By Avi Tekle

Have you ever been in a situation where you’re trying to do something and you really mess up, but there happens to be a person next to you who knows exactly what needs to happen; and he comes in and shows you just what to do. It’s such a relief!

At some point, each one of us finds ourselves utterly lost – in a crisis or a situation that we don’t know how to respond to; and we don’t know what the next step is. David says in Psalm 16, “Father God, show me the path of life.” This verse is great because it shows the truth of our reality. Sometimes we get to a place where we simply don’t know how to live. The second half of Philippians 4:5, “The Lord is near,” assures us that God is present and near to guide us back to the path of Life.

Like a Divine GPS, God Shows Us the Way

There is a similar theme in Leviticus 26:12-13. In these verses the Almighty God promises, “I will walk among you, and I will be your God and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and caused you to walk upright.” God always wants us to be aware of His presence in our lives. Our problem is that we often fail to access the “GPS.”

When Yeshua walked this earth, He fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah (57:15) that God would dwell among us as Emmanuel – God with us. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

But the exalted God of Heaven did not make do with being NEAR or dwelling among us. The Bible tells us also “Greater is He who is IN you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). He’s not just around us or in the city or in our neighborhood or even “just” in our home. He is inside of us.

Statistically, in the Western world a person’s average lifespan is 80 years. Of those years, the equivalent of 25 years will cumulatively be spent sleeping and seven years trying to fall asleep. Thirteen years of that lifetime will be spent building a career, and one of those years will be spent working overtime. Whether we are sleeping or whether we’re working or even trying to fall asleep, God is with us and dwells in us.  It’s like His word says “He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps” (Psalm 121:4). The battery life of the divine “GPS” is infinite.

Guidance for Joshua

An interesting Biblical comparison highlighting this subject is the book of Joshua and the book of Acts. Both begin with the “departure” of a great leader. The book of Joshua opens with Moses going up a mountain and not returning. God allows the people to pray for 40 days, and after 40 days, God comes to Joshua and He says “Moses has died and gone… now you will lead the people into their inheritance.” Then in Joshua 1:5, God promises that “Just as I was with Moses so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” God could have shared wisdom and strategies on how to inherit the land, yet He only says this one thing: “No one will be able to stand before you because I will be with you.”

Guidance for Yeshua’s Disciples

In the book of Acts, just before ascending to the sky, Yeshua also instructed His disciples in a similar way. He said, “Do not leave Jerusalem until you receive power…” What does this power imply? It’s not just some power that clothes them; this is the indwelling of God Himself in their lives. Acts 2 was not just God dwelling among us, but God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us – working in our lives, in our souls, in our hearts, in our minds and in our emotions.

When God dwells within us, we have an intimate walk with Him, and we are aware that He is leading us. Not only do we receive guidance regarding what to do and how, He also changes us from the inside out. This is His main purpose in our lives – to make us more like Him.

When you spend time with a person, your relationship deepens and their personhood and behavior impact you. Likewise when we walk with the knowledge that He dwells in us and He leads us, our life and our character are altered and we become like Him.

Your character is the content of your soul, who you really are from within – not something that you show off on the outside, but what your heart is made of.  This is God’s desire – to transform the character of our lives, to make us into His likeness, to be His light. He encourages us as He leads and speaks to us, but when He dwells in us, His primary purpose is to change and transform us into His likeness.

If God with us is like a divine GPS, then God in us is like one of those futuristic tech gadgets that is inserted into the ear – like a hidden enhancement to the brain.

In Colossians 1:27, Paul encouraged the believers who understood the grace of the Messiah and preached the gospel with courage and truth, that he saw in their lives the good workings of God –the glorious mystery regarding the gentiles which is “Messiah in you, the hope of Glory.” Meaning all the glory of God is found in the person of the Messiah Yeshua – and the Messiah Yeshua dwells in you!

(*Editor’s note: Translated from a teaching given at Tents of Mercy: In a summer decluttering frenzy encompassing all of our spaces including the computer, I came across the transcript of a message from the days of Corona live streaming.  As I read a few lines, it was an interesting exercise in corporate self-introspection. Life moves on. Things change, or don’t change, but one thing remains the same – our need for the GRACE of God!)

By Guy Cohen

“I saw the LORD seated on the throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the Temple.” And the angels cried, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:1-3)

The prophet Isaiah found himself gazing into the heavenly realm where he saw the angels praising the Lord. He was shocked to find himself in this place because he knew that he was not pure enough to stand in the Lord’s presence. He realized how unclean both his lips and his people’s lips were. Then the Lord sent an angel with a burning coal from the altar to purify his lips.
 
Isaiah ministered between the years 744 BC to 701 BC, mainly to the tribe of Judah, during the reign of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. According to Jewish tradition, the prophet Isaiah was a descendant of the royal Davidic bloodline. His grandfather was a king before the reign of Uzziah. Isaiah could have chosen a life of wealth and ease. Instead, he chose to dedicate himself to God; and to convey His words of divine comfort, but also His words of searing rebuke. Isaiah found himself commissioned and speaking prophetically to kings, tribes and nations.
 
Isaiah is the prophet through whom the Spirit of God revealed God’s mercy and comfort for His people, perhaps more than any other. In the Spirit, Isaiah “saw” Yeshua 700 years before His birth (Isaiah 53). He is the prophet whose prophecies were most quoted by the disciples, and by Yeshua Himself (Isaiah 61).
 
When Isaiah was in the presence of God in chapter 6, he could have chosen to remain there. However, he heard God’s conversation with the angels – he heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Isaiah chose to respond “Hineini. Here am I. Send me!” He was then anointed with authority as a prophet sent by God to the people. (In like manner, the prophet Jeremiah was anointed in Jeremiah chapter 1.)
  
Isaiah is the first prophet that I see in the Bible reflecting the heavenly kingdom – that kingdom we pray will come here on earth as in heaven. Even though Isaiah was from the royal family and acquainted with royal life; he realized that no kingdom could be perfect like the heavenly one to come. Yeshua prayed, “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). We pray for the Kingdom of God to come and reign over all the earth.

When I look at Jerusalem today, I understand that this physical city and the government which we see with our physical eyes is not the heavenly one. Yes, pray for the government and the peace of Jerusalem today. But know that King Yeshua is the One who will ultimately bring His shalom and the heavenly kingdom when He comes.
 
The earthly Jerusalem killed and rejected the prophets and the One who was sent to her. But we say “Baruch haba b’shem ADONAI. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” to our Lord Yeshua!

By Leon Mazin

Zechariah 3:1-5

(v.1) “Then he showed me Yehoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.”

After 70 years of captivity, forty-two thousand people returned to Eretz Israel from Babylon. This was only a small percentage of the Jews exiled. The leaders of these Jews were Yehoshua the high priest, Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah.

Each leader represented a separate responsibility in the RESTORATION. Yehoshua (Joshua), the high priest, oversaw the Temple – the place of the glory of God being revealed. Zerubbabel was the politician, the leader of the nation. Ezra was the man restoring the tradition of the Scriptures and looking for ways to return Israel to the path of faith. Nehemiah oversaw building and supplies.

Many enemies and circumstances opposed them. The four leaders were exhausted by their efforts. To be able to continue to restore Israel they needed their souls restored. The prophet Zechariah was commissioned by the Lord to go and encourage these leaders.

(v.3) “Now Yehoshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.”

In Hebrew the word filthy is even more extreme than the English, with the connotation of human waste. Even a minister can become soiled by burnout, constant criticism, gossip, spiritual crisis, temptation, family circumstances, etc. This is a word of severe caution for ministry leaders today!

(v.4) “The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Remove his filthy clothes.’ Then he said to Yehoshua, ‘See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.’”

How important it is to hear these words of Zechariah not only to the high priest, but also to each of us whose garments become soiled from day to day life, from our own filth or even others’. Everyone makes mistakes. The right thing to do is to get help and address the mistakes and the sins.

Those around must be careful to not act as an “accuser of the brethren.” YET THE LORD HELPS. Peace and justification come from Him alone, as in the case of Yehoshua the high priest.

(v.5) “Then I said, ‘Put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.”

A hat, crown or turban symbolizes one’s calling in life. Everyone has their own. Everyone, fulfilling their own calling, completes the divine puzzle of deliverance, which one day will be revealed on earth. You should not wish for the calling of another. It is important to fulfill your calling and do what the Lord calls you to do. Yeshua the Messiah helps each of His disciples in this.

I pray for our walk and righteousness before God, for pure garments and the fullness of His calling for everyone! Peace and grace to you in Yeshua the Messiah.

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