You Can't Believe Everything Your Read on the Internet

You can't believe everything you read on the Internet!  Duh, right?  But when someone makes this statement to you, don't you feel a bit insulted? I mean, it is tantamount to saying, "You can't use sufficient discernment to properly conduct research in a library."
After all, isn't that what the Internet essentially is?  A vast library?  Who would ever say, "You can't believe everything you read in a library?"  That is just a given, but it doesn't mean that a library is useless for gleaning information that is valid.  
Research is something that is thought very highly of in our culture as evidenced by the fact that it is an intrinsic requirement for acquiring any college degree, and is the penultimate requirement for a PhD in the form of a dissertation based upon...wait for it...research!
Ok, I realize that one can scour the 'net and find supporting evidence for just about any cockamamie concept, valid or not.  But that doesn't negate the value of research, nor research using the internet.  Discernment plays a big part in gleaning useful information.  I like to think that, particularly after obtaining a BS in Chemical Engineering, that I have been properly and thoroughly trained in doing research resulting in valuable insights.  Sadly, I am inconsistent in my ability to function as a researcher on a regular basis due to chronic illness, however, on occasion I do have an aspergian obsession that launches me into rabbit trails that reveal great finds of information that benefit me and that I attempt to use to benefit those that I care about, although all too often I hear, "You can't believe everything you read on the internet," and I experience the curse of Cassandra!
Wouldn't it be more accurate to just say, "You can't believe everything...period!" ?  And in that event, why waste one's breath to make such an obvious statement unless you are speaking to a child?  
But, HalleluYah, there IS one place you can go, one source you can read, where you CAN believe everything: YHWH's Word, The Scriptures!  It is actually the only fully credible source, though even there one must study to ensure that the translation of the inerrant original is accurate.  It is important to refer to the Hebrew meanings and idioms to get the Truth and not an anti-Semitic interpretation, for example, which is all too common.  Don't let even your pastor who went to seminary for years and years be your final 'go to'.  Think for yourself and RESEARCH.  We are commanded to study to show ourselves approved, and this is not a mere suggestion.  I am so thankful for the ultimate research tool, Scripture, and to have the ultimate library, the internet, to shore up my understanding of Scripture's Truth!  I don't think this was happenstance, wink, wink!

Warfare Prayer

Spiritual Warfare is very interesting and essential to me after all the doors I opened during the more than 20 years I spent practicing and studying Witchcraft / Wicca.

Did you know that the Enemy was in charge of the celestial choirs in Heaven before he was kicked out for his prideful acts?  This is why you may find great success in simply singing praises should you encounter an uncomfortable feeling that may indicate demonic presence.  I have found that even a rousing chorus of "Yahshua loves me, the Scriptures tell me so!" can be amazingly effective!  Demons run screaming with their ears covered when they are confronted with sincere and zealous praise and worship!  HalleluYah, what a wonderful weapon!

The credit for this prayer goes to Binyamin Cogdill.
It has done great good for my mom and me, as well as countless others.

Warfare Prayer

In the name of Yahshua The Messiah, and by the power of His blood,
I loose myself from every hex, vex, jinx, psychic prayers, witchcraft,
divination, sorcery, enchantments, all evil thoughts, and all evil speaking,
from any and all sources.

Father Yahweh, in the name of Yahshua The Messiah, I ask you to send
warring angels into my situation and have them drive back and remove
the powers of darkness that are arrayed against me from any and all
sources.

I choose to bless those people who are coming against me, and I
place this entire situation into Your hands, for I know that Your
way of dealing with this situation will be just. I thank You and bless
You for all this in the name of Yahshua The Messiah.

I claim the Word from Your Scriptures, " that no weapon formed
against me shall prosper, and every tongue that raises itself against
me I shall prove wrong, for that is my inheritance as a servant of
Yahweh, and my righteousness is of Him."

Am I REALLY Surrendered?

