apart with You, my heart feels calm,

Your Spirit, Your Voice, silence all alarm

While inwardly my heart is groaning,

Lord, eyes and ears You are honing.

My safe refuge my hiding place,

I come away to seek Your Face.

And hear You calmly speak a Word,

My soul finds rest, safely assured.

In quietness and rest, loves solitary place,

Your words in my heart, intimate embrace.

That I may know, feel safe and secure,

Quiet and still, full trust, so sure.

Silence the chatter and thoughts that drown

This simple truth; You have never let me down!

Or reneged nor forgotten nor even blinked,

Each one sealed and delivered, signed in red ink.

Shall I continue to go and still believe?

Awaken my heart, embrace and receive.

For every Word out of Your Mouth is true

My rock, my refuge, certain trust, Yes I do!

laurette laster © 2017

Psalm 119:114,119 MSG Bible

You’re my quiet place of retreat; I wait for Your Word to renew me…..

Therefore I lovingly embrace everything you say.

I believe in 2008, Rosh Hashanah was the last days of September and the first day of the month of October. I told Greg, whom I barely knew at the time that we needed to teach on this subject at our bible study. He agreed and the study began. On Monday the day of our bible study I was reading and searching and studying my notes, emails, and bible frantically. I had been studying already and now the day had arrived to begin the teaching. I had so many things to get done this day which was my day off. I had decided I would have to set my notes aside and get onto housework and mowing my lawn.

It was almost 5:30 when I was finishing up the mowing. Did I mention I was frantic? I was hurrying and praying and asking The Lord, “please help me; I need to be in the shower now.” About that time I hit a patch of leaves and scattered them all over the yard. Looking back it wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but at the time it was to me. I finished the mowing and went to my shop to get a rake to rake up the mess I had made. By this time I am extremely frantic and I was praying fervently. “Lord help me, I am teaching on Rosh Hashanah and I don’t even have my notes in order and the people will be here soon and I don’t have enough knowledge to teach this. Help Me Father I need Your help.” At that very moment I heard the audible Voice of our Heavenly Father. He said to me, “LAURETTE, THE TREE IS IN ROSH HASHANAH!”  Needless to say I have never been the same. I still to this day think about this with such awe. My Heavenly Father spoke these words to me. Out of His Voice I heard His Words. Heaven opened over a frantic young woman as she was raking leaves. As I was studying and desperate to learn more about Him, my Heavenly Father, and my Lord, and understand Holy Spirit and His seasons, He spoke audibly to me concerning them. I always think back to this time when I am teaching this. If it was important enough for heaven to come down and open over me, a frantic young woman mowing her lawn, and for God Almighty, Himself, to speak to me about it, He must want us to understand. Did He give me a mandate to teach this? Is that why He spoke to me audibly? I like to think He did give me this mandate.

I stopped dead in my tracks. With my rake still in my hands, I stood up straight and I turned and looked toward my 65 foot tall tree, and I got it, I understood, and I got it. (Today I like to think, I might have looked like Moses leaning on his staff as in the movie, The Ten Commandments, as I leaned on my rake, not really but maybe this was good for a laugh). As I looked at my tree I got it. All my hours of reading and studying were nothing compared to His words. I’ve since heard, what you cannot explain simply you do not understand fully. That is a right on statement. Wow isn’t this a perfect picture of our Lord explaining Rosh Hashanah and repentance to me, with 7 simple words? I didn’t realize until writing this that it was seven words. There is a teaching in that. Simple! A simple explanation yet so deep it has opened up years of study for me. And I have only scratched the surface.

