Building the Kingdom of God – Champion Builders Center

Have You Received Your Gift?

Posted on September 7, 2019 by Laura Posted in Building the Kingdom of God, Firstfruits .

Salvation is a costly gift! It cost Jesus everything to die on the Cross. Yet He did it so that you and I could be reunited into the royal family of the King of Kings. Jesus, the one Who had no sin, took our sin upon Him and paid the price for it. How many of us consider giving gifts to those outside our circle of family and friends? But the Bible says, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus knew there was no guarantee that we would even receive the gift He offered. What love this Man has offered us!

If we do choose to receive the gift, we are forgiven and set free from sin’s bondage, but that doesn’t mean our lives become a cakewalk. There is a journey to make the most of our salvation. We can’t take salvation for granted and live according to our own thoughts and desires. True salvation gives us a heart to live for God. He gave His life for us so that we could gain right-standing before the Father. If we do not honor His sacrifice, we will still go to heaven, but on earth we will suffer the consequences of our unrighteous behaviors. This does not mean God loves us less. God’s love for each of us is so great that He will allow us to suffer hardship so that we can recognize when we are making bad decisions that lead to harmful consequences. His desire is always to draw us back to Himself.

In this month of Elul, we are invited to go deeper in our relationship with Him, to turn away from things that keep us separated from His love. Let us consider the difference between regret, remorse and true repentance in order to correctly evaluate our response to God.

• Regret takes place in the mind. We think, “Why did I do that?”

• Remorse involves the mind and the heart. We feel bad, maybe experiencing pain and sadness. The consequences bother us emotionally, but we don’t change our thoughts or actions. We will do the same thing again. When Judas saw that his betrayal of Jesus led to His capture, he felt remorse and went out and hanged himself. He could have gone and asked forgiveness from Jesus. This would have allowed him to live.

• Repentance involves mind, heart and will. We feel bad enough to change. The consequences of our actions are painful enough that we decide to change. We ask God for help to change and we turn away from our sin and determine to go a new way. Peter is an example of repentance. Though he denied Jesus three times, he sought forgiveness and reconciliation with Jesus. Then he was able to go on and complete his destiny as a shepherd of God’s people.

God not only gave us the gift of salvation, but He gives us the grace to desire salvation and true repentance. We can ask God to give us a hunger for true repentance, we can ask for the spirit of the Fear of the Lord so that we will honor Him and walk in reverence. He is here to be all we need in every situation. If you feeling lacking and weak in any area, ASK Him for more grace. He doesn’t expect us to figure it out on our own.

Seek His beauty today, be overwhelmed by Him and let Him heal your broken places. He has already paid the price for it, of course, He will do it!

Shalom!

New Day Dawning

Posted on August 23, 2019 by Laura Posted in Building the Kingdom of God .

As the early morning sun peaks its way above the horizon, it casts the beautiful pink and orange hues across the sky. To those that have risen early enough to see this spectacular display, it feels like a special gift. Our heads are not yet cluttered with cares of the day and we receive this quiet window of time to pray, read, or plan our day ahead. If you’re like me, this is my best time to hear clearly from the Lord and to be strengthened for what lies ahead. I savor every moment of this time, never wanting it to be cut short.

As the sun rises higher in the sky, the morning mist dissipates, shadows disappear and the starkness emerges. Things are revealed in the full light of day. The day kicks in to high gear, demands are made on us and we must rise to the occasion. The weight of situations and relationships tries to find a place to land on us and slow us down or shut us up altogether.

I believe this is a picture of where we are right now. It may feel like we are in a stagnant place, a place that feels too familiar and we just want to get out and get moving. But as this new era dawns upon us, the Lord is telling us we are in a glorious, quiet place positioned to hear His voice and receive His instruction before things blow wide open. If we can receive the gifts He has to give in this early morning, we will have all we need when the full light of day comes. It is coming soon.

We all know that much has already been exposed and revealed in many ways and in many spheres, but there is much more. The Lord is about to release an even greater shaking that will cause a deeper awakening. Shortly, He will make very clear the posts each of us will fill. I sense that for many, the places we thought we would be or the roles we thought we would play are going to be reshuffled. There will be a last-minute switch-up that will be perfectly suited to our preparedness and our training. Nothing to fear in this, it will be a good gift, though it might be surprising. Those that have savored the early morning dawn will be well equipped to face the day. We will have strength to walk through hard situations, we will have wisdom and discernment to know what to do, and we will have the keys to bring down giants. The Lord has determined our path and set our boundaries, He is our Wisdom and our Light, and He establishes our feet to tread down the enemy.

I encourage you to savor this early morning dawn and let Him have His way. Surrender all and let Him fill you with the new wine. You are about to come to Life in a whole new way. Be expectant and be ready. He knows your launch date and He won’t let you miss it!

He is a Good Father.

Shalom!

Another Great Awakening?

Posted on June 23, 2019 by Laura Posted in Building the Kingdom of God, Reformation .

The Great Awakening was a spiritual renewal that swept the American Colonies, particularly New England, during the first half of the 18th Century. Certain Christians began to disassociate themselves with the established approach to worship at the time which had led to a general sense of complacency among believers, and instead they adopted an approach which was characterized by great fervor and emotion in prayer.

The Awakening’s biggest significance was the way it prepared America for its War of Independence. In the decades before the war, revivalism taught people that they could be bold when confronting religious authority, and that when churches weren’t living up to the believers’ expectations, the people could break off and form new ones.

Through the Awakening, the Colonists realized that religious power resided in their own hands, rather than in the hands of the Church of England, or any other religious authority. After a generation or two passed with this kind of mindset, the Colonists came to realize that political power did not reside in the hands of the English monarch, but in their own will for self-governance (consider the wording of the Declaration of Independence). By 1775, even though the Colonists did not all share the same theological beliefs, they did share a common vision of freedom from British control. Thus, the Great Awakening brought about a climate which made the American Revolution possible. Excerpt from great-awakening. com

Is it any wonder that the movement taking place around the world is being called another Great Awakening? Can we not identify the same issues now as they did then? Would it be safe to take those last two sentences and say:

By 2019, even though Americans did not all share the same theological beliefs, they did share a common vision of freedom from the Deep State. Thus, the Great Awakening brought about a climate which made the MAGA Revolution possible.

500 – The Number of Days till the 2020 Election

Posted on June 22, 2019 by Laura Posted in Building the Kingdom of God, Reformation .

This is the election that will determine the future of our nation….

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

The stakes could not be higher. If the ideal of an American Republic is to survive , we must have a President that honors the Constitution and keeps federal government in the proper perspective. Federal government is not meant to overrule the states and make decisions for the people, it exists to aid the states and the people.

President Trump has actually done what he promised to do in his campaign. He has become the gold standard for all governmental candidates seeking re-election. He has cut taxes and will cut them again, he has provided jobs and cut regulations so that work can actually get done. He is protecting our nation from illegal immigration and the harm that comes from it. He has instituted programs to help those that have been kept feeling helpless and hopeless through prison and education reforms. He has stood up to the nations and fought for America to be treated with respect. He has been bold to demand fairness in international trade and he has removed our participation in unfair treaties that benefit the elite. His example has emboldened other nations to stand up for their sovereignty so that dignity can return to the people, cultures and history can be honored, and the flags can wave with national pride. He has exposed the lie of the One World Government and made known to us the wicked agendas that have been operating for our destruction. He has exposed the epidemic of child and sex-trafficking, satanic worship, false monetary systems and wars inspired by the elite of the world. This President stands for LIFE and HONOR of all people.

No modern president has done more, or even come close to accomplishing what President Trump has done in his first 2.5 years. If we don’t press on to completely drain the swamp of its power over us, we will be overwhelmed and lose our nation and our freedom to darkness and death. It is not too strong of a warning to look at what the Nazi end-game was and realize that their desire to overtake the world while wiping out Jews and Christians has never ended. President Trump is an extension of the courage and tenacity of Winston Churchill. He may not be recognized for his vital role in saving our nation right now, but history will sing his praises forever if we allow him to continue in his God-given role of leading this nation and the world back to LIFE. He has and continues to do his part. It’s up to us to do ours!

Pressing on to Pentecost – Reflections at Elim

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Laura Posted in Building the Kingdom of God, Wilderness Journey .

Exodus 16:1 tells us that the Hebrews had camped at Elim for almost a month before they set out for the wilderness of Sin. Let’s take a moment to consider what might have been going on during that time.

Prior to leaving Egypt, the Hebrews were living day-to-day in a hostile environment. They endured the traumatizing cruelty of their taskmasters verbally and physically. Material and spiritual poverty held them captive. Remember that after Moses’ first visit to Pharaoh, Pharaoh mocked Moses’ request to let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord by taking away their straw with which to make bricks, yet their quota remained the same. The people were angry with Moses and Aaron, Moses was confused, but God reassured him that He had made a covenant with the Hebrews and He was going to keep it. When Moses tried to comfort the people with this promise from God, verse 6:9 tells us “they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.” Their suffering had made them blind and deaf to God.

Next on the agenda were the plagues that God brought on Egypt. The first three plagues were experienced by the Egyptians and the Hebrews. Imagine their horror at having all the water turned to blood, the frogs filling their homes and the insects overwhelming them. Can you hear them crying out, “Why, God? Why are things going from bad to worse?”

Is any of this sounding vaguely familiar? Maybe we haven’t had taskmasters standing over us with physical whips, but consider the expectations that might be on you at your job, when you feel like you haven’t been given the time or resources to complete what’s expected of you; or the debt collectors that hound you on the phone, the foreclosure or repairs on the house and car, the doctor bills from unexpected illnesses….and the list goes on and on. Then you hear that God is going to deliver you out of this bondage and you start dreaming of what that freedom will look like only to find that things get worse. Your heart may grow bitter before you even realize it and the next time God tries to comfort you, you can’t hear Him speaking. Your ears are plugged….la-la-la-la-la

The succession of plagues continued over the next couple months. The Hebrews were spared of the consequences, but certainly not spared of the oppression in their environment. The Bible tells us that many of the Egyptian’s eyes were opened to the futility of their gods and came to believe in the God of the Hebrews during this time. They moved to Goshen to live among them. Imagine the upheaval in their communities as all this was going on. It must have been hard to concentrate. They had Egyptian friends that were suffering. Who knows what their working conditions were like during the plagues? Undoubtedly, though, this was not a peaceful time and only added to their stress. Just prior to leaving, they celebrated the Passover. At this point, God had their attention, but did He have their hearts? Were they obeying His instructions out of fear or from a place of worshipful trust? What must it have been like to hear the cries from all the Egyptians on that night when all the firstborns were slain? They were happy to finally leave Egypt, but then they discovered that Pharaoh’s army was chasing them. If that wasn’t bad enough, they found themselves trapped when they got to the Red Sea. Every time something bad happened, they had to have someone to blame. Moses and Aaron took the brunt of the blame, but their real problem was with God.

I don’t know about you, but I can certainly relate to this scenario. There have been numerous times I felt trapped with nowhere to turn. I wanted to blame someone, I wanted to yell at someone, but if I took the time to get ahold of myself, I knew that the only One I could go to was God and He was the One I with whom I was angry. I don’t like being angry with God, because I know I can never win! So I tell Him what I think and then, I have to repent. Times when I haven’t poured out my heart to Him and repented are times when I felt my heart growing hard. Days might go by and I knew something was not right inside me. That’s how bitterness takes root, and I believe that’s what happened to many of the Hebrews.

As God began to lead them through the wilderness, He wanted to replace every fracture of trauma with His Shalom. Shalom is one of those code words. The Bible translates it “Peace” in English, but it means so much more than that. Shalom is a wholeness word, it is a picture of wholeness being restored to every place of trauma and barrenness inside of us. It implies wholeness physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally, financially and materially. Each stop provided a challenge to their mindset, but it was actually an opportunity for healing a wound in their soul. He was addressing a lie they believed and wanting to replace it with a truth about Himself and His loving nature. Whether they would receive the truth and be healed was up to them. We know that God says, “it is His kindness that leads us to repentance,” or in other words, His kindness causes us to believe something different than we used to so we could be healed.

It is no wonder, then, that the first stop addressed their bitter hearts and God’s ability to heal them, to lead them to salvation. Their hard hearts did not stop Him from leading them to Elim, a beautiful oasis of restoration and a picture of the eternal Kingdom. This was His kindness meant to cause them to change their mind about Him. He let them rest in this place for almost a month giving them a long time to meditate on His goodness. If they would allow themselves the chance to rest, eat their daily bread, drink freely and sleep in the shade, they would begin to feel His life-giving power restored in them.

Since we are walking this same journey toward our promise, we must ask ourselves if we can recognize our oasis. Are we so busy worrying about what’s going to happen next or how we’re going to manage when we get to the promise, that we refuse to receive the gift of rest right now. We may be tempted to think that our own strength and stamina enabled us to persevere to this point, but truly it has been God’s great grace. While we wait to move on, we can choose impatience and anxiety, or shalom and rest. Personally, I’m tired of waiting but I know that if I choose anxiousness and busyness, I will miss out on a great gift from my Father. If I don’t rest now, I will not be at my best when I get to my promise. I will look back and realize that I could have trusted and rested. I don’t want regret in my life, do you?

Look around and see God’s grace surrounding you. It might be uncomfortable, but it might be your oasis. Trust and rest, believe Him and His promises. Be renewed so you’re ready for the next leg of the journey.

Shalom!

Pressing On To Pentecost – Am I An Oak of Righteousness?

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Laura Posted in Building the Kingdom of God, Wilderness Journey .

Pressing On To Pentecost – How Can I Overcome the Bitterness of My Past?

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Laura Posted in Building the Kingdom of God, Wilderness Journey .

Welcome to the journey through the wilderness as we press on to Pentecost and ultimately to enter into our promise.

In this series, we will consider what God wanted to teach the Hebrews at each stop through the wilderness. We know that when God released the plagues against Egypt, which is a picture of the world system, He was judging the idols, the gods that the Egyptians believed in. We, too, live in a world system full of idols that try to usurp God’s place in our lives. As Christians, we are taught not be like the world but to be conformed to His image, yet we live in the world and have adopted many mindsets and habits that are of the world. I’m not talking about gross or blatant sin. I am talking about things we have accepted as normal because we live in the world. In this day though, God wants to refine us, He wants to highlight ways we have become like the world and bought in to ways of thinking that aren’t what He intended for His Kingdom people.

At the end of the age, we are called to be mature sons and daughters. This series of video teachings and blog posts is meant to challenge the status quo and give you an opportunity to examine with God where He might be calling you up to a new level. He wants us all to be equipped and help build up His Body until we all attain to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. (Eph 4:12-13)

No matter how many times I’ve read through this story, God always shows me something new. This time is no different. So I’m inviting you to go along with me, that we may grow in unity of heart and become more like our Head, the Beautiful One, Yeshua!

Draining the Swamp?

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Laura Posted in Building the Kingdom of God, History .

*Pharaoh’s Army Engulfed by the Red Sea* (1900) painted by Frederick Arthur Bridgman

“The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil;
My desire shall be gratified against them;
I will draw out my sword, my hand will destroy them.’

“You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them;
They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

“Who is like You among the gods, O Lord?
Who is like You, majestic in holiness,
Awesome in praises, working wonders?

“You stretched out Your right hand,
The earth swallowed them. Exodus 15: 9-12

These verses come from the song that Moses and the people of Israel sang after they watched Pharaoh’s army swallowed up by the sea. We know this story so well that I think we gloss over it like a fairy tale, but this really happened, and God arranged it all! Our mighty God is not a tame lion. He is a God of Love, He is Love, but that doesn’t mean that every man can do what is right in his own eyes. Our God is also a God of Justice. He gives grace and mercy to all, but woe to those who are bent on opposing Him. Everyone is invited to receive the saving grace He gave through His Son, but to those that refuse the invitation, there is a terrible consequence.

Consider the verse above, “You stretched out Your right hand and the earth swallowed them.” Hundreds of soldiers and Pharaoh himself were swallowed up by the sea as the Israelites watched their rescue occur. How terrifying this must have been. Yes, they were safe, but how can the human mind comprehend such miraculous power?

Fast forward to today. This scenario is being replayed before our eyes, but can we see it? Have we allowed our religious boxes to blind us from the reality of the enemy’s tactics and the deliverance our God has sent? Are we fighting against our rescuer?

The enemy is still saying the same thing. His plot is domination and destruction of us individually, our families, our institutions, our nations and ultimately the entire world. He must present himself as the rescuer…the government that will save us.

But Jesus already defeated him on the Cross. There is no beating Him, He is the victor and we are victorious because of Him. He is the King of His Kingdom and He controls the ultimate Government. There is a clear clash of kingdoms going on in our midst. The enemy knows he is loser, but he will not accept that.

There is no difference between the earth swallowing the enemy and draining the swamp. God is draining the reptilian swamp creatures that have plotted to destroy us all. Only He could orchestrate such an enormous battle on a worldwide scale. Men are just not that smart! God has raised His mighty arm(y), He is blowing His Holy Wind across the planet and soon His majestic Holiness will be seen in plain sight! Justice will be served and people will be drowned in the sea. What is about to be exposed is not for the faint-hearted. People can rejoice when justice is served, but the ultimate response is and must remain, The Awe of the Lord, reverence of His Holiness, a humbling before Him!

Let us ask Him for eyes to see and hearts to understand His ways. It is critical for us to align with His timing and His seasons. We must know His heart in order to remain in His peace. Come to Him, He will receive those whose hearts are willing to surrender before him. We do not understand, nor can we comprehend, the depth of evil that is lurking all around us. Likewise, we do not understand the depth of His Love that was given at the Cross to save us. It’s time to re-think salvation and receive it!

Are We the End-Times Generation?

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Laura Posted in Biblical Holidays, Building the Kingdom of God, Uncategorized .

The Bible reveals God’s history and future plans for His relationship with mankind. There are three transitional generations recorded in His story. The first transitional generation was the Israelites as they came out of Egypt and were headed toward the Promised Land. The disciples were the second transitional generation as they established the church age after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. The third is our very own end-times generation that is called to begin to establish Jesus’ Kingdom on earth and prepare for His arrival.

As you might guess, the characteristics of these generations are pictured in the Feasts of the Lord. The first set was the three Spring feasts at the beginning of the Hebrew year: Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits. The Father established these feasts so the Israelites would remember their deliverance from Egypt. Once they were in the Promised Land, this feast also included a celebration of the first harvest of barley. Their offering was a sheaf of barley. It was the first crop to come up and it would sustain them until the coveted wheat harvest came in.

The Spring Feasts represent a season of deliverance from slavery. What does this mean to us and why should we care? We are not slaves, or are we? Slaves are subject to whatever has mastery over them. Being delivered involves leaving old mindsets, sin and death (not necessarily physical death, but things that have died in us) and crossing over to move toward the promise. Because we are often quite unaware of how enslaved we are, we need the apostles and prophets to help us to see what we might not see on our own. God wants us to know His heart and He tells us what signs to look for, so we will not miss our turns. We can look at the example of the Israelites coming out of Egypt and see how they could not recognize the goodness of God through His miracles; they missed their signs. Nonetheless, they were called to transition from a group of Hebrew slaves into the nation of Israel, God’s beloved people. Later, when the promised Messiah arrived, another generation had been given signs to look for, but they, too, misread the signs and the prophecies. They were unwilling to change their mind (repent), because they thought they knew better than God. Yet, when you look at all the symbolism of the Spring Feasts, it is so full of details and symbols that it’s hard to believe anyone could miss seeing Jesus. From the time the Israelites left Egypt until the time Jesus walked on the earth, the Spring Feasts were a dress rehearsal of Jesus delivering His people from sin, forgiving them and beginning the process of restoring humanity’s relationship with the Father. Every generation as a whole, and each individual must experience their own deliverance from something that has kept them separated from God. Each year, as we move through this season, we have the opportunity to be delivered and become freer. It is an ongoing process.

The second set was the Feast of Weeks, because it was held seven weeks after Passover. The seven-week period leading up to the feast, also known as the time of Counting the Omer, was just as significant as the final, fiftieth day when the feast was celebrated. This feast commemorates the gifts and provision that God gave the Hebrews at Mount Sinai. He gave them an identity as a nation and established a unique relationship with them that would be called the Mosaic Covenant. This feast took on the agricultural significance of offering the firstfruits of the wheat harvest once they were in the Promised Land. This time their offering was not the wheat itself, but two huge loaves of bread made from the wheat flour.

The Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost, is a celebration of God’s provision. In the natural, as they wandered through the wilderness, God provided manna which was called “Bread of Heaven.” When they entered the Promised Land, they celebrated the wheat harvest from which they were enabled to make bread. It remembered God’s giving of the Torah (Law) to His people at Sinai. While Jews were gathered in Jerusalem after Jesus’ death to celebrate this feast, God chose this day to “pour out His Spirit on all flesh.” Just as the Hebrew nation would not have been able to function as a nation without God’s Law, the new Church lead by the disciples of Christ would not be able to function in their higher calling without the operation of the Holy Spirit in them. It is God’s generous giving that enables us to complete the calling we’ve been given by Him. Once we are delivered, we begin anticipating the promised inheritance. This is a season to understand our identity as God’s people, disciples, students of the Lord. It is vital to know who we are and what we’ve been given in order to accomplish our destiny and possess our inheritance. We go through a process of sanctification, ridding ourselves of sinful behaviors and walking in greater levels of righteousness, so that we may possess all that the Lord wants to give to us. The early Church transitioned from the Mosaic & Davidic Covenants to living under the New Covenant written in Jesus’ Blood.

The third set was the Fall feasts which occur in the seventh month: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles.) At this time, the Israelites were commanded to remember how they had sojourned through the desert and lived in temporary dwellings until they reached their promise. This feast season celebrated the final and most abundant harvest of the year. Harvesting grapes, olives, pomegranates, and figs brought great joy to the community.

Prophetically speaking, this season is for us, the end-time generation! In a broad sense, Generation Z is an appropriate name for this generation. It represents coming to an end of something. It requires awakening to deeper levels of understanding, making ourselves ready to meet our Bridegroom, reaping the harvest of souls and building the Kingdom of God on earth. The Church and the Kingdom are two different things. The end-time generation exists to build the Kingdom in preparation for Jesus’ return. In this season there is much anticipation and rejoicing. One day, we will meet our Bridegroom, but until then we have much preparing to do. We prepare our hearts by becoming more like Jesus, and we contend against the enemy’s schemes as he fights against Jesus and His saints. Just like the Jews in the days after Jesus was born had to know what they were looking for and correctly interpret the signs, so we have to do the same. God gave the Holy Spirit long ago to empower His people, but He knew that our relationship with the Holy Spirit would have to go to a deeper level in the generations leading up to Jesus’ return. We need the power and revelation of His Spirit, so that we can overcome the spirit of the age. In these days, He is pouring out the Holy Spirit stronger than anything we have experienced in all of human history. God is awakening His Bride, and we will reap the last great harvest of the ages. Jesus will come to judge the wicked, and then, the Bridegroom will marry His Bride. He will carry us over the threshold into the Promised Land of Heaven where we will not only see the Father face to face, but we will rule and reign with Him in His Kingdom forever. What a glorious future we have! We are the generation to transition Heaven to Earth.

