Today, I would like to look in a bit more depth at the Jewish Feast of Sukkot, or Tabernacles. It occurs this year, 2026 from sundown on September 25 to nightfall on October 2.

        In Leviticus 23:39-43, God commands the Israelites to live in temporary shelters (sukkot) for seven days, starting on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the religious Hebrew calendar (Tishrei). He does this so future generations will remember the children of Israel lived in booths when He brought them out of Egypt.

        The Feast of Tabernacles is a time of rejoicing. “On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the Lord your God for seven days” (Leviticus. 23:40 NLT).

        The Feast of Sukkot occurs five days after Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement. The order is important. At Yom Kippur, sin is confronted, atonement is made, and the people are cleansed.

       “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you...because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins” (Leviticus 16:29-30 NIV).

         When Israel came out of Egypt, God told Moses, “Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them” (Exodus 25:8 NLT).

      There is a pattern here. Atonement restores relationship. Through cleansing, nearness is made possible. God dwelling with us. The destination is not only forgiveness; it is Him.

        The pattern goes back to the Garden of Eden. In Eden, Yahweh dwelt with humanity. Sin shattered the closeness, humanity was afraid and hid, and finally exiled. Thousands of years of history passed.

       Then in John 1:14 we read, “And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth” (AMPC).

      Think of it. The Presence that dwelt in Israel put on flesh in Jesus and walked the dusty roads of Galilee. He ate with people, touched, taught, healed, and cleansed them, and raised them from the dead.

        And in John 14:23, Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him–and we’ll move right into the neighborhood!” (MSG). Another translation says, “...and make our dwelling place with him” (MOUNCE).

        Now it’s not merely Yahweh dwelling in a tent with Israel. It’s Yahweh living among all those who have accepted His Son as their Saviour.

        Paul picks up this temple language in 2 Corinthians 6:19. “Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own...” (AMPC).

        God wants the house. And the house is us.

       The prophet Zechariah takes the Feast of Tabernacles and points it toward the future. “Then it will be that all the nations who have come against Jerusalem and survived will go up each year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16 MEV).

        The Feast of Tabernacles becomes a Kingdom Feast. The dead have risen. Messiah is reigning. Creation has been restored to its rightful King.

        The last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, tells us, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them...” (Revelation 21:3 NASB).

        Every tear wiped away, no more curse, no more death, the river of life flows, the tree of life appears, and His servants bow before Him.

      And to leave us breathless, Revelation 22:4 says, “They will be able to look upon His face, and His name will be written on their foreheads” (VOICE).
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      No more boundaries, veils, sacrifices, blood, cleansing, and Yahweh making a way to dwell among sinful people without consuming us. The King will dwell with us, His people, and we will see His face. We have come home.
 
Inspiration for this article taken from Yael’s Letters, September 24, 2026, “From Atonement to Dwelling. When YHWH Says It Is Time to Rejoice”

            “The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness, But God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you” (Isaiah 60:2 MSG).

            “A fountain of life was in him (Jesus), for his life is light for all humanity. And this Light never fails to shine through darkness–Light that darkness could not overcome!” (John 1:4-5 TPT).

            “You are the light of the world...let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14, 16).

            When Jesus left the earth, He didn’t take the light of the world with Him. He left it with His disciples. He left it with us, His followers.

           Do you see yourself as a light shining in the darkness? Philippians 2:15 tells us, “That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world...” (AMPC). 
 
        Part of the key to shining like the light within us is to realize who we are in Christ Jesus as born-again believers. We just read in the verse above that we are blameless, guileless, innocent, uncontaminated, children of God, without blemish, faultless, and unrebukable.