My one hundred plus year old tree was shedding its leaves or repenting of its leaves. The leaves represent a growing season. A season of growing, learning, and lessons learned over the past year. It also represents a season of letting go. I must let go of the old to prepare for the new. I take the invaluable lessons learned into my core (roots) to give me nourishment. I repent of the dead works, the things and ways that cannot go with me into the upcoming season.  As Christians we are like trees. We go through seasons year after year. This is how we grow and become strong and become mature or old enough to bear fruit. Repentance is a sure sign of maturity and maturing. Wow now you know why, Teshuvah and the season of our repentance is my favorite time of the year. I heard His voice and I hear now, just like this happened yesterday.

Isaiah 55:6 Call upon The Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.

This scripture in Isaiah is recited often during the Hebrew month of Elul and during Teshuvah. This scripture is pointing out the truth of the King is in the fields. This scripture also points to the meaning, there are set times and appointed times that are in God’s hands.

As I meditate on this scripture there are nuggets of deep truth that we would do well to know and understand. This verse expressly speaks of appointments and appointed times or seasons. I will not search for something if I do not know it is lost. I cannot find something if I am not looking for it. How will I know to look? I will not look if I haven’t seen or heard there is something missing for which I am to search for.

Also, I cannot speak to someone who is out of my range of communication. Neither can I speak to someone who isn’t interested in what is important to me.

Our Heavenly Father, The God who knows how many hairs are on our head wants us to yearn to know more about Him.

Appointed times are for our benefit and learning. If I am going to reap I must sow first. It would be foolish of me to await a harvest if I didn’t plant anything. I would not knowingly plant out of season. And it is certain I cannot harvest if I didn’t plant any seed. We must be able to rightly divide and understand God’s appointed times. Then we decide to go after, to return (Teshuvah) to the heart of our Lord with our whole hearts. He wants our whole hearts.

The word integrity comes from the root work integer. The definition of integer is any whole number. Meaning it is not a fraction or a decimal. It is a whole number. It isn’t a fragment or a percentage. It is a whole number. The LORD wants our whole heart not a part of percentage. Our soul may be fractured or in pieces yet we know we have promises for healing. In Psalm 23 David tells us The Lord is our Shepherd, and He restores our soul. To enable The LORD to heal our soul we must come and return to Him. We bring Him all the pieces of our mind, our will, and our emotions, the deepest part of us, our entire heart. He has restored my soul and He longs to restore your soul. I am certain of it.

Think about the game we played as kids of hide and go seek. Wouldn’t it have been sad if you were playing this game with friends, and you went away and hid and no one came to search for you? In scripture our Lord Jesus tells us that blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for they shall be filled. That is a picture of searching for the fulfillment of our soul starvation. We know Jesus is The Bread of Life (hunger) and we also know He is Living Water (thirst).

Remember His Mo’eds are times and seasons of rehearsals. What if when He comes He doesn’t find you? This is the season of Teshuvah and is not a game and Our Lord is not hiding from us. He is signaling to us. The Lord is wooing us into action, to seek Him. Each time and each season we seek, we grow into a deeper more mature relationship with Him. As we continue to become closer and closer, He leads us into truth and away from harm.

If we wander off, He permits us to go. He doesn’t want us to wander off yet He allows us to go away. Then we begin to hunger and thirst realizing we are in a desperate drought. Then we do what we are known for, we send out our SOS signal, and call out to Him. Jesus said in the beatitudes; blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteous for they shall be filled. The plan is that we use our minds and understanding and grow up. When we become mature we stop future wandering. Because just like that tree we are now rooted and grounded.

Then shall we know if we follow on to know The LORD, His going forth is prepared as the morning. He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and the former rain unto the earth.

Teshuvah my favorite time of the year,

Don’t miss this.

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you Shalom.

Until next time, thank you for listening with me. Laurette

I pray this is a turn around year and better than any we have had.

Yom Teruah is one week away. May we be inscribed for a good and sweet year. “L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem – May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”

Hosea 6:1-3

Let us know; let us press on to know The LORD; His going out is sure as the dawn; He will come to us like the rain, like the autumn and spring rains come on the earth.

