Shavuot "Feast of Weeks"

As we ended the Feast of Weeks this year on April 30, 2023, I find myself in a different place; a place I've never been before. I guess you could say these are uncharted waters. These last three weeks have been an emotional roller-coaster for me, and my family is beginning to notice that something just isn't right. Let me say, it's all by HIS hand that everything is playing out as it is and I'm so thankful HE is in control.

Just as Ruth followed Naomi, leaving her own family behind, so I have followed Messiah, leaving my old life behind. I've heard people say, "I've left my old self behind", but have they really? Have they truly turned away from the traditions, values and beliefs they are familiar with to follow what Scripture tells us is Truth? Letting go of what we've always known, what we're familiar with, is hard. Sometimes this means losing friendships and relationships. We must leave behind our traditions of pagan holidays and the rituals that come with each of them. Every time we celebrate a pagan holiday, i.e., New Year's Eve/Day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Earth Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries and anything else in between, we worship, "worth-ship" the pagan deity it was created for or we worship, "worth-ship" ourselves. If we are following Messiah, we must die to our fleshly desires and live for Him, being grafted in as His children.

Most of us come from a Protestant background. With that being said, there are a lot of pagan roots in Christianity. (I know, it's hard to hear that!) If we are going to be part of the LORD's family and be grafted in, we must let go of our pagan roots. I can remember leaving the Protestant church in 2018 in search of something more. My husband and I had been part of the church since we met in 2000. Our church was our family. However, after moving from FL to TN in 2013, we felt distant and like we were missing something, longing for more. There just had to be more than Sundays and Wednesdays with the occasional "Home group". So, after leaving mainstream churchianity, we began to dig, and dig we did...DEEP! We knew that to be closer to the Father and Messiah, we had to dig deep into His Word and find for ourselves what He wanted us to know. This is also where the grafting in happened. As we began to dig deeper into His Word, He began revealing things to us that we never would have known from sitting on a pew two or three times a week. No pastors were or are preaching what He revealed to us. As we started studying out what each holiday meant, we began to see that our entire existence up to this point had been a lie from the enemy, but it was all for the LORD's glory!

Now we had to make a decision. Who were we going to serve and worship? Heavenly Father and Yeshua Messiah or Ha'Satan? Were we going to continue celebrating the pagan holidays or were we going to celebrate the Feast Days that our LORD had set-apart for His chosen people? (You may be saying to yourself that the Jews are the chosen people of God. Yes, this is true, BUT the Jews are only one part of the house. The Jews are the southern kingdom. The northern kingdom consists of the other ten tribes of Israel; the Lost House of Israel. Messiah specifically said in Matthew 15:24, "He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” On His first coming, Messiah was only sent to save those who were of the "Lost Ten Tribes".)

My Redeemer lives! As we began our new walk into Torah, we discovered that not everyone agrees with what the Scriptures say. Pastors "cherry pick" the verses they want to use in their sermons instead of preaching truth. We asked our former pastors questions about different matters as they arose, and all we got were crickets...nothing...silence. Family members began to distance themselves, because now, there wasn't a common ground to meet on. It's tough trying to talk to someone about something they have no clue about or even want to learn about. I long for the day when all of God's people can sit and talk with one another and be in one mind and one accord.

One day, I pray that my Redeemer will find that my garments are clean and white as snow. He will tell me that I have run the race and I have won. He will say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." He will sound the shofar and bring me into the chuppah (covering) and take me as His Bride.

As we end the first Feasts of 2023, I am excited about this chapter of my life. There are a lot of uncertainties in this world, but one thing remains the same. Messiah is longing for His Bride to ready herself. This year, as Pesach, Unleavened Bread, and Shavuot have all come and gone, I pray that you have gathered the mission He has called you for in this season. I know I have.

As we now prepare ourselves for Yom Teruah, Day of Atonement, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret, I pray you will seek out for yourselves what each Feast Day means and how it applies to your own lives. This is not a "Jew" thing. We are either His children and therefore obey His Word, or we are children of Ha'Satan. Those are the only two choices we have.

But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!” Joshua 24:15

Now, let's go and run this race; practicing and training with strict discipline, throwing out any and all idols so we can win this race and our Redeemer welcome us with open arms at the finish line. We must endure until the end, whenever that end may be.

Shalom!