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The Jerusalem Prayer List – March 10th, 2011
by Joseph Shulam
This next Saturday in all the synagogues of the world the reading will be from Leviticus chapters 1:1 through chapter 5:26. These first chapters of the book of Leviticus deal with the sacrificial system. Some time the text is very detailed and gives instruction how and what to do with internal parts of the sacrificial animal, and what to do with the skin, and with the fat. Sacrifices are a part of every religious system the whole world over. There is always a demand and command to sacrifice for the God tht is being worshiped. The God of Israel also required for people to sacrifice and in fact created the whole Levitical Priesthood to organize and administer the sacrifices all in great detail and special instructions and specified tools. The Jewish people don't have a temple anymore nor do we have a levitical system anymore. There are no more animal sacrifices in the Jewish world. In the New Testament we are clearly commanded to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. The Apostle Paul says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”(Rom. 12:1) We must not teach Christians that we are not required to sacrifices. We are required and the Apostle Paul's words are very strong, “I beseech you . . . by the mercies of God.” Paul is begging the brothers to offer their bodies, their physical existence, their whole earthly possession, as a living sacrifice. There were and there are many people who paid with their lives for maintaining their faith in God and in Yeshua the Messiah. The disciples of Yeshua in the first three centuries knew that their faith is going to bring them persecution and may be even death in the arena. They knew that their faith is the insurance for eternal life and it is worth to sacrifice their whole life now for gaining eternal life with God and the saints. This teaching of living a sacrificial life is needed so much in our days. Pastor Rick Waren's book, “A purpose driven life,” is one of the best selling books. The true disciples of Yeshua can't have any other life. The only life that we can have if we follow our Lord and hear the teaching of our Rabbi Yeshua, and keep His commandments, is a purpose driven life. Paul says in that passage of Romans 12:1, that sacrificing our bodies as living sacrifices is our reasonable service. I am writing this because I realize how insecure with their finances are people these days. The contributions to Netivyah have fallen dramatically in the last few months. The reasons why contributions fall could be many, but one reason could be that the disciples of Yeshua are not aware of the need to sacrifice. Netivyah is built on the principle of sacrifice and in fact for more than 40 years of ministry every single accomplishment has been because someone sacrificed. I know that many of you who contribute to Netivyah are sacrificing, but I also know the Lord honors our sacrifices much more than the amount that is given. We learn this from the story that Yeshua told about the Pharisee and the widow. The Pharisee gave a lot of money to the charity in the Temple, and the widow gave the two pennies that for the Lord were much more than all that the Pharisee gave. This principle is still at work in God's economy and even today the one who gives sacrificially gives much more than the nominal sum of his gift. We are all called to sacrifice and to give our whole bodies as living, vital, full of energy, and dedicated gifts for God's work here on Earth.
Please pray for Netivyah! Stand with us this month. We go to the supreme court of Israel at the end of this month to plead for the building license that we have been fighting for so long. We believe in the justice system of Israel and if there is no corruption Israeli court system is one of the best in the world. We believe that the court will grant us our civil rights and our basic human rights that any democracy like Israel owes every one of it's citizens. But, we do need you to pray to the God of Israel and plead for the State of Israel and the righteousness of God from the Torah and from the Prophets and from the Writings and from the New Covenant to be visible and seen by all in the court and in the world.
The new system of the food distribution is working wonderfully. The number of people who are knocking on our door has diminished dramatically the work load has diminished and the number of people who are getting food has not diminished. As we become more adapt with this system and as the Lord provides the means we are going to increase the number of people who the social services are going to send to us.
We would like to praise God for the conference in Belo-Horizonte, Brazil. Our dear Brazilian brothers from the Har Zion Congregation have reported that this year's conference was the best that they had until now. There were a number of speakers from Brazil and my son Barry was there to teach and Yuda from Jerusalem was there and Don Finto from Nashville was there to introduce his book about Israel that was translated to Portuguese, and other brothers all made this conference be the best. The conference in Belo-Horizonte is normally held during the period of the Carnival and brothers from all over Brazil participated and people from several other South American and Central American countries came to take part. There were near 700 people taking part in this conference. I would like for all of you to pray for our Brazilian brothers, the Marcelo Guimaraes family, and all the staff of Har Zion Congregation, and the ABRAJIN ministry to the victims of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions.
This brings me to the good news that Reuven, Hannah's son, has finished editing a 30 minute video documentary film about the conference that we held jointly with our Brazilian brothers and the city of Castelo de Vide in Portugal. If you are interested in this DVD please write us and send us your address and we will mail you a copy of this DVD. We are not asking you to cover expenses for this DVD, but we do ask you to pray for the hidden Jews of Portugal and for Netivyah and the ministry of our brothers in Brazil and keep supporting and partnering with us in this great ministry.
The publication of our new book in English is finally on it’s way and those who have ordered it will receive it in two or three weeks. The name of the new book is: Planted in the House of the Lord: God, Israel, and the Church. This book deals with several issues that I think are very important for our day, both for Israel, and for the Church.
We have the long list of ill brothers and sisters who are suffering. It is a mitzvah (a good deed) to pray for the sick especially for those who are suffering and you don't even know them. In this case the credit in Heaven is much greater because you are doing good and interceding for someone who does not even know that you are praying for him.
Please pray for the following people: Naama, Ruby, Paulo, Ishiida San, Tomoko San, Abe San's mother-in-law, Ahuva, Liora, Ilana, Leah, Sarit, Sarah and Zvi, Marcia, Danah, Noaam, and Liz. We also need to continue prayer for the young lady Meyrav from Judea, and for Ina, and for Yuri's mother.
The snow-ball effect in the Arab countries is continuing and the fires of rebellion and civil disobedience and anarchy are not out yet. We all need to pray for our Arab neighbors and for their countries. The United Nations might not have an answer because in fact it is a part of the problem together with other countries who have exhibited more hypocrisy than all the pharisees over three centuries could collect in their credit. We need to pray that changes in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, and Yeman, and Saudi Arabia, will all be good changes and a blessing to all their citizens.
We have some big expenses coming up, and among them we are going to be needing funds for building in Jerusalem right after the Supreme Court hearing in the end of March.
In Ashkelon we have near 30 people of our brothers and sisters. We ask you to pray that God will give us wisdom and give these brothers the strength and means to start a new congregation in that ancient city.
Blessings to all of you and prosperity in your walk with the Lord,
Joseph Shulam
P.S. - May the Lord make this month a joy and a time of happiness because we are commanded to be happy in this month when the feast of Purim is celebrated.
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