Philippians 1:6

“I am SURE of this very thing – that He who began a GOOD work in you WILL carry it on to COMPLETION until the Day of Messiah Yeshua”

It is easy for the human heart to get discouraged during times of trial, and to feel as though the difficult circumstances surrounding us are somehow hindering the work of God in our lives. However, the Scriptures paint a different reality in that, despite these circumstances, God is there completing the good work He has faithfully started in our lives. We may not understand how these trials can possibly fit into God’s plans, or how this is part of Him completing the good work He began in us, but we can rest assured that what is written in His Word is true and reliable.

God promises us that “all things work together for the good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes” (Romans 8:28). God also promises us in Proverbs 16:9 that “the heart of man plans his course, but Adonai directs his steps.” These Scriptures should awaken in us an incredible sense of assurance in God’s faithfulness towards us who believe and bring a certain level of hope and encouragement to our hearts. He is the good and faithful Shepherd of our lives, He will never leave us nor forsake us, can be trusted throughout every circumstance, and is the one who began the good work in us and will carry it on to completion. Yes, even now in the midst of this trial, He is completing the work He has started in us all.

The Word of God is alive and active, speaking truth into our lives, helping us establish a firm foundation to stand on while we go through life on this side of eternity. Please take some time to quietly meditate on the passages above and ask yourself these three questions.

1: What truth is being spoken in these passages?

2: What does this mean for me?

3: How should I respond?

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. —James 1:12

As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. —James 5:11

As the last day of this journey into the book of James comes to a close, I want to draw your attention to these two verses in James where he proclaims blessings for those who have persevered. The coronavirus is an invisible enemy and it takes all of us to do our part to follow the guidelines and stay healthy and safe. We will persevere and we will come out stronger on the other side.

The word, “persevere” used in both verses, is the Greek word, ‘hypomeno.’ One of the translations of this word is to remain, specifically to persevere under misfortunes and trials and to hold fast to one’s faith in Jesus and to endure bravely and calmly. I hope and pray that out of this season comes a strong army of Believers who held fast to Jesus and who endured bravely and calmly. What an amazing testimony that would be to the world around us of the unshakeable faith in Messiah.

The beginning of James 5:11 says “we count as blessed” and this translates to the Greek word, ‘makarizo,– interestingly, this word is only used twice in the entire Bible! The only other time it is used is in Luke 1:48, where Mary says, ‘all generations will call me blessed.’ This was right after Mary found out she was going to give birth to Jesus. What great company we are in that when we endure and persevere, we will be blessed in this same way.

Not only will we be blessed, but James 1:12 states that for those who withstand the trial, they will receive the crown of life. This crown is translated as a mark of righteousness given to genuine servants of Jesus. There are many in the Bible who withstood many trials, from Moses and Abraham to Peter and Paul. James specifically mentions Job, who is a great example as he endured many trials. Our lives may feel like the book of Job right now! The word in Greek used to describe Job’s endurance can be translated as patient endurance, steadfastness, and constancy. I pray those are the characteristics each of us develop during this time.

James 5 reminds us of a great promise we can cling to during these times: The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. As I’ve mentioned many times this week, the Lord doesn’t change. Our circumstances may be changing constantly but the Lord remains the same. He is loving and kind, merciful and full of grace. He hasn’t forgotten you and He knows exactly what You are going through. Hold fast to His promises and endure this trial along with Him knowing you will be blessed.

Practical Takeaway: Write down the characteristics you want to display to the world during this season and ask the Lord to help you develop these so you can proclaim His name to those around you.

Ethiopia is on our hearts right now, especially as COVID-19 is devastating countries all over the globe. As one of the key nations in which we minister in Africa, we long for the Kingdom of Light to come in greater measure to this country. Would you join us in praying for Ethiopia, the nation and its people?

Please also pray for Jewish Voice’s work there and for those we minister to and with whom we partner. There is a complex interplay of many social, economic, tribal and religious issues in this land. Our prayers CAN make a difference!

Please pray for:

1. Wisdom and unity of the government in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis and for protection of lives and the economy
2. Preservation of food resources amid crops ravaged by locusts. Pray against hunger as swarms have already affected possibly one million people in Ethiopia alone
3. A calm, orderly process to upcoming government elections, currently postponed due to COVID-19, and God’s outcome to prevail
4. Positive change to come out of the violent response to the Gospel during our Outreach in Northern Ethiopia last month
5. Full restoration, though no one was physically harmed, for any who were the focus of this angry opposition
6. The eyes of those against the Gospel to be opened to the truth
7. Greater freedom of expression for and acceptance of those who believe and proclaim faith in Yeshua (Jesus)
8. Clear direction from the Lord for Jewish Voice as we seek Him regarding how to best minister and reach out to Ethiopia in the months ahead
9. Blessing, favor and creativity for all the Ethiopian congregations and their leaders as they seek ways to continue ministering and preaching the Gospel during this challenging, coronavirus season

Let’s pray:

Father, please shine the light of the Good News and hope of Yeshua in Ethiopia right now. The threat of COVID-19 looms; there are dark predictions about the economy, and even the locusts are creating literal clouds of darkness. Oh Lord, You are the One who can break through every hardship, including the opposition of those who try to snuff out the Gospel’s light. Please, help, heal and save Ethiopia now! You are their Light, their true hope and salvation. In Yeshua’s name, AMEN.