The Latter and Former Rain

There is way that seems right to man

But in the end destruction

For when we seek to go our way

Ends in ideology and destruction

 

There is a way that is proven

To be right and even desirous

This is The Way our Lord advised

To advance His kingdom, Jesus required us

 

For when we seek to go our own

We thwart God’s power and toss

Having no one to blame we’re deceived

And become an enemy of the Cross

 

But if we continue on to know

Pursue knowledge, let us come and grow

We have so many securities

So many proofs He longs to show

 

For as the evening and the morning

The darkness turns into light

The Former and the latter

Becomes a continuous passage right

 

Let us pursue the knowledge

Of The Lord as we continue on to know

His going forth is established

As the morning, He has spoken and He shows

 

He will come to us and heal us

Where we are torn He longs to heal

When we pursue with all our heart

Continue on to know His will

 

Harvest rains in spring and autumn

Our Lord sends rain in season

Lord water our hearts and show

Your going forth and reason

 

Come and let us return to The Lord

our wounds He hath bound

Call upon His Name

While He is near and can be found.

Poem written by laurette laster © 2018

This is a precious season of Teshuvah, an appointed time set by our Heavenly Father. How do we Teshuvah and then Return with our whole heart? We must set our renewed minds to do the will of God.

In the New Testament Mark 12:30 we hear our Lord Jesus Christ as He quotes from the book of Deuteronomy, 6:5. Read these two passages and you will find that our Lord Jesus inserts the word “mind” in the text in the book of Mark. This is the key to fighting the spiritual battle and winning. If we are fighting yet never winning something is wrong. We know that our soul is mind, will, and emotions, right? So why did our Lord make specific mention of the word mind and set it apart by itself?  It is because we will have to have the renewed mind of Christ in searching and determining the will of God for our lives. To him who knows what is right but doesn’t do it, it is sin. “If, however, a man (mankind) knows what it is right to do and yet does not do it, he commits a sin” (James 4:17 Weymouth). Have you committed any sins?

 

“I will give them a heart to know Me, [understanding fully] that I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.” (JEREMIAH 24:7 Amplified). This is to say we return with our entire renewed spiritual mind.

 

“I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away. (Hosea 14:4).

Teshuvah is not a season but a life style for born again Christians. We cannot walk a perfect walk nor do we get a complete change of mind at our conversion. We receive a born again spirit and the unction to begin again. However the decision remains our own to complete and walk out. We must do the work of renewing our mind. Read Romans 12:1-3

The Greek word metanoia is also translated as the word Teshuvah, meaning to change your course and return. The Greek word for mind is dianoia, where we get the word diagnoses or understand. Metanoia is to change your mind. Metanoia: change of mind, repentance. Dianoia is to understand the need for repentance.

METANOIA Strong’s Concordance 3341 Original Word: μετάνοια, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: metanoia
Phonetic Spelling: (met-an’-oy-ah)
Short Definition: repentance, a change of mind
Definition: repentance, a change of mind, change in the inner man.

DIANOIA Strong’s Concordance 1271 dianoia: the mind, disposition, thought

Original Word: διάνοια, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine

Transliteration: dianoia
Phonetic Spelling: (dee-an’-oy-ah)
Short Definition: understanding, intellect, mind
Definition: understanding, intellect, mind, insight.

 

diánoia (from 1223 /diá, “thoroughly, from side-to-side,” which intensifies 3539 /noiéō, “to use the mind,” from 3563 /noús, “mind”) – properly, movement from one side (of an issue) to the other to reach balanced-conclusions; full-orbed reasoning (= critical thinking), i.e. dialectical thinking that literally reaches “across to the other side” (of a matter).