            Furthermore, in Jesus, the Anointed One, we are:

Adopted – Ephesians 1:5.                                        Not condemned - Romans 8:1                                                 
Beloved – Colossians 3:12.
Chosen – Ephesians 1:4                                           Oak of righteousness – Isaiah 61:3b
Purified – Hebrews 10:2.                                       Qualified – 2 Corinthians 3: 4-6                                           
Delighted in – Zephaniah 3:17.                                Redeemed – 1 Corinthians 1:30
Established – Romans 16: 25                                   Sustained – Psalm 55:22
Forgiven – 1 John 1:9                                                Treasured – 1 Peter 2:9
Given everything we need – 2 Peter 1:3               Unashamed – Romans 10:11 
Heir of God; joint heir with Jesus – Romans 8:17 Victorious – 1 Corinthians 15:57
Invited - John 6:37.                                                    Exquisitely Made – Psalm 139:13
Justified – Romans 5:1                                               Lightly yoked – Matthew 11:28 -30
Known – Psalm 139: 1-2.                                           God is zealous for us, Ephesians 2:4
Loved – 1 John 4:10                                                     
Masterpiece – Ephesians 2:10

            The next time you feel depressed, look up each Scripture listed above. I guarantee your depression will lift.

        “And those who are wise–the people of God-shall shine as brightly as the sun’s brilliance, and those who turn many to righteousness will glitter like stars forever” (Daniel 12:3 TLB).

            Do you want to glitter like a star forever, like the one of long ago, which led the lost to Christ?  I know I do.
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            Declaration: I carry the light of Jesus within me to a dark, burdened world. I will allow that light to brighten someone’s life today and point them to Jesus.

            “YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of YHWH, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation; they are My appointed feasts’” (Leviticus 23:1-2).

            The “Jewish Feasts,” as they’re often called, belong to God. He invented them. They were entrusted to Israel, and Israel was commanded to observe and preserve them, but God conceived them.

           The Hebrew word for feast is moed, or in the plural, moedim. It means an appointed time, a set time, an appointment. YHWH placed appointments on His calendar to meet with His people.

            Today, I am writing about the three fall feasts–Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).

         Prophetically speaking, the four spring feasts have already been fulfilled.

      Passover (Pesach) was realized by the death of Jesus on the cross as the sacrificial Lamb of God.

         The Feast of Unleavened Bread was fulfilled by the sinless life and burial of Jesus, representing the removal of sin.

        The Feast of First Fruits was fulfilled by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, marking the first fruits of the harvest.

            The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot or Pentecost) was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit was poured out, marking the birth of the church.

            Now let’s briefly look at the three fall feasts, which are yet to be fulfilled.

THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS
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            The Feast of Trumpets–literally, a day of trumpet blast or shouting. “...On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn, you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet” (Leviticus 23:24 NLT).

         In Scripture, trumpets gather the people, sound alarms, call people to attention, announce movement, go to battle, proclaim kings. In the New Testament, they herald the return of Messiah.

           “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

          “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

         “He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and from every direction under the sky, they will gather those whom God has chosen” (Matthew 24:31 NOG).

            The Feast of Trumpets tells us to wake up, pay attention, the King is coming.

YOM KIPPUR – THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

            This is a day of humility and repentance. The High Priest enters the Holy of Holies and atonement is made for sin. The earthly sanctuary and priestly ministry pointed to a greater High Priest–Yeshua, Jesus.

         “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties...which can never take away sins. But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God... (Hebrews 10: 11-12 NIV).

          In terms of future fulfillment, the Day of Atonement looks forward to a day of national recognition and repentance for Israel.

          “I, the Lord, will make the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem feel deep sorrow and pray when they see the one they pierced with a spear. They will mourn and weep for him, as parents weep over the death of their only child or their first-born” (Zechariah 12:10 CEV).

              Israel will recognise Jesus as their Messiah, the One who atoned for sin.

SUKKOT – THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES

            After the solemnity of Yom Kippur comes the joy of the Feast of Tabernacles–booths, temporary dwellings, harvest. The Israelites lived in temporary shelters after leaving Egypt. In the desert, YHWH sustained them and lived among them in the centre of the camp.