In this season of coronavirus, we are seeing the Lord expose our idols and connect us together to glorify Him! As we keep our eyes focused on our King, we will operate in new ways, creative ways, ways that have been the work of the Kingdom all along. 

One of those ways is prayer! 

Corona, as in coronavirus, means crown. We are not giving coronavirus first place in this season. Instead, as we crown our King Yeshua with all our affection and attention, we can activate our faith and heartily engage in the Kingdom work of prayer.  

Praying together does not require us to be physically present with one another.  The unity (or coming together) that is required to see our prayers answered, to see God's will be done and His kingdom come, is the prayer of agreement, not physical location. It’s the unity of the Spirit as we pray according to God’s Word. 

So, we are putting out a call to our partners to come together as a community of Believers praying from home in this challenging season. And we want to do two things to equip you and to help you engage with us in this strategic prayer initiative. 

• First, we have seven strategic prayers to pray during this time period. They are strategic at any time because they are based on God’s Word. However, particularly in this season when our attention is being diverted in every direction, we need some specific focal points, prayer targets if you will. We want to call our focus back to the Lord's prayer priorities that he shares with us in His Word, and so we are sharing these strategic Scripture prayers with you. 
• Second, we want to give you a tangible way to plug in and show that you are “on the wall” in prayer. We're going to do that through a prayer calendar, where you can commit to a time slot and intercede from home. Let’s mobilize to cover the hours of the days and nights over the next three weeks. This is an invitation for us all to answer the Lord’s call to watch and pray so we can see His Kingdom come on the earth in answer to prayer. 

Here is a shortened version of the 7 Strategic Prayers for this Season. You will receive the full version when you sign up for your prayer slot:  

• Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for Israel and the Jewish people 
• Seek God for the city (your city), the nations, and leaders 
• Pray for salvation for the Jewish people and their neighbors around the world 
• Petition God for global revival and the awakening of the Body of Messiah 
• Intercede for healing from COVID-19 and other infirmities of body and mind 
• Pray for your sphere of influence and the people and places God is putting on your heart 
• Finally, pray for Jewish Voice Ministries as we, like you, navigate this unprecedented time along with all its challenges and opportunities 

Below is the link to the 7 Strategic Prayers Schedule for Monday, April 27th to Monday, May 18th. When you sign up to pray from home, you will receive an email reply including the full version of the 7 Strategic Prayers for this Season. 

One of the most magnificent and mysterious ways that God enlists our partnership in His plans and purposes is through prayer. Do not minimize the effectiveness of your prayers. Do not default to saying, “Well, at least I can just pray,” or “I suppose all I can do is pray.” Determine to take your place in God’s presence and pray! 

Your active, effective prayers can impact individuals, communities, nations and the globe. So as a community of prayer, praying from home, let's begin! 

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. —James 5:13-16

Social distancing sounds like the opposite of Christian community. How are we to be the church body in isolation in our homes? Although this is an unprecedented time in our history, it shouldn’t give us the excuse to disengage with our communities. It may look different, but it can be just as fruitful especially with the technology we have available to us today.

James reminds us that we can still pray for others! He says if we have friends or family in trouble, let them pray! This is a perfect time to ask others how you can pray for them and in turn they will likely ask you the same thing. Take this time to engage with the Lord and become a prayer warrior! Maybe this isn’t something that you’re used to, but I know the Lord will honor the time as He encourages us to pray for each other and bear each other’s burdens.

Many of you may have a regular Bible study or prayer group you attend. Now that we can’t gather in small groups it may feel like you are missing that community. Perhaps you can still gather virtually, whether that’s a phone call or a video conference. I participate in a Bible study where one of the members actually lives in another state. We bring her in on an iPad and pass her around the room so she can stay involved in the conversation. At first it seemed kind of odd but now we wouldn’t have it any other way; it allows her to stay engaged in a small group while we get to have the honor of connecting with her each week.

The second part of this Scripture reminds us to sing songs of praise if we are happy. It may be hard to relate to this emotion of happiness right now, but I encourage you to praise the Lord, it will indeed make you feel happy! Worshipping the Lord and glorifying His name will bring great joy and will also help you not to think so much about the current situation. No matter what our circumstances are you can take comfort in the fact that God doesn’t change; He is the same yesterday and today. Praise Him for that!

Find a way to stay connected to your community. We need each other now more than ever to get through this! The Lord created us to be in relationship with each other; be intentional and lean in to your fellow Believers for support. The Lord will bless the time and you may grow closer to each other and to Him as you are vulnerable about what each person is dealing with in this difficult season. We all have an amazing chance to draw closer to the Lord and each other. How awesome it would be if we can come out of this time with even stronger communities than we had before!