Once we are born again we have spiritual eyes and ears that see and perceive and hear and understand a new language.  We must learn and grow spiritually just as we did physically.
“As we are growing up” into The Head which is Christ, expect some blunders along the way. I assure you, you will mess up. Do you always speak the truth in love? Have you walked away from correcting someone that you know The Lord wants to instruct? Have you missed the opportunity to impart wisdom for fear of not fitting in? Have you maybe thought they won’t receive my instruction? I challenge you and me, that we are to speak the truth in love, and our Lord Jesus will then cause the increase. How can there be harvest without seed sown.

 “There are two kinds of backsliders. Some have never been converted: they have gone through the form of joining a Christian community and claim to be backsliders; but they never have, if I may use the expression, “slid forward.” They may talk of backsliding; but they have never really been born again. They need to be treated differently from real back-sliders–those who have been born of the incorruptible …

Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It.”

 

What does it mean to be wholeheartedly committed?

The example, The Lord gave was when He was in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus said, “Never the less not my will, but Thy will be done.”

And we know Jesus was talking about going to the Cross. He became completely committed to the will of God and the plan of God for His life. We read in Isaiah that He set His face like flint.

Now We Must Set Our Faces Like Flint

Isaiah 50:4-7 (NKJV)

4 “The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.

5 The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away.

6 I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.

7 “For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.”

A true revelation of The Cross of Christ is how God changes our hearts. This is how He made a way for our return. The Cross of Christ is the beginning of turn. There is so much more. He rose again that we may have life and life more abundantly.

Let us pray

Dear Heavenly Father I come to You today in complete turning. I turn my mind, my will, my emotions, and my heart, completely over to the correction of Your word. Oh forgive me for holding back and thinking it was ok. Forgive me for thinking I couldn’t do what You have ask me to do, thinking only of my lack of strength while denying Your grace. Your grace is sufficient and more than enough for all I need. I do not want to live a half hearted Christian life. Lord Jesus You gave all for me, help me give all for You. God, You gave me life and I want to live my life for You.  I dedicate all of me, to all of You, this year. I want this year and this season to be a turn around year in my life. Turning, not only for me Lord, but for the many others I may reach for You. I long to walk in Your favor and blessings and also to be a part of the ministry of reconciliation for my family and for Your family. Jesus I pray this prayer in Your name. Amen

 

Don’t miss the wonderful season of The LORDS drawing. He has torn but He will heal.

Shuv, turn or Teshuvah, return

Teshuvah this is my favorite time of year.

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you Shalom.

Until next time, thank you for listening with me. Laurette

 

The Season of Repentance, the Season of Returning.

Ecclesiastes 3:14 GNB
“I know that everything God does will last for ever. You can’t add anything to it or take anything away from it. And one thing God does is to make us stand in awe of him.”

This is a supernatural time to prepare, a time to return, a time to continue on with The LORD in covenant. This is the season of the wedding rehearsal.

Every season
Indeed is for purpose,
Help us see the times
You’ve set for service.

We are Your body
Your feet and hands,
May we never be found,
Afraid to take a stand.

Help us hold fast Your truths
never water down,
Remember the word of God
first a verb and not only a noun.

Called to be doers
and walk in alignment,
With Your set purposes,
discover our assignment.

To everything there is a season
A time for every purpose under heaven.
Pour out our hearts willingly
Purified of all leaven.

Commit all our ways
Earnestly to You Lord,
Hold fast to Your truths
Obedient to Your word.

Taking delight
In Your Holy plans,
order our steps
by Your commands.

The season has come
And the time is at hand
Show us Oh Lord
how to take our stand.   (excerpt from poem © laurette laster – Signs and Seasons)

A time to become one with the Almighty

This morning as I was meditating and thinking about the verses in the bible that use the words and the phrases,  “return to Me says The Lord, and I will return to you.” A truth occurred to me. One I already know and when I explain this, most of you will realize you have known this too. However this morning it was a light bulb moment. These verses and phrases are a uniting or a joining together. The verses are pointing to future events as well as right now circumstances. Then now and future events, that join together,  first and last, old and new, types and shadows being fulfilled and thus illuminated at the appointed times.

