Joyful Feast of His Birth
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Dearly beloved Citizens of Heaven,
Now, when it seems that we have arrived so much closer to his Second Coming, I remind you of the words of Yeshua to His disciples: "Take heed that no man deceives you, for many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Messiah; and shall deceive many. Many false prophets will arise, and will deceive many, and because lawlessness is increased the love of many will grow cold, but the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved." (Mat. 24:4, 5, 11-13)
Soon we will celebrate Hag Hamolad, - The Feast of His Birth – but for now we celebrate The Feast of Lights, HANUKKAH, the Feast of Cleansing and Rededication of the Temple, to worship the One True GOD.
Hanukkah is also one of the Feasts of Deliverance of God’s Chosen People. During this Season, we as Messianic Jews celebrate Hanukkah not only because of the great deliverance from the wicked hands of Antiochus Epiphanes, but also because of the birth of our Messiah, who is the Light of the World. It is a time of joyful friendship, celebration and thankfulness for all the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us. Some people have asked me: “Why do we celebrate Hanukkah?” My answer always will be, because Yeshua - Jesus our Saviour has done it. It was during Hanukkah, when Yeshua made it clear who He is.
"Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him. How long do you make us to doubt? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly. Yeshua answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life;” Surely He didn’t tell them “I am the Messiah”, but He told them “I and the Father are One” (John 10:22-39).
Now as we celebrate HIS First Advent we are also reminded that through His Sacrifice, He made us His Temple, where the true worship is to come from. Let us never forget that He was Born to Die for me and you. Praise be your name Yeshua for coming down to illuminate us, and to become our Light. Through Him we may be lights in this world that needs His LIGHT so much.
I just returned from eight fruitful weeks of ministry in Romania and Israel. While in Israel I conducted a group from Bucharest Beit Hasdo Messianic Congregation where I had the privilege to baptize one of them of whom we had been praying for, almost fifteen years. PTL!
Every single time I visit Israel I find it more and more fascinating. Jerusalem is shaping to become the capital of the world - not only of Israel. By the way, praise the Lord for President Trump who had the Courage to declare JerUSAlem the capital of Israel. Keep him in your daily prayers. He surely needs it. He not only promised that, like most of his predecessors, but he fulfilled his promises. If we keep praying for our President, America will be great again!
Will you also keep praying for the workers in Romania and in Israel that they may successfully bring the Good News to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles, as well? We are also in much need of your prayers.
Like most FAITH Ministries, we have many challenges. Still, we thank God (and all of you that have supported this ministry, either financially or and in prayers) that He has never left us alone in this struggle. I ask you to try helping us with a regular monthly gift, even if you only receive a letter every other month. WE NEED YOU. Our financial support for 2017 was a good one but we are still much behind our budget. We trust the Lord Yeshua to move upon many hearts who read this letter to send a special gift to the Jesus of Israel Ministry. Let us make a difference in this MONTH OF GIVING! Won't YOU be a part of reaching out to the Jewish people and help us?
With all our love,
Theo Ben-Abraham Smilovici
Executive Director Jesus of Israel Ministry