Shabbat Shalom

"Shabbat Shalom!"
"Shabbat Shalom!"
After hearing the words a few times, I was able to return the greeting with a measure of confidence.  "Shabbat Shalom!"  "Sabbath Peace!"
Tears filled my eyes as I looked around the room.  I was standing in the presence of God's people - the Jews.  I, a Gentile by birth, along with my Beloved and my 3 Treasures, had the honor and privilege of breaking Sabbath bread with the Jewish Congregation of Iquitos, Peru.  What joy filled my heart to know that while I am not Jewish by physical birth, I am Jewish by Spiritual birth!  My Saviour lived and walked among these precious people.  He was a Jew.  Most of the early Christians were Jews.  What a rich heritage I have as a Christian!
One of the reasons I love homeschooling is what my children learn in the classroom, we learn as a family!  So, as a family, we are studying World Geography this year - continuing from last year.  We typically spend 1 week (sometimes 2 - depending on how hectic our schedule is that week) studying a country.  We take time to learn about the culture of the countries we are studying, and even try to cook a traditional meal from that country.  I love seeing how much the kids are learning and remembering.
Last year, we started a new family tradition.  We started celebrating Passover.  We want our children to understand that as Christians we are the spiritual seed of Abraham.  We want them to know that without the Passover, we wouldn't have salvation - for CHRIST is our Passover!  Even though I grew up in church, I never realized what a beautiful, precious picture the Passover is of Salvation - every part of the Passover points to Christ!  How exceedingly precious that should be to those of us who are saved!  How extremely heart-breaking it is to see how the Jews miss it completely!
This year, I planned our geography lessons so that we could study the country of Israel during the time of Passover.  We knew when we moved to Iquitos that there had been a Jewish community here. We weren't sure if there was still Jews here or not.  I started searching the Internet (a great tool when used properly), and found that there is still a Jewish community here.  We used one of our Family Days to see if we could meet the President of the Jewish Community.  God graciously allowed us to meet Señor Jorge.  He showed us the Synagogue and the Torah.  He even showed the kids the pointer that is used when the Torah is read.  They use the pointer to keep their place while reading, as they are not allowed to touch the Torah.  And speaking of the Torah, only the Rabbi is allowed to read it.  Aren't you thankful that we can read our Bible whenever we please?  We don't have to wait for the Rabbi or the Preacher to read it to us!  He was so kind and gracious to answer all our questions.  We learned that most of the Jews here are descendants of Moroccan Jews who emigrated here to Iquitos during the Rubber Boom.  There are about 80 Jews here in Iquitos.  Señor Jorge has 3 children, who are all in Israel, serving in the military.  The Congregation here doesn't have their own Rabbi (sometimes the Rabbi from Lima comes to visit), but they still gather for a Sabbath service on Fridays.  We asked if we could join them for a Sabbath service sometime after Passover.  He agreed.  That same day, we also went to the main cemetery here in Iquitos and found the section that is the Jewish Cemetery.
On Friday, May 6, we went to the Synagogue and joined the Jewish community for their "Shabbat" (Sabbath) service.  Can I be perfectly frank?  I don't think I have ever been to a more peaceful service in my entire life.  The fact that they love God was so evident!  They sang in Hebrew - and we tried!  We kept getting lost in their song book - you know their books are "backwards" from ours - they go from back to front - so we kept turning our pages the wrong way!  At the end of the service, all the chairs were pushed against the wall and everyone stood in a big circle, each person's hand resting on the shoulder or arm of the person next to them.  They included us...can you realize how incredibly special that was - to be included?  They sang another beautiful song, then had a blessing for the sons, followed by a blessing for the daughters, which was followed by a blessing for everyone there.  Then they sang once more.  I couldn't help but think about Heaven and how wonderful it will be to join Christians from all over the world and sing praises to our Heavenly Father and our Saviour Jesus Christ!
At the end, everyone greeted each other with "Shabbat Shalom!"  Once again we were included.  Maybe they thought it was strange that a white, Gentile family had joined them for that service, but they didn't show it.  They included us as though we had grown up with them!  Everyone shared bread, and orange soda - some of the Jews had wine instead of the orange soda.
As people left to go home, they went around the room and bid each person "Shabbat Shalom!" "Sabbath Peace!"  Peace.  Peace in knowing I am saved.  Peace in having the privilege to be a friend to God's chosen people.  It was an experience I will remember and treasure all my life, and in the stillness of my mind and heart the words still echo....  
"Shabbat Shalom!"  

Applying My Heart

For the month of January, I have been reading through I Samuel and Proverbs.  God has been teaching me so much from these two books.  Do you ever find yourself reading your devotions and thinking, "Wow, how come I never saw THAT verse before?"  or "I know that verse, but I never thought of applying THIS way!"  That's exactly where I am in my life right now.  I know many of the events in the book of First Samuel - I've heard them growing up in church!  But the Lord has really been showing me the different attitudes of the different people in I Samuel and how I need to apply or avoid them in my own life.  And to top it all off....I read this verse this morning...."Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge."  Proverbs 22:17

