Friend, ask, seek, knock: keep coming to your Abba!

Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

After talking about pride, discernment, and caring for what is holy, Yeshua (Jesus) now turns to give his disciples one of the most touching illustrations in the whole of the Sermon on the Mount.

After having cautioned them not to pass severe judgments and not to present pearls before swine, He wishes to make certain that they do not leave with a distorted understanding of the Father. God is not far away. He does not hold back what he has. He is not waiting to catch anyone in a mistake. He is a Father who gives.

Notice the order: ask, seek, knock. These words show an active life, not a passive one. Someone who asks knows they need something. Someone who seeks believes there is something worth finding. Someone who knocks trusts that a door can open. Asking is the simplest step—just making a request with faith.

Seeking takes effort and a heart that is ready to search. Knocking means not giving up, staying at the door until it opens. Yeshua teaches that prayer is not something passive. It is an active relationship, and at every step, the Father responds.

In Hebraic thought, prayer is more than just telling God what we need. It is about building a relationship. The word for prayer, tefillah (תְּפִלָּה), also means self-examination and coming to God with an open heart. When we ask, we are also being searched. When we seek, we are shaped. When we knock, we learn patience as we wait at the door.

Yeshua uses an example everyone in his audience would understand: the love a parent has for their child. Would any father give his son a stone when he asks for bread? Or a snake when he asks for fish? The idea is almost unthinkable, and that is the point. No good parent would betray their child's trust. If imperfect people can give good gifts to their children, then surely our perfect Abba in heaven knows how to give good things to those who ask.

This idea is at the heart of God's Kingdom. Many people worry that God is stingy, that he is testing them, or that his silence means he is saying no. But Yeshua puts these fears to rest with simple logic: if you, with all your flaws, can love your children, then your perfect Father in heaven loves you even more. He is not looking for reasons to hold back. He is looking for a heart that is willing to ask.

Sometimes, a delay is not a refusal. The door might still be closed because you have not finished knocking. The answer may come at just the right time, even if you have to wait a while. But the Father's nature does not change while you wait. He is always good, always listening, and working out each request with wisdom, seeing things you cannot yet see.

Ashrei—blessed—is the person who comes to the Father with childlike trust, asking boldly, seeking with patience, and knocking again and again. He does not hold back in fear, because he trusts that the One who hears him loves to give good things to His children.

Friend, do not let doubt keep you from asking. Do not let past disappointments make you think heaven is silent. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. The door was never truly closed to you. It was just waiting for someone brave enough to keep trying.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Friend, you were made to steward what is holy!

Matthew 7:6 Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

Yeshua (Jesus) just warned us not to judge others with pride or without self-reflection. He told us to remove the plank from our own eye before addressing the speck in someone else’s. Now, He gives another warning: Kingdom mercy is not carelessness with what is sacred. Pride needs correction, and Yeshua tells us not to act that way. At the same time, wisdom helps us see when something holy is being rejected, and Yeshua tells us to notice that too.

At first, this verse might sound harsh, but Yeshua is not telling us to look down on others. He is teaching us to be wise. We should treat what is holy with care and not put what is precious in places where it will be ignored or ruined.

In the Hebraic mind, holy things were never ordinary. The word 'holy' comes from 'kadosh,' which means set apart and belonging to God. People treated sacred things with respect, not carelessly.

When Yeshua says not to give what is holy to dogs, He means wild, unclean animals, not pets. These animals cannot value what they are given. In the same way, pearls given to pigs are not appreciated—they are just trampled, because the pigs do not understand their value. The lesson is not that the pearl is less valuable, but that it should be given where it will be received.

Not every heart is ready to receive what is holy. Not every conversation is fruitful. Not every sacred truth should be handed to someone who only wants to mock it, twist it, or tear you apart with it. That is not bitterness. That is wisdom.

The Kingdom calls us to love people, bless our enemies, and show mercy, but it does not call us to be foolish with what God has made sacred. Love does not require pouring holy things into hardened contempt forever. Mercy does not mean endless arguing with those who have already decided to trample what is precious.

Yeshua lived by this wisdom too. He taught crowds openly, but shared deeper truths privately with His disciples. Before his accusers, He stayed silent. When religious leaders tried to trap Him with questions, He answered in ways that revealed their motives instead of playing along. He loved everyone perfectly, and He still did not give holy things to hardened hearts just because they demanded access.

Some believers think that being careful with what we share means we do not love enough. They feel they must answer every accusation and convince every critic. But Yeshua teaches that there is a time to speak and a time to stay quiet, a time to offer and a time to walk away.

A pearl does not lose its value just because a pig steps on it. In the same way, your obedience to God is not less important if someone rejects it. The real issue is not the pearl's value, but the heart of the person receiving it. This is where discernment leads to maturity in the Kingdom. A mature disciple learns to ask God: Is this person open to truth or only looking for a fight, and is this the time to speak or the time to protect what is holy and move on?

