Wise as serpents Harmless as doves

 We are to be wise as serpents, yet harmless as doves according to Jesus, not spiritually floating on a cloud when evil is stalking us to take us out.

There were many times when there was a desire to kill Jesus that rose up against Him. The very first time when declared Himself to be the answer to Isaiah 61, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

It enraged the people of His hometown. Who did He think He was anyway? "And he said, 'Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown....On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged. They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff."

Jesus evaded them. In their fury of pushing Him towards the cliff, when they got to the edge, they were pushing each other so much that He turned and walked right through them to safety.

It would not be the last time Jesus evaded those who were trying to kill Him prematurely. He knew He was going to die, but He also knew it was not time for Him to LAY DOWN HIS LIFE, so until it was His time, He did not allow anyone to take His life that had to be laid down in God's timing, not man's - or the demons that moved them to try to kill Him.

Many Christians have come to accept that they must allow whatever comes to them, "turning the other cheek" even when demons have been stirred in people to take you out permanently. Jesus did not allow every attempt to succeed, and we should not either, unless God has spoken to us that this is our time to lay down our lives.

We must be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves. We are not to seek hurting those who seek to kill us off, but we should be wise concerning evil schemes of serpents, and not let them put us to death - literally or figuratively. 

Mere Politics

Mere Politics
by Donna Diorio 

In recent years we have been sold a rotten bill of goods on spirituality, that we could not pay attention to politics and be truly spiritually. It is a trap that leads evil to grow up unchallenged by the faithful of God. The generation before mine removed from politics as the assault mounted on abortion, prayer in school as the enemies of God began to erase our faith from the public sphere. We were to sit in our churches and listen to politics-free sermons while evil began to re-educate our nation away from faith to their new religion of secularism.

We are in even worse shape now as especially younger generations have been persuaded that spirituality must be kept in a politics-free mind. Now people can't tell what is right and wrong because whatever is happening in society, they consider it to be "politics."

The war in Israel is not "politics." The rabid anti-semitism in the nations is because believers closed themselves in, refusing to aware of the enemy sowing hatred in their midst. They considered it merely politics. Right and wrong, evil and righteousness. These are not mere politics in a society. To render ourselves so spiritually above these things is to allow the threat we are in now.

At some point your spiritual bubble is going to burst, that place where you have kept your spirit marked safe from 'politics.' You are going to wake up and realize they have turned on the Jews and now they are turning their attention to you.

Fauda is an Arabic word meaning Chaos

I have held off posting about the cast and crew of the popular Israeli program, Fauda. Most of my followers have probably enjoyed the series because of up close and personal view of the conflicts in Israel because of terrorism. That is because it shows the heartbreak on both sides. It has never tried to dehumanize the Palestinians but also did not soft peddle terrorism. 

“Fauda,” which launched in 2015, follows an undercover anti-terrorist unit in the West Bank. A fifth season was announced in September 2023. I have loved it for the realism, and the chance to see what it is really like from the counter-terrorism viewpoint in Israel. Most of actors in Fauda are not just "acting" in something they know nothing about. They all served, like all Israeli young people after the graduate from high school. They have to. Israel has too many deadly enemies for their population not to be trained. 

But the point of this post is to say that the cast, crew and creators of the hit series, Fauda,  stepped up immediately to play active roles in this war, including Lior Raz who is the lead actor in Fauda, and its creator along with co-creator Avi Issacharov, also fellow “Fauda” stars Tomer Capone, Yaakov Zada Daniel, Tzachi Halevi, and Idan Amedi have also returned to IDF duty.

In an article on October 12th “Fauda” actor Guy Shalom said  “On Saturday morning I was awakened by sirens, and along with the sound came Hamas fighters.”

Shalom continued, “I have cried and I will surely cry for a long time. However, our spirit will not break, I am moved by the unity of Israelis who help each other in any way they can, by donating blood, money and supplies.”

Just last week, our Messianic brother Chaim Malespin ran into a Fauda actor while the Aliyah Return Center funded and volunteered at a BBQ by Kibbutz Berei (one of the Kibbutz’s that suffered from October 7th attack). In the picture above, the fellow in uniform next to Chaim is Tzachi Halevy.