           In the New Testament, John begins his Gospel with, “And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth” (John 1:14 AMPC).

            But the story doesn’t end there. Turn to Revelation.

           “And then I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “See! The tabernacle of God is among men, and He will live among them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them [as their God,]” (Revelation 21:3 AMP).

           And here you have the denouement–the final part of the story.

        It is YHWH dwelling with redeemed humanity, the King with His people, the Bride with her Bridegroom. The prospect of spending eternity with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit forever and ever and ever and ever...

        The God who kept His promises regarding the fulfillment of the spring feasts will keep His promises regarding the fulfillment of the fall ones. As believers in Messiah, our job is to keep watch and be ready.
 
Inspiration for this article from Yael’s Letters, entitled “Whose Feasts?”, July 15, 2026

Meet Maggie Higgins.
Maggie enjoyed fifty-one years of marriage before her husband, Mark, passed away two years ago.

Desperate for companionship, she accepts a friend request over the internet. Is "Andrew" the man of her dreams? Does he love her as much as he says he does?

Will Maggie trust God to guide her future, or will she try to figure it out on her own? Love is closer than she thinks, even under her nose. But will she recognize it?
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A TIDBIT ABOUT THE BOOK
     At the last minute, the managing editor of my last four books, changed the title. All during the writing, the title was Holding On To Me.
 
      Then during the final edits, she told me she desired a new title. She wanted Isaiah 46:4 to be the backdrop for the book. The verse says, “And when you are old, I will still be there, carrying you. When your limbs grow tired, your eyes are weak, And your hair is silvery gray, I will carry you as I always have. I will carry you and save you” (Isaiah 46:4 VOICE).

      So, the title was changed. What do you think?

      Available for order now on Amazon and Kindle

CA link here     US link here

            In the Old Testament, when the twelve men returned after spying out the Promised Land, ten of them saw giants. Caleb and Joshua saw the faithfulness of YHWH. And because of the bad report of the ten, because of choosing fear over faith, the two spent forty years walking with the unbelievers in circles in the wilderness until the entire generation died out.

            After finally crossing into the land, when Joshua was dividing it between the tribes of Israel, Caleb approached him and said, “You know what YHWH said to Moses...concerning you and me” (Joshua 14:6).

          Caleb had not forgotten. YHWH had promised him an inheritance because he had trusted Him when the others had not. Then he makes a memorable statement. “I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me...My strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming (Joshua 14:10-11).

            Then he uttered these words, “Now therefore give me this mountain” (Joshua 14:12). Not the valley, or the easiest territory, but the mountain. The one where giants remained, the one everyone else would rather avoid.

            Caleb knew giants are never bigger than YHWH.

         In the Scriptures, there is a Hebrew phrase which describes Caleb again and again. It appears in Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua. God said about him, “But my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit with him and followed Me fully, I will bring him into the land where he went, and his seed will possess it” (Numbers 14:24 MEV).

            Caleb followed God fully. In Hebrew, it is Mille achar YHWH. The root of the Hebrew word for fully is “male”. It means “to fill,” “to be complete,” “to be full.” Caleb did not follow God halfway; not when it was convenient; not when everyone else agreed with him. He followed fully.

            Could that be said of you and me? Or do we follow only until it becomes uncomfortable, or until giants appear?

            The life of Caleb exposes how easily we settle for partial obedience. Yet Jesus calls us to something greater. “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

            Jesus said daily. Not occasionally, or when we feel like it, but daily.

      Caleb never stopped believing YHWH was still working. Forty-five years later, he said, “...Because the Eternal goes with me, I will drive them out, just as He has said” (Joshua 14:12 VOICE). His confidence is not presumptuous. It is not in himself, but in YHWH’s presence. The same God who sustained him in the wilderness, parted the Jordan, brought down the walls of Jericho, would give him his mountain.

         At eighty-five, Caleb successfully claimed the hill country of Hebron, drove out the giant warriors, settled his family with generous land inheritances, and finished his life as a faithful leader of the tribe of Judah.

