Endless Compassion

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

GOD’S care for us extends to all the details of our lives. He knows when we are hurting and wants to offer comfort to us. His compassion is personal, continuous and always available! The Holy Spirit, who lives inside each and every believer in Yeshua, also comforts us. He is there to comfort and console us anytime, day and night. 

Consider how the actually immeasurable compassion of the FATHER was demonstrated through YESHUA’S life. YESHUA met Peter’s betrayal with forgiveness.  Thomas’s doubts were answered by YESHUA Himself (John 20:27). Our mistakes won’t stop YESHUA from loving us.  Know & Believe this!

2 Corinthians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our MESSIAH YESHUA, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.

GOD’S comfort and care are adequate for anything we face (declining health, our finances, family troubles, etc.!) GOD’S Word tells us we are to comfort one another as we are comforted. In this troubled world we live in, there are people all around us who are in need of help. 

Sooo… to whom can you show compassion today in your corner of the world?

Love & Blessings,

Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation

Saving Grace

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

FATHER GOD has predestined every believer to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, YESHUA. This process begins at salvation and will continue throughout your lifetime until you join Him in Heaven.                                 

The apostle Paul is a good example of the LORD’S power to transform an unrighteous man or woman into an image-bearer of YESHUA. Paul was deeply religious before his conversion! When he met the LORD on the road to Damascus, the future apostle learned that all his religious zeal meant nothing. The only way for people to be acceptable before GOD is to receive the saving grace of MESSIAH YESHUA—He replaces our sin nature with a righteous spirit!

Romans 8:30
Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and who He justified, these He also glorified.

Paul was welcomed into the Kingdom in spite of his hostility toward the body of believers! (promoting blasphemy and punished believers). No one is beyond the LORD’S capacity to forgive. His grace is sufficient  (such amazing grace)!

Love & Blessings,

Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation

Source of Strength

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

Recently, we took a look at the apostle Paul; continuing on, we as believers would be wise to take on his mindset (1 Corinthians 11:1). 

First comes humility; pride cannot hide in the heart of a believer who understands divine mercy.  GOD’S grace is sufficient to save any sinner, and Paul knew that! 

Second, Paul never lost sight of how far GOD’S grace had brought him. Through all of his constant turmoil and heartaches, as we see in the book of Acts, Paul kept praising the LORD for the great privilege of serving Him. 

Looking at our verse today, Paul never lost sight of his source of strength. Paul desired more of YESHUA and none of himself.

1 Corinthians 15:10A
But by the grace of God I am what I am and His grace toward me was not in vain.                           

We all need to have the mindset of Paul—to know where our sufficiency comes from—GOD’S mercy and grace! Praise the LORD for all that He has done for us, and then let’s get busy working for the Kingdom of GOD! 

 

Love & Blessings,

Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation

When You Know Who You Are

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

Excerpt from one of Pastor Bruce’s sermons:  

We live in a world where biblical values are constantly under attack. We won’t change the world’s way of thinking any time soon.

But will the world change our way of thinking?

That’s the question that hangs in the balance.

IT finally comes down to one great principle:

When you know who you are, you can serve Messiah anywhere!!

And the reverse is also true: When you are unclear about who you really are, you will struggle to serve Messiah anywhere.

A man with a divided heart cannot grasp his true identity.

He will be pulled this way and that.

Under pressure, he almost certainly will cave in.

But the man with an undivided heart knows who he is.

Because he knows who he is, he doesn’t have to constantly make decisions.

Once you make up your mind, life becomes simpler (though not always easier).

And that brings us to Psalm 86:11
“Unite my heart to fear your name” and “Put me together, Lord.”

As Charles Spurgeon contemplated this verse, he offered this succinct summary:

“A man of divided heart is weak, the man of one object is the man.”

Sometimes in our conversation, we will say so-and-so, “He is the man.” We mean he is a man of one purpose, the man we admire and want to follow.

There is no prayer more appropriate and more needed in our day. Every honest man or woman must at times say, “My life is far from what I want it to be.”

We run low on love.

We find ourselves distracted, worried and easily confused.

We fall prey to little temptations that lead to bigger ones.

We marinate in hate.

We dawdle in our duties.

We make excuses for every failure.

We find ourselves both disagreeing and disagreeable.

We love the world more than we love God.

We  live in unbelief instead of walking in faith.

We refuse to submit because our pride is at stake.

And so it goes, this struggle of the soul to find rest and peace.

No wonder we are frustrated.

When the heart is not united, nothing works right. Without God, we will be fragmented and torn and pulled and distracted. 

We must do as David did. We must pray, “O Lord, take the scattered fragments of my heart and unite them so that I may praise you.” 

Only God can do this, but God can do it if we will come to him in humility and sincerity.The hardest part is coming!! 

So don’t give up, but instead, give in—to the One who made you and give Him your whole, undivided ️ heart!!

 

Love & Blessings,

Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation

Forever & Ever

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

The Book of Revelation may be the most ignored book in the New Covenant, simply because it can be difficult to understand. Revelation has some of the richest descriptions of our LORD YESHUA that the Bible has to offer. We love seeing Him as a baby in a manger, and of course, we know the importance of His death and resurrection, but the story doesn’t end there! Let’s not miss out on the ending of the story.

The apostle YOHANAN, who wrote the Book of Revelation under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was given a dramatic vision of the exalted LORD as He is now in Heaven. He sees YESHUA as the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings and the LORD of THE BODY OF MESSIAH, in the midst of the lamp stands. All Heaven erupts into praise and worship because MESSIAH is found to be the only one worthy to end the age and set up His righteous Kingdom!

Revelation 5:13C
Blessings and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.

If you are a believer in MESSIAH YESHUA, as you read Revelation, you are reading about your future! Picture yourself in the scene, seeing YESHUA as the exalted LORD and Lamb of GOD! Let this glimpse of our future elevate our praise and worship to a new level! Indeed!

 

Love & Blessings,

Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation

Lake Worth/Lantana, Florida

Stop & Listen

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

In the Word, we read stories about GOD speaking to His prophets, and He still speaks to us today the same way!  We need to listen for that small, still voice; don’t let the busyness of this life keep you from hearing Him!

The first time He spoke was through the power of the Holy Spirit leading us into salvation; that was the beginning. If we listen carefully, He will call us during our sanctification, our walk with Yeshua, as the Holy Spirit stretches and grows us, as we’ve been set apart by Him and for Him.

He will continually remind us to use His power and resources so we can obey and live truly righteously. Then He calls us to service, giving us the abilities, time and resources for the good works He wants us to accomplish (ESPHESIANS 2:10). 

Then He calls us to accountability. One day we will have to give an account of how we used the resources He gave us!

Romans 14:12
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Has life become so hectic that GOD’S voice is inaudible? Especially with all the craziness of today, we need now more than ever to give ourselves time to hear GOD speaking to us through His Word and in our prayer closets! 

During this time on earth, we all need to be guided and receive wisdom from the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit! Yes, in Yeshua’s Name. Amen.

 

Love & Blessings,

Bruce and Suzi Elman

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation