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The Remnant Shall Return!

I returned to Scotland several times and always ministered to the  Messianic fellowship represented by the  women  with whom I met in the restaurant.  

Shaare Yeshuv consists of some Jewish believers in Yeshua and many non-Jewish people who love and appreciate their Jewish roots. Shaare Yeshuv means  “The Remnant Shall Return” and is based on the promise that God always has a remnant. No matter how far they stray they WILL return to Him.  

One particular year I was making plans to go again to minister to Shaare Yeshuv. Despite the number of times I went, each time was a faith-walk in the area of finances.  My husband has always forbidden me to use any household money for my ministry. Household money included my own paychecks. I was simply not to use any money that we had earned for these trips. So—there I was every year, knowing I had the call, and having no idea where the money was going to come from. Now, in case you think that was awful, it was NOT. I learned HARD how to lie before the Lord, how to stand, how to believe,  how to hope, how to respect the CALL, how to expect.

But this particular year I was tired and almost gave up, collapsed, say ‘I missed it’ and tell the group who had already printed up fliers that I wouldn’t be coming. I did write to Dorothe and said, “Please pray. Not sure what is going on but the finances are not available to me to come. 

I sat down for my prayer and Bible reading time and jotted a note to the Lord. “Maybe I’m just not to go.” I opened my Bible to the place where the bookmark was, the spot scheduled for me to read.

Since 1980 I had been systematic about my reading. Old Testament, New Testament, A Psalm and a Proverb.  So I opened to Isaiah 10. I started to read then  sat up straight, flung my head back and gave a whoop! 

Isaiah  10:21 “The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God”. 

I gave my Bible a squeeze and a hug—maybe a kiss, put it aside and grabbed my computer mouse. 

“Dorothe I am COMING. THE REMNANT SHALL RETURN! Isaiah 10:21!” 

Has God ever spoken to you through His Word when you least expected it.

Barely Got Into Scotland

Shortly before Lee Cedra and I went into Scotland I had attended a conference in St Louis led by a man whose ministry included gold appearing in the service , even having new gold teeth  placed in people’s mouths. I wasn’t  interested in the hype but I knew the pastor before he had fallen, repented, and been restored so I went and was touched by the sweetness of the worship. I couldn’t stop crying. I told some of the women from Women with a Vision about it. One woman sniffed and said, “Cheryl you are SO dramatic and emotional. That’s why you cried. And that is the LAST THING I NEED! A BIG GOLD TOOTH IN THE FRONT OF THIS BLACK WOMAN’S MOUTH! ” So she came the next evening to prove that I was over-the-top in the touchy feel-ly department. But she wasn’t prepared for the effect that the worship had on her. She was sobbing and broken.  At the end of the service she even went up when prayer was offered and the pastor gently said to her, “Sister, open your mouth, wide.” There in the far back of her mouth was a molar which seemed to be made of silver and gold. She subsequently went to her dentist who confirmed that there was no way any man could have created that molar. That was a gift from God.

 So with this fresh on  my mind we boarded the plane for Scotland. Before leaving the U.S. I had contacted Jews for Jesus international and was given  the names of two  Jewish women in Scotland who were heads of Messianic ministries.  Lee and I settled into our B&B in Bridge of Allen, visited a Church of Scotland which, interestingly, had a woman as the speaker that Sunday morning. We toured, saw the Wallace Memorial,  rode a bus on The Royal Mile. But we knew we had not hit the heart of what God wanted for us on the journey. I had tried, and failed to phone the two women. But finally, 2 days before our departure, SUCCESS! 

Sonya Addleman of Edinburgh answered the phone and immediately, upon hearing my brief testimony, agreed to get the entire board of their ministry together the following day for lunch at a restaurant. Lee and I got there, sat down and as always, I just started chattering away. I told them about the most amazing experience our friend had getting a gold/silver tooth. Little did I know that I was sealing the door shut on any chance of ministry there because this group was  totally horrified by EXCESS and SHOW and SIGNS.