Each generation and each feast contains keys and patterns that we can learn from so that we don’t miss our signs and we stay in sync with God’s times and seasons. Some things we’ve been taught and believed might not be true. Are you willing to unlearn some things so that He can fill you with Truth? This is so critical. As we enter into the Passover season this year, 2019/5779, let’s commit to knowing Him in new fresh ways. Let’s be quick to surrender to Him, to seek the deliverance He so freely offers and to find out what’s it’s like to truly be free in Christ. Let’s get reacquainted with the Word of God and expect that revelation will flow to us in ways we have never experienced before. As He pours out His Spirit, we can expect signs and wonders to follow us as we believe. We have assignments and a holy call to partner with the Living God and build His Kingdom and our forever home!

Hanukkah and Christmas Converge – 2016

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Laura Posted in Biblical Holidays, Building the Kingdom of God .

hanukkah-christmas On December 24, Hanukkah and Christmas converge, marking only the fifth time in the last 100 years that the first day of Hanukkah fell on Christmas. Is God releasing yet another significant signpost to us?

Hanukkah is regarded as a Jewish holiday, but John 10:22-23 tells us that Jesus was at the temple for the Feast of Dedication, which is Hanukkah. Hanukkah means “Dedication” in Hebrew and it begins on the 25^th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar.

“At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.” John 10:22-23

The meaning of the Greek word for “Dedication” used in this verse is renewal or new beginning, so the festival was also known as the Feast of Renewal.

In 167 BC, the tyrant ruler, Antiochus IV, of Greece outlawed Jewish religious observances and forced the Jews to conform to Greek culture. He desecrated their temple by offering a pig on the Lord’s altar and filling it with pagan idols.

The Jews rose up under the initial leadership of Matityahu and then by his son, Judah the Maccabee, and fought a three-year battle. Against all odds, the Maccabees finally defeated Antiochus’ armies and reclaimed Jerusalem in 164 BC. The Jews had regained their right to worship God and be who they were created to be. Their victory was reason to celebrate. They set to work rebuilding and consecrating the Temple, but before they could hold a worship service, they would need oil to light the lamp. They found only enough oil to light the lamp for one day. Eight days were required for oil to be consecrated, but they did not want to delay the celebration. By faith, they committed themselves and their resources to God and decided to go ahead with the Festival of Dedication. The miracle came when the lamp did not go out for eight days until the next supply of oil was prepared. For this reason, Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration of God’s miracle-working deliverance and provision.

God saw the zeal and excitement in His children because of the profound victory over the Greek army and their desire to worship Him. He was pleased by their faith. They took all the steps they could take toward the new beginning of worship in the Temple. Then Father God stepped in to complete the process, He caused the oil to multiply and the lights to shine. He bridged the gap until the normal process of producing oil could resume.

Three years ago, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah started on the same day. This had never happened since Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863. They will not coincide again for another 79,000+ years. I believe this was a sign from God specifically to America. What He began in 2013, continues today as we close out 2016. God’s Love and Desire for America is on display. He is sending reminders of Who He is – Deliverer and Provider – for His people. This election season was a sign that He is pleased with the response of His remnant to return to our covenant roots and remember why we live in this nation. It is His doing! He established this Nation for His purpose. Just as the Jews faced the Greek government in their day, we stand against the worldly systems that want to destroy our Christian heritage and testimony. Our government cannot deliver us from the mess we are in, but He alone can. Jesus is our new beginning! The numerical value of Yeshua’s name is 888 – the number of new beginnings.

The convergence of the manmade holiday of Christmas and the Festival of Renewal signify God’s pleasure to reestablish His Rulership, His Glory in this earth. As we submit to the Kingship of Jesus and walk in faith, He releases miracles to catapult us far beyond what we would normally expect for the purpose of building His Kingdom on the earth and refreshing us with joy! He reigns over all and is preparing the earth for His return. 2017 is going to be an amazing year to watch God’s miraculous power and the new beginnings He is releasing to His people. The eight days of Hanukkah conclude on January 1, 2017. We are divinely positioned to see God move mightily as 2016 comes to a close and the year of Renewal begins.