Practical Takeaway: Create a prayer board and pray for those around you consistently. Spend time worshipping the Lord each day. Find a way to stay engaged in your spiritual community through text, email, video calls, etc.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth change”

Psalm 46:2-3 (TLV).

Shalom,

I want to acknowledge that right now is a dark hour. Many of us have friends or even family members who are battling COVID-19. And the death toll from this pandemic continues to climb across the globe. It’s a time of struggle.

I find it interesting that, earlier this week, we observed what is probably the darkest hour in the history of the Jewish people. On Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, we remember the six million who perished during World War II.

I believe the present situation gives us a small taste of what the Jewish people went through in their dark time. We are isolated in our homes, away from friends, church family and even loved ones, fearful of an outside force.

To put it in perspective, though, 40,000 people have died in the United States in three months. There were days in the death camps when more than 40,000 Jewish people were exterminated in a single day.

But here’s the good news – for all of us. The Jewish people survived that and every other dark time in their history. They survived because God is faithful! He is our refuge and strength. And He’s going to be faithful to see you through this dark hour. In fact, what I am sharing in this update today are two examples of how God is working through difficult times to accomplish His will.

First, a couple of news stories about how the tide appears to be starting to turn in Israel in relation to COVID-19. And then, I have a special interview with two of our staff members about what happened during our most recent Medical Outreach in Enewari, Ethiopia. You’ll hear how God was at work in mighty and amazing ways during the persecution and violence our team experienced.

Israel ranked “safest country” in terms of COVID-19 response and treatment

When it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel remains the safest country on Earth, according to a new investigation by the Deep Knowledge Group.

Israel also made the list of top ten countries with the best treatment efficiency and scored best in the field of rapid emergency mobilization.

Experts have noted that Israel’s experience with emergencies is helping to get the population through the pandemic without the number of deaths in other modern countries like Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to Israel Today.

Israel was one of the first countries to halt international flights and enforce a lockdown to help contain the virus outbreak. In addition, in times of crisis, the country is able to quickly put their best minds to work to come up with creative and out-of-the-box solutions to problems.

Netanyahu okays plan to gradually ease restrictions, but protests still carried out

Late last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked of a general plan to gradually reopen parts of the economy and ease “stay home” orders. No specific timeline was given.

Netanyahu said new guidelines would include the reopening of certain stores and a return to work for some employees in the manufacturing and service industries. There will continue to be various restrictions that must be followed.

“Until today we took measures to restrict movement… to reduce the number of people at work… to track confirmed cases,” Netanyahu said, according to The Times of Israel. “These measures have proven themselves… these positive results enable us to ease the restrictions gradually.”

The situation will be reassessed in two weeks, and if improvement continues, there will be a further easing of restrictions. But if another outbreak occurs, restrictions will be put in place again, according to Netanyahu.

Even with these announcements, protests against the restrictions took place last weekend. On Sunday, 2,000 Israelis gathered at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv to protest anti-democratic measures passed during the COVID-19 crisis and the policies of Netanyahu. Protestors maintained social distancing while wearing protective face masks.

Last Thursday, two other protests took place, one involving hundreds of ultra-Orthodox residents in Jerusalem protesting the lockdown imposed on them for not heeding directives the rest of the country has been forced to follow.

From Rabbi Jonathan Bernis, President and CEO of Jewish Voice:

Dear Partners and Friends of Jewish Voice,

I trust all of you are doing well through this bizarre and challenging time. Although the quarantine period and social distancing measures will eventually come to an end (and soon I hope) the economic fallout will take far longer to recover from. But we will!

Did the Lord “cause” this to happen? I don’t think So. But it certainly is a wake-up call to us all. And at some point in the future, something like this will happen again....and most likely it will be worse. I can’t read my bible and ignore the scenario of chaos and upheaval that occurs in the days preceding the return of Messiah. It is my conviction we are living in those days now.

We need to learn and grow from this experience. God’s intent is always to turn even the worst trials and tribulations of life to good for those who love Him (see Romans 8:28). That means we derive greater long-term benefit for our lives as a result of the short-term suffering and adversity we endure. Through those terrible times when life brings us so low all we can do is look up, we enjoy some of the deepest times of fellowship with the Lord. Often, this realization becomes much clearer in hindsight.

He wants us to come out of this pandemic, home- quarantine with a renewed commitment to spend more time with Him and get our homes in order. My personal commitment is to come out of this better than I entered into it.

I’ve been challenged (once again) to prioritize prayer, time in his Word and just making more time to listen. We must be able to hear his voice if we are going to be led through what lies ahead. The ability to hear his voice is a pursuit and something we need to cultivate.

May the Lord do great things in your life today and through the remainder of this upheaval. Thank God, His Kingdom is stable and unshakable. He remains on the throne!

Blessings and love to you all.

Jonathan