When I discovered my appeal for Social Security disability had been denied and we were going to have to appeal again for a hearing before a judge, my heart sank all the way out the bottoms of my feet.  My mom and I have been praying for this to get straightened out for 3 years now.  We spent a ridiculous amount of her savings for doctors per the attorney's instructions to help the case because I haven't had the money for doctors and so that testimony was lacking.  All 5 doctors sent testimonies that I was indeed unable, in their professional opinions, to work due to a synergy of factors including Hashimoto's Thyroditis (which mimics Bipolar Disorder, also listed as a factor), heavy metal poisoning, and PTSD among other things.  I still don't know why it was denied since the letter did not ever come to my address and, for some reason, my attorney's office neglected to notify me when they got told back in June!?!
Anyway, now it is another year or more before we will be able to try again before a judge.  Very disappointing.  Especially since my house desperately needs new siding, new roofing, new heat pump, attic insulation and sealing, new garage door, etc. and has been needing these things for a while now.  I figured this is it.  I cannot just wait for the axe to fall.  I don't ever want to file bankruptcy.  I have sterling credit and have had despite the many years of poverty that preceded my now failed marriage.  Sooo I realized it must be time to let the house go and move back in with my mom in Florida.  She agreed that this was a good plan and we began to discuss how I could try to live in her garage.  Wow.  Ouch.  
I was like: Father, wasn't it humbling enough that I grew up poor, that I struggled through college to get that Chemical Engineering degree and then had to pay off those loans, that then I lost my career to this stupid, embarrassing disability?  That then I lost my marriage after thinking I was finally on the right track with you?  It has been hard enough to hold on to this house, but to have to go back to that high crime, season-less, sweaty, crowded Largo, FL and live in my mom's garage?!?  I don't deal well with status quo, much less with THIS!  How could you, Abba?!?
These awful contemplations prompted me to start searching for other options.  I feel certain the Ruach HaChodesh led me to come up with one last ditch effort: move into my own basement and rent out the upstairs portion of my home.  Now, it remains to be seen if this will work or not, and it is not something I relish by any means, but I do think that Yah allowed me to have the contrast with the Florida garage scenario so that cramming everything in my house into my less than half the space basement wouldn't seem so bad.  It will still be a major undertaking and require that I divest myself of much of my clothing, furniture,  kitchen items and other possessions, and that I give up some privacy and have only a bar sink and use shelves stacked on the bar as cabinetry, but, hey, again, better than just a garage in Florida.
I struggled and kicked and cussed and screamed and cried for 2 days.  At one point, I checked the mail, which has become a difficult thing for me to do since it often results in bad news, and RBC Ministries had sent one of their usually uplifting pamphlets.  This one was appropriately entitled, "It's NOT FAIR" (http://discoveryseries.org/discovery-series/its-not-fair/).  I sat down to see if there was something here from Abba.  The premise was based upon Asaph's Psalm 73.  It was good.  But I just felt like it didn't help.  Now I think it was a plow to help soften my then hard heart for the same message from another angle, which came this morning in the form of a post from a blog I am subscribed to: 
http://godrunning.com/2014/08/09/christian-pain-and-suffering/
OK, that one got my attention and broke down some walls.  I reckon I am finding out I wasn't as surrendered as I had thought.  
Later, I watched Eliyah.com's Shabbat archive "Message of Thorns".  You really must check it out http://www.eliyah.com/transcripts/12312011.html
One of the things that really spoke to me was his statement about how when we encounter thorns we can either do like the Pharisee's did and 'gnash our teeth' or we can humble ourselves even more and surrender.  OK, well that pretty much hit me over the head with a sledge hammer.  I am praying Yah will help me to back down.  This humbling never stops and I must surrender to that as well.  Help, Yah, help!  B'Shem Yahushua, Omein!

YHWH - What's In A Name?!

When I was a practicing Witch for over 20 years, it was very clear to me how important names were.  Each of us chose pagan names, partly to remain anonymous, and partly to identify with an elemental, animal, goddess and/or god.  We chose our favorite pantheons to pay homage to and learned the god and goddess names for them.  My favorites were Egyptian and Celtic.  There were some very catchy pagan worship tunes I learned that named the many god and goddess names all in one song in a melodious chant.
 My given name, 'Sheila Cassandra', had very pagan overtones from Celtic and Greek mythologies.  This is one of the primary reasons I had my name legally changed to 'Shalom Serene' only a couple of years after my 'born again' experience.  I found it odd that my desire to change my name met with such resistance from my then husband, who I had thought was also born again.  But it was only one of many 'red flags'  indicating that we were simply not on the same path that I tried not to panic over.  His first response, incredibly enough, was, "There is no Biblical precedent for that!"  I was flabbergasted that he could so easily forget Abram changing to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter, and many more.  Scripture teaches repeatedly the power and importance in choices of words and names.  The pagans don't have an exclusive on that principle by any means!
My ex never did use my given name, nor my chosen name for that matter, though that was no surprise after his initial reaction.  I had nick names, which was fine much of the time, but I found that, unlike any of my other relationships, he exclusively used them, and I also noted that it was hurtful somehow.  As the years went by, it was even more so, especially since it had been brought to is attention on several occasions.  Toward the end I even mentioned to him how convenient that would be should he decide to dump me for another woman since she would never hear him accidentally use my name on her even after many years together.  Of course, if anyone ever revealed to her that 'ChicaBali' or 'Moushie' were some of his favorite pet names for me, she might be surprised.
I had only been a 'Christian' for about 4 years when Yah led me to the Messianic or Hebrew Roots.  But I had already been wondering from the get-go about the our Elohim's Name.  I remember being in church one Sunday morning and singing along with everyone the familiar praise song, "Blessed Be The Name of The Lord", and after the song asking my ex, "So what IS His Name?"  He just said, "God, or Jesus."  Well, I knew that was not right, and it struck me that pagans knew all these names for their gods, and yet Christians had no foggy idea of the Name of theirs.  I began to ask around and even do a little research, only to find that hardly anyone really knew His Name.  I am a rather persistent sort, though, and I eventually ran across the Truth about YHWH.  So I reckon the fact that I was still a babe in the faith was one of the things that most irritated my ex-Father-in-law when I informed the family that our God's Name was 'Yahweh'.  "No it is NOT", he blustered, "God has many names!"  It was amazing to me that he had never even heard The Name.  But until very recently, that was the case for nearly all Christians.  The enemy has been very successful in making us forget our Father's Name, but notice that we all know Ha Satan's Hebrew name, and many also can tell you his alternate names of 'Baal' and 'Asherah'.  Interesting how that happened, isn't it.
The times I worked in sales, fairly successfully I might add, a principle that was well known was that using a client's name when speaking with them was an important practice to create a rapport that could result in a contract.  I was once told that the one thing any one wants to hear most, that illicits the most positive response, is one's own name.  I saw it work over and over again.  We are created in His Image, so perhaps this is something we have in common?
Okay, so my point is that our Creator, Yahweh, placed His Name, represented by the famed Tetragrammaton, YHWH, or Yod-Hey-Wav-Hey, in His Word nearly 7000 times.  He never recommended removal of anything from His Word, and actually attached curses to such a thing.  His Name is sacred, as taught plainly in His Word.  So why is it considered by many to be so backward for a person to laud His Name and use it instead of the replacement words like 'Lord' and 'God', both of which actually have some pagan connections, worse yet?  Why is the epithet 'Sacred Namer' spoken with such venom?  I feel warm and fuzzy applying that term to myself, personally.  Seems to me to be a good thing and I have a sneaking suspicion Abba Yah thinks so, too.  It's one of those things where it just seems much more likely that He will have a problem with those who don't sanctify His Name than with those who do.  I certainly know from experience that I didn't like it much when my name seemed forgotten and was never used by the one who swore to love and care for me until death parted us.  Say, I reckon he really didn't mean that oath after all.  Hmmm, could there be a connection?
In conclusion, I say praise Yahweh, and use His Name, cuz He likes that!

He's Everywhere, He's Everywhere! HalaluYah!

Luke 12

⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

⁷ But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Some folks find the level of accountability associated with the omniscience and omnipresence of Yah to be intrusive and, indeed, I think many atheists and agnostics may instinctively shy away from believing primarily because of it, whether subconsciously or not.  On the other hand, I find it inexpressibly comforting.  One of my greatest desires is to share my life, and it is good to know that even when physically alone, in the natural, my Abba Yah is there to see that funny face my puppy made at me, to hear that beautiful aria that mockingbird just sang, to appreciate that excellent message about the Truth of Yah's Word. 

I also long to be understood completely.  I reckon that is one reason I tend to share 'TMI' and to be sometimes brutally honest.  What an amazing thing to be known so well, though, that communication requires no explanation.  When I pray, I am able to say, "You know how hard this is for me," for example, and know that He really does, and is probably the only One Who does.  

I know many struggle with this concept, but even as a child I had a keen awareness that I was not alone in my head.  It was one of the few truths about Yah that I always comprehended correctly from the first time of learning that there was a Creator Elohim.  I find it strange that it would be difficult to recognize that we don't 'get away' with anything, that anyone would think we can hide anything from Him.  I have always known that is not the case.  When I was following Wicca's gods/goddesses, I thought that Presence had different requirements.  That was how I felt justified in the many sins I participated in then, which is why it is so clear to me that we need Torah, the ultimate Blueprint for how to build our lives in accord with His Plan.

Torah Observant (TO) Follower of Messiah Yahshua

Although I would now describe myself more as a “Torah Observant (TO) Follower of Messiah Yahshua”, my first Hebraic Roots experience was at a Messianic Congregation, which is comprised of both Jewish Believers and non-Jewish Believers in Yahshua (aka, 'Jesus'), and usually with Jewish leadership. I don't use the term 'Gentile' because I believe it implies one who is not part of Israel, and Scripture states that when we follow Yahshua we are, at the very least, 'grafted into' Israel (Rom 11:24, Eph 2:11 and 19, Gal 3:29).

Currently, I would explain first what I have in common with most Christians:

• Faith in the redeeming Blood of Messiah Yahshua by grace alone
•  Faith that our Father YHWH is One Elohim (i.e., ‘God’) Who sent His Only Son, Yahuahua, in the flesh as Messiah, born of a virgin via the Holy Spirit
•  Faith that the Holy Spirit was sent to Believers  during the Feast of Weeks/Pentacost as  Messiah had promised
•  Faith in the Scriptures, comprised of the Tanach (also known as ‘Old Testament’) and the Brit Chadasha (aka, ‘New Testament’) which is the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of Yah,  inerrant in the original writings.
•  Faith that Messiah is returning for His Bride, and soon!       

I would also like to point out some things that are not true about my faith, though these are common accusations:

I am not a Judaizer, or ‘Jew wanna-be’.  Judaizers were actually those who insisted that new Believers in Messiah were required to follow Torah for salvation.  Although I do follow Torah to the best of my ability with the help of the Holy Spirit, I do it because I love Messiah, not because I believe it is a requirement for salvation, therefore it is not accurate to refer to me as a ‘legalist’, either.

 Now, on to the things that are usually most different about my faith:

• I do not celebrate E----r, Xmas and other secular ‘holidays’, including birthdays, though not all on this path are as diligent except for the major ‘holidays’. 
•  I keep Shabbat, or the Sabbath Day, on what is known as ‘Saturday’, partly because it is one of the ‘Big Ten’ and it is the only Commandment that is preceded by the word ‘Remember’, which seems to me to indicate that Yah knew we would forget!
•  I believe that since Messiah Yahshua (aka, ‘Jesus’) is the Living Word, and that when
  
  John taught this that the only Scriptures were the Tanakh (aka ‘Old Testament’).  It is therefore clear to me that He, being Truth itself, and with a light yoke, was not referring to YHWH’s Commandments when he admonished the Pharisees, but instead the ‘fences’, i.e., added man-made laws.  After careful reading of Psalm 119, it is impossible for me to think of the Torah as a burden and would contradict the Word to do so, IMHO.  Yahshua nailed our sin to the cross, and the consequences of breaking the Law, not the Law itself.  Without the Law, we are lawless and without a definition of ‘sin’ (1 John 3:4 which tells us that sin is the transgression of the law.)
•  I keep kosher as laid out in Scripture to the best of my ability, and avoid pork, shellfish, and other ‘unclean’ animals, and I believe the Scriptures commonly used to refute this are better interpreted by Peter himself when he explained that Yah had sent him the sheet unrolling dream to let him know that he must accept Cornelius’ invitation and welcome the new non-Jewish Believers as ‘clean’. 

·         

My walk in this manner has been enriched beyond anything I can fully describe.  I will share just a couple of the things that have particularly encouraged me that I might not have discovered otherwise:

• YHWH, our Father’s Name, when broken down letter by letter into Paleo-Hebrew means “Behold the Hand, Behold the Nail”, proving that He truly had already planned all things from the very time He declared His Name to Moses!
•  Hebraic thought and expression, unlike Greek, is cyclic rather than linear, and this is reflected in the Scriptures, which brings light and consistency to what I now consider to be the whole Torah, Genesis through Revelation.  We see Messiah throughout the Tanakh, just as those travelers on the Road to Emmaus said He Himself revealed to them.  A good example is the Appointed Times, or Spring and Fall Feasts, which not only celebrated events in Moses’ era, but presage the events that have come to pass (e.g., Passover/Yahshua’s Sacrifice and First Fruits/Resurrection) as well as those yet to come (e.g., Day of Trumpets/Yahshua’s Return and Tabernacles/Yahshua’s Millenial Reign).

I must say I am surprised there are not more former Wiccans and pagans following the Torah Observant path, though I have run across a few, the most notable being Bill Schnoebelen, whose ministry ‘Of One Accord’ has been a wonderful outreach to many.  Also, Binyamin Cogdill, Congregation Leader of Beth Hallel in Knoxville, the second congregation I regularly attended on this path, also has a history of dabbling in the occult, and has proven to be a wonderful resource to my spiritual growth.

I think that the Hebraic Roots of our faith provide excellent evangelical tools, not only for bringing the Jewish brothers and sisters to recognize our Jewish Messiah as their own, but also to help Wiccans and pagans to see that there is a way out of pagan ways and that we can know our God’s Name, and that He is One, not many, which a number of Wiccans already realize, and believe in an ultimate creative force that is simply broken down into the gods and goddesses for accessibility’s sake.  I remember thinking that Christians were actually all practicing witchcraft and just too uneducated to realize it, because, when I was a witch, I knew the pagan history of Christmas/Yule and Easter/Ostara, and I found it hypocritical.  I struggled mightily with all that when I first was born again and resisted the celebration of those times.  I am so much more at peace with celebrating the Appointed Times that YHWH gave us and finding the richness of Messiah in them.
Now that I have understood that Genesis through Revelation is the true Torah with no division at all (I even tore out the middle page of my Scripture book when I got this) and reflects the cycle that has revealed the end from the beginning, I cannot NOT see it any longer and it is a great comfort.