You have holy things in your life that deserve careful attention: God’s Word, your story, the changes He has made in you, your calling, and your close relationship with Him. Not everyone should have access to these things. This is not pride; it is good stewardship. Humility helps you see your own faults, and discernment helps you avoid giving precious things to those who will not value them. Both keep your heart soft and your choices wise.

Ashrei, blessed is the one who knows the difference between mercy and misplaced access, who loves without surrendering wisdom, and treasures what God has made holy. Blessed is the one who can walk away without hatred, be silent without fear, and guard sacred things without apology.

Friend, so do not let your heart become hard; become wise. Keep loving others, but stop giving what is precious to those who do not value it. Let God show you when to speak, when to wait, and when to trust Him with the situation. The Kingdom is careful with its treasures, and you should be too.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: If you’ve already picked up a copy of The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed or Identity in Messiah Revealed, thank you! I pray these devotionals are helping you grow deeper in God’s Word and in your walk with Him.

If you’ve had a chance to read either book, I’d be greatly appreciative if you would take a moment to leave an Amazon review. Even a few sentences about how the book encouraged or impacted you can make a real difference in helping others discover it. Thank you again for your prayers, encouragement, and support!

Friend, you can't perform delicate surgery with a plank in your Eye!

Matthew 7:3-5 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Yeshua (Jesus) paints a memorable scene in the Sermon on the Mount. He describes a man who notices a speck in his brother’s eye while ignoring a plank in his own. The picture is almost funny, and that’s intentional. Imagine someone with a board sticking out of his eye, trying to help his brother with a tiny splinter. Yeshua was not only correcting actions. He was revealing a heart issue, using humor so the lesson would stick.

We can spot a tiny bit of sawdust in someone else’s eye, even from far away, but often miss the piece of wood in our own. This isn’t because our eyesight is bad. It’s because we don’t look at ourselves as closely as we look at others. The speck in the other person’s eye might actually be there. Yeshua doesn’t say there’s nothing wrong with the brother. The problem isn’t noticing something in someone else. The problem is seeing faults in others that we ignore in ourselves. The real issue is the order of our actions. We want to fix others before letting God do His deep work in us.

This is where hypocrisy becomes a real danger. Hypocrisy isn’t just struggling with sin — everyone faces weakness. It’s pretending to see clearly while ignoring God’s light in your own heart. It means correcting others without surrender, confronting without repentance, and trying to help someone else when your own vision is clouded.

In Scripture, the eye often stands for how we see and understand things spiritually. Earlier in the Sermon, Yeshua said, "The lamp of the body is the eye." Now He teaches that we can only help others if our own vision is clear. A proud heart sees things wrongly. A wounded heart makes things seem worse. A bitter heart judges harshly. A self-righteous heart focuses on others’ faults and ignores its own.

That’s why Yeshua says, "First remove the plank from your own eye." The word first is full of wisdom. He doesn’t say to never help your brother. He says to start with yourself. First, repent. First, be humble. First, let God search your heart. First, let mercy change you. Only then will you see clearly.

The goal isn’t to stay silent, but to see clearly. Yeshua doesn’t say to ignore your brother. He says that after you remove the plank, you’ll be able to help with the speck in your brother’s eye. The Kingdom cares about restoring people. The speck still needs to be removed, but it should be done by someone who is humble, not proud. God isn’t asking you to stop caring about others. He wants you to let Him clear your vision first, so you can help others with steady hands and clear sight.

There’s a big difference between correcting others out of pride and correcting them out of humility. One hurts, the other heals. One says, I’m better than you. The other says, I’ve needed mercy too, and I want to help you see. Yeshua isn’t teaching His disciples to be critics. He’s teaching them to be healers. But before we can help clear someone else’s vision, we need to let Him heal our own.

Ashrei — blessed is the one who lets the Lord remove the plank before ever reaching for the speck. His vision becomes clear, his heart becomes tender, and his hands become steady. He does not correct from a place of pride, superiority, or impatience. He first kneels at the feet of mercy, where his own sight is healed by grace. Then, when he speaks to his brother, he does not come as a critic looking to expose, but as a healer longing to restore — because mercy changed him before he ever tried to help anyone else.

Friend, let the Lord search your heart and receive His correction as restoration, not shame. There is freedom here. You were never meant to carry the weight of fixing everyone else. You are called to yield yourself fully to the King and let Him begin His work in you. As He clears your vision, heals your heart, and softens your spirit, your life will help others find their way. Your greatest ministry will not come from pointing out the faults of others, but from what God has first done in you — when He healed your eyes and taught you how to perform delicate surgery with compassion, humility, and mercy.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: If you’ve already picked up a copy of The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed or Identity in Messiah Revealed, thank you! I pray these devotionals are helping you grow deeper in God’s Word and in your walk with Him.

If you’ve had a chance to read either book, I’d be greatly appreciative if you would take a moment to leave an Amazon review. Even a few sentences about how the book encouraged or impacted you can make a real difference in helping others discover it. Thank you again for your prayers, encouragement, and support!

Friend, you were made to walk in mercy, not measurement!

Matthew 7:1-2 "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

As He continues with the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua (Jesus) has so far been talking about the inner life of the heart. He has already dealt with anger, lust, retaliation, love for one's enemies, secret giving, prayer, fasting, mammon, worry, and the need to seek the Kingdom first. Now He considers how we look at other people. Kingdom life is not only shown in the way we pray, give, and trust God; it is also displayed in the way we regard our brother.

Yeshua said something frequently quoted, though not always understood: “Do not judge, so that neither will you be judged.” The Greek word translated as “judge” is krinō (κρίνω), and it means to separate, decide, evaluate, or pass a sentence. Yet underlying this statement is a principle which His Jewish listeners would have immediately recognized: middah k’neged middah (מִדָּה כְּنֶגֶד מִדָּה), which is “measure for measure.”

This idea was known in Jewish thinking. The way a person treats others is the way he will be treated in return. Yeshua is not introducing a new idea here; rather, He takes a principle which His disciples already knew and drives it deep into their hearts. The problem is not merely what we observe in others; the problem is the spirit in which we judge them.

To say "Judge not" does not imply that truth ceases to be important, nor does it mean that discernment disappears or that righteousness is neglected. Yeshua is not prohibiting His disciples from seeing sin, error, danger, or deception. Rather, He is addressing a harsh, hypocritical, self-righteous kind of judgment that looks down on others while forgetting God's mercy.

Which is why verse two is so important, since the judgment with which you judge people will be measured out to you, and you will receive back from them the very standard that you use. Consider the word 'measure', middah (מִדָּה) in Hebrew; it is also the same term used for a container, a portion, an exact quantity poured out. The container that you use when pouring out judgment on someone else is the same container that will be used to pour something back on you.

In the ancient marketplace, people used a container or a standard to weigh grain, oil, and other goods. When someone used an unfair measure, it showed a corrupt heart. This is just as true in the Kingdom in a spiritual sense. If we judge others severely, with suspicion, out of pride, and without showing mercy, then we are revealing the standard by which we live our lives. Yeshua cautions that the standard we apply will be returned to us. The blessed life is not one that is lived by those who are above others in judgment; it is lived by those who have been humbled through mercy and who now show that mercy in all their relationships.

The King is not leading us into blindness; rather, he is leading us into humility. He is not instructing us to ignore sin; instead, he is teaching us to recall mercy. He is not taking discernment away from the disciple's life; rather, he is purifying the heart which discerns. That is the way of the Kingdom: truth without pride, correction without contempt, discernment without cruelty, and holiness without hypocrisy. The disciple who has received mercy becomes careful about the way in which he deals with another person's weakness, because he remembers that he too is standing on grace.

Friend, ashrei -- blessed -- belongs to the one who has traded the measuring cup of judgment for the measuring cup of mercy. Blessed is the one who sees another's weakness through the same grace that once covered his own, for the measure you pour out today is the very measure Heaven is already preparing to pour back into your own life, full, overflowing, and right on time.

Shabbat Shalom -- have a great weekend, and we'll see you first thing on Monday!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: If you’ve already picked up a copy of The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed or Identity in Messiah Revealed, thank you! I pray these devotionals are helping you grow deeper in God’s Word and in your walk with Him.

If you’ve had a chance to read either book, I’d be greatly appreciative if you would take a moment to leave an Amazon review. Even a few sentences about how the book encouraged or impacted you can make a real difference in helping others discover it. Thank you again for your prayers, encouragement, and support!

Friend, you were made to live one day at a time in the Kingdom!

Matthew 6:33–34 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 

This is where the teaching ends. Yeshua (Jesus) has instructed us concerning mammon, the birds, and the lilies, and now He gives us the governing principle behind it all: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

If you notice carefully, He never tells us to disregard food, clothing, or provision; instead, He establishes the order of priority — the Kingdom of God first and His righteousness.

The kingdom in view is malchut (מַלְכוּת), God's reign and rule wherever He is truly acknowledged as King. Paired with it is His righteousness, tzidkato (צִדְקָתוֹ), built from the root tzedek/tzedakah, but here carrying that personal possessive, His righteousness specifically. It speaks of more than moral correctness; it speaks of right relationship, a life in tune with His covenant, walking in step with the God who keeps His Word. Seek His reign and His righteousness first, and everything else falls in line behind it.

Yeshua then closes the teaching with a strikingly practical instruction: “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Today carries enough on its own; there is no need to overwhelm yourself with tomorrow’s burdens prematurely.

This principle reaches back to the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel. As God supplied Israel daily with manna, they could gather only what they needed for that day. Any attempt to store extra spoiled by morning. This was divine training—teaching an entire generation to trust Him afresh with each new day. Every morning brought a new test of faith and a new provision of grace.