One of the Fauda crew members in the early days of fighting gave the ultimate price.  Master Sgt. (res.) Matan Meir, 38, a soldier in the 551st Brigade's 697th Battalion and a longtime member of the "Fauda" production team, was killed November 11 in northern Gaza. 

It is not that they are celebrities that this needs notice, it is that even though they could easily have excused themselves from fighting, they did not. They joined the fight for their people's survival. This is heroic in my mind.

 

Why God is intent on One New Man unity?

 

How fitting that I found a beautiful graphic with exactly the verse I wanted to use, EXCEPT I had to alter it because they had removed the very important words of God "and before the people of Israel". It is time for Christian denial of God's commitment to Israel to END!

Why God is intent on One New Man unity?

In Ephesians 2:14-15 the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, wrote about God's plan for uniting Jew and Gentile in the faith in His Son.  Have you ever wondered why? Or why we haven't really seen that take place in any undeniable way?

The passage goes, "For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace"

Many Christians have interpreted that passage as God abolishing "the Law" He gave Israel to live by in commandments and decrees that trained them in what God's standards of holiness, righteousness and justice are.  That was not the point.

The point, as explained by Paul in Romans 11:32, was that God "has bound up all in disobedience, that He may show mercy to all." The Jews could not keep all of God's standards of holiness, righteousness and justice and neither can Christians. As Paul says in Romans 3:22-23, "And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah to all who believe. There is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

The Chosen People of God were put on the same level ground of the nations, but in the end times God would remove the veil from Jewish eyes. John 12:40 citing Isaiah 6:10 "“God has blinded their eyes and closed their minds, so that their eyes would not see, and their minds would not understand, and they would not turn to me, says God,for me to heal them.” 

Why would God do such a thing?! So He could have mercy on the nations, but He would not keep Israel in spiritual blindness forever as Paul explains in Romans 11:31 "so they too have now disobeyed, in order that they too may now receive mercy through the mercy shown to you."

That is why Paul presses Christians with understanding WE ARE INDEBTED TO ISRAEL because Romans 15:27 we "are debtors of them. For if the Gentiles/nations have shared in their spiritual things, they ought also to minister to them in the material things."

Paul was speaking to the contributions of the churches to the ministries in Israel, ministering the Gospel to the Jews - because they were in great need and great adversity. 

Romans 11:26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob. 27 And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

God made a covenant with Israel and the promises are throughout the Bible, if you don't see them, then you don't want to see them, but they are there. It will be the ekklesia that Jesus has raised up in the nations who will see this plan of God as their business, and do it.

The Gates of Hell Shall NOT Prevail

 

Banias near Caeserea Phillipi, known as the Gates of Hell
because of the human sacrifices made in idolatry there.
As Yeshua was preparing His close disciples for His coming death,
they walked in the valley below this site, and what He spoke to them
was about the keys of the kingdom He was leaving with them with
so “the gates of hell” would not prevail over the ekklesia He was building.  
Let this reignite in your spirit as it has in mine the first days of 2024.

The Gates of Hell Shall NOT Prevail
by Donna Diorio January 2, 2024

     Thirteen years ago in May 2010 I wrote about the passage of Matthew 16:17-19 speaking of how Yeshua has given us the keys of the kingdom and because of it, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the house of the Lord He is building. I wrote it as the Holy Spirit led me and I believed it, but I cannot say that I have walked in it anywhere near fully...more like spottily. Still, as this passage became reignited in my spirit on January 1st, I am at a new level of expectation about what God means to do with us, the ekklesia that Yeshua is building of us, living stones in the Temple of God.

     Then weeks later in July 2010, with new information I received after Jim Melnick, a friend read my article. Iron sharpens iron. So I wrote this in The Gates of Hell, Part 2: "Yeshua did not snatch the term 'gates of hell' out of thin air, but in true parabolic form gave His disciples an object lesson about the spirit realm in the very geographical location that demon spirits and false religions had claimed so many victims by sacrifice.

     "The time frame of this conversation was at the beginning of His preparation of the 11 for His death as the Passover Lamb that would take place in Jerusalem. He was preparing them to graduate from being His disciples to becoming His apostles. This conversation was critical to that transition, which they did not know yet would be profoundly distressing and troubling in the process of unfolding. They were on a mighty threshold of transition and didn’t even know it yet.

     "What exactly was Yeshua communicating to His disciples? We are not just looking at the words but at the context His disciples would have readily grasped from the location this conversation took place. When Yeshua used the term 'the gates of hell' at that site notorious throughout Israel for idol worship and ritual sacrifices, it cannot be without significance.

     What strikes me now the opening days of 2024 is the vexing things we have been looking at here at the end of 2023. I sense we are in a position like the disciples were when Yeshua spoke to them preparing them for the unimaginable times ahead. He was telling them that no matter how bleak, disappointing or hopeless it would look to them in the days ahead, He was giving them something that the gates of hell could not prevail against.
 

There is a black saint of God who has always been consistent praying at the microphone of the Prayer Room at IHOPC, but Lillian had disappeared for the past few weeks. I wondered about her often because she was so steadfast, praying with great wisdom daily many times at the microphone. Mostly her intercession was on behalf of Israel. I believe she was likely given so much access to the mic because her prayers for Israel are so right on. She has been hearing from God on the subject. That access appears limited now and I believe it has to do with those who have taken charge.
    January 1st I was thrilled to see her once again take the IHOP Prayer Room mic to pray. She only prayed once, not many times as she usually has. She has a deep heart for Israel, so I was glad to see her and hear her praying. I believe she has been hearing God’s opinion, and that is the only opinion that matters!
     The worship teams at IHOP called a fast & prayer from 1/1-1/7/2024 – especially to intercede about all the chaos and division among them since the accusations against Mike Bickle were spoken of publicly. There has never been a biblical due process over the past weeks, but accusations have been accepted at IHOP and Bickle severed from IHOP "forever." This has deep ramifications for the Israel Mandate because the Accuser of the brethren has walked into that congregation.
     They are all being impacted because of the division unleashed. Behind the scenes there are those, even in Israel, who are speaking to them that due process must take place - biblical due process, not according to WOKE standards, but according to God's standards. In my view, WOKE standards are idolatry and this is something to add to our prayer list for Israel. Unless God’s due process prevails for IHOP, I believe honestly their prayer for Israel will begin to break down very quickly. I even heard one of the worship leaders praying about Israel and “all the sin they are enacting in war." After contacting him for clarification he said it was because he was seeing children in Gaza dead from bombings and he believes that is always sin.  I attempted to lay out the facts about that, because it is sin, it is just not Israel’s sin, it is the jihadists’ sin. But today, I do believe they are going to try to push past everything and try to maintain all is well at IHOP regardless of how they have dealt with Bickle and the leadership that they have severed.    

     When Lillian prayed at the mic yesterday, that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church," this covers every bit of chaos, division, warfare we are looking at as the reality of our days. That means in the war Israel is engaged in, in our personal battles, in the current state of IHOPKC.  If things are not carried forth by God's standards at IHOP, I believe that house of prayer for Israel will break down very quickly.
     Don't get me wrong: I am not saying we ignore sin in leadership because of the great things Bickle has done for Israel, but I am saying we don't convict men on accusation alone, without proper judgment within the body of the LORD, not in public opinion or court systems we know would love nothing better than to put their finger on the scales of justice to lock up a man of God and throw away the key. That's not Jesus.

     Even now, I believe that we can use our keys of the kingdom to call for God to bring HIS justice to Mike Bickle and to cast out the Accuser of the brethren operating in the midst of the congregation. I believe there is repentance and restoration for all concerned...but only if it is done God's way.  

     There are some things in this spiritual battle we have entered that are not changeable because the rising darkness over humanity has been prophetically uttered by God, but not all the darkness is unchangeable. There is still much impact we can have because God has determined in Messiah to build an ekklesia that the gates of hell cannot prevail against. That will include many of the people you are praying over, in your family, in your nation and in Israel.
     How do we know what God wants? Yeshua explained the path is lit by "hearing" God.

