Month: September 2022

Verses of God’s Blessings

/ Karen / 4 Comments

“Yevarekhekha Hashem”

Thirteen specific Bible verses communicate the Hebrew phrase above, which means, “God has blessed you.” As we enter into celebration of the three Fall Feasts (Trumpets, Atonement, and Booths), may these sacred words bring divine blessings to your homes, family, and friends. May you receive God’s blessings of generosity, blessings of plenty, and the blessings of the Holy Land. May these verses bring the favor of God upon every believer in a new and powerful way .

The Priestly Blessing

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”

Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV

The Blessing in Zion

“Now when the Lord your God blesses you with a good harvest, the place of worship he chooses for his name to be honored might be too far for you to bring the tithe. If so, you may sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds, put the money in a pouch, and go to the place the Lord your God has chosen.”

Deuteronomy 14:24-25 NLT

The Blessing for the Needy

“Give it to the Levites, who will receive no allotment of land among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all your work.”

Deuteronomy 14:29 NLT

The Blessing of the Holy Land

“There should be no poor among you, for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.”

Deuteronomy 15:4 NLT

The Blessing of a Good Heart

“Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.”

Deuteronomy 15:10 NLT

The Blessing of Giving

“Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest to honor the Lord your God. Bring him a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him.”

Deuteronomy 16:10 NLT

The Blessing of the Festivals

“For seven days you must celebrate this festival to honor the Lord your God at the place he chooses, for it is he who blesses you with bountiful harvests and gives you success in all your work. This festival will be a time of great joy for all.”

Deuteronomy 16:15 NLT

The Blessing of Propriety / Commerce

“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin.”

Deuteronomy 23:21 NLT

The Blessing of Generosity

“When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do.”

Deuteronomy 24:19 NLT

The Blessing of the Return to Judea

“How long will you wander, my wayward daughter? For the Lord will cause something new to happen—Israel will embrace her God.”

Jeremiah 31:22 NLT

The Blessing of Jerusalem

“May the Lord continually bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live. May you live to enjoy your grandchildren. May Israel have peace!”

Psalms 128:5-6 NLT

The Blessing of the Servants of God

“Oh, praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
    you who serve at night in the house of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward the sanctuary,
    and praise the Lord.

May the Lord, who made heaven and earth, bless you from Jerusalem.”

Psalms 134:1-3 NLT

The Blessing of Those Who Toil

“While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. ‘The Lord be with you!’ he said. ‘The Lord bless you!’ the harvesters replied.”

Ruth 2:4 NLT

Dear Father, thank you for Your divine blessings. We open our hearts to receive from Your hand. We worship you, Lord, with praises and thanksgiving. In Jesus’s, Name, Amen.

Verses of God’s Blessings by Karen Jurgens copyright 2022 All rights reserved

Let it Rain

/ Karen / 6 Comments

“It came about at the seventh time, that he said, “’Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.’” 

1 Kings 18:44 NASB

It’s been a sizzling summer in Texas. For months, dry, cracked earth has been begging for a drink. Grass—green last week—broils in the heat, turning yellow. Scorched air sucks up every droplet of water from the sprinklers as it makes rainbows through the sun’s reflection. Moisture never reaches those wilted blades with open, thirsty mouths. Trees’ leaves flip over, showing only their undersides to the blazing heat. All things green pant through the day, melting in surrender as the sun dissolves under the horizon. Darkness removes the fire but not the hot simmer that radiates incessantly from the parched ground. No relief is in sight.

Our spirits sometimes travel through deserts, just like Texas in August, begging for rain from heaven. The skies turn to brass, and we wonder if our prayers ascend higher than the treetops. Or do they lay with the straw that used to be grass? No answers, just silence and heat … so, we pray for rain. And watch.

That’s when it happens.

According to the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 18, a cloud the size of a man’s hand formed at the horizon, promising a coming deluge after a long drought. The clouds bubbled and gathered until the entire sky darkened with promise.

He waited … then felt droplets splash, becoming pelts of drenching wet.

In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. 

1 Kings 18:45 NASB

Like Elijah, let’s rejoice and dance in the rain, thanking the Lord for His answer. His living water brings our spirits back to life, opening the floodgates of communion with our Saviour, and once again we come alive in Jesus Christ through the power of His Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for reviving us today with an outpouring of Your anointing. May the floodgates of heaven open and may we testify of Your glory, In Jesus’s Name we ask and receive, Amen.

Let’s dance and worship in the rain with Michael W. Smith today and refresh our spirits. It will be the best five minutes of your day, I promise.

Let it Rain by Karen Jurgens copyright 2016 and 2022 All rights reserved

A Season of Spiritual Renewal

/ Karen / 6 Comments

“Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, ‘Take away all guilt
And receive us graciously,
So that we may present the fruit of our lips.'”