Yeshua applies the same principle here. He is not warning against wise planning, but against carrying tomorrow’s weight today instead of trusting Him with it when it arrives.

Much of the exhaustion we carry comes not from today being heavy, but from piling tomorrow’s weight, and next month’s, and next year’s, on top of it. Yeshua instructs us to set that down.

Today has its own portion of difficulty; however, today also has its own portion of grace. Tomorrow will receive its portion when tomorrow arrives.

Ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי)—blessed—is the one who seeks the King daily for his needs and rests in His daily provision. Blessed is the one who has decided not to carry tomorrow's weight today, but instead trusts his Heavenly Father to take care of the future.

Friend, the same God who rained manna on a wilderness generation is raining fresh grace over you this very morning, sufficient, sustaining, and perfectly timed. You were never created to carry the weight of tomorrow, you were created to seek the King who already governs it, so seek Him first and watch today's need meet you right on time. Hold your head high and move forward in bold confidence, the King who has you covered today already holds tomorrow in His hand.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: If you’ve already picked up a copy of The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed or Identity in Messiah Revealed, thank you! I pray these devotionals are helping you grow deeper in God’s Word and in your walk with Him.

If you’ve had a chance to read either book, I’d be greatly appreciative if you would take a moment to leave an Amazon review. Even a few sentences about how the book encouraged or impacted you can make a real difference in helping others discover it. Thank you again for your prayers, encouragement, and support!

Friend, you were made to grow under the Father's care!

Matthew 6:27-32 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear? 32 or after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Yeshua (Jesus) takes worry and asks a question no anxious heart can answer. Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? What has worry ever actually added to your life? Worrying produces nothing. It burns energy without bearing fruit, and keeps the mind busy while leaving the heart empty.  Yeshua isn't shaming the anxious heart; He's exposing the illusion that worry produces something useful.

Then He asks, so why do you worry about clothing? And He points us to the field. Consider the lilies, how they grow. That word, consider, means look carefully, study them, and let them teach you. Again, Yeshua points to nature to teach — the fields preach if we slow down long enough to listen. The lilies don't toil or spin. They don't strive to clothe themselves or compare their season to another's glory. They grow where the Father placed them, receiving what heaven gives, becoming what He designed.

Yeshua says even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Solomon's splendor had to be gathered, woven, imported, and guarded, glory that could fade or wear out. The lily's glory is received, straight from the quiet hand of the Father. One glory is manufactured. The other is bestowed. And if God clothes the grass of the field, alive today and gone tomorrow, with that kind of beauty, will He not much more clothe you?

But notice Yeshua doesn't say you have no faith; He says little faith. Faith is there — however limited, and still learning to see the Father clearly. The Hebrew word is emunah (אֱמוּנָה), firmness, faithfulness, steadiness. Yeshua is calling the anxious heart back into that steadiness, inviting your trust to grow larger than your fear of lack.

While it begins with clothing, Yeshua expands this understanding about the Father’s care for your entire life. He knows you need food, drink, and clothing. He knows what makes you feel exposed and what makes you wonder whether you'll be covered in the days ahead. And He says plainly, "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

Your need has never once slipped past His attention. This isn't news to Him, He already knows, because He isn't just your God, He's your Abba. And when Abba already knows, you don't have to chase provision the way those without covenant do.

Yeshua says after all these things the Gentiles seek. He isn't insulting the nations; He's describing the anxiety of those living without covenant confidence. When people don't know they're seen, they spend their lives chasing security. But you've been brought into the Kingdom. You are not fatherless, not uncovered, not left to figure life out alone — you are in your Heavenly Father’s hands!

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי), blessed is the one who learns to grow under the Father's care, who no longer mistakes worry for wisdom or striving for faith, who can look at the lilies and remember, if the Father clothes the field with beauty, He will not forget His children.

Friend, worry cannot add anything to your life, but trust in Him will deepen your faith every time. Worry cannot clothe you, but the Father can cover you. So consider the lilies; they preach without saying a word, growing without panic, receiving without striving, clothed without fear. The Father already knows what you need, and His care runs far deeper than your anxious calculations ever could. Let emunah rise up in you: steady trust, settled confidence, faith that rests easy in the Father's care.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: If you’ve already picked up a copy of The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed or Identity in Messiah Revealed, thank you! I pray these devotionals are helping you grow deeper in God’s Word and in your walk with Him.

If you’ve had a chance to read either book, I’d be greatly appreciative if you would take a moment to leave an Amazon review. Even a few sentences about how the book encouraged or impacted you can make a real difference in helping others discover it. Thank you again for your prayers, encouragement, and support!

Friend, you were made to walk free from worry!

Matthew 6:25-26 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

Notice that little word therefore. Yeshua (Jesus) doesn't start a new thought here; He builds straight off what He just said about serving two masters. Because once mammon loses its throne in your heart, worry loses its grip too. The two always travel together. Wherever mammon reigns, anxiety reigns with it. Wherever God reigns alone, you are resting in Him.

The Greek word for worry, merimnao (μεριμνάω), carries the idea of being pulled apart, divided, or distracted by competing concerns, and that fits perfectly with what Yeshua has just taught.

But the concept behind it echoes the Hebrew word da'ag (דָּאַג), the anxious, gnawing care that eats at a person from the inside. It's the same root Scripture uses to describe a heart weighed down, distracted from trust, distracted from rest. Yeshua isn't telling you to stop caring about your life. He's telling you to stop letting a divided, anxious heart rule your life.

Then Yeshua turns His disciples’ attention away from themselves and says, “Look at the birds of the air.” I love this because Yeshua could have launched into a long theological argument about divine provision, but instead He says, in effect, “Open your eyes.” Look around. Creation preaches a sermon every morning. The birds do not sow, reap, or gather crops into barns, yet they are fed.

Notice carefully what Yeshua says next. He does not merely say, “God feeds them.” He says, “Your heavenly Father feeds them.” The One filling their nest every morning is your Father. This isn't just a lesson about how big God is; it's a lesson about how close He is to you. The birds only know Him as Creator. You get to know Him as Abba.

Suddenly the whole teaching becomes deeply personal. You are not merely living beneath the Kingdom of an all-powerful God; you are living in the care of a Father who knows you, sees you, values you, and is intimately involved in your life.

Your Father knows exactly where you are. He knows what you need. He knows the pressures you are carrying. He knows the bills you have not figured out yet, the decisions you do not yet know how to make, and the needs that may be keeping you awake at night.

Remember what we looked at yesterday: Yeshua told us that we cannot serve both God and mammon. Today, we begin to see what that freedom looks like when we actually live it out. If mammon is your master, you will always be asking, “Do I have enough?” But if God is your Master, your heart learns to thank Him for what He has already provided and trust Him for what is still ahead.

And if you ever begin to forget His faithfulness, step outside and look around, because the evidence is written all across creation. He was faithful yesterday, He is faithful today, and He will still be faithful tomorrow.

Ashrei, blessed is the one who has learned to rest in the Father's care, who can say with quiet confidence, I am seen, I am valued, and my Father will be faithful.

Friend, this is a declaration of freedom. You were never designed to carry the weight of tomorrow’s provision on your own shoulders. That is not your burden to bear; it belongs to the Father, and He has never failed to carry what belongs to Him. So take every anxious thought about what you will eat, what you will wear, or how tomorrow will unfold, and place it back into the hands of the One who feeds the sparrow and knows your name. You are of far greater value to Him than the birds of the air, and the same hand that faithfully provides for them is the hand that holds your life today.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: 📖 The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed has just made its way to Amazon! This 60-day devotional will take you through Elul, the Feast of Trumpets, the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles, and Shemini Atzeret. It’s the best of the best from more than 20 years of devotions, compiled into one journey through the Biblical Fall Feasts. (Amazon)

Friend, you were made to serve the King!

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Yeshua (Jesus) ties it all together now: the treasure, the heart, the eye, all of it lands on this understanding — no one can serve two masters. This isn't a nice suggestion for balance; it's a Kingdom fact: God did not design our hearts to answer to two thrones at once.

To fully understand what Yeshua is saying, we have to step into the Hebrew mindset of this passage, because these understandings can easily get lost in translation.

Let’s start with words — love and hate, because this is where people usually get tripped up. In covenant language, love and hate are about loyalty, not sentiment. Think about Jacob, Rachel, and Leah. Scripture says he loved Rachel, and God saw that Leah was hated (Genesis 29:30-31). Does that mean Jacob hated Leah as a human being? Not at all. It's describing how Rachel held first place, covenant priority in his life.

So when Yeshua says you'll love one master and hate the other, He's talking about allegiance. One gets your loyalty, and the other gets pushed to the edges, whether we admit it or not.

And God was always about loyalty. Every Jewish child would have grown up quoting the Sh’ma (שְׁמַע), which states: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One; love Him with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

Not half your heart. Not whatever's left over after everything else gets its share. All of it. God isn't asking for a slice of your life; He's asking for all of you. This is the very commandment Yeshua points back to when He's asked which is the greatest commandment, and He quotes the Sh'ma straight out of Deuteronomy 6:5, telling us the whole Tanach (Old Testament) hangs on this, adding, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-40).

Now let's look at that word mammon, because it's not just a fancy word for money. It's Aramaic, not Hebrew, and comes from a root connected to aman (אָמַן), the same root you hear in amen, meaning to trust, to be faithful, to be established. So, at its core, mammon means whatever a person leans on for security. Yeshua isn't just warning us about cash in the bank; He's calling out our habit of building our safety, our identity, our whole future on mammon instead of on Him. Mammon can become a false god the moment we look to it, instead of the Lord, for provision and peace. It can promise security but cannot give peace. It can fill the hand but cannot heal the soul. It can be gained in a lifetime and yet lost in a moment.