        Caleb not only inherited a mountain; he left behind something worth following. He left behind a life that was full, not of accomplishments, but of faithfulness.

            Inspiration for this post came from Yael's Letters, "Beyond the Jordan, Part 6"

Cave of Pan    Picture courtesy of holylandphotos.org 

​              “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’” (Matthew 16:13 NIV).

        Why did Jesus choose Caesarea Philippi as the place where He asked His disciples this question? It was a place Jews would avoid. 

           It sat at the base of Mount Hermon. This is the mountain where, according to Jewish tradition and 1 Enoch, the ‘sons of God’ (angels) descended, as told in Genesis 6, mated with the daughters of humans, and corrupted humanity, resulting in the Nephilim (giants) and violence on the earth. It was the original spot for the ‘Days of Noah.’

            At the foot of Mount Hermon was a huge cave with a bottomless spring. The pagans named it the Gates of Hades. The cave was believed to be an entrance to the underworld, where spirits entered and exited. It was the place of ritual sex, child sacrifice, and the worship of Pan, the goat god.
            No observant Jew went there – ever.

          It was at this place Jesus asked His question. He didn’t ask it in Jerusalem, or at the synagogue, but at hell’s front porch.

      “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’” (Matthew 16:16 NIV). And Jesus replied, “...on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it’” (Matthew 16:18 NIV).

       Many Bible translations say the gates of Hades will not ‘prevail’ against it. Some Bible scholars suggest the best translation of ‘prevail’ in this passage would be ‘withstand’. The Greek word is katischusousin – from kata (against) + ischus (strength, force, power).

        In other words, the gates of Hades are not strong enough to withstand, hold back, or resist the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and His church. Hell is on the defense. Jesus is initiating the offense.

      At the very place where Satan launched his most devastating attempt to corrupt the DNA of humanity, the very place the nations believed was connected to the underworld, Jesus is saying, “Your time’s up. I have come to take it all back - to reclaim the nations, undo the angels' rebellion, and reverse the corruption on the earth.

      Jesus was sounding the war cry. Not long after, demons were panicking, religious leaders were plotting to kill him, and Rome was reacting.

        And the final checkmate? The cross and the resurrection.

      Today, the modern church often hides from the darkness. Jesus taught His disciples to invade it. “Put on your combat boots. Suit up and advance. The enemy can’t stop you.”

     When God’s people walk in His truth, authority, Spirit, and mission, hell can’t keep its territory. That’s because Jesus has broken its door off its hinges!

Inspiration for this post was taken from "Yael's Letters", December 19, 2025

“Even if the fig tree does not bloom
and the vines have no grapes,
even if the olive tree fails to produce
and the fields yield no food,
even if the sheep pen is empty
and the stalls have no cattle –
even then,
I will be happy with the Lord.
I will truly find joy in God, who saves me.
The Lord Almighty is my strength.” Habakkuk 3:17-19 GWT

“Rejoice at all times” (1 Thessalonians 5:16 BSB)

            If anyone had a reason to not find joy in God, it was Habakkuk. He knew a devastating invasion of his country by the Babylonians was imminent, which would result in social collapse, violence, and destruction.

            He was troubled by the why of the invasion. Why would a righteous God allow wickedness to prevail and use a more evil nation to judge a slightly less evil one? When he heard the full revelation of what the Babylonians would do to his people, he wrote, “...my insides churned. My lips quivered...Decay crept into my bones; I stood there shaking” (Habakkuk 3:16 VOICE).

        Despite all this, Habakkuk made a decision to turn from doubt to worship and chose to rejoice in God’s strength and salvation, even if all his earthly security vanished. He would rejoice not in the harvest, or in answered prayer, but in God Himself.

