Flowers in the Garden

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys .

Song of Solomon 2:1

I know this flower is not an actual "Rose of Sharon" variety of flower, it is a Rose.
But when I saw it in the Garden at the site of "The Garden Tomb", where we went to have communion and prayer and worship in it’s perfect beauty and light He brought that scripture to my heart.  Blessings and Love. Love, Shayndel

Baptism in the Jordan

 After being immersed, Yeshua rose up out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Ruach Elohim descending like a dove and coming upon Him.  And behold, a voice from the heavens said, 

"This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased!"

Matthew 3:16~17

I am going a little out of order here, but just wanted to immerse in the River and come out New before going on!!  It was very wonderful and freeing to have the opportunity to be immersed, in the Jordan River, the same place where Yeshua was baptized and where he came up with the the Ruach Elohim descending like a dove, and God from heaven exclaiming how pleased He is with His Son!! 

Even if baptized once, it is a wonderful chance to be baptized again and move closer in relationship to God  in re-newing our vows.  After all we are a new creation in Him and it makes sense that after several years pass, we are new from who we were then.  So when the chance arises, take the plunge!!  Keep on being re-newed and do not conform to the old ways. 

If it your first time, Mazel Tov!! And the second or third too is a chance to be born again and again born a-new! Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov!!

A little prayer for you who read this, I hope and pray that more and more of the truth will be revealed as of course it is being revealed, to all people about who Messiah Yeshua is!!!  I pray that even if a Jewish person comes across this post somewhere out there, or even from any other background or beliefs---as we all His children, that you will see the truth of your Messiah, and  The truth will set you free.     He is the Truth, but in our culture the truth is painted over with human hands and  it becomes so disguised, and we no longer even know we have been grown up on so many un-truths.  May the day come soon when you open to the knock that is knocking always,   you hear it one day and you return to our Heavenly Father through the Son, Yeshua!   Its  as if the veil is being torn anew before our very eyes when our eyes are open to the truth!!  How exciting!! Praise the LORD, His name in Hebrew is Yeshua, and you have seen it and you know it,  it means Salvation.

 Peace and God bless you to all who read this.  Love, Shayndel

Sparrows in the walls of Jerusalem! and some diary notes

view from the window of the hotel in Jerusalem, first morning

 When I got to Jerusalem, it was night.

I arrived a day before the group I would be meeting, and took a car service that night from Tel Aviv to the hotel in Jerusalem.  I had heard an impression before I went to Israel that as soon as you are off the plane, you can feel the presence of God  immediately!   When I got off the plane and into the the   airport, I was all set and ready for a revelation.    I wasn't quite prepared for the sense of modern feeling it was like being in Long Island or JFK.  Even on the highway!!  Except I started to feel a new anticipation on the highway to see the signs were to Jerusalem!!

 It was amazing to be there and at the same time, I was having a little disconnect and longed to experience His presence, even though of course I know He is always with me.

The first impression of "God is here" came in the morning!
I woke up to the sound of birds singing, and looked out the window from the hotel room.  There was an Israeli flag and just beyond it I saw the song was coming from little sparrows.  There were sparrows in the holes of the walls and perched on the gaps in the stones!

Look closely! Can you see the sparrows on the ledges and in the holes?!

Sparrows in the walls of Jerusalem!!

As you all know I had been looking at sparrows before I left, and felt God was speaking to me of my relationship with my husband through them, as he loves feeding and watching sparrows, and here the first thing I saw that connected me so closely to Him were the sparrows!!  All the way in Jerusalem!

From that day on, everywhere we went on the tour I saw sparrows!! From the old city of Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane,  through Yeshua's headquarters town of Capernaum, and all the way up to the Sea of Galilee...

 It was so sweet and loving the way they would just fly or jump in little steps onto a scene.   Even here in the Holy Land of Israel, God speaks to us and choreographs our moments with Him in the intimate language of His great Love, and it is unique for each and every person.
 
My second impression of "God is here" was at the hotel breakfast!!
Sheep yogurt!
Huge Dates!
Halavah!
Date Honey, Tahini, perfectly grainy bread, Grapes!!

Next, from my diary,  next "God is here moment" in Jerusalem---I love you Lord---reading Your word is dif-fer-ent! You are in it even more!! Your word is more near!!

Day 23 (of the counting of the Omer), went out to the balcony for "Mariv" , evening prayer.  Thought which way do I face to face Jerusalem??

And then had an "aha!"  I'm in Jerusalem!!

So I faced the Mt. of Olives, because that is where Yeshua is coming!!

♡

Photo here:  Jerusalem sunrise from the hotel balcony, facing east

PHoto here:  a sparrow up close and personal

(having some technical difficulties with photo so will post those to follow!)

question here:  Whether in Jerusalem or in your own backyard, how do you experience those specially touching and connective "God is here" moments?  And how do you handle those times when you are feeling disconnected and eagerly awaiting?

Before you go, Pack Shalom!---some notes!

(cute picture here of me and a little girl in Israel with our shalom fans!!
just removed the picture though as I am not sure if I can post pictures of others as I didn't ask permissions)

When you enter a city, bring Shalom!

I
think
when I decided to pack my shalom fans, and my worship flags, God supernaturally opened the space in my suitcase so I could bring them!!!

I know this because, after I gave out all my fans on the trip in Israel, and had none to pack on the way back, the suitcase went back to its "normal " capacity.   I won't show you that picture, of trying to squeeze in all my clothes, and the souvenirs I brought back, and ultimately needed a whole extra bag!!!  Really, I don't see how I could have packed all that on the way!!

Moral? Lesson?!  Shalom fits any size, it doesn't take up space, but rather it is expansive and makes space and multiplies!!

Shalom be upon Israel!

Souvenir to go with this post, are these points (below)  to Pray for the Peace (Shalom) of Jerusalem,  from THIS ARTICLE (good article for more on Shalom) from One for Israel.  I came across them when I was researching a little about "Shalom" for this post, though I didn't use the research, I thought these prayer points would be good to include!  Please pack them into your prayers and pray them with your prayers for Israel.   Peace be with you.

  Blessings and... SHALOM!!!

＊Pray against violence, and for peace and hope on the streets of Jerusalem, and against fear – that more and more would come to trust in God and find peace and love that casts out fear
＊For integrity in the governmental institutions and for those in positions of responsibility to walk in righteousness – for God to root out corruption
＊For God to raise up those who can be a witness in these high levels of Israeli society – people like the prophet Daniel
＊Please pray for our leaders – for the right people to be given the right positions, and for God’s wisdom that leads to peace and justice
＊For the Jewish and Arab believers in Jerusalem to truly love one another, and to love their enemies as well
＊For the destructive plans of the enemy to be thwarted, and for God’s perfect plans to come to pass
＊For the Holy Spirit to convict all the people of the city about sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come (John 16:8) so that they can find truth and forgiveness in Yeshua – for people of all walks of life to find real peace with God through Yeshua

The LORD gives strength to His people.

The LORD blesses His people with shalom.

Psalm 29:11

♡

PS challah in the air, a temporary change of Header

Just changing the header temporarily as I share about my adventures to Israel.     Imagine my excitement to have challah served on the airplane!!   It felt like a gift from heaven...in heaven...it was... a gift ....from Heaven...to receive challah on the tray on the airplane!!

The plane went up, I was met with challah!! God is so good.

And then to land in a land where you can not only find loaves of challah, but a whole nation who observes Shabbat !  And people who greet each other with "Shalom" and a Shalom filling the atmosphere!  Mezzuzot on every door and gate, even in the hotels!  And to top it off,  a whole bus load of fellowship to  hear and sing songs of praise with the whole way through, well, you might just say this Challah and Cherry Blossoms correspondent was just filled to the brim with simcha* to be in Israel!!

*simcha = joy

Much love and Blessing, from the ground but still somewhat in the air! Love,

Shayndel

L'Dor V'dor Tour, Entrance to the City of David

I will praise You with the harp for Your faithfulness, my God.  I will sing praise to You with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 71:22

Dear friends, I just came back to Japan after a tour of Israel!  It was a prayer come true, to go to the land of our Messiah Yeshua and to see the place that God is so zealous for, Zion!! It was a worship tour led by father-daughter singing team of Marty and Misha Goetz, and family.  The trip went from Jerusalem to the Galilee, all the way up to the northern border, and back down to Tel Aviv.  There was worship all the way, with songs they sang on the land or on the bus, songs on the sea, and hearts of prayer in unity in Messiah as we walked the streets of the old and new cities.   

Just opening back up after a brief absence from the blog with this picture of the harp at the entrance to the City of David.  I am sorry for my slipping out and going without  notice, but as I have been planning to go other times but had false starts and didn't make it---I felt in my heart best to just make sure I got there and back this time.  And as you can see from this picture and Praise, I am full of thanks to the LORD for the wonderful chance to make it this time and visit His Holy Land!!

I will share some of the trip and my journey in some posts to follow !

The trip for 2020 is already open for registration, so if these posts make you want to go, I highly recommend it and you can find the details at Marty Goetz's site HERE.

Hope all have been well and I look forward to visiting you and catching up.

God Bless you.

Love and blessings,

♡

Shayndel

PS I saw lots of sparrows (as we were speaking of sparrows before I signed off)!
God showed me sparrows at every site we visited, starting with the song of sparrows from outside the hotel window the first Jerusalem morning.
To be continued...

B/W, for you To Color---and add a scripture if you`d like!

♡

Shayndel


PS adding a color version with a fitting scripture suggested from the comments!!  Love that scripture, and thank you for making it an interactive post.
Its fun, if anyone else has a scripture, please add it too...!! The birds by the way are supposed to be sparrows!!  So here is a song to go with it, Even the Sparrow Knows.  May it bless you especially those who are worrying about something, let it go and "don't let the trouble win...you're not on your own...If He can hold the world He can hold this moment.  Not a field nor flower escapes His notice....Even the sparrow knows He holds tomorrow....  Carefree in the care of God you'll find that He's enough."  ♬(lyrics by Jason Gray, Sparrows)
Jesus cares so much for each sparrow, so know you how much he cares and loves for YOU!!! ♡

The birds of the sky dwell beside them 
and sing among the foliage.  

Psalm 104:12

♡


Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself
in which to set her young,
near Your altar, O LORD of hosts, 
my king and my God.
Happy are those who dwell in Your house;
they forever praise You.  Selah.

Psalm 84:4~5 




 

Prayer Sheet---Parsha Metzora

Just sharing here a few scriptures from a weekly prayer sheet I make.  

You might like to pray the intercession scriptures for your child or loved ones!!

Enjoy the drawings too! (you may have seen them before in a recent post!)

Blessings and Shalom! A good and peace-full day or night to you.  Good dreams.  May God's Kingdom of Heaven come to Earth and more and more  in real life today.

Much Love,

♡

Shayndel

......................
notes: the way the prayer sheet works, first PRAISE the LORD, then take a few minutes in Confession, next give thanks for specific things the LORD has done in your life.  Next for intercession pray the scriptures in each section over your children and as indicated in the sections below, or of course as you are moved to !--pray for your children (or loved ones), for your congregation or all Body of Messiah, pray for Israel.  Each week the prayer sheet relates to themes taken from that weeks parsha.  This is  a "sampling" from Parsha Metzora.
-------------------

Metzora  "infected one"

theme scripture from the parsha:

to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean.  This is the Torah of tza'arat. 

Leviticus 14:57

PRAISE

Blessed be my LORD! Day by day He bears our burdens--the God of our Salvation! Selah.
Psalm 68:19

CONFESSION

Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your mercy.

According to Your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:1~2

THANKSGIVING

Let the shalom of Messiah rule in your hearts---to this shalom you were surely called in one body.  Also be thankful.  Colossians 3:15

INTERCESSION (Put in Your Child or loved one's name in the blanks to pray them over her or him)

May..........................focus her mind on things above, not on things of the earth.

Colossians 3:2

Now,.....................why are you waiting?  Get up and be immersed, and wash away your sins, calling on His Name.  Acts 22:16

May........................enter through Messiah Yeshua into the promises of God, may he/she cleanse her self from all defilement of body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.  2Corinthians 7:1

Pleasant words are honeycomb---sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.  May ...........use pleasant words!! Proverbs 16:24

CONGREGATION
Loved ones, now we are God's children; and it has not yet been revealed what we will be.  But we do know that when it's revealed, we shall be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.  Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.  1John 3:2~3

ISRAEL
"But for you who revere My Name, the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in its wings.  Then you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.  You will trample on the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I am making"  says ADONAI-Tzva'ot.   Malachi 4:2

BLESS THE LORD! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.
Psalm 118:26