My husband and I had been leading a tour of the biblical sites of Israel when we first learned that the pandemic had hopped from China to the Mid-East. A few COVID-19 cases had been reported in the ancient city of Jerusalem and surrounding villages. Even then the threat loomed distant—like it was someone else’s…
Category: Messianic Jewish devotionals
Save Yourself Some Heartache
Ever-Increasing Light Sabbaths, Feasts, and More Marking Jewish Themes with Distinction “When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. (2 Samuel 6:13). Tears streamed down my face, and my legs shook as I listened to her story, describing the death —…
Remembering a Love Story on Shavuot
Ever-Increasing Light Jewish Sabbaths, Feasts, and More Marking Jewish Themes with Distinction Shavuot Shavuot is the glorious, late spring holiday that falls on Sivan 6th and 7th, seven weeks after Passover when the wheat harvest begins, remembering when the first fruits of the seven species and loaves of bread were presented in the Temple. It…
Like No Other
Ever-Increasing Light Jewish Sabbaths, Feasts, and More Marking Jewish Themes with Distinction “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy” (Ps. 137:5-6). Wayne and I…
In the Garden Waiting for You
Ever-Increasing Light Sabbaths, Feasts, and More Marking Jewish Themes with Devotion “At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid” (John 19:41). There are two significant places in Jerusalem that claim to be the place of Jesus’ death,…
Matching Intensity
Ever-Increasing Light Sabbaths, Feasts, and More Marking Jewish Themes with Devotion “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the young women love you!” (Song of Songs 1:3 NIV). There came a day when Yeshua visited the home of Simon the leper, and Mary of Bethany joined…
Confessions of a ‘Cosmic Outcast’
Ever-Increasing Light Sabbaths, Feasts, and More Marking Jewish Themes with Devotion “When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you ordained; What is man that you are mindful of him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to…
Passover, Yom Kippur, and Tattoos
Ever-Increasing Light Sabbaths, Feasts, and More Marking Jewish with Themes with Devotion “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). Elbow-deep in animal bloodshed, the High Priests followed the detailed instructions uncompromisingly; and the Israelites waited in the balance of haShem’s mercy. As these…
Dare to Gaze upon the Savage Beauty
Ever-Increasing Light Sabbaths, Feasts, and More Marking Jewish Themes with Devotion “Set me as a seal upon thy heart, As a seal upon thine arm: For love is strong as death; Jealousy is cruel as Sheol: The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, Flames of Jah” (Song of Songs 8:6 DBT). Disgust boiled up in…
The Weight of Sadness
Ever-Increasing Light Sabbath, Feasts, and More Marking Jewish Themes with Devotion “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:9 NKJV). Jewish people around the world are preparing for Passover. And the wonderful story of the exodus from…
