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Matt 13:11 And He answered and said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

Ephesians 6:19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel…

Let us see what mystery is from a couple of sources.

Eph 3:3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. 4 And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.

Eph 3:8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; 10 in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

Col 4:3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;

Col 1:25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Deut 30:11 "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.

Col 2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf, and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Eph 5:32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Rom 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.

Rom 11:19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." 20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.

Rom 11:22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more shall these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

Rom 11:25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob."

1Tim 3:16 And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Beheld by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

Rev 10:7 but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.

1Cor 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

Deut 29:29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.

Ps 25:14 The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant.

Mark 4:22 "For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it should come to light.

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord God does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets.

YHVH give us ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, 6 To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles.

Proverbs 9:9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser, Teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning. 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 3:17 …the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

Eternal One we ask for the understanding of the Proverbs, which is Your wisdom for mankind.

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

Almighty Elohim, we tend to seek the material - thus not finding peace - help us to seek Your Kingdom, first.

1. According to Revelation 19, who were following Messiah when heaven stood open?
2. Which book records the exploits of the judges in Israel after Joshua’s death?
3. By faith Moses left which country?
4. In Acts 6, how many men were appointed to wait on tables?
5. Why did the queen of Sheba come to Jerusalem?
6. Whose vineyard did Ahab want?
7. Who said, "Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God"?

Isa 66:2 "For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Father, help us to be quick to admit we are nothing - to admit our need for Your Spirit in our lives.

Ps 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.

Ps 122:1 I Was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."

Ps 122:2 Our feet are standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem, 3 Jerusalem, that is built As a city that is compact together; 4 To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD -- An ordinance for Israel -- To give thanks to the name of the LORD.

Ps 122:5 For their thrones were set for judgment, The thrones of the house of David.

Ps 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. 7 May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces."

Ps 122:8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, "May peace be within you."

Ps 122:9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.

YHVH, Jerusalem - Your choice for Your House.

Do you like to have an answer for every question, complete comprehension of everything you consider? God has not promised you this. There is an element of mystery to faith, otherwise it would not be faith at all. Yet mysteries yield understanding if you press in to them. God told Abraham to arise and go to a place He would show him. It was a place he had never been before. God gives the same call to you, to arise and go to a place He will show you. In at least one sense you have never been there, for your future is not revealed to you. Yet you have access to it by walking with God into it. Do not fear mysteries but press in. Abide in God, and walk with Him, and you will see the mysteries of your own life revealed. (Adopted from a blog post by Dale Cresap)

But just as it is written, "Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Cor 2:9)

Material in this section is based on various prayer diaries.

Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and asks the first man he meets, 'Do you want to go to heaven?' 

The man said, 'I do, Father.'

The priest said, 'Then stand over there against the wall.'

Then the priest asked the second man, 'Do you want to go to heaven?'

'Certainly, Father,' the man replied.  

'Then stand over there against the wall,' said the priest.

Then Father Murphy walked up to O' Toole and asked, 'Do you want to go to heaven?'

O' Toole said, 'No, I don't Father.'  

The priest said, 'I don't believe this. You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?'

O' Toole said, 'Oh, when I die, yes. I thought you were getting a group together to go right now.'

****

Gallagher opened the morning newspaper and was dumbfounded to read in the obituary column that he had died. He quickly phoned his best friend, Finney. 

'Did you see the paper?' asked Gallagher. 'They say I died!!'

'Yes, I saw it!' replied Finney. 'Where are ye callin' from?'

****

An Irish priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut … The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car. 

He says, 'Sir, have you been drinking?'

'Just water,' says the priest.

The trooper says, 'Then why do I smell wine?'

The priest looks at the bottle and says, 'The Lord has done it again!'

Since I heard through the grapevine that a friend’s church was taking a few days of fasting, (and since all of the Hand of Help staff go to this church and I knew there would be very little risk of them calling and asking if I wanted to go to lunch if they were all fasting), I decided I would join in, and fast along with everyone else.

Ps 18:25 With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; 26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. 27 For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks. 28 For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. 29 For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall. 30 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Ps 25:4 Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.

With love in Christ
Michael Boldea Jr.
www handofhelp.com

Friendship fills up all those little ruts in life’s road

The road to progress is up and down-but higher with each climb

Growing older can be a wonderful adventure if you remember that the important word is ‘growing’

Yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream

It’s easier to grow old if we are neither bored or boring

Yom Kippur - God's Provision*
And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.
(Zechariah 14:9; ESV)

In anticipation of the holy day of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), [and] … the Feast of Tabernacles. These two God-ordained occasions are intimately related, being part of the series of holidays of the [seventh] month [of God’s calendar]. [On the first day of the seventh month] commonly known as Rosh Hashanah (New Year), but referred to in the Torah as the Day of Blowing [most likely of the shofar]. The blowing of the shofar (ram's horn) at Rosh Hashanah reminds us in our busyness not to forget that God is the creator of all things and the one to whom we must give an account. This begins a process of self-examination to make sure that we are in right relationship with both God and other people. The culmination of this process is Yom Kippur, when in ancient times, the High Priest would take the blood of a special annual sacrifice into the Holy of Holies. Contrary to how some may think, the observance of Yom Kippur was not to attain spiritual cleansing and forgiveness from God, but to receive it. Once this process was complete, then we are sufficiently prepared for the week-long festival of thanksgiving and rejoicing five days later.
 
According to the prophet Zechariah, the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles) is intimately associated with the restoration of all things and the establishment of the age to come. The culmination of the ages will be marked by this festival of thanksgiving and joy.
 
Just like in the Torah where Yom Kippur is part of the necessary process on the way to celebrating Sukkot, so there are necessary steps to participating in the Sukkot of God's future reign. Unless we are right with God, we will not be part of this celebration. Being right with God requires that we take our lives very seriously and accept God's standards for cleansing and forgiveness.

Blessed be YHVH (Genesis 14:20 And blessed be God Most High…)

Mark 4:11 And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven."

1. The armies of heaven - Revelation 19:11-14

2. Judges

3. Egypt - Hebrews 11:24, 27

4. Seven - Acts 6:2-3

5. To test Solomon with hard questions - 1 Kings 10:1-2

6. Naboth’s - 1 Kings 21:1-2

7. Steven - Acts 7:56

Simple Quiz answer - "Mephibosheth"