Volume 2 ~Issue 10
October 2016 eMagazine of Philippi Prospect Ministries TM
Transition & Direction
Table of Contents 3~Notes from Rebecca 4~PrayerWorks 16-17~Remarkables 18-19~FruitWorks page 5 Restoration & Renewal
20-21~Namesakes
page 11 In the Potting Shed
24-25~ScrollWorks 26-27~Seller of Purple Back Cover~Subscribe to Grace Point!
page 14 StoryWorks
page 6 Herbs of the Field
page 7 180°Works 2© StillWorks Imagery by Rebecca Matthews | © peinture proximite`
page 22 ImageWorks
Hello to all readers! First, I want to thank you for clicking on the link that brought you to this magazine.
Notes from
Rebecca
New this issue: A huge “thank you” to Chris Johnson, for giving us a peek into his former life of addiction, and the hope he has for the future. I am also now including my copyright on my own photos used in the magazine. Each of my photos will have © StillWorks Imagery by Rebecca Matthews at the bottom. If I have turned the photo into artwork, the there will also be © peinture proximite` which is the name of my art gallery. Our goal is to be the bridge for people to cross to when desiring to know more about Scripture from the Hebrew perspective, and how it comes alive when studying the language God used to write it. The purpose of this magazine is for help, hope and encouragement toward our fellow man. We are our brother’s keeper! Our prayer is that there will be a blessing for each reader among these pages. God bless each and every one! Shalom.
Sincerely, Rebecca Matthews Founder, administrator, and ordained minister at Philippi Prospect Ministries Founder, senior editor, writer, publisher of Grace Point! eMagazine Photographer and curator at StillWorks Imagery Artist at (atelier de) peinture proximité (The opinions and/or beliefs expressed in this magazine by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions and/or beliefs of James and Rebecca Matthews, founders of Philippi Prospect Ministries, and Grace Point! eMagazine.) © StillWorks Imagery by Rebecca Matthews | © peinture proximite`
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Š StillWorks Imagery by Rebecca Matthews
Avinu Shebashamayim, I pray for those who are being called to make a transition in their lives, and need Your direction to get it right. Help them to see all of the new opportunities You have in store for them. Keep the enemy at bay, and away from their minds and hearts, so they are not swayed by negativity. In the name of Yeshua. 4
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A Journey to
Newsletter Volume 2/Step 22
Modern compasses are magnetically aligned to “north” so that we can find our way around in the woods without getting lost. Under this measuring system, when facing north, west would be on our left, and east on our right. However, in the Tanakh, YHVH tells us to face east, so that north is on our left, and south is on our right.
We know that YHVH “lives on the sides of the north” and is Mt. Zion (Jerusalem.) Ps. 48:2 We also know that, if we have received Messiah as Saviour, then He resides in us, which is the New Jerusalem. That must be our point of origin, from which we ‘travel’ through this life. While YHVH “lives on the sides of the north,” He can only be reached by facing east. He says in the Brit Hadasha that no one comes to the Father, except through Him. So, we must go east to get to north. Just like we are amazed at the Northern Lights, when we see YHVH through the eyes of the Son, then we will also be amazed by Him.
It is important to be in the correct position so that we can determine which direction to go. If we use the “worldly” system, we will always face the wrong way, and not go the way that YHVH tells us to go. So, which direction are you facing? What directions are on your left and right?
