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Shalom dear friends,
It has been 18 days since Passover. Eighteen is the Hebrew number of LIFE! I was given a miracle of new life in my body in the midst of the Passover, and have been struggling for these 18 days to find words to share it - but every testimony of God's marvelous works MUST be shared, so I will endeavor to describe it to you. We did not have a traditional Seder. Haven't done that for about five years now. We did sing and dance to songs rejoicing over the deliverance of Israel from their bondage. And we did pass through a doorframe and put "blood" (red paint) on it, proclaiming the wondrous covering of Messiah's blood over our lives, so that death will pass over us. But then, after the Passover dinner, we proceeded to read together the Scriptures of Yeshua's last seven days on this earth, through His death on the cross and up to His glorious resurrection. When we got to the Scriptures about His washing of the disciples' feet, we let everyone present know that the LORD had told us (my husband and myself) to wash the feet of all those present at the table with us, blessing and serving them, and sending them forth into their new callings in Him. Together he and I went to the front of the room, our backs to the people, facing two chairs, two tubs of warm water, and two towels. We invited the people to come - and we waited. In the few moments of waiting, I felt something I've never experienced before and don't know how to describe. It was something like the gentle pressure of a hand on my shoulder - then followed by a "gush" of warmth throughout my body. I knew the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) Himself had touched me, and my impression was that He was letting me know He was right there, present with us, in the Passover. Later in the evening I began to feel that there was more to this touch than I yet understood. Despite eight months of suffering from intestinal illness, I had eaten all the delightful foods of the Passover meal and there were no adverse reactions or symptoms! I woke up in the morning with my stomach feeling calm and normal, and then experienced the first normal workings of the bowel I have had since late last summer! I had scheduled a colonoscopy and biopsy for April 27th, as my doctor was suspecting microscopic colitis; but in my spirit I already knew I was going to be able to cancel that procedure! I allowed seven days to go by, carefully adding "trigger" foods back into my diet, still with NO adverse reactions. Pain and discomfort were gone - the colonoscopy was cancelled. I have my "life back" and John and I were even able to go out for dinner together without my fearing what might happen! My joy has been overflowing at this great, instantaneous healing miracle the Lord God gave me, while I was on my knees, ready to wash the people's feet! It is really too awesome to explain! This morning in my prayer time I was deeply seeking Him for the "next thing" He has planned for us and He met me in my little prayer corner and answered me. I believe the answer is for all of us who are seeking Him, especially in these fifty days of counting the Omer; these fifty days of moving from Passover to Pentecost, the time of our purification, in anticipation of the outpouring of His Spirit. He gave me Lamentations 3:25-26: The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD." WAIT QUIETLY. His message remains constant. All striving must cease. There will be enough striving in the days ahead. He said to me, "Enjoy these simple, gentle days right now. Plant seeds and watch the marvel of their sprouting and growth. Don't rush the "next." The "next" will be hard, requiring strength and endurance. This is the time for building up "muscle" in the study of My Word, building up faith in the deep chambers of your heart, in the furthest recesses of your mind. Hide it! Hide My Word like a squirrel hides the acorn - buried away until the winter comes and he can retrieve it for food, for strength." Oswald Chambers' meditation for April 28th says "If you are not abandoned to God, it is either because you are disobedient or a refusal to be simple enough." SIMPLE ENOUGH! It recalled for me an old hymn: "Tis a Gift to Be Simple"! Chambers also wrote, "Abandonment to God means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions." "No questions, God?" I asked incredulously. "How can I go through a day without asking you a hundred questions?" He replied, "How can you ask a hundred questions if you really trust Me?" It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. (Lamentations 3:26)
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So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And Isaac said, "Look the fire and the wood...but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" (Genesis 22:6-7)
Surely that must be the question of the ages! Father, where is the lamb?" Reading this passage again, my heart was quickened that these words from Scripture must be the most effective answer we could ever give to a seeker of the Truth. Someone who just doesn't buy the whole "Gospel story," or someone who is so broken and crushed by their own past sins, they cannot find any way forward. They are crushed by a price they know they owe - but could not pay. The fire is here - and the wood. Even the knife is here. There has to be a sacrifice, somebody has to pay to atone for all this mess of evil and sin. But where is the lamb? Abraham responds, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb..." (vs. 8) Passover, you see, is the answer to the ancient question. At that very first Passover, the children of Israel took the blood of the lambs they had slaughtered, and smeared it across their door posts. "For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment; I AM the LORD (YHVH). Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." Through the blood, God's people are marked as His own. Through the blood, God's own are spared from death. And so, on another Passover Eve in the future, God answered the question of the ages. "Where is the lamb?" At that hour, the Lamb of God was provided. Placed upon the wood, He took on my sin and your sin and the sin of the whole world and willingly shed His blood - the blood that covers our lives and marks us as God's own, the blood that keeps us from eternal death. Don't be frightened, Isaac. You will not have to die. God will provide for Himself the lamb. Have an anointed, blessed Passover, filling your heart with gratitude for The Lamb. |
AuthorKelly Ferrari Mills 
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November 2024
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