I want you to take a moment (like I did) and let that verse sink in - not just to your mind, but to your heart.  I didn't see it at first when I read that verse this morning, but then the Holy Spirit slammed on the brakes and made me go back for a second look....and this is what I saw..."Apply thine heart unto my knowledge."  Do you see it?  How many times have I heard..."Read the Bible and apply It's truths to your heart."?  Now that is not wrong - we should apply the Bible to our hearts, but do you see what God is telling us here in Proverbs?  He is not telling us to apply His Word to our hearts, but rather apply our HEARTS to His Word!  Now like me, you're probably thinking - "It's the same thing - just said differently."  I thought so too, when the Holy Spirit brought me to a screeching halt at this verse.  "Apply thine heart" - hmmm.....I got to thinking about that (still am as I write these words) and I started wondering why God would say it that particular way.  Then I realized how I apply my heart to the things I want to do or need to do every day - for example:  Dishes, Laundry, Tutoring, Helping my Husband, Reading Time with my Kids (another story for another day), crocheting, cross-stitching, and all the other 101 things I need/want to do every day.  But how often do I just stop and apply my heart to the one thing that matters the most - My Saviour?  Yes, I have my quiet time with the Lord every day, but sometimes I just rush through to go to the next thing on my TO DO list.  Shame on me.  That is not applying my heart in the right way.  Do you also see that it goes on to say, "...unto MY knowledge."?  What a treasure-trove of knowledge and instruction we have inside the two covers of our Bible!  And the Holy Spirit gently reminded me that when I (my job) apply MY heart to HIS knowledge, HIS knowledge will be applied to MY heart.  Does that make sense?  In other words, when I take the time to apply my heart to His knowledge, the things I learn will become a part of my life, but it doesn't just happen....it's like telling my kids to go wash their hands - if they don't APPLY the soap, their hands won't come clean!  Yes, the soap is there and it will do the job, but they have to USE (apply) it first, then the soap is effective.

You know the Holy Spirit is so gentle.  He shows us things and then lets it sink in before showing us the next thing - at least that is how He works with me - I'm rather hard-headed you know, and I need time to get things through my head before He shows me the next thing!  So after I absorbed Proverbs 22:17...here is what else He showed me:  Proverbs 22:18-21 - all the reasons why applying my heart to his knowledge is a help and benefit to my life!  Yeah-hoo! (As my Martha says!)

So why am I telling you all of this?  Because the Lord has been working on things in my life, and I want to be a help and a blessing to others...after all, that is why God teaches us things, right?  To have the ability to help someone coming behind us, or someone walking along side us.  As I was thinking of these things and how to share them with others, the Lord reminded me - "You have a blog, Sarah, and it's not just for your personal amusement - use it wisely to be a blessing to others." (Didn't I tell you I was rather thick-headed?)  We all struggle with different things in our lives, but what a blessing it is to know we can encourage one another to keep on serving our Precious Saviour.  I pray that is what this post will do for you today - not because I have all the answers - I DON'T! - but because we can grow together in the Lord by applying our hearts to HIS knowledge!  

When Super-powers Fizzle

I read a book once about a lady who was often asked, "What do you do?"  When she would respond, "I'm a Mom," she heard people remark, "Oh, that's all?"  Now we all know being a Mom isn't such a simple matter.  She finally came up with the following response:  "I'm a Mom.  What's your super-power?"  

Along with reading carefully through Proverbs this month, I've been doing a serious study of the Proverbs 31 Lady.  Yes, I know....I can already hear you groaning!  I groaned too, when the Lord challenged me to study this famous Lady of the Bible.  I groaned even more when the Lord challenged me to see how I measure up!!  If ever a Lady had "super-powers" that Lady had them!  When I look at all the things She did - consistently - I find myself thinking, "How in the world did she "keep all her plates spinning?  Didn't she EVER sleep?!?"  You would think I would be careful what kind of questions I ask the Lord, but since I haven't learned yet....

...here I am...letting the Lord show me ways I can apply "P31 Moments" in my own life.  One of my favorite places for thinking things over has become my kitchen sink.  Now before you start thinking how good I am to LOVE washing dishes, let me assure you - I HATE WASHING DISHES!!!  But my kitchen sink is becoming a special place to do some quality thinking (when I'm not hiding in the bathroom)!  Today, as I washed dishes, I got to thinking about that quote, "I'm a Mom.  What's your Super-power."  For me, one thing leads to another in my thoughts (like spaghetti!) and I ended up with the question, "What do I do when the Super-powers fizzle?"  No sooner had I asked my question, when in my mind and in my heart I could hear the song, "We have an Anchor."  Once again I am so thankful for all the times my Mom and I sang our way through the song book!  I knew that song was based on a verse in the Bible, but I wanted to know exactly what the Bible said so I looked it up - Hebrews 6:18-20.  What a blessed fact that Jesus is our Anchor, and He always helps us - no matter which of our "super-powers" fail!  Not only does He bring Scriptures and songs to mind to encourage us, but He also sends little blessings our way - time spent making Thanksgiving decorations with my kiddos, a young lady asking for discipleship, a right answer on a Language School Test!  The second verse of "We Have an Anchor" says,

"It is safely moored, 'twill the storm withstand.

For 'tis well secured by the Saviour's hand;

Though the tempest rage and the wild winds blow,

Not an angry wave shall our bark o'erflow."

Chorus:

"We have an anchor that keeps the soul

Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,

Fastened to the Rock which cannot move, 

Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour's love.

When our super-powers fizzle, let's hold tight to our Anchor, Jesus Christ!