January 2017 eShmooze Letter from Word of Messiah of Charlotte, North Carolina, United States for Saturday, 31 December 2016

January 2017 eShmooze Letter from Word of Messiah of Charlotte, North Carolina, United States for Saturday, 31 December 2016
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January 2017
Why Israel?
Though some may question why we choose to travel so far every year, understanding God’s plan for Israel clarifies this issue and leads us to pray and reach out to Jewish people here and around the world.
Why Israel? by Sam Nadler

As you read this, we are preparing to return to Israel for our ongoing ministry to Messianic leaders and outreach to unbelievers in the Land. Though some may question why we choose to travel so far every year, understanding God’s plan for Israel clarifies this issue and leads us to pray and do all we can to reach out to Jewish people here and around the world. To help us better understand, let’s look first at Jacob and Leah (Genesis 29), those through whom God chose to birth a nation and ultimately bring the Messiah into the world.
Why Leah?
Though Jacob loved beautiful Rachel, it was through her weak-eyed sister Leah that God chose to most impact the history of Israel and more abundantly bless the world. The priesthood through Leah’s son Levi would foreshadow the eternal priesthood and sacrifice of Messiah (Hebrews 8:5, 10: 1). The kingship through her son Judah would provide the Davidic dynasty and the eternal King, Messiah Yeshua.
We read in Genesis 29:31, “Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” Barrenness was a genetic family condition for both sisters, just like their Aunt Rebecca and Great Aunt Sarah.
Though God allowed Rachel to remain barren for a longer time, He granted Leah the ability to conceive. But why Leah? Rachel, like the nations of the world, was alluring but spiritually unproductive. Leah was the unlovely and unloved one. In keeping His promise, God chose to use Leah because, in her weakness, she best pictures the people of Israel.
Why Israel?
Like Leah, God chose Israel not because it was the greatest of the nations, but because it was the least (Deut. 7:7-8). Of all the peoples, Israel was the least likely to succeed (apart from God).
Doesn’t it seem ironic that God enabled Abraham and Sarah, an elderly, barren couple not only to conceive, but also to bless “all the nations of the earth” (Genesis 12:3, 22: 18)? For, through the unlikely seed of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Leah, the blessed Redeemer would come.
In each generation, God continued to choose the least. The unloved, weak-eyed Leah, who had no outer beauty, pictures our Messiah. Just as Leah was not attractive to Jacob, Israel did not find Yeshua appealing to their sight. Isaiah wrote that Messiah would have “no beauty that we would desire Him” and He would be “rejected by men,” yet amazingly fruitful and prosperous, for “He will see His seed” (Isa 53:1-12).
God’s choice of Leah demonstrates that it is not our external beauty, but rather God’s eternal blessing that brings true and lasting fulfillment. Yeshua started His hillside sermon, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). The Lord’s love is for the unloved and His grace is for the rejected. Those in this position truly understand that apart from Him they can do nothing (John I5:5).
But Why You?
When each of us see ourselves as we truly are, we will acknowledge that in reality, we are poor. Yeshua goes against the grain of all human judgment as it points out in I Cor. I :20, “God has made foolish the wisdom of the world.” His Kingdom is given to the poor, not the rich; the feeble, not the mighty; the unloved, not the desired. Yes, it is “through weakness His power is made perfect” so we may prove that “His grace is sufficient” (I Cor. 12:9). When we recognize our unloved weaknesses and choose to depend on His grace, then God will use us to be the witness of His everlasting love.
Many believers can feel unqualified to witness effectively to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel.” For instance, Paul was well trained in the Torah, the Hebrew language and rabbinic theology. Yet even with all these credentials Paul was spiritually blind. Only after he was physically blinded could he gain spiritual sight. He could see the crucified One who is the Victor, who overcame death and also saved Paul, and one day would redeem all Israel. Therefore, Paul was unashamed to preach the Good News. He knew that the power to save all who believe is not found in all the qualifications or education that this world can offer, but in Good News alone, “to the Jew first and also to the Gentile” (Rom. 1:16). Like Paul, our main ability to effectively witness to the Jewish people is not in our strength, prosperity or status in the world but by grace alone that God provides. Paul had to become like Leah to be used by God. As with Paul, God sometimes has to make the high places low, for He still chooses the weak and unloved as witnesses of His love and power to all with ears to hear.
Being Unloved
Today, Leah is unloved once again. Following the Holocaust, Israel was tolerated by the nations of the world. But now Israel and Jewish people everywhere are once more the bulls-eye of Satan’s war with God. When Yeshua saw His people, Israel, He felt compassion for them, because they were “harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). Today, Israel is still without their Shepherd and Yeshua still feels compassion for them. Today the harvest is plentiful and the need for laborers remains great. Consequently, we should seize the opportunity to minister God’s grace to the Jewish people. All local churches and believers can take part in ministering His compassion and grace to “harassed and helpless sheep.”
Being His Instrument
Just as God chose Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah, He also chooses us today to point others to Messiah. How will he do this? God keeps His promise and uses each of us just as we are: poor and weak, but trusting in His all sufficient grace and power. Unrecognized by Jacob at the time, Leah was God’s instrument of blessing for Israel’s future; unrecognized by Jacob today, we modern “Leah’s” are God’s present instrument of blessing for Israel. Let us trust in His promises and together reach out to His lost sheep whether they are in Israel, in NYC, or perhaps right next door. For the God of Leah is the Savior of the World.
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2016 Blessings
As another year begins, we want to share what God has done at Word of Messiah this year and thank all who have prayed with us and supported us through 2016.
2016 Blessings