South in the Tanakh, is the desert. While the desert represents the hardships of life, and where we are tested and tried, it is in the desert that YHVH reveals Himself to us. It is where we learn to trust Him, and where we discover our own strengths and weaknesses, and learn how to be led of Him so that we survive our time in a dry, barren land. a publication of Ruth Ministries-The Virtuous Woman,TM a woman's restoration ministry/a segment of Philippi Prospect Ministries
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He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and herbs for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food out of the earth. Psalm 104:14
Who else thinks that sour cream is the best thing to be paired with chives? Chives is the common name of Allium schoenoprasum, an edible species of the Allium genus. A perennial plant, it is widespread in nature across much of Europe, Asia, and North America. A. schoenoprasum is the only species of Allium native to both the New and the Old Worlds. The name of the species derives from the Greek σχοίνος, skhoínos (sedge) and πράσον, práson (leek). Its English name, chives, derives from the French word cive, from cepa, the Latin word for onion. In culinary use, the scapes and the unopened, immature flower buds are diced and used as an ingredient for fish, potatoes, soups, and other dishes. Chives have insect-repelling properties that can be used in gardens to control pests. farmers plant chives between the rocks making up the borders of their flowerbeds, to keep the plants free from pests (such as Japanese beetles). The growing plant repels unwanted insect life, and the juice of the leaves can be used for the same purpose, as well as fighting fungal infections, mildew, and scab. Chives are cultivated both for their culinary uses and their ornamental value; the violet flowers are often used in ornamental dry bouquets. There are three types of chives: Common Chives, Garlic Chives (also called Chinese chives), and Giant Siberian Chives. 6
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the stories of people who have made a decision to turn their lives around
turn around
Basically, how I grew up was not an ideal childhood. I had an older brother that was three when I was born. My parents were married, but it was an abusive relationship. Right after I was conceived, my dad went to prison, so my mom was able to divorce him then. I didn’t grow up with my biological father; I grew up with a step-dad. As I grew up, I still got to see my dad, but he suffered from addiction and alcoholism. I grew up in the projects with my mom, and her boyfriend at the time. When they split up, she met and married another man, who she had a son with, and he was my step-dad basically my whole childhood. My mom was also addicted to prescription medications, but she depression, resulting from a bad childhood, My childhood was very the time I was in first grade until I got to high school, all in conditions. There were many times we went without electricity, and
kept it well-hidden. She suffered from chaotic. We moved about ten times from the same town, but in very poor living many times we went without food.
I have always been independent, so I just took care of myself, looking out after myself. I spent a lot of time with my friends, and spent the weekends nights at their houses. Through them, when I was eleven, I began playing basketball at a local church, in the youth group. I was saved when I was eleven, but wasn’t given much guidance. I didn’t tell too many people about it, but it was an overwhelming, out-of-body, experience. But, afterward, I had some fear come on me. Even though the gospel had just been introduced to me, and it was exactly what I needed to hear, the fear of failure began to rise up. Then, when I was fifteen, it came time to could move in with her. She was a very always wanted. That was really good for Sunday. She kept telling me that I needed should do.
move again. I was tired of it, so I called my aunt, and she said I religious lady, and had the structure and the family that I had me. I stayed with her for a year, and was in church every to get baptized, explaining that it was the ‘next step’ and what I
I had started smoking ‘weed’ right before I moved in with her, and I didn’t smoke as much after I moved in. But, then the fear set in that I would not be able to live the “Christian” lifestyle, and people would judge me. In the little churches that I had attended, the attitude from the people was that I couldn’t mess up. It wa made plain to me that I had to live life the way they said to in order to be la part of them. So, that was why I got out of it. 7
While I was with my aunt, she got pregnant with another child, and started to have problems with her marriage. I don’t know if she talked to my dad (he knew I was not living with my mom), or if it was a decision made on his part, but he moved from South Carolina to North Carolina, and I moved in with him. He worked construction, working ‘shut-down’ jobs, so he would be gone two to three months at a time, so I was essentially living on my own. It was then that I began drinking, along with the pot-smoking, and began cutting class. I lived with my dad for a year. He would be upset with me when he came home to find bee bottles and paraphernalia around the house. That caused a lot of tension between us, and I was just as stubborn and hardheaded as he was. I thought, “I’ll show him,” and moved out on Father’s Day. That’s the kind of spiteful person was then. So, I moved in with my grandmother down the road. My older brother had been living with her. He had moved out from my mom’s when he was thirteen or fourteen, and lived with our grandmother for a few years, but he had moved out on his own by the time I moved in. I stayed with her and finished up high school. I graduated a semester early, and one of my teachers suggested I go to college early. So, I enrolled into Campbell University, near where I am from, which is Bladenboro, North Carolina. It is a small Southern Baptist school. Ever since I was young, I may not have had Jesus in my life, but He was in my heart. But, living it in the day to day, just like the baptism, kept getting pushed to the back. Every time I would set a future time for it to happen, the time would come, and I would push it to the back again. In college, I struggled the first couple of years. In the first year, everything was new to me. I didn’t want to give up being home. IO went home every weekend and partied. I had quit smoking weed, because I was on probation from being arrested when I was seventeen, for possession of marijuana. So, then I began to drink a lot, and that led to Xanax and cocaine. 8
