In April of 2014, we went to Israel to lead worship for a group tour led by Pastor Mark Biltz and El Shaddai Ministries. Life-changing! Around June or July, I was worshiping and suddenly heard the LORD say, “These are my appointed times. Will you step into them?”. I had no idea what that meant but quickly said, “Yes!” (out loud, might I add) and physically took a step, symbolically, in the kitchen where I was standing. I just stood there for a few minutes in silence, as if waiting for something very sci-fi (or, rather, supernatural) to happen in my house. Shortly after, I was compelled to look up El Shaddai’s website, as I had still not taken the time to do since being in Israel with them in April. I selected a message of Pastor Mark’s from the archives and couldn’t believe my ears! His topic, The “Moed” – God’s appointed times. That same day, I received in the mail a fire orange shirt as a gift from a friend I had met in Israel. No coincidence, I say!! I have felt the fire in me ever since. It’s the same ball of fire I saw rolling around in front of me like a womb being held with my hands during one of the worship times at The Pavilion in Mobile!
What is it referring to? Leviticus 23 describes it as The Feasts/Festivals of The LORD. I love how verse 2 says, “…these are MY appointed festivals” (emphasis added). They are not man’s ideas or traditions. They are the Father’s heart and they lay out the plans that He has! We the church MUST shift our focus from being preoccupied with God being about OUR business and become wholly consumed with being about HIS! (Please note I said FOCUS and am not implying that He doesn’t join in or add to our labor or that we can’t express our desires to be a pleasing aroma in all we do.) How blessed we are to be able to partake in Jesus and the Father and THEIR festivals that they want us to join in with them!
Back to my story – I listened to as much as I could find! ( If you’ve never kept or celebrated the mo’adim, dig in! If you have, dig in deeper! And may I recommend the teaching series, The Feasts of The LORD, by Mark Biltz.) The season approaching was the fall feasts and I wanted to step in. Then something happened. In August, we got a call from El Shaddai to come visit their congregation in Tacoma, WA. Any guesses when they wanted us to come? You got it – the week of Rosh Hashana, the first of the fall festivals! What a time!!! We returned home and continued observing the rest of the fall festivals. (By the way, our trip to Israel was during the days of counting the omer between, Passover and Pentecost…right in the middle of the spring festivals.)
Since that first invitation to come to El Shaddai, a wonderful relationship has begun and the LORD has placed The Moses’ here in Tacoma to serve with them. We are so aware God has placed us, Father’s Joy, here to take us deeper and to open more areas for Him to use us, in as many ways as we will allow Him to. In all of the hustle and bustle of relocating a family of 6, I became wrapped up in my daily “to do” lists until this past week. I was stopped dead in my tracks by the Holy Spirit. I love His commitment to me! I had gone for a morning run and upon returning I was reminded a mo’ed is approaching. Passover begins sundown of April 2 this year. We will be having a night of worship and prayer the Monday before and getting our hearts prepared for what He is doing. We are praying for you and focusing on this time as a reminder of and stepping into God’s deliverance, provision, acceptance and promises. Like the first Passover, WE are no longer slaves to fear…WE are children of YAHWEH!!!
This year, like every other, is a time God will be moving and speaking during His feasts. He always has been, is now and will continue to be “doing” during these times. Let’s set our eyes like flint, unite our hearts to His and be quick to obey…for it will take us in!!!
Blessings-
Bridget