My curiosity was piqued when two of my close, non-Jewish friends told me back in December of 2015 that they were going to celebrate Hanukkah with their families.
Say what now???
They explained that there were blessings from the Lord to be had if one set time aside to observe the Jewish holidays. (My sister just told me that she saw a Gentile interviewed who celebrates the Jewish Feasts, and had this to say: "As I read the Old Testament, I realized that they were called 'The Lord's Feasts', meaning, we should ALL be celebrating them. It was just a given that the early Gentile believers would partake in them!" So there you go!!)
It was seven months after that, that I heard a Messianic Rabbi named Jason Sobel speak for the first time. My life has never been the same since.
In October of 2016, Rabbi Jason explained Yom Kippur to us. That it's a day of forgiveness and wholeness, and that our responsibility is to intercede in prayer for our family, friends, nation, etc. We are supposed to feast before sundown on the evening of Yom Kippur, and then fast after that until sundown the following day.
So I did that! My friends invited me to their house for dinner to "feast", and then I spent that following day praying and fasting. I'd prayed and fasted before, but this time felt different ... more purposeful, and hopeful.
That night I broke the fast with dinner, and went to bed expecting to wake up to abundant blessings!
What happened instead, was my sciatic nerve, which had been causing pain down my right leg for several weeks, was so painful when I awoke, that I could barely stumble out of bed and hobble into the bathroom! My husband asked if I was alright? I told him I didn't know!
I got into that bathroom and in my discouragement and maturity thought, "Really God? THIS is the blessing I get for dedicating yesterday to You?! Thanks a lot!!"
I showered and continued getting ready for work, all the while wincing at the pain radiating down my right leg. NOT COOL.
I don't know about you, but sometimes while I'm getting ready, I'll listen to music, or scripture being read on my phone's Bible App, or in the case of this day, listen to an episode of Sid Roth's It's Supernatural. That morning, I chose to listen to their most recent episode with guest Rabbi Jonathan Cahn who was talking about Yom Kippur. Perfect.
Towards the end of the episode, Rabbi Cahn said that he was going to blow the shofar, and if anyone needed healing, all they needed to do was believe that God would heal them as the shofar was sounding.
I thought to myself, "Why not? Bring it!" So I asked the Lord to heal me as the shofar was blown, and HE DID. I WALKED OUT of that bathroom PAIN FREE, and haven't had an issue with my sciatic nerve since then!! It's been 6 months!!
Oh my goodness, I was SO EXCITED and GRATEFUL to the Lord for having mercy on such a green Yom Kippur observer like myself. He knew my heart was in the right place when I had observed His holiday, and perhaps He allowed my sciatic nerve pain to intensify so that He could show His miraculous power the morning after? Who knows? Whatever the case, the fact remains that I was healed that morning!!
Fast forward about 6 weeks, and I had a doctor's appointment to get a refill on my blood pressure medicine. I've had to take medication plus a diuretic for hypertension the past several years. It's just one of those health issues I've accepted as part of my genetic cross to bear.
At this point, I had actually run out of my prescription 3 months prior and was trying to get by with only taking the diuretic until even that ran out 3 weeks before. Our insurance had changed, which required me to get established with a new doctor, and needless to say, I had put off the whole process way too long.
Before my new doctor came into the exam room, a nurse took my blood pressure. It was surprisingly low ... for me. I remember thinking how odd that was, as I usually have higher blood pressure at the doctor's office than when I'm relaxed at home.
The doctor came in, introduced herself, and asked why I was being seen that day? I told her I thought I was there for a refill on my hypertension medicine, but that after having been off it for 3 months, and off the diuretic for 3 weeks ... I wasn't so sure anymore, because the nurse had just taken my blood pressure, and it was within a good range for me.
She decided to take my blood pressure as well. Same numbers.
She said, "Well, how about I refill the diuretic, and see if these numbers stay the same with just that? Then maybe next time we'll discuss you going off of that as well?" I told her that worked for me!
As I drove home, the Lord brought to mind my healing experience in the bathroom, the morning after Yom Kippur, and how I was so desperate for healing of my sciatic nerve. Then He spoke to my heart, "You called out to Me for healing of just one thing that morning, but you had no idea ALL of the healing I had in store for you."
And He wasn't kidding.
I took the diuretic for a couple of months, and then stopped. My blood pressure numbers have been even better since being off that prescription!
Want more??? Okay!!!
For 10+ years, I've suffered from something the internet calls Golfer's Vasculitis. Look it up. It ain't pretty. Basically, anytime I stand or walk for several hours in one day, like at an amusement park for instance, my legs break out in a most unsightly red rash.
Well, three weeks ago I was at an amusement park for 11 hours (after walking 2 miles the day before), and my legs were as milky white and rash free that night as they were first thing that morning!!!!
COME ON!!! That's the abundant life I'm talkin' 'bout yo!!! WOO HOO!!!!
I may not be Jewish, but my Savior and Healer IS, and if He's wanting to extend blessings to me and my family when we celebrate these Jewish holy days, then WHY NOT?!?!? I am ALL IN.
And now for the icing on the kosher cake: My husband helped me celebrate Hanukkah with our daughters this past December 2016!!! WHAT?!?!?
I KNOW!!!! I'm TELLING you, the BLESSINGS are REAL.
So be encouraged!! And celebrate the Jewish holidays!! Why not?
Shalom!! 💙