The majority of the verses that instruct us to turn, shuv or return, Teshuvah are found in the first Testament or The Old Covenant. Or as some say the Old Testament. That wasn’t new to me, but the ‘why’ is what hit my spirit this morning. When we have broken covenant there must be reconciliation and a restoration period. There is a time to repent, acknowledge the wrong or transgression and then a time of making restitution for the wrong committed. This is the proper way to Teshuvah. This is how to continue on with the relationship. God doesn’t play the denial game or cover up sin. He atones for sin until the appointed time of our Messiah. Each of these verses and scriptures is pointing to our Messiah.

While listening to preaching and teaching today, often repentance is down played or overlooked all together and not taken seriously. Failure to truly, thoroughly repent affects our ability to have faith or act on faith, toward God. Our faith is a direct result of our work of repentance.

God is basically saying and calling out to the upcoming generations; hey you……Come over here and look at what I am going to do. Come away with Me, Look what I am planning, Return to me I have a huge blessing to share with you. I am going to be unwrapping mysteries and giving gifts soon (The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed), and you do not want to miss out on this. Repentance is the invitation into all that God has planned for us, the church. Read 1 Corinthians 2:9.

We know that The New Testament or the Renewed Covenant is necessary because the old was to show us how far we missed the mark. The First Covenant is a type and shadow of what was to come. Mankind continued to transgress against the law. The law was there to show us that we couldn’t obtain righteousness on our own and by works and that we needed a Savior, a Redeemer and a Restorer of the breach between God and man. Jesus is the Bridegroom and the church is the Bride of Christ.

Sin is missing the mark, or transgression of the law. What law? We miss the mark and transgress the law of love. The law was perfect and we know Jesus said “I have come to fulfill the law, not do away with it.”

Jesus when teaching would say; you have heard it said, but I say……………………….. Then He would show the way to fulfillment of the law.

Do you recall Jesus first message? From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, (Matthew 4:17 KJV).

Do you know what Jesus disciples taught when our Lord sent them out? So the disciples went out, telling everyone they should repent of their sins and turn to God. (Mark 6:12 NLT).

We should look at Jesus departing message to His disciples after His resurrection? And said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46-47 KJV).

The message does not change. So why would we attempt to change it? User friendly is counterproductive to the power of God we need to have a transformed life.

God is still wooing us today. Just as it was with Moses it still is a time of preparing our hearts to accept His covenant of marriage. When God was dealing with the children of Israel and the sin of the golden calf, He had already prepared in advance how to eradicate the stain of sin out of His midst. He was ushering us into eternity and preparing to send His only begotten Son, Jesus, at the appointed time. In sending Jesus, who is The Way, The Truth and The Life, God was making a way for us to return, to Teshuvah, and unite with Him. Now we are told to repent in order to prepare the way for Him.

Think about a marriage proposal. When the man proposes to the woman, she will become one with him in covenant, Holy Matrimony, and then be a co owner of all he has.

Zechariah 1:3 Therefore say to the people, ‘this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Return (Teshuvah) to Me, and I will return, (Teshuvah) to you, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

Meditate on that for a moment. I picture a first dance between the Bridegroom and His Bride. Can you see and imagine this?

It is our engagement invitation. To return is a proposal to restore right relationship. I have had religion but I delight in relationship with our Lord. I pray we return with our whole heart. We do not want to miss the Wedding Supper of The Lamb. You have a name place card with your name is engraved on the palm of The Father’s hand.  Will your seat be empty? Not if I have anything to do with it. Who are you concerned about making it?