One board member, Dorothe, had taken a liking to me and later told me the problem.
 “Well it wasn’t MY tooth. I didn’t do it! I was just THERE!” I wailed.
Dorothe talked the board, begging them to give me a chance and the following year I was invited to Edinburgh to do a conference for their ministry. It was a solid love-relationship ever since and I’ve returned to Scotland many times, ministering in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Auchenblae and I never get enough! I'm so glad Dorothe gave me a chance!

 The photo is Dorothe. Impatient with watching Neil try unsuccessfully to give Star, the baby Clydesdale an apple which kept falling on the hay, Dorothe plucked it up, took a big bite out of it and handed it to the horse. She is a hero! 

Q. Do you think I was wrong to tell about that experience?

I FORGOT TO PRAY!

Here I am sitting at my computer in a dither because I don’t know how to use my website! I don’t know how to add content, add photos or add events. I have been aggravating my web creator who is, after all, artistic–not a teacher of someone 66 years old who needs step by step explanations. I’ve googled self-help ideas, asked friends, considered taking my laptop up to the local high who could teach me.
Five minutes ago I was scrolling down the titles of books on the variation of the theme: “Websites for Numbskulls/Dimwits/Old Folks”.
Then I thought, “I forgot to pray!”
Philippians 4:6,7  (from the ESV) says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
So–since I’m a step-by-step person I’m going to take those scriptures step by step!
1. STOP BEING ANXIOUS and repent, “Forgive me Lord for allowing myself to be anxious over what You already have covered. I just need to let You uncover it for me.
2.  Pray! Tell God what is wrong. “Lord I cannot figure out this website! It is worthless if I can’t use it!”
3. Supplication. Tell him what I want or need. “Lord I want to be able to easily and fluently add  text, photos, and events, regularly and efficiently in a way that women can access  and participate in the ministry.”
4. Thanksgiving “Thank You Lord for sending me Jez to create this beautiful website. Thank you for the full and glorious ministry you have given me. Thank You for the women whose lives it will touch in a greater way when they can participate from so far away in their lonely spaces.”
5. My request: Please send me the right person or resource, Lord,  who can help me using  my learning style and has a heart for the ministry.”
6. Peace that passes understanding. “Ahhhhh!”
How about you? Are you anxious? Try those steps. They haven’t failed me in all the 30 years I have used them.

Cleansing Relief: Roll Away the Stone of Protection

A Study Written by Cheryl Samelson Skid

Based on Psalm 51

 Cleansing Relief; Roll Away the Stone of Protection

Psalm 51:6 and 7

Psalm 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Getting to Know Ourselves and Each Other through God’s lens

1.      Can you remember a time that you had to come clean after telling a lie that was so detailed, so like a spider web that even you started to believe it? How did you decide to come clean? What was the process and what was the end result?  If you are still struggling with a lie that you are afraid to make right, let this lesson reach the inside of your heart and see the value the Lord puts on truth.

2.      Part of the definition of truth (emet)* is reliability, steadfastness, faithfulness.  Sometimes singles look for people who are fun, life of the party, exciting. They may feel cheated by a partner who seems to be ‘boring’. But God values the faithful, steadfast servant.  How about you? What do you look for in partners or friends?

3.      Do you know people who seem to hide? You can’t find the real them because they are so covered by layer after layer? Do you sometimes think you don’t know who you are anymore because you assume different identities depending on your environment?

4.      When we hide things as in the word hidden (sattam)** we are purposely putting a rock in front of the hole so that the hidden thing cannot be seen. We have heard horror stories in the news about people who have kidnapped children then hid them away in cellars or caves, or unspeakable places and then covered the opening so no one could ever find the victim. We do that with lies. We cover them up so that no one can see the truth about us. Are there things about yourself you don’t want anyone else to know?

5.      We have all heard about learning styles. We each learn differently. It’s true in the spiritual walk as well. For instance:

a.      What have you learned from another person that has become part of your Christian walk?

b.      What have you learned from good, healthy experience?

c.      What have you learned when you came to the end of yourself and hit bottom?

6.      _____________________________________________________________________________

Original Language

Desire  חפץ  chafetz  desire, take pleasure in, delight in, bend down. Imagine God bending down toward us when we please Him!

*Truth אמת emet          faithfulness, truth, reliability, stability, truth

Inward parts טחה         toochah  inward parts, hidden regions, after taking off layer after layer                                                 after layer the inward part is at the very very deepest hidden place

**Hidden סתם              sattam             stopped up, closed, made secret, hidden on purpose

Know yada                        yadah                   know, perceive, discern discriminate, know by experience,                                                                            recognize, admit, acknowledge, confess, (the verb form                                                                                                indicates to make known, rather than to know.  So God is                                                                               making this known to His child who is hungry to learn and to                                                                               change.  Yad in Hebrew is hand. Ah signifies  stretched upward.                                                                                       So our posture in crying out for knowledge is hands stretched                                                                                  to God when we come to the hard conclusion that

true                                                                                                  knowledge comes from Him.

Purge חטא                   khatah             to cause to sin, bring to judgment, and purify

Hyssop אזוב                 ezoov               an aromatic plant from the east, like mint

Clean טהר                   taher                this isn’t the word for clean that would be used as in                                                             something washed with soap. But it is ceremonially clean,                                                              free from disease, purified, morally clean.

Wash כבס                    kavas               this isn’t the washing of the body. Rather it is the scrubbing                                                        that one would apply to filthy rags or a dirty rug putting in                                                                     lots of effort on a very soiled cloth or object.

Searching the Scriptures

These two verses are the only ones in the Bible that mention the hidden parts of the heart. Does that mean that David is the only person who ever struggled with secrets of the heart?

Consider the following names from the Bible. Take a look at their lives. What do you perceive as possible secret struggles? Beside each name I have written one possibility but there are many!

1.     Abraham (Read Genesis 17)

2.     Moses (Read Exodus 2)

3.     Esther (Read Esther 2)

4.     Peter (Read Matthew 16-19)

5.     Paul (Read Acts 15)

6.     Jesus (John 18)

Let’s first talk about Abraham. Do you think he struggled with himself? ­­­­­_____________  How might his inner conversation sound? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Moses had to struggle with a dual identity. _____________ Can you identify a time when Moses had to choose one identity over another? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Might Esther have lost sleep over a decision she had to make? ________Explain.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you think Peter knew his own heart? ________What did Jesus do to prove that Peter did not?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paul had an immediate and dramatic conversion. Unlike the others who grew up with Jesus Paul was overcome. Tell about his struggle on the road? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jesus was fully God and fully man. Do you believe that ever caused him struggle? _____If so why? _______If not why not?____________________________________________________

Jesus’ famous struggle was in the garden. Once he settled his heart, he didn’t struggle on the cross.  What implication does that have for us? ­­­­________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do Work

Take account of your heart this week.

            * Are there areas that you have a hard time revealing to those close to you?

            *What do you tend to hide?

            *Find one person you trust and share a little area of your heart you have tried to protect.            *Write about it.

            *What is happening as the days go by since you shared with that trusted person?

            *What correlation do you see between hiding information from people and attempting to                       hide information from God?

            *The more time we spend with someone, the more information we share. We learn more      about them. They learn more about us. Can you put in your own words what this                phrase means: “spending time with God”? During World War II and the Viet Nam War                          before email or cell phones, separated lovers would write letters to each other,                                      sometimes daily. How about writing a daily letter to God and tell Him everything that’s                      on your heart and let Him talk to you!

The Call Stood Up

The Call Stood Up

In 1983 I was called as a mouthpiece to the nations. But life didn’t cooperate.  In 1988 in a missions meeting at Faith Fellowship Church in Florissant, MO I stood up, eyes closed and head bowed.  “Lord, I give up this call. I relinquish it to my daughter, Amy.  I am too old, too broke, and too trapped to fulfill the call.”

But in 1992 someone fierce broke inside me. I knew I could go no further until I stepped onto foreign soil and spoke to the nations. There was still no money. But the call inside me stood up and claimed me. At a missions conference at Latter Rain Ministries in Litchfield, IL.I bent over as if hit by a torpedo in the gut. Standing, I declared, “I am taking my children on the mission field.”  I had NO confirmation from anyone. In fact some could have discouraged me by saying, ‘you can’t know you’re called until you know the nation to which you are called.’ But I needed no one’s confirmation or affirmation. I had the call and it was upright, strong and unyielding.

