Where's Faith When You Need It?

I recently discovered that I have Jewish ancestors on my mom and dad's sides of the family. It was hard to take seriously because it was mostly rumors in the family and the subject of jokes. On my dad's side, his mom's family barely escaped from Germany. They left everything behind. It was rumored that it was my dad's dad that had Jewish ancestry. I could never make the timing justify. I never met my grandmother Fox. She died long before I was born. That's why I didn't think of her having Jewish ancestry. I don't know when the family stopped observing and teaching the Jewish custom and feasts. I've only begun to recover some of it for myself.

Not that long ago my mother passed away. I searched online to find one side of mom's family to let them know. I thought well let's search the Misner name and see what happens. The name goes all the way back to Biblical times. Whether they remember it or not, they have Jewish ancestry. Their name is spelled three different ways, but doesn't matter. If you have this last name, you are probably related despite the spelling.

The families want to be part of Levi and Judah. (of course) Maybe Levite is mixed in me. The Rolfuses claim they come from  Levi. God's been saying Manasseh for a while. I'm thinking...God, this is my imagination. This can't be true.  Manasseh means "made to forget." I believe what God says. I don't know why God has revealed this to me at this time, but He has.

Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, "God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father's family." (Genesis 41:51)

Has anyone else had this happen? Is God reaching out to His people and helping them remember their heritage? Is He restoring our heritage?

This is from Worthy News Brief - January 22, 2014.  Please enjoy.

Where's faith when You need it?!

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

I could tell you about countless difficult and drawn out circumstances over which we have tried to stand firmly in faith until they finally came to pass. Sometimes we made it and sometimes we were weak and began to doubt. But God mercifully came through for us on most of these things, despite our lack of strength to stay faithful.

There are some things in our lives that take a lot of prayer and a lot of faith to overcome. But why is it so hard sometimes to stand in faith for those things?

D.L. Moody spent many hours praying for faith. He once said, "If all the time I have spent praying for faith was put together, it would be months. I thought that someday faith was going to come down and strike me like lightening. But faith did not come. Then one day I read in the 10th chapter of Romans, "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." I now opened my Bible and began to read God's Word and faith has been growing ever since."

Much of what we believers describe as 'faith' has nothing to do with Biblical faith. Our faith must not be based on emotion, or want, and not on the latest exciting conference or revival. But it must be centered on God's Word, on Yeshua (Jesus), His death and resurrection, His salvation. The Living Word is the eternal, everlasting love of God which has been poured out upon our lives.

Let's read, hear, apply and live the Word today, and we will grow strong in faith!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Baht Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah
Currently in Orlando, Florida