Matthew 16:17-19 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.  18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.  19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

     Without the benefit of understanding Hebrew, Catholic leaders interpreted that passage to say that the apostle Peter was to be the foundation rock of Catholicism, therefore the first pope. It suited their plans. But Jesus was really pointing out Peter's formal name "Simon" is based on the word "hearing" and He was telling Peter that he had a revelation of the truth because he was hearing from God, not man.

     Then He uses the name Peter was known by to his friends, Peter, which means a rock and "used metaphorically of a soul hard and unyielding, and so resembling a rock."  Jesus is telling Peter he is a rock-hard man, but it will be on based on the revelation of hearing God, that Jesus will build His church, and the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against it. Rock hard men and women, men and women of strength, unwavering can only get so far.
     It is only in hearing God that the church can prevail against the gates of hell that come against the church, only He can speak true enlightenment for our times. Woke ideas will not deliver justice as God’s Word does.
     IHOP cannot simply dismiss the Hebrew understanding of how to judge matters of sin in the congregation and expect to go on like there was just a minor bump in the road. Especially in a congregation that was raised up for 24/7 prayer and worship for Israel in such a time as this.

Israel's Generals Are Zechariah's FIREPAN

Firepan is upper right

Recently I read a prophetic scripture that Israeli Reuven Doron quoted in an article. The word FIREPAN stuck out to me, so I researched what it meant on the Blue Letter Bible Search website.

Zachariah 12:6. "In that day I will make the governors/generals of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place - Jerusalem."

The Hebrew word firepan (matah, pl. matot) derives from the root which means “to take away/snatch up” or “to rake,”[1] usually as a reference to coals: literally, a matah is an object with which one moves or heaps coals or other burning embers, like a shovel or a pan. In other words, like a fireplace shovel, only for burning embers, not just for ashes.

Zechariah’s prophecy says, “In that day I will make the GENERALS of Judah like a FIREPAN in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place — Jerusalem.”

The war Israel is engaged in now is a manifestation of that prophecy, and this prophetic action will continue to take place until Yeshua returns to Jerusalem to end aggression against Israel once and for all. There may be short intervals of no aggression against Israel, but this is not something that is going to stop.

The prophetic firepan is moving away burning coals. Israel's military is the firepan and the burning coals are the people who have taken hatred into their chests so they burn against Israel with unbridled hatred, seeking to murder and brutalize the Jews.

 

The Most Dangerous "Enemy of the Gospel" in Israel is not even Jewish

The most dangerous "enemy of the Gospel" in Israel is not even Jewish, except by her entanglement with Rabbi Tropper who oversaw her conversion to Judaism. (It's a long story I won't go into here). Her name is Shannon Nuszen, and she considered herself an evangelistic minister. Her family was a part of a somewhat Messianic congregation. She was on a mission to get Jews to know Jesus until she ran into Tovia Singer who she worked for and eventually followed to Israel. Now Shannon is a celebrated "anti-missionary" crusader among the small percentage of religious Jews who are most "enemies of the Gospel" especially towards Messianic Jews in the faith of Yeshua.

In the May 2022 Messianic Times I wrote about Shannon in an article called "Between Us O Troubler of Israel." Between Us is the translation of Beynenu, Shannon's anti-Messianic organization. "O trouble of Israel" is what Ahab called Elijah in 1 Kings 18:17. The article pictured above features a benign-looking Shannon and her mentor the rabid anti-Messianic Rabbi Tovia Singer.

Shannon is the reason for this Jerusalem Post article on December 30th accusing Messianic Jews of gross exploitation of the war by helping Israelis just for the purpose of trapping them into the faith of Jesus.

It is actually insane how many Christians fall for that line of viewing Messianic Jews. It is slander, but as we all should well know by now, if big lies are told often enough they will be accepted. Don't fall for the slander against Messianic Jews. Messianic Jews love their people as much as any Jew, and I often think, even more most if actions speak louder than words.

The humanitarian efforts of the Israeli Messianic Jews are far better than that of the most anti-Messianic religious sects. The view of those Jews is so twisted against Yeshua, that don't even care how many people Messianic Israelis are easing the burdens of fellow Israelis with no strings attached! They just want to make sure Messianic Jews can't help any Jews and they don't mind slandering them in the process of that.