The first nation to which the Lord pointed was Guatemala and that was through my ten year old son, Nathan. We went in 1994 as helpers. I cooked, washed, and helped with homework. At one point Mario Barbarczy founding director of Hearts in Action, asked me, “Do you have something to say?” I opened my mouth and consequently taught in the Great Commission Conference in Guatemala seven consecutive years.

From then on every year I received only the name of the country. Denmark. Denmark? I believed by faith and made plans to go. As I researched the nation I discovered that Denmark saved their Jews during the Holocaust. By the time I went to Denmark the queen no longer wanted Denmark to be remembered for the Resistance. I went from one elderly man and woman to another, listening to the stories which they, at first hesitantly and then with more confidence, shared. I thanked them for saving my people. So many nations: Sweden, Scotland, Switzerland, Austria, Cyprus, Kenya, Israel, Portugal, Italy, France, Suriname, Spain, China.  Always only the name, and then the Lord opens up the nation!  Oh How He blesses and rejoices over us! He woos us and brings us and sends us and elects us and trains us and equips us and LOVES US!

In 1988 when I told the Lord I was too old, too broke, and too trapped I was 46 years old. I am now 65. I am jubilantly buoyant! I am as prosperous as I need to fulfill the call and I am FREE! 

You! Under The Rubble

YOU Under the Rubble

       "Look at this!" Who isn't excited when, digging through things at a second hand shop or a yard sale we find a treasure---something we've longed to find? We all love treasures, especially when they're found in unexpected places.

       If we look through the yard sale that is our life we start to realize that those randomly placed circumstances have been carefully hiding a treasure that is your life!

       "Why me!"  Oh, who hasn't said that when disaster strikes? The pat statement now is, "Why not me?" But really, do we really feel terrific that we were the one selected for the tornado to hit or the dryer to break or the, God forbid, middle of the night phone call?

       If we really look at our lives---REALLY look, we'll see that the character traits that matter most, that pull us through, that minister to others, that inspire others to keep going were developed under heaps of pain, heaps of rubble. The dictionary defines rubble as coming from the word rubbish and it originally meant broken bits of stone.

       Stone. Does your heart feel like stone when disaster strikes? I can still feel that ice that seemed to run through my veins at sudden shocking news. The thesaurus gives synonyms for rubble:  debris, ruins, and wreckage. RUBBLE. It's over. It's finished.

      

       In 1956 Nate Saint, Jim Elliott and three other American missionaries when to Ecuador to bring the gospel to the Auka Indians. There were the wives at the mission station when the word came; the Indians had killed their husbands. The missionaries had desired to develop friendships with the violent tribesmen and were killed shortly after their mission had begun. Can you imagine? All the men were slaughtered and here were the wives in a country where they were hated. The End of the Spear  and Through Gates of Splendor  are movies about the surprise ending; the jewel beneath the rubble. Rather than ending in bitterness the rubble has become an inspiring story of true love. Two of the wives ended up going back  to live among the savages several and won the tribe to Christ. Five generations of slaughtering even each other ended when the love of Christ swept over the men. One woman stayed with her children two years, but the other lived there the rest of her life there.

       I have read that occasional  failure leads to resiliency. The person who has many opportunities to stumble and get up seems to be more  resilient than the one who has had smooth sailing. Consider Job. Job 29 sees him was remembering the past. There was no sign of wreckage in his life and no hint that any was coming. He  had never suffered and triumphed over adversity. He did not have the opportunity to learn that when we're beneath the rubble God is there as the Master of the Search Team, the Excavator who can search beneath the rubble and lift us up. Who didn't cheer in the recent Haiti earthquake when on day 2, day 3, 4,5,6,7,8 a survivor was found and brought out alive?  God will always bring us out alive--because even when we are absent from the body we are present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8) Job 29:2--just because Job didn't sense God's presence doesn't mean He wasn't watching over him. To this point Job had judged God's presence and blessing by the circumstances in his life that were favorable.  But the fact is: difficult circumstances may very well be part of that training in that season of our lives. The woman who is pregnant one minute is just as pregnant as she is in the 9th month. But in that first minute, hour, week the work is done in secret. Oh! A great work of God is done in secret beneath those pebbles, stones, rocks and boulders that make up the rubble of our lives.