Hosea 14:2 NASB

After a dry season, do you feel God tugging at your heart? The fall season highlights three Jewish feasts which usher in a time of spiritual renewal where we turn our hearts and minds back to God. This time of inward self-assessment leads us to repentance and a change of course. It’s a spiritual reset where we confess our sins, forgive those who have sinned against us, and give offerings for a blessed new year. This forty-day Jewish cycle, called Teshuvah, reminds us of God’s mercy as well as our need to repent and forgive others.

What is the connection between Moses and Teshuvah?

We might all agree that Moses, as meek as he was, had an anger problem. Although he grew up as the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, he was still a Hebrew boy with a burning hate of injustice. As a young man, he witnessed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave who toiled in his labor.

So he looked this way and that, and when he saw that there was no one around, he struck and killed the Egyptian, and hid his body in the sand. 

Exodus 2:12 NASB

After this act of murder was disclosed to Pharaoh, Moses’s fear of execution became the catalyst that propelled him out of the palace and into hiding. He moved to the land of Midian where he married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, and tended his father-in-law’s flocks. Moses expected to live and die in Midian as a simple shepherd.

But God unexpectedly intervened.

No one was more surprised than Moses when God spoke to him from a burning bush. Although God tapped him with the incredible assignment of leading the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, Moses balked. He argued that Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to him, and he was terrified to be a spokesman to the Hebrews. God reassured Moses by giving him miracle power to turn his staff into a snake, and He chose Aaron to do the speaking for his brother.

Let my people go!

Moses struggled with Pharaoh over permission for the Israelites to go worship in the desert, which was his excuse for the people to leave. But after God sent the death angel to every firstborn Egyptian child, Pharaoh relented. Their escape was a nail-biter as God miraculously parted the Red Sea for the Hebrews but allowed it to close on top of the Egyptians, who were in hot pursuit.

So the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.  When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.

Exodus 14:30-31 NASB

A reflection of God’s righteous anger

When He had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.

Exodus 31:18 NASB

We can only imagine the holy mountaintop experience Moses shared with God as he received the Ten Commandments. Before he descended to the people, however, God told Moses that the Hebrews were worshiping a golden calf in direct violation of His commandments. In His burning anger, God vowed to destroy the people but still make Moses a great nation. Moses, however, pleaded with God to forgive the Hebrews and give them another chance. In the end, God relented.

But this anger didn’t stop with God. When Moses saw what the people were doing, he became righteously outraged and threw the tablets to the ground, shattering them. Then Moses and God both punished the people.

Then he took the calf which they had made and completely burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.

Exodus 32:20 NASB

Then the Lord struck the people with a plague, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

Exodus 32;35 NASB

The Establishment of Teshuvah

Moses ascended a second time up the mountain for a new set of tablets to replace the ones he had broken. Israel spent those forty days repenting and atoning for their sins while Moses met with God, thus establishing the season called Teshuvah.

Jews observe this fall season, the moadim, which is a forty-day season of repentance and forgiveness. In 2022, or the Hebraic year 5782, this cycle of spiritual renewal begins during the Hebrew month of Elul, from August 29th to October 5th. Teshuvah involves participation in three basic steps:

  • The first step is to repent of sin and return to God. As we change course, we pledge to not return to our former sinful ways, but to leave them behind forever with God’s help and strength.

I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

Acts 20:21 NIV
  • Forgiveness also plays a key role. Not only do we need to ask and receive God’s forgiveness, but we also need to actively forgive those who have sinned against us.

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your offenses.

Mark 11:25 NASB
  • Last is self-assessment where we look inwardly and examine our hearts.

Search me, God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

Psalm 139 23-24 NASB

How does Teshuvah apply to Christians?

Christians initially repent of sin and receive forgiveness when we accept Jesus into or hearts as our Lord and Savior. We don’t wait for a specific date on a calendar to draw close to God or forgive others. Our walk of repentance and forgiveness is ongoing from the point of salvation and continues for the rest of our lives.

Thus, Teshuvah reminds us of God’s mercy and our need to repent and forgive others. During this season, we look toward a good year and seek the favor of God in the coming (Jewish) New Year.


Create in me a clean heart, God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Lord, open my lips, So that my mouth may declare Your praise.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.

Psalm 51:10, 15, 17 NASB

Dear Father in heaven, draw us close to You during this season of repentance and forgiveness. May we rejoice in Your free gift of salvation, and may we forgive people who have hurt us in any way. Fill us up with the anointing of Your Holy Spirit, and bless us with a peaceful life full of abundant joy. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

A Season of Spiritual Renewal by Karen Jurgens copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved