One Step at a Time

Wow! Can you believe it's only one more day until February? Well, I certainly struggle to believe it. It feels as if 2022 only started yesterday - but in reality, it was nearly a month ago!

So much can happen in a month. Sometimes they just fly by and you feel as if you missed something somewhere. That's what January felt like to me this year!

A lot has happened this last month. There has been some progress on the blog at last - even though it is still only ''precept upon precept and line upon line''. But we've got to celebrate the victories, right?

So, let's see. The art section has been launched (yay!) all thanks to some amazing friends of mine who've jumped in and put in so much effort to bless all of you with their wisdom and skill. Give them a round of applause and be sure to check out the amazing work they have done! I am SO blessed to have you as my friends and sisters in Yeshua, girls - thank you so much!

Secondly, we've been working on some of the recipe sections to get them more organized. I don't recommend taking a look at them just yet, though - their environment is still a little chaotic and disorganized! We'll get there, though - hopefully they'll be nice and organized soon!

A book or two have also been added to the Books to Read section, which is a bonus! We have also begun work on the Motivation and Encouragement articles that need to be written - stay tuned so you can see them when they are published!

But most of all, I just want to thank our amazing Abba in Heaven for all that He has done so far to bring us to this point of moving forward, and for all the amazing people He has placed in my life who love and support each other in so many countless ways. He is faithful in everything, even when we aren't, and He makes everything beautiful in it's time. Praise the Lord for His steadfast love for all of us!

Now, just before I sign off for today, I want to share something I was reminded of this last week.

In last week's Torah portion (Parashat Mishpatim) we had a fantastic reminder of some very vital commandments in the Torah. It went through teachings and guidelines on how to live in the family of the Lord. Just as every family has their own rules and traditions that makes that family unique, in this week's (and last week's) Torah portion Abba reminded us of what makes our family in Him special.

He also talked about how He will drive out the Canaanites etc. from before Israel if they will follow His teaching and walk in His ways. One verse that really stood out to me was Exodus 23:30,

''But little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you are fruitful. Then you will posses the land.''

What if that can apply to our own lives in some way?

I think that sometimes we tend to think that we need to fix everything at once. All the little wrinkles in our characters or the habits we know aren't worthwhile we feel we need to eliminate all at once if we want to be truly good people. If we can't get rid of or change all these things on our list in one go, well, we've failed.

That's what I do, anyway.

But that's not the point. He gave us rules and guidelines to help us follow Him. But He never said we have to fight ourselves in order to conquer the land. We all have unique personalities that need to develop. We need to learn to develop our good qualities before we can go on to conquer new areas and territories. We need to be strong in what we already have. The whole little section said,

''I will not drive them out from before you in a single year. Otherwise the land would become desolate, and the animals of the field will multiply against you. But little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you are fruitful. Then you will posses the land.'' Exodus 23:29-30

The Lord gives us just what we need for today. He has placed us in a certain environment and phase in life where we aren't called to fix everything outside of it. We are called to settle the piece He allots to us, and to become fruitful in that area. Not everything at once. If we try to do everything at once, we will only bring sorrow and pain into our lives. He knows how much we can handle, and only gives us what we can bear in that specific moment in time.

He doesn't get angry at us if we can only handle a little at a time, either. You wouldn't yell at a baby who's just learning to walk, ''You're clumsy! You can only take two steps before falling over!''. He is the perfect Father, and loves us where we are, in whatever phase we happen to be in. He cherishes each phase. He loves us where we are at.

So don't lose heart! Work on what you are given to do today. Grow in the good things you know that you are good at. Nurture the qualities you have. Make these things strong.

Does that mean that we should just keep going with the things that we know are wrong? No, of course not. But we need to learn how to just take things one step at a time. Not all at once. Moment by moment. Moment by moment. Just focus on building up the good in that moment, in lots of love and mercy for yourself. Don't beat up the princess belonging to the Lord!

All He asks is that we love and serve Him today, with whatever He gives us. To multiply the good we can do. Stop focusing on all the bad that needs to be fixed, and instead start focusing on what you can do to bring life and light. If you exercise the good in you, it will automatically become easier to shed yourself of the bad. Yeshua has already washed you clean in His blood. Be fruitful where you are. Grow there.

Let's be thankful for His great love towards us, giving us just what we need for the moment.

Shavua Tov!

''For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall again into fear; rather, you received the Spirit of adoption, by which we cry, 'Abba! Father!' Romans 8:15

''Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.'' Romans 12:21

''So then let us pursue what makes for shalom and for the building up of one another. Stop tearing down the work of God for the sake of food.'' Romans 14:19-20

'' - but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.'' Romans 15:19

''But God is faithful - He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can handle. But with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so you will be able to endure it.'' 1 Corinthians 10:13

''Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Messiah.'' 1 Corinthians 11:1

''But thanks be to God, who keeps giving us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah! Therefore, my dearly loved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord - because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.'' 1 Corinthians 15:57-58

''Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.'' 2 Corinthians 4:16

''For if the eagerness is present, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he doesn't have.'' 2 Corinthians 8:12

''For we are His workmanship - created in Messiah Yeshua for good deeds, which God has prepared beforehand so we might walk in them.'' Ephesians 2:10

''Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself as having taken hold of this. But this one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead.'' Philipians 3:13

''... comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good deed and word.'' 2 Thessalonians 2:17