Over the Christmas break in 2007, I had a really bad experience with cocaine, and I thought I was going to die. After that, I quit cocaine, and decided when I went back to school, I would not come back home anymore on the weekends. I knew that would be the best thing for me. I was still drinking and smoking weed, but I had quit the hard stuff. My best friend, who had been thrown out of Campbell, and who I got high with when I was at home on the weekends, was also a seller. One night, just a few weeks after I had gone back to school, he was on his way to sell some cocaine to his friend’s dad, but it was a set-up. He swallowed the bag, which split open, and he died from the overdose. When I heard about it, it just solidified my decision to not do the hard drugs anymore. Then, four months later, my brother, who was bad on pills, overdosed on Xanax and Methadone. So, I lost two people that were very important to me within just a few months. That solidified my decision to not go back home at all. I stayed at school, except to go to the funerals, and I just wanted to block it all out. Then, I began to smoke and drink even more. The death of my best friend and my brother kept me from trying any other hard drugs. My grades improved and, instead of going home in the summer, I went to North Myrtle Beach, and worked a for the beach services there. I did that every summer until I was out of school. I went to school for Trust and Wealth Management, which is like a banking degree. I graduated in 2010, and it was interesting ot me. I have always been good with numbers. Everyone that I knew who had the same degree pretty much were set with jobs when they finished school. But, by the time I had my degree, the economy had failed, and all the banks that had been hiring these kids right out of school, some of them didn’t exist anymore. So, I didn’t have a job, and I didn’t have a plan, so I went back to school and got my Master’s Degree. I took out student loans, which put me in debt. I was still working the summer job at the beach, and it was there that I was introduced to Roxies, but it really wasn’t my thing. I went back home for a short visit after returning to school, and someone gave me some Opana. I was like, “This is what I’ve been missing my whole!” The drinking and the weed did their job for a while, but my use of them became less and less, while the other became more and more. I was basically high every second of everyday. After I finished my Master’s, I went back home and started selling insurance. It was during this part of my life that I began to feel the physical dependency of the drugs, and feeling the withdrawals from not doing it. I would wake up every morning like I had a bad case of the flu. I would feel like I was dying, until I got another one in my body. I left the insurance job and began working for a man that owned about 200 poker machines, which gave me a lot of access to a lot of cash. So, I stole a lot of cash to support my drug habit. 9
After the poker machines were outlawed, I was basically broke, and was hustling money where I could. But, I decided to check myself into a Methadone clinic, but I was only there a month before I was kicked out. I was taking the Methadone, which basically a drug a person takes to take them off drugs, but most people end up getting hooked on that. I thought that since I was taking it, that it was safe to try something harder, so I tried heroin. I continued to do heroin for the next few months, and moved back into my mom’s house. While i was there, I got a call from my cousin. I had not heard from him in months, and thought he might have been in jail. But, he was in a rehab, and had heard from someone in there about my drug use. He said to me that I needed to get help, and I told him that would be great, but I had no money, my family had no money, or insurance. And he said, “What if I found someone that would pay for you to go?” And I said, “Yeah, sure, if you can find somebody.” I was a little arrogant; I didn’t believe he could find someone to pay for me. But, I called a guy in Washington state, and he told me about the Jake Koenigsdorf Foundation. They paid for my first month, so I came to Florence, South Carolina, to The Owl’s Nest. I knew that I had a new grasp at life, a second chance. I started going back to church, and it was then that I finally got baptized. So, instead of getting baptized in a small church, in front of maybe 30 to 50 people, I was baptized in a megachurch in front of thousands, which was really cool. After I finished the program, I went to a sober house, and basically did not follow through with what I was taught. Even though I fought the urge to go back, I eventually fell back into old habits. At first, I used about every 3 months, but those timeframes kept getting cut in half. I got a job in construction, and began doing Subutex during the week. Then, on the weekends, I started doing heroin again. I drove a moped on 8hr trips to get drugs. At the time, it seemed completely rational. I got behind on my rent, and the people I lived with were sober. I was really good at hiding my use; I used the excuse that I was tired from my work, and go to my room and use. It wasn’t long before they figured it out, and did an intervention on me. Even though I didn’t think I had a problem, what finally convinced me to go was that I hated Florence, and wanted to get out. So, I saw that as my chance to leave, and I came to Greenwood to try again. I came to Salvation Oaks Recovery Community here in Greenwood. It was different, because I was different. In Florence, I got involved; I tried to help other guys. But, inside, I was just eaten up with fear about me staying sober. When I got here, I was just here to start over, and thought, “If it happens, it happens.” I did a lot of soul-searching. What I knew was that it didn’t matter what I did while I was in rehab. What I questioned was when I got out. Would I be able to live this life sober or not? I prayed constantly, and got real with God, telling Him I didn’t want to live like that anymore. He answered that prayer through my friend, Brian, who let me move in here. I know that my sobriety is a gift from God, and as long as I don’t give that back, I know I have a chance. I have hope. 10
In the Potting Shed by
Rebecca Matthews
Watering where it is
Needed
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For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn't return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me
void,
but
it
shall
accomplish
that
which
I
please, and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do. Yeshayahu 55:10-11 When we first receive Yeshua as personal Savior, we are but little sprouts breaking for from the earth, in a spiritual birth, much like Elohim brought forth Adam from the ground. In this stage of our spiritual existence, we must be tended carefully, just like seedlings just beginning. The water that falls upon a tender seedling must be soft and gentle, so that it is not washed out of the ground. In this way, a gentle sprinkling can water a number of plants, all at once, and can be watered evenly, without over-saturating some, and leaving others too dry. The sprouts are small enough that water from overhead can flow down between them, sufficiently watering the whole group. From this example, we can see how to teach those newly in the fold, so as everyone gets watered and fed the Living Water. Tis makes it very important for those of us that teach, to discern where a person is in their spiritual growth, and match the teaching to what they need. In the beginning, it can be generalized, but as people mature, they need instruction that is just for them, to help the grow strong at their roots, (the part Elohim sees) even if their foliage has not began to develop yet (the part we see.) 12
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If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be. Qoheleth 11:3
When we have grown and matured, we can withstand a more powerful form of watering, which can include storms, as in the “storms of life.” These are all teachings and lessons as they come to us as we go through life. But, if we have grown more above ground than we have below ground; that is, if our root system is weak, but our foliage is large, then a heavy rain could make us fall over. In this position, we are no good to anyone, even ourselves. And, in some cases, a temporary prop may be put in place while the root strengthens, and this is not a bad thing. Unless, the plant becomes even less stable in its own strength because something else is holding it up. How many times have we seen that with those that claim a salvation, yet they have no real substance? It is important as leaders to know the people who hear our instruction, so that we may be given a word just for them. The very water that they need to fully grow into mature people who can then go on and teach others that are like they once were. The whole point of planting and watering is to see things grow. We know that “Sha’ul plants, Apollos waters, and Elohim gives the increase.” (1 Cor. 3:6) We must do one of the jobs we were assigned to do: planting or watering. The key to watering correcting is to produce strong, healthy “plants” and not hit them with such force that they topple over. A plant’s “mouth” is its roots. That’s where it takes water in. We know of ourselves that if we are really thirsty, we take a drink of cool water. If we choose to take a shower instead of ingest a cool drink, we may get cooled down, but our thirst is not quenched. 13 21
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I remember reading a joke a long time ago where two guys had killed a huge deer with a head full of antlers. They were dragging it by its back legs, with the animal lying on its back, out of the woods to their vehicle. Finally, as they were nearing the vehicle, one said to the other, “This is really hard. Why don’t we drag it the other way?” His partner agreed, but after a while he said, “It’s a lot easier to drag this way, but now we are a really long way from the truck.” Before reading the punch line, this made me scratch my head a little. But, then I read that, instead of turning the deer around, and continuing to pull it in the direction they needed to go, they based their change of direction on how the animal was lying and, even though it was easier to handle, it took them in the opposite direction from which they needed to go.
Moral: Turn your problem around, and keep going in the direction you are supposed to in order to reach your destination. Do not change your direction based on the position of the problem, no matter how much easier it is to deal with, handle or maneuver.
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Every successful organization has to make the transition from a world defined primarily by repetition to one primarily defined by change. This is the biggest transformation in the structure of how humans work together since the Agricultural Revolution. ___
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Bill Drayton
Remark a b l e s
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a closer look at the fruits of the Spirit
Compassion
In Galatians 5:22-23, we are given a list of the fruits of the Spirit. They are the guidelines to which we conduct ourselves in our daily walk. These are nine different aspects of Godliness that we must adhere to in order to live to our fullest spiritual potential. They vary slightly, depending on the translation, but the foundational fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. While at first glance, these all look the same, a closer look reveals small differences in their meanings, which translates to differences in their application and implementation. This article is meant to shed light on each of these nine characteristics of holiness, to explore their nuances and minute differences. Compassion falls under the category of Kindness.
What is it? What does it look like? The modern definition for this word is most often linked to a regretful feeling about someone’s circumstance, without it leading to any action to help. But, what does this word really mean? How do we apply it? And, is there a Scriptural model?
The dictionary describes hope in the following way: 1.
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a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering
dictionary credit
Psalm 103:13-14 Like a father has compassion on his children, so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust. For those of us that fearfully respect Avinu Shebashamayim (Our Heavenly Father in Hebrew), this verse assures us that He will have compassion on us, and help us out of difficult circumstances that the enemy tries to knock us into. This verse conveys a love of a father for his child, and cannot be compared to the relationship we have with our earthly father. 2 Kings 13:22-23 Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. But Yahweh was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet. Sometimes YHVH has compassion on us just because He made a covenant with our forefathers. He will always keep His promises to His people. Luke 10:33-35 But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, 'Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.' It is my belief that the reason the Samaritan had compassion on the man who was beaten and left for dead (as opposed to the priest and the Levite who avoided contact with him) is that the samaritan knew what it was like to be an outcast, and did not want anyone else to suffer in the same way. 19
Benjamin Son of the Right Hand
Our names are more than just what we are called. God gave names, or changed names, in Scripture, in the lives of those whose names were changed. Do up to the character of that name? Or, do you feel
Hebrew Transliteration: Binyamin Hebrew Spelling: ִבּנְיָמִן Anyone with the name “Benjamin” can look very much like his namesake in Scripture. Here are a few examples of the characteristics of the name. It happened, as her soul was departing, (for she died) that she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin. Genesis 35:18 Benjamin’s name is unique in that it was changed immediately after being born. Neither jacob, nor Elohim, wanted his name to be to associated with the sorrow of death. Elohim is wants us to start out associating ourselves with (His) life, and not be marked with death in the form of our name. Judges 3:15,21 But when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised them up a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed...Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body. The Benjaminites turned out to be a tribe with a unique difference in comparison to the other eleven brothers. Although named for the ‘right’ hand, Benjamin, and his tribe, were known to be a left-handed people. This is very significant in a lot of ways. (1) As the last of the twelve sons, he represented the transition from Elohim’s kindness, the right arm/hand, to His judgment, the left arm/hand. So, in keeping with the original purpose of being “renamed,” the name “Benjamin” represents a transition from one thing to another, or a new concept that gets added to one already in practice or existence.
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They can reveal a lot about our character. When it signified that a change was about to take place you have a Scripture-based name? Are you living a name-change is in order? Deut. 33:12 Of Benjamin he said, "The beloved of Yahweh shall dwell in safety by him. He covers him all the day long. He dwells between his shoulders." This verse is referencing the geographical location of Benjamin, tucked neatly between Judah and Ephraim. In the same vein, modern “Benjamin’s” are also represent a geographical transition from one place to another, as in moving house. Genesis 45:12-15 Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here." He fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him. The name represents common ground that is shared between two sets of people,. Genesis 45:22 He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. While “Benjamins”may unknowingly be used to test others, when all is revealed, he will be the recipient of greater favor from the one doing the testing. The types of gifts bestowed on a “Benjamin” will make him able to sustain himself for a long period of time, and also have an assortment of “coverings,” instead of just one.
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What does this picture say to you?
Where do I go from here?
What lies ahead, just out of sight?
Where will this road take me?
How long will I live ‘on the go’?
Who will I meet along the way?
Will I ever get to come back home?
Do I have all I need for the journey?
Many times in life, we are asked to step out in faith, not knowing where we are going, who we will meet, or even what lies around the next bend. To those who have a spirit of adventure see it as an opportunity of a lifetime. Others do not want to leave the comforts of home, and so stwpping out in faith requires more from them. No matter which type we are, or whether we are somewhere between the two extremes, when the journey is over, we will not be the same person who started. 23
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Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down on the earth, and put his face between his knees. He said to his servant, "Go up now, look in the direction of the sea." He went up, and looked, and said, "There is nothing." He said, "Go again" seven times.
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It happened at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a small cloud, like a man's hand, is rising out of the sea." __
1 Melachim 18:42-44
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