It has always chapped my hide how many Christians fall for the slander made by unsaved religious Jews, telling Christians they must not donate to Messianic ministries. That only donations made to the unsaved Jews by Christians being "respectful" of Jewish "sensitivities." The lie has been put out there that only Christians who donate to UNSAVED rabbis or government agencies are welcome. If you put your donations to the Israeli Messianic ministries who share the same faith as YOU in Jesus, your money is not welcomed by those who oppose the faith of Yeshua for Jews. Of course it is welcomed by every needy family or IDF soldier on the receiving end. The anti-Messianics like to guilt trip Christians claiming that if Christians donate to Israeli Messianics that it is a form of "antisemitism" to share the faith of Jesus with a Jew.

Is that what you believe, because it is sure not what I believe. I believe Yeshua is for Jews too and this is the season they will come to faith. Sad the deceptions spun around the Messianic Jews - especially those in Israel who are open about their faith and love their people.

Shannon Nuszen stirred the pot to get this Jerusalem Post article without regard for the truth or for her former belief in Jesus. He is out, Tovia Singer is in. What a sad choice in life to make.

The very first graphic in the JPost article is a photo ID'd as: "TRAINING MATERIAL for missionaries on how to convince Jews to accept ‘salvation’ through Jesus (photo credit: Beyneynu). What they don't tell you is that Manny Brotman who created "A Training Manuel on How to Share the Messiah" has been dead for over 20 years. In fact, "On July 4, 1999, Manny was in the middle of writing an MJMI (Messianic Jewish Movement International) newsletter entitled, “Jerusalem, The Most Important City in the World!” when he was felled by a massive brain hemorrhage. He died a few days later."

The flier is presented as if Manny Brotman just created it for distribution after the October 7th massacre of Jews by Hamas. The truth matters little to the anti-Messianics. Also it is worth noting that there are enough Jews who have come to faith for there to be an international organization for them, not to mention all the national organizations in the U.S., Israel and other nations of the world!

Instead of seeing how Messianic Jews are aiding their people out of great compassion for those traumatized by the Hamas massacre and outbreak of war, the anti-Messianics chalk it up to a calloused "taking advantage" of Jews when they are vulnerable. Speaking of being vulnerable, the #1 focus of all the Israeli ministries I know from the get-go has been raising funds to supply life-saving ceramic bullet-proof vests to the 300,000+ Reserve units who had been called up to fight but did not have proper gear.

The Fellowship of Israel-Related Ministries in Jerusalem is criticized in the article for seeking to “transform lives in Israel through Gospel-centered ministries." The article thinks it scandalous that the FIRM website doesn't "hide its targeting of Israeli soldiers during wartime by donating military equipment." Hamas is targeting IDF soldiers, not the donations of Christians through FIRM. Shannon Nuszen thinks it is an example of "Christian missionaries are weaponizing war to convert Jewish people to Christianity,” because Curt Landry gave IDF soldiers copies of his book, "Reclaiming Our Forgotten Heritage: How Understanding the Jewish Roots of Christianity Can Transform Your Faith" in Hebrew. Sold on Amazon, the book is described as "Curt Landry's personal story of finding power, purpose, and covenant from his Jewish heritage." Kind of a stretch to call our personal testimonies "weaponizing" the Gospel.

Maybe now you understand why Messianic Jews don't want to be called Christians, because it is seen by Jews as if they have departed their Jewish roots to "convert" to "Christianity." Christian persecution of Jews for almost the whole last 2,000 years is a major obstacle for Messianic Jews to leap over.

Once again Shannon attacks Ron Cantor of ShelanuTV, because he is raising funds for the ceramic bullet-proof vests for Israeli IDF soldiers who need them. Cantor is kind of special favorite of Shannon's to slander.

I could go on with all the lies and twisting of what Messianic Jews are doing in Israel found in this article, but I won't. I will just end this by saying: Don't believe those who call our good "evil." Isaiah 5:20-21 says, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight."