Judgment Day

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

Hello, dear one(s), from Pastor Bruce & Suzi! 🤗🙏

The last few days we have seen the wonders of heaven in our devotionals (spending eternity with our heavenly FATHER)! Accepting YESHUA as your Savior is our blessed assurance we will make it into heaven! That’s justification!!!👍YESHUA said He is THE ONLY way to the FATHER!

But salvation through MESSIAH is about more than getting into heaven; it’s also about the process of becoming MESSIAH-like while living here on this earth. That’s sanctification. 

In fact, on Judgement Day, we all will be asked to give an account for the ways we used our opportunities, abilities and resources! GOD gives us, His children, different types and amounts of His blessings: gifts, strengths, wealth, etc. What matters to GOD, is the way we make use of them. 

Are you selfish with them, using them for your own good? Or are you generously using those gifts to serve MESSIAH YESHUA and further His kingdom?!?  We will all be held accountable and will be rewarded for the ways we invested our lives while here on earth!

Oh, heaven will still be our GLORIOUS home! That issue was settled when we came to faith in YESHUA as our LORD & Savior! 

2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all stand before MESSIAH to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

This is a very good time to think about all of your blessings and how you are utilizing them for GOD’S praise and glory!  It’s our responsibility to be faithful servants in whatever He calls us to do. Yes!, 

In Yeshua’s Name. Amen. 

 

With lots of prayers, love & hugs, 

Shalom,

Pastor Bruce & Suzi!

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation

An Act of Love

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

Forgiving those who have wronged us is a tough command to follow. Our human nature finds it easier and more satisfying to hold onto our anger. But as followers of Messiah, we are to be vessels of GOD’S love and no longer living according to the impulses of our flesh!

When someone mistreats us, the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, leads us not only to forgive but also to show love to that person. 

As we read our scripture today, it is a mandate from YESHUA that we are to love our enemies! He is our greatest example. He had to face religious leaders who deliberately provoked Him, yet at the cross He sought ABBA’S forgiveness for them.

Matthew 5:44
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

Yes, people will wrong us, however, if we have the love of the FATHER living in us, then we will refuse to be provoked and will let go of all bitterness and forgive them with love!

Love & Blessings,

Bruce & Suzi Elman

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation

Click here to read more blogs from Pastor Bruce & Suzi

Vessels of Love

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

We learn of the unconditional love our Creator has for us. That amazing love flows TO us and then it should flow THROUGH us to others. GOD’S perfect love is brought to completion when we learn to love one another.

This love was given to us freely through MESSIAH YESHUA, and we can do nothing to earn it or secure it. 

As we receive this love, we are to turn around and give it back to ABBA. We do that by worshipping Him with our life, spending time in His presence, studying His Word, praying and praising Him for His mercy and grace that He pours out upon us. 

That love perfected in you should flow through you to those around you so this will complete the cycle! 

1 John 4:12
“No one has seen God at any time. But if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.”

We are to be vessels of GOD’S love in our sphere of influence! Who among you needs to feel GOD’S love today?

Love & Blessings,

Bruce and Suzi Elman

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation

 

 

A Real Enemy

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

1 Peter 5:8 

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

If we want to be victorious in our  lives, then we must never forget who our adversary is! The Bible is very clear that our enemy isn’t a single little demon but rather a whole confederacy of evil spirits! How many times in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John did YESHUA cast out demons? Over and over again we read about Him and His disciples speaking with authority over multiple evil spirits. Why then can we read such accounts and praise GOD for His demonstrations of power and yet forget that those demonic forces are still active in our world today! 

The enemy is very busy right now in our current situation with the spread of the Coronavirus, putting panic and fear in much of the world through the help of the media! We need to remember that fear is from the devil. Our GOD has not given us a spirit of fear! We can’t walk in fear and faith at the same time! 

This pandemic is a real test for the reality of our faith and the relevance of our doctrines!

Our sovereign GOD is always in control!

Satan lost at the cross and is a defeated foe; he only has as much power over us that we give him! 

Let’s humble ourselves today, pray and seek GOD’S face! Our almighty GOD is bigger than any virus!

Love & Blessings,

Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation

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Priority of Prayer

Encouraging Words with Pastor Bruce & Suzi Elman

Without daily fellowship with our ABBA FATHER through MESSIAH YESHUA, He may seem like a stranger. You can’t ever really know someone without communication! Prayer is our avenue to that! GOD (the creator of this universe) knows you inside and out, but unless you make prayer a priority, you will never know Him! To miss out on knowing your Creator intimately is a great tragedy!

The  life of a MESSIAH FOLLOWER in YESHUA isn’t merely about how much you serve, how generously you give or how faithfully you attend a congregation! All these things should result from a close relationship with ABBA! We need to prioritize our time to be alone with Him in prayer and meditation of His Word to experience His awesome presence!

Mark 1:35

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, Yeshua went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Just as the Scripture said, even though YESHUA was the sinless Son of GOD and Deity Himself, He made prayer a priority! He is our greatest example! Prayer is the lifeblood of our existence as a Messianic Believer!

Love & Blessings,

Bruce and Suzi Elman

L’Chaim Messianic Congregation

Click here to read more blogs from Pastor Bruce & Suzi