Recently we celebrated a grandson’s birthday at our house. As the family was leaving, Greg said, “Let’s take hands and pray before you leave.” Our youngest grandson jumped in the SUV saying I am not praying. He was saying I am not going to pray. Greg said “Lord help _ _ _ _ _ be a good boy and be obedient.” We each encouraged _ _ _ _ _ to join us but he declined the invitation. Then we all grabbed hands and began to pray. Seeing that we were going to continue without him and that we had ask but weren’t not going to make him participate, _ _ _ _ _ said,” wait, don’t pray without me, and don’t do it without me”. I said ok come on then. He jumped out of the SUV and got in the circle and we prayed and blessed them before they left. He was all full of smiles and glad he wasn’t left out.

The scenario I just described made me think about the season we are in. This special time and a season of being ask to participate and join hands with family (other believers) and pray. We do not want to be on the outside looking in when The Marriage Supper of The Lamb is taking place. Nor do we want our loved ones to not be there. There won’t be time to say wait don’t continue without me. No the time to make that decision is now.

Pray this prayer

Dear Heavenly Father. During this special Mo’edim and appointed time of Your grace, I ask You for special favor for ____________. Father I am asking You to offer _____________ an invitation to repent. Lord Your word tells me that it is the grace of God, Your grace and unmerited favor that leads a person to repentance. I’ve been telling ___________ to change but I now realize __________ needs a revelation of Your goodness and love. Lord I am asking with my whole heart that _______________repent and return back into right relationship with You. Lord I ask that _______________ be obedient to Your call. I ask that ______________ be changed and have a new heart and another mind and leave the old behind. Lord Jesus I pray ______________will ask You into their heart and that You will be Lord of their life forever. Amen

Hebrew 12:25 See to it that you do not refuse Him

Don’t miss this season of Teshuvah

My favorite time of the year

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you Shalom.

Until next time, thank you for listening with me. Laurette

Teshuvah is a time to reflect and return. It’s never too late.

The Sharpening

 

Painful as it may seem

But necessary it is.

A ripping may be felt

uncovering what is His.

 

 

So if we feel a shredding

Don’t fear or be dismayed,

It’s only the sharpening process

He wants to work in us today.

 

He is going to peel back that hard cover,

to reveal a special message.

In the sharpener we will see,

The shredding revealed the lesson.

 

So take some time to write it down

For in the process of time;

looking back we’ll understand

This sharpening is His perfect design.

 

For we are His own workmanship

Written upon His heart

Don’t give up or worry

He is faithful to complete what He did start.

 

Poem written by laurette laster © 2018

1 Thessalonians 5:24 NIV

The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

 

Isaiah 53:6 says

We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and The Lord had laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

The Jubilee bible says we have become lost.

YLT says all of us like sheep have wandered, each to his own way.  We have turned.

 

And simply put, that is why we are ushered into a special time to Teshuvah.

 

I thought about some ideas that I’ve had in the past. They were not particularly bad ideas but they were not ‘God’ ideas. In my broken and damaged emotions I was able to convince myself, “this must be God.” Without the word of God, good pastors and teachers, and godly leaders, we can easily go astray. Feelings are not good leaders.

A good idea that isn’t leading us (have gone astray) toward the will of God is still a wrong turn. If we are traveling and make a wrong turn we do not convince ourselves that we will reach our destinations just the same. This is why it is very dangerous to listen to messages that tell us any old road, and any old turn will safely take you to your desired location. No, that would be foolish.

We may learn some valuable lessons along the way. I know I sure did. Lessons that taught me to pray: Dear God help me, I never want to do that again. Please forgive me and give me ears to hear Your voice. Teach me to love Your word and Your directions.

Missing the mark is missing the mark. Whether we miss it by 1/16 of an inch or by 1600 miles we still missed it. Think about that. To be so close that it is as if we can taste it, then to allow the deception and the lies of the enemy take us off tract and rob us from Gods best.

Jesus has laid a foundation and we can Shuv, turn, Teshuvah, return. He is the Rock of our salvation.

He is the Great Shepherd. He says my sheep know my voice and another they will not follow.

This season I pray we have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Jesus said let him has ears hear. He goes on to say consider or pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

How does He does He measure our hearing?

It’s by our obedience. There is hearing and there is HEARING.

Just like a diagnostic test, it is by the ability to follow the verbal command. Pretty simple huh?

 

When we blow it we can Teshuvah. We admit we have gone astray and missed it. We tell The Lord we are turning back to His heart. And we return, Teshuvah with our whole heart.

Excerpt from Dr Rick Flanders

1. SINNERS MUST REPENT IN ORDER TO BE SAVED

There is no doubt that sinners are called to repent, and that their repentance is required for their salvation. Jesus said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

 

The words of Jesus remove any doubt about the requirement of repentance for salvation, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish,” (Luke 13:3). “All men everywhere,” according to God’s requirement (Acts 17:30), are commanded “to repent.”

Christian churches are the ones addressed in Revelation 2 and 3—seven congregations to be exact. They are given direct messages suited to their situations from our risen Christ, and five of the seven are called upon to repent (the Ephesians’ church in 2:5, the church in Pergamos in 2:16, some in the church of Thyatira in 2:21, the church in Sardis in 3:3, and the church of the Laodicea in 3:19).

 

Don’t miss this season of Teshuvah it is my favorite time of year.

 

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you Shalom.

Until next time, thank you for listening with me. laurette

God’s  face is toward us. It is the time of His favor. God has initiated this meeting and He covered ALL THE COST. Why were there two tablets?

Zechariah 1:3 But now I say to you, Return to Me, and I will return to you.

James 4:8 Come near to God, and He will come near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

You Said If I Return

You said if I return
You will to take me In
That I shall not fear judgment
Nor taste death because of sin

You said if I return
The rejoicing would be grand
For in the day of redemption
Snatched out, by Your right hand

You said if I return
I would meet You face to face
I would not be turned away
Nor sentenced to disgrace

You said in Your promises
And Yes I have read
Summon me now oh Lord
Spirit teach me to be led.

Give me the strength to obey
In this season of return
That I may dwell forever in Your house
O Lord how my heart doth yearn

Repentance opened the way
inside my knees did crumble
Tears to water my face
I bow before You, humble

Thank you Father, oh Thank You
Yes I desire to obey
The season of return
Is opened to all today!

 Poem written by laurette laster © 2018 August

It is said at the beginning of Teshuvah we are back to back, with God due to un-confessed sin. The bible clearly makes numerous references to God’s face being toward His people in times of His favor, or turned away from His people when they have become rebellious. If His face is shining upon us, we are in right relationship with Him. Like we read yesterday, we like Noah, have found favor or grace in the eyes of God, and we are pleasing to Him.

Teshuvah is during the month of Elul and is the forty days when Moses ascended back up Mount Sinai. Moses was called to meet with God again for a face to face meeting. Moses told the Lord that if He was going to blot the names of the children of Israel out of His book of life, that He could blot out his name also.

(There is a saying of “L’shanah tovah tikatevi v’taihatemi” which is to say, may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year. This is the season of our Joy and the time of year when Jewish tradition says that God is looking over the books and writing about the blessings He is going to pour out. Now we are sealed with His precious Holy Spirit until the Day of redemption. So we do not fear losing our salvation. The perfect sinless blood of Savior Jesus Christ has been accepted once and for all; however the seeds we have sown determine what we grow. I know I have to pray for a crop failure when I let my mouth get the best of me.)

When we have an encounter with the living God we are forever changed. After a face to face encounter our relationship and our intercession for others will be eternally changed. It will unravel us down to our core. A deep change in our hearts and minds will occur that will be the undoing of our filthy carnal nature. What we used to think was important; will no longer be so important that we insist on having our own way.

The way we understand or see, undergoes an immediate transformation. Our eyes are opened and our ears hear. We view eternity and the destinies of others through the heart of God. When this change occurs you will not desire that your worst enemy or enemies go to hell.

At this meeting Moses was required to carve out the two tablets himself. God required Moses, to carve the tablets and appear before The Lord God. God told Moses He would write His word on the tablets. “Now the LORD said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered.” (Exodus 34:1)

The first stone, table or tablet lists four commandments of how we are show honor to God. Is it a coinencedencce that the fifth commandment is how to treat our mothers and fathers and is included on the same stone of how to honor God? The fifth command is “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thou days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”

Is the first stone our heart and therefore needed to change our hearts? Our hearts must be free from offence to God or with God. The second stone, is this our hardened way of thinking and believing? How we treat others is very important to our Father. This is the changing of our minds.

Have you ever felt like your heart has been shattered? Have you experienced some things in your life that have tried to shatter your mind, affecting the way you feel about our Lord? Or maybe you believe you have shattered the words or the commandments The Lord has given you, just like Moses did. Do you feel distant from The Lord because of others behavior? Have you maybe reacted to what someone has done, and now think, well I blew that? Or have you ever blamed God and said, “God why did You let this happen?” Or maybe you have said, “God why did You do this?” All of these thoughts require a time of repentance and a time of reflection. We need a time to assess the thoughts in our hearts and our minds. We must align our thoughts with what the word of God says.

The good news is God knows. In His knowing He still wants an appointment and a time together with each of us to set it right. Only at this meeting we must do the work of carving the two tablets or two stone tables (KJV). If we have allowed our hearts to become hardened it affects our minds more than we may realize. A stony heart creates a rigid mind. Is this why there are two tablets? Is each a picture? Is one for the heart and the other for the mind? Did God know we would have other gods, idols, images, and various other images before we turned completely to Him? In turning to God we purpose in our hearts and in our minds, to love Him and His word as commanded by our Lord Jesus. Read Mark 12:29-31.

I believe our Lord did indeed know! He is the creator of mankind and He knows us! We cannot fool God. He knew we had the ability to act out of self; He created us with the ability to choose. God in His perfect love gave us free will. God knew that once sin entered the heart and mind of mankind we would need a new strategy to follow and work out to find ‘The Way’ and understand His salvation.

We shattered the first set of plans, so to say, in the Garden of Eden. Mankind fell and we all are shaped in iniquity according to Psalm 51:5. Read Psalm 51

I believe the Lord has revealed to me and is allowing me to see deeper into the two tablets. I believe this is the revelation given to me this year. These two stones or tables are representative of our heart and our mind after sin. The tablets or the tables are pictures of our heart and mind after long term affects of sin. I believe this is a picture of how sin hardens our hearts and minds and changes or ability to believe. We now must understand the parable of the Sower, which Jesus taught His disciples. We have some hard work to do allowing the word of God to change us. We return and repent and come back to the meeting. We are welcomed back into right relationship with God and Jesus becomes the propitiation for our sin. Seedtime and harvest are seasonal and necessary. We must agree to the work and the changes and bring our heart and our mind on board. One tablet is about how we relate to God and the other how we treat our brothers and sisters. When we love, truly love God and His word we cannot help but see the fallen condition of His creation. Loving God will change how we see and understand Him and how we see others. We will see them through a heart of love and then setting our minds on things above we are given the ministry of reconciliation.

Pray this prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, help me remove the hardened selfish images of this world from out of my heart and out of my mind. I am accepting Your invitation to return to You, and I am returning with my whole heart and my entire mind. Oh Lord I desire to be pleasing to You. I want to know what You had in mind when You created me. Lord, make me, take my life and do something worthwhile with it. My life is not my own. I have been bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus you emptied Yourself of Your divinity and humbled Yourself to become a man that I may become a child of God. Oh Jesus teach me the how to be good ground. I want to be a laborer in Your field and bring forth a harvest for You of choice fruits. Create in me a clean heart; restore to me the joy of thy salvation. Amen

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you Shalom.

Until next time, thank you for listening with me. Laurette