As another year begins, we want to share what God has done at Word of Messiah this year and thank all who have prayed with us and supported us through 2016. This has been a year full of blessings and provision as we have been privileged to minister to many throughout the U.S. as well as overseas.
Last February, during our time in Israel, we were blessed to reach out to Messianic leaders who are reaching Israelis for Yeshua all over the country. While we were there, we partnered with Netivah, Tents of Mercy, and Maoz Ministries in conducting training conferences for Messianic leaders, youth leaders, and congregation planters. We were also able to provide Messianic Discipleship books in Hebrew, Russian, and English to many of the conference participants. Please pray for them that they will, in the words of one of the Israeli leaders, “take what (they) received and prayerfully find wisdom for application.”
In September, we traveled to England where Sam was invited to be keynote speaker at the 150th anniversary conference of the oldest Messianic organization in the world, the British Messianic Jewish Alliance (BMJA). There, we interacted with Messianic leaders from England and Wales and were blessed to see them renew their commitment to keep proclaiming the Good News to the Jew first in their communities through the testimony of healthy Messianic congregations. After the conference, we conducted a one day training course at a local congregation in the Golders Green area of London.
From Phoenix to Richmond to New York, Messianic leaders and congregation planters were equipped and encouraged through our “Developing Healthy Messianic Congregations” conferences. At the end of the Richmond conference, one Messianic leader stated, “I knew I would learn, but I had no idea how much… I wish every Messianic leader could attend this conference so we could all be on the same page.”
We not only conduct conferences for groups of Messianic leaders, we also travel to individual congregations to help address specific areas of need, such as the area of leadership development or support through times of transition. This year we were honored to assist various congregations in Texas, Ohio, and Virginia.
Besides our annual Messianic Women’s Retreat in May, Miriam also spoke at several women’s groups encouraging them with the teaching found in her book Honoring God with My Life which covers Titus 2:3-5. At each of our conferences for Messianic leaders, Miriam met with the leaders’ wives, equipping and encouraging them in their vital ministry roles.
As you know, Word of Messiah also reaches out to believers in churches, teaching God’s Word from a Jewish frame of reference and equipping Christians to reach Jewish friends and neighbors. This year, Sam was invited to speak in over sixty churches of various denominations. Through these speaking opportunities as well as through our outreaches surrounding Passover and the other Feasts of the Bible and Jewish holidays, we have been very blessed to see many come to know Yeshua!
What’s Next?
Please pray with us as we follow the Lord into all He has for us this year. In the coming weeks we’ll be preparing to return to Israel where we will once again be conducting training conferences for Israeli Messianic leaders in Tel Aviv and the Galilee. This year the subject of Discipleship will be our conference focus. During our time in Israel, we will also be meeting with Israeli youth leaders and individual congregation planters around the country.
We already have three Developing Healthy Messianic Congregations conferences planned for 2017, beginning with a Tampa, FL conference from February 19-20. In October, we will be hosting a conference in Chicago, and will also be in Ohio (more information to come). Please pray and spread the word as we desire to reach as many as possible in these strategic areas of the country.
Each month, more people are subscribing to our new Word of Messiah Podcast and this year we will be working towards expanding the reach of this important ministry even more, sharing the Good News with all who are listening in.
Once again, thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. May the Lord bless you and your family in this new year! READ MORE
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Sam Nadler

Upcoming Speaking Events
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