            And that, I think, is the key. We rejoice in God because of who He is – the faithful God, the God who keeps His promises, the God who cannot lie. The God who leads us through the dark valley, who has promised never to abandon us in the middle, but to take us through to the other side.
            To rejoice in the darkness is to trust the One who holds the universe together by the word of His power. “He (the Son) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power...” (Hebrews 1:3 ESV).

            Habakkuk 3:19 (NIV) says, “...he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.” In other words, God enables us to navigate life’s most perilous and confusing circumstances without falling.
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            Will you trust Him in the difficult times? And better still, will you rejoice as you go through them?

 
        When the Israelites camped in the wilderness, the entire nation was physically arranged around the Tabernacle, where the very Presence of Yahweh dwelt. The Tabernacle stood in the middle of the camp (Numbers 2:2). Everything revolved around it – Israel’s worship, leadership, identity,  even its calendar. The Israelites were not a community “escaped from Egypt”, but a people organized around the divine Presence.

            As modern believers, this thought can make us uncomfortable. We want Yahweh added to our lives, but not centred in them. We want Him somewhere in the camp, preferably nearby for emergencies, but not enthroned, with everything rearranged around Him.

            Israel had no option. The cloud hovered over the Tabernacle by day, and the fire by night (Exodus 40:38). Each day they had a visible reminder they belonged to Yahweh, whether they liked it or not.

       Today, our hearts constantly drift toward self-centred kingdoms – career, comfort, relationships, family, politics, entertainment, sports, money, influence. Anything and everything but Him. Are we treating Yahweh as a motivational accessory who exists to support our life goals?

            But the Torah presents Him as a consuming fire at the very centre of existence itself. Every movement of the Israelites depended on His Presence. “When the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out...but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out” (Numbers 9:17-23).

        Imagine what it was like to live like that. No independent agenda. No self-direction. No manifest destiny. When the cloud moved, you moved. When it stayed, you stayed.

            In Egypt, the Israelites obeyed externally. In the wilderness, they were being taught they were not their own. The Presence of God determined their direction.

            And something fascinating. Some scholars and artists have noted that the different sizes of the tribal populations potentially create a cross-like formation with the Tabernacle at the centre. The is the Torah pointed toward Messiah, long before Bethlehem or Golgotha.

        The same Presence enthroned in the wilderness later takes on flesh and tabernacled among humanity. “And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory...” (John 1:14 AMPC).

         The lesson in the wilderness was that life did not revolve around man, but around Yahweh. That is why idolatry is so destructive. It replaces the rightful Centre. The golden calf, Ba’al worship, the gods of Egypt, our modern culture, all tell us to build our gods around them.

         Today, many of us want salvation from Egypt, but not a life completely reorganized around Him. But the Tabernacle was the centre of the nation. And the closer you moved to the centre, the greater the holiness required.

           The outer tribes surrounded the camp, but the Levites surrounded the Tabernacle and served closest to the sanctuary itself (Numbers 1:53). As you moved toward the centre, holiness intensified. Why was that? In Scripture, nearness to God is never treated casually.
 
          The camp around the Tabernacle was a prophetic picture of what humanity was supposed to be – a people who dwell around Yahweh.

Look at Eden – Yahweh dwelling with humanity
The Tabernacle and Temple – Yahweh dwelling among Israel and enthroned among His people
Messiah – Yahweh dwelling in flesh
Believers – Yahweh dwelling in His people through His Spirit
New Jerusalem – “The dwelling place of Yahweh is with man “ (Revelation 21:3).

          The wilderness camp was not random organization, but prophetic architecture. It was a holy civilization arranged around His divine Presence in the midst of a chaotic world.

            In light of all this, perhaps the most important question of all is, if someone mapped our lives like the camp of Israel, what would they find at the centre?
 
Inspiration for this article was taken from Yael’s Letters, written by an anonymous Christian woman who uses “Yael” as a pseudonym. She describes herself as a “whole Bible believer”. Her mission is to share her love for Jesus and point readers toward Scriptural truth.

          The Hebrew word halak means to walk, to go, to move, to proceed, to live out a course of life. “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in [union with] Him [reflecting His character in the things you do and say...]” (Colossians 2:6 AMP).

            Scripture describes our relationship with God as a walk.
            Enoch walked with God (Genesis 5:24)
            Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9)
            “Walk before Me, and be blameless, God told Abraham (Genesis 17:1)
            God commanded Israel to walk in His ways (Deuteronomy 10:12)
            David requested he be taught the way so he could speak in truth (Psalm 86:11)
            The prophet Micah said God requires us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8)
            The Apostle John wrote, “Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked (1 John 2:6).

            If we pay attention to Scripture, it tells us love walks, faith walks, covenant walks, obedience walks, and discipleship walks. The direction of our feet tells us what kingdom we belong to.
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            This is why halak is so important. It is a manner of life and direction, and not just movement. If we believe God, we walk with Him; if we love Him, we keep His commandments; if we are His, we walk in His ways.
           
         In the Old Testament, God said to Israel, “So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13 NRSV).
Fear Him
Love Him
Serve Him
Walk in His ways
Keep His commandments

         In the New Testament, Jesus told us twenty-one times and in twelve different conversations, to follow Him. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24 NLT). 

          The New Testament uses the same walking language as the Old Testament.
“Walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16)
“Walk in love” (Ephesians 5:2)
“Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8)
“Walk in a manner worthy of God (Colossians 1:10)
“This is love, that we walk according to His commandments (2 John 1:6)

         Halak is connected to the Jewish concept of halakhah, which means “the walk” or “the way one walks out obedience”. We all have a walk, but what is our walk based on? Is it based on:
Scripture?
Tradition?
Culture?
Our trauma?
Our pastor?
Our favourite influencer?
Our flesh?

         The disciples of Jesus left their nets, their tables, their old lives, and physically walked after Him. We learn the ways of the Rabbi, not from a distance, but up close. God is forming people who do not strut religiously, but walk faithfully.

Religious strutting performs for crowds
Covenant walking stays faithful when no one claps
Religious strutting loves titles. Covenant walking keeps on the narrow path
Religious strutting asks, “How much do I have to do?”
Covenant walking asks God to teach us His ways

         Halak does not mean you do not limp.
Peter walked with Jesus, but still got rebuked
Thomas fought with doubt
James and John wanted fire from heaven like prophets with anger issues
Jacob wrestled with God and limped afterwards, but he went away changed
These did not walk perfectly, but they kept walking with the One who did

         From the Scriptures we learn:
Babylon has a way
Rome has a way
The nations have a way
The flesh has a way

         But Jesus is THE WAY, and as the redeemed of the Lord, we are called to walk in His Way.

        I recently read someone’s thoughts about a little child learning to walk with a loving father. The child’s tiny feet stand on top of much bigger ones. Small hands are wrapped inside strong ones.
The child does not yet know the way – does not understand balance, direction, timing. The child trusts the one holding him/her.

Halak – is not:
Cold religion
Fearful performance
A race to earn love

But – Halak is:
Walking with God
Sometimes clumsy
Sometimes slow
Sometimes crying and sometimes laughing
Sometimes falling so badly you don’t know if you’ll ever get up
But the Father’s hands never let go

         A child learning to walk is not rejected for stumbling. The Father expects the process, and has promised to always be there.

Walking with Him is not:
Religious strutting
Public performance
Collecting trophies while our feet are planted in pride

Halak is:
My feet on His
My hands in His
Learning His steps
Trusting His direction, even when it doesn’t make sense to me

         Matthew 11: 28 – 30 MSG says, “Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

       Halak is following our Father’s unforced rhythms of grace and walking with Him all the way home.


Inspiration for this article was taken from Yael’s Letters. As far as can be discerned, Yael's Letters" is a Facebook/online persona managed by a woman writing under a pseudonym. She describes herself as a Christian and writes to share her love for Jesus, desiring all glory to go to YHWH.