       In Job 29:4 Job spoke of those times of victory, respect and adulation as being in his prime. But, oh! if we could only begin to see that we are always in our prime! God's eyes are always on us! (2 Chronicles 7:16.) His eyes and heart are fixed on us perpetually! 2 Chronicles 16:9 says that God's eyes are on us when we are perfect. That does not mean that we dot every i and cross every t. It means that we are continually acknowledging God as the  one that can help us. We cry out to God and His help comes. God LOVES showing Himself strong to the one who knows he is weak without Him. God looks for us in that rubble and He doesn't have to depend on luck, or dogs, or any special instrument. There is nothing that can block God's eye from seeing you and loving you. As we continue to read Job 29 we see that he was a man of excellent deeds and character. (12) He considered and did something about poverty. (17) He fought cruelty of those who oppressed the poor and needy. But (16) He thought things would always go this way. He thought he would be honored and revered all his days.( 21) No one would dare interrupt him.( 22) He always had the last word. 24 When he encouraged someone he made that person feel that she could walk on air. His smile lit up anyone's life that it landed on. (25) He helped people make crucial decisions in their lives.

       But then came the day--the very first day of adversity for Job when EVERYTHING came crashing down around him. He was at the bottom of a heap of rubble. He lost his family, his finances, and his reputation in a day. His friends could not see Job--the child of God, the apple of God's eye. They saw the rubble.

       What is our rubble? What is your rubble? Are you buried under the pain of grief?  anxiety at work, infidelity of a spouse?  rebellion of children? What is your rubble? What makes up those pebbles, stones, and boulders that are burying you? They may be burying you from eyes of so-called friends who think they're better than you are. They may be burying you from your family who sees you as the black sheep, the odd-ball. They may even be burying you from yourself. But they don't bury you from the eyes of God. God's grace will go down the tiniest hair fracture and will smash the strongest blockage. He will lift you out.

       What of our heart? Can our heart TRULY cry out to God for help and  also hold resentment, jealousy, hatred? We are limited. God is unlimited. He can hold every person in the earth in His hand and heart. But we are limited. I cannot hold unforgiveness and the love of God in my hand at the same time. In fact Mark 11:25 tells us that when we pray we have to forgive every single person against whom we have any grievance in order for God to forgive us. 1 Peter 3:7 tells men that they need to honor their wives or their prayers will be hindered. They must see them as equals in partnership and treat them with respect. Does it say their prayers will go unanswered? No. It says their prayers will be hindered. Holding anyone in disdain creates a hindrance between--not us and God--but us and that desired answer to a prayer.

       God is sovereign. What does that mean? It means He-- not some test score, not some human relations evaluation, not the scale, not a diagnosis-- will determine the end and scope of your life. The second scripture I ever memorized--and I don't even remember the version or the book and verse---but I remember the concept; (you see it doesn't matter if we can recite the Bible. It matters how much of it we believe.) The scripture concept was, "Nothing can thwart God's plan for my life." He holds the keys to the outcome. That was the second scripture I ever memorized. The first was "I am safe as if I were in God's pocket, and my enemies fall like stones from a sling." Both of those concepts are concepts of God's sovereignty. You cannot determine if I succeed or fail. That is entirely in God's hands...and His hands LOVE me.

       Psalm 13 is the heart cry of the man or woman under the rubble. Maybe it is  your heart cry. What was the psalmist's comfort? His comfort was in remembering the steadfast love that he had EXPERIENCED before this time of trial. Because he had experienced it before, the psalmist could say with great conviction, "My God DEALS (present tense) bountifully with me."

       Dear one, our consciously remembering times that God showed His lovingkindness toward us in the past will give us the ability to say today, beneath the rubble of our lives, rubble so thick and hard, rubble that hides all light, rubble that is suffocating--it will give us the ability to say, "My Father will find me here and bring me out." The truth is, His eyes never left us. God never left YOU under the rubble.