Shabbat Shalom

Dear Family,

My what a wonderful few weeks it has been. Getting to know our new son Aviel
has been both an unspeakable joy and a challenge. We already see the Light of
the Lord that has been put into his life and which we hope to play well our role
of cultivating it. Sleep has been a rare commodity and we have been very
intentional about getting rest when ever we possibly can. As most new parents
do, we have spent hours sitting and looking at this little one, praying that he
would know how much we love him. But more than this, we pray that he will grow
up with the knowledge of just how much his Father in Heaven loves him. Callie
and I have been humbled by the awesome responsibility we now have as parents and
we covet your prayers on our behalf. Pray that we would always humbly seek the
Lord as to how we can best fill our role as parents. We have seen how
incredibly the Lord has provided for our family, and we have full faith He will
fulfill all that He has begun in us a a family. Please continue to pray that
the Lord would direct me on just how to proceed with my teaching. I have
reached a point at which the Lord simply needs to speak and lead me where I need
to go.

Israel desperately needs to be lifted up in prayer right now. With all the many
things that have gone on in the last few weeks with America, this nation seems
to being backed into a corner. There is very little room to move and the
pressure here is extremely great. Please pray that the Lord would lead our
Prime Minister Netanyahu with wisdom that comes from on High. He was forced to
withdraw from a Nuclear Conference being sponsored by President Obama because
there was good reason to believe that Egypt and Turkey were going to demand that
Israel disclose its nuclear capability. For decades it has been the policy of
Israel to neither admit nor deny its nuclear capability. It has been this
policy that has given pause to many of the nations surrounding us because they
were never sure what response they could expect. Israel's government needs to
know what to do if this becomes a strategy of our enemies that could come with
the potential sponsorship of President Obama.

Oh how we need the Lord! With such a big change coming in our lives now, I have
become acutely aware of just how much we need Him. There is a song I have heard
in some congregations that talks about how we need the Lord more today than
yesterday. It would be really easy for me to agree with this song as I have
just transitioned into being a father. The challenges we are facing now pale in
comparison to the challenges we had before accepting this responsibility. But
the truth of the matter is that we all have a great need for the Lord that does
not change from day to day. Our personal needs change from day to day, but our
need for the Lord to be the Lord of our lives does not change one bit. I will
be the first one to admit that, in the past, I have reduced the Lord to being
one among many needs I have every day. Some days I am doing well, and I feel
that need less than other days when I am not doing so well. This "reduction"
was not intended, but it has definitely affected my daily walk with Him. If He
is just "a need" like all my other needs, I have put the Lord into a little box
and marked it "In Case of Emergency". The God of the whole Universe did not
send His Son to die for us so that He could simply be a safety net for us when
things get rough. He is nothing less than THE NEED of our lives. Our need for
Him is not comparable to anything else. We were made to crave relationship with
the Creator and we can only find satisfaction for this craving by finding
salvation through Yeshua. This is why the song cannot be true. To even suggest
that yesterday's need for the Lord and today's need for the Lord are different,
is to make our need for Him all about our circumstances and not about our
created state as Man. This is something we cannot allow to continue in our
lives. Our need for the Lord is one that is desperate and constant. Likewise,
seeking Him daily must be ravenous and persistent. I pray this understanding
has blessed you as it has blessed me.

In Yeshua,

Devin and Callie

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