The last word worth digging into is serve. In Hebrew, it is avad (עָבַד), and it means serving, laboring, and worshiping. That's no coincidence; it is a revelation. Whatever you serve receives your strength, and whatever receives your strength can eventually become what you worship.

So the real question isn't whether you have money; it's whether money has you.

Let's be clear: Yeshua isn't attacking the wealthy. Abraham was wealthy. Job got everything back double. Solomon's riches were part of God's blessing, not a mark against him. The money was never the problem; it's who's sitting on the throne of your heart. Paul says it best in 1 Timothy 6:10: it's not money itself but the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil. When God is King, wealth becomes a tool in a steward's hand. But let mammon take the throne, and that same wealth becomes a chain. Yeshua draws this line not to keep you poor, but to keep you free!

This is where the ashrei life is found, blessed is the one whose heart belongs to the one Master who faithfully provides, no longer ruled by the fear of lack or the relentless hunger for more, but rests like the lilies of the field, who neither toil nor spin, yet are clothed by the Father in glory, trusting that He who provides for them will surely provide for you.

Friend, celebrate your trust in Him today, not your bank balance. Let your heart run to the Lord first, because that's where you truly find security, and His Kingdom stands stronger than every promise the illusion of mammon ever made. Ashrei is the one whose heart belongs to one Master, because the one who wholeheartedly serves the King is truly free!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: 📖 The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed has just made its way to Amazon! With Elul beginning August 12, now is the perfect time to grab a copy. This 60-day devotional will take you through Elul, the Feast of Trumpets, the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles, and Shemini Atzeret. It’s the best of the best from more than 20 years of devotions, compiled into one journey through the Biblical Fall Feasts. (Amazon)

Friend, guard the eye that guide the heart!

Matthew 6:22–23 The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Yeshua (Jesus) has just spoken of treasure -- telling His disciples not to store treasure on earth, where moth, rust, and thieves take it, but to lay it up in heaven, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” He does not change subjects when He turns to the eye. He is still tracing what the heart treasures, and how that treasure surfaces.

The eye is the doorway of desire -- the part of us that looks, considers, wants, envies, judges, covets, pursues. What the eye fixes on reveals what the heart already holds. A heart drawn to earthly treasure trains the eye to keep searching -- for more possessions, more status, more approval, more control. A heart set on the Kingdom trains the eye to see differently.

“The lamp of the body is the eye,” Yeshua says. A lamp does not create the house; it guides those already walking through it. In the same way, the eye guides the inner life -- what it dwells on shapes thought, desire, and direction. A sound eye fills the whole body with light; however, if misused, it can fill us with darkness.

This is the Hebraic idea of tamim (תָּמִים) -- whole, complete, undivided. The whole eye belongs to the one whose inner life is coming under the reign of the King, who can say, "Father, let Your Kingdom order my desires. Let me see what You value. Let me love what lasts." Whole carries the sense of healthy, clear, single -- not scattered between two masters, not looking toward heaven while longing for Egypt, not seeking the Kingdom while ruled by envy, greed, or the praise of men. A whole eye sees clearly because the heart is becoming whole before God.

So Yeshua is not only speaking of what we look at, but how we see -- through generosity or greed, gratitude or envy, purity or lust, mercy or bitterness, trust or fear, the Kingdom or the world.

In the Temple, the menorah was never lit from an outside source once kindled -- its light fed itself, oil drawn continually upward through the wick. The single eye works the same way. It is not a discipline bolted onto the outside of a person; it is what happens when the whole body — mind, will, affection, appetite — is brought into alignment beneath a single Master, a single treasure, a single desire. Where that alignment exists, the whole body will be full of light — not partially lit, but wholly luminous, as though the person had become a lamp rather than merely one who carries one.

Yeshua’s warning cuts deeper still: “If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.” What we gaze at long enough begins to govern us -- greed, envy, lust, and bitterness each darken the whole life, spreading from the doorway into mind, will, imagination, and relationship. This is the danger of deceived vision -- mistaking darkness for light, when greed feels like wisdom and envy feels like discernment. Such a person needs more than correction; he needs deliverance from false light.

This is why the Kingdom must purify the eye -- not asking only “What am I looking at?” but “What is my looking doing to me? Is it filling me with light or darkness?”

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) -- blessed is the one whose eye is sound before the King; blessed is the one who sees with generosity instead of greed, purity instead of lust, gratitude instead of envy, trust instead of fear. Blessed is the one whose vision has been healed, whose whole life fills with light because the heart is no longer divided. Oh, what a great blessing belongs to the one who lets the Father cleanse not only the hands, but the eyes — not only the outward actions, but the inward desires.

Friend, the Father Himself fitted the lamp within you. Your eye does not have to strain toward generosity as though it were foreign to you — you carry within you the capacity to see every provision, every blessing given to another, every good gift from His hand, as evidence of the same Father who withholds nothing good from you. Let your eye rest on Him alone, undivided, single, whole, and watch the light fill your whole body until there is no room left for even a shadow.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: 📖 The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed has just made its way to Amazon! With Elul beginning August 12, now is the perfect time to grab a copy. This 60-day devotional will take you through Elul, the Feast of Trumpets, the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles, and Shemini Atzeret. It’s the best of the best from more than 20 years of devotions, compiled into one journey through the Biblical Fall Feasts. (Amazon)

Friend, where your treasure is!

Matthew 6:19–21 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Isaiah 51:8  For the moth will eat them up like a garment, And the worm will eat them like wool; But My righteousness will be forever, And My salvation from generation to generation.

Yeshua (Jesus) now moves from fasting, prayer, and doing what is right in secret to the question of treasure. He is not only talking about money. He is talking about whatever matters most to us -- what we hold tightly, chase after, worry about losing, and build our lives around.

He points to three things everybody understood right away: moths, rust, thieves. Leave a garment folded in a chest long enough and the moths get to it. Leave iron out in the weather, and it eats itself up. Leave your house unguarded, and someone finds their way in. Nothing about earthly treasure holds up forever -- it wears thin, breaks down, or somebody walks off with it. Yeshua isn’t trying to put fear in us. He’s trying to get us thinking straight about what we’re actually building our lives on.

In Hebrew, the word for moth is ash (עָשׁ), and Isaiah uses that same image twice -- once as a warning to the proud, once as comfort to the righteous. In Isaiah 51:8, God says the wicked “will be eaten by the moth like a garment,” but those who carry His righteousness will outlast every attacker, because “My righteousness will be forever.” So the moth isn't only a picture of loss. In the mouth of Isaiah, it becomes a picture of what happens to anything built on human opposition instead of God. What is stored in man's scorn gets eaten. What is stored in righteousness endures.

Now consider the word for heart, lev (לֵב). In Hebrew thought, the heart is not simply the seat of emotion -- it’s the command center of the whole person: desire, will, memory, and decision all live there. So when Yeshua says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” He’s saying something stronger than “your treasure shows what you love.” He’s saying your treasure trains what you love. Whatever you store your life in begins to disciple your desires.

The Hebrew word for treasure is often otzar (אוֹצָר), a storehouse -- but there’s another word, segulah (סְגֻלָּה), meaning a treasured possession, set apart and prized above all else. God uses that word for His own people in Exodus 19:5: “you shall be My own treasured possession among all peoples.” So while Yeshua teaches us to lay up treasure in heaven, Scripture has already told us that we ourselves are heaven’s treasure. We aren’t just storing something valuable with God -- we already are something valuable to God. Laying up treasure in heaven, then, isn’t striving to earn worth. It’s connecting our hearts to the One who has already called us His segulah.

This ties into everything Yeshua has taught in this chapter. Give in secret. Pray in secret. Fast in secret. Human applause is earthly treasure, and it fades like a moth-eaten coat. But the Father sees in secret, and what is done before Him becomes treasure that cannot corrode or be stolen.

Earthly loss still hurts, and nobody's pretending otherwise. Homes get lost. Savings run dry. Health takes a turn nobody saw coming. A lifetime of work can come apart in a season. Yeshua isn't waving that away -- He's warning us against building everything we are on top of it. Tie your whole self to earthly treasure, and a loss like that will crush you. But keep your treasure with Him, and you can grieve hard, grieve real, and still be on your feet, because your heart was already in heaven.

Kingdom life isn’t against possessions; it’s against being possessed by them. It isn’t against stewardship; it’s against slavery. Yeshua is setting the heart free from the tyranny of temporary things, teaching His disciples to live with eternity in view.

This is deeply connected to ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) -- the blessed life rightly aligned with God. Blessed is the one whose heart is no longer chained to what moths can eat, rust can corrode, or thieves can steal. Blessed is the one who has learned to treasure what heaven remembers. Blessed is the one whose deepest investments are hidden in God, where no earthly loss can touch them. Oh, what a great blessing belongs to the one whose treasure is safe because it is kept in the Father’s hands.

Friend, you were never meant to carry the weight of things that were never built to last. Let go of the grip you’ve had on what fades, and take hold of what the Father is storing up for you even now — untouched, unshaken, undiminished. There is a blessing reserved for the one whose confidence no longer rests in what can be taken, but in the One who cannot be moved. Walk today knowing that every hidden act of faith, every quiet obedience, every gift given without an audience is being kept safe in a place no circumstance can reach. You are free to hold this life loosely and hold heaven tightly. Rise up, lift your eyes above what decays, and set your affection on what the Father is guarding for you — because what He keeps, no one can take.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: 📖 The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed has just made its way to Amazon! With Elul beginning August 12, now is the perfect time to grab a copy. This 60-day devotional will take you through Elul, the Feast of Trumpets, the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles, and Shemini Atzeret. It’s the best of the best from more than 20 years of devotions, compiled into one journey through the Biblical Fall Feasts. Get your copy before the feasts begin! (Amazon)

Friend, your Abba knows!

Matthew 6:16–18 Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance… but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

After the Lord’s prayer, Yeshua (Jesus) now turns to fasting, bringing the spiritual exercise of fasting inward. He has already spoken of giving and praying in secret. Now the pattern in prayer is also for fasting; Kingdom living is devotion before the Father, not performance before men.

He says "when you fast," not "if." Fasting was already woven into Israel's spiritual life. The Hebrew word tzom (צוֹם) means a voluntary humbling of the body before God — appearing in times of repentance, mourning, intercession, and consecration. It is the whole body saying, "Abba, I need You more than bread."

But like giving and prayer, fasting can be corrupted by the desire to be seen. The hypocrites disfigured their faces so everyone would notice their sacrifice. Their hunger became theater; their devotion, advertisement. So Yeshua touches the heart of fasting. Fasting is meant to humble the flesh, not feed the ego — to turn the heart toward God, not the eyes of others toward us. The moment it becomes performance, it's already polluted. The body denies food, but the soul still feeds on attention.

"Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward." Yeshua cuts to the heart of motives. If the goal of fasting was admiration, admiration becomes the payment. If the fast was done to be seen, then the reward of being seen is all it receives. The Lord is investigating our motives.

Yeshua instructs, "Anoint your head and wash your face." In other words, don't advertise your hunger or use sacrifice to draw sympathy. Let your fast remain between you and the Father. This doesn't forbid corporate fasts — Scripture has those — but the Lord is addressing the motive that turns devotion into display.

In Hebraic thought, the face reveals the inner life — Scripture speaks of seeking God's face and walking in His countenance. And now, Yeshua warns against a false face, forming our countenance to appear more devoted than we are. That isn't humility; it's religious acting. True fasting needs no costume.

The hidden fast simply says, "Abba, You are enough." It doesn't announce itself. It doesn't try to win anyone's sympathy or wear hunger like a badge. It just says, "I want You more."

Fasting isn't a hunger strike to twist God's arm. It isn't a transaction, and it isn't a performance. It's surrender — your body agreeing with your soul that God comes first. It breaks the normal rhythm of appetite and routine, so your heart can seek Him deeper. Yeshua put it plainly: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Fasting doesn't pretend the body doesn't need food. It says the whole person needs God more.

And He sees it. That's the promise — "Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." Nothing hidden is forgotten. No quiet sacrifice goes to waste. The hunger nobody noticed, the prayer said under your breath, the repentance no one else heard — He was there for all of it.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — blessed is the person whose fasting has nothing left to prove, who doesn't need an audience to validate what the Father already knows, whose hunger has quietly turned into worship because you seek more intimacy with your Abba.

Friend, your hidden surrender isn't hidden from the Father. You don't have to announce your hunger or prove anything to anyone — just fast before the One who already sees in secret. Let your appetite bow to the King. Let pride go hungry while your hunger turns into worship. Wash your face, lift your eyes, and seek Him without needing anyone to notice. The reward was never the admiration of people — it's nearness to God. Let this hunger remind you: you were made for more than bread. You were made for His presence and His Word.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: 📖 The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed has just made its way to Amazon! With Elul beginning August 12, now is the perfect time to grab a copy. This 60-day devotional will take you through Elul, the Feast of Trumpets, the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles, and Shemini Atzeret. It’s the best of the best from more than 20 years of devotions, compiled into one journey through the Biblical Fall Feasts. Get your copy before the feasts begin! (Amazon)

Friend, forgiven people forgive!

Matthew 6:14–15 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Yeshua (Jesus) has just taught His disciples to pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Then, before He moves on, He comes right back to forgiveness. That should get our attention. Out of everything in the Lord's Prayer He could have explained further, He chooses this. He does not stop to explain daily bread or temptation. He stops at forgiveness because this is an essential Kingdom principle.

It is one thing to ask God for mercy. It is another thing to show mercy to someone who hurt us.

That is why Yeshua says, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." Trespasses are real offenses. These are the times when someone crossed a line, broke trust, wounded a relationship, spoke cruelly, betrayed us, or sinned against us. Yeshua is not pretending people do not hurt each other. He knows better than anyone what betrayal, accusation, rejection, and cruelty feel like. But He still calls us to forgive.

In Hebrew thought, forgiveness is carried by the word salach (סָלַח), which speaks of pardon, release, and mercy. God does not forgive by acting as though sin is no big deal. He deals with sin truthfully and mercifully. He does not call evil good, but He releases the debt through His own faithfulness and compassion.

That is what makes the warning so weighty: "But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." These words are serious, meant to wake us up. Yeshua is not saying we earn God's forgiveness by forgiving other people. He is showing us that a heart that refuses mercy has not really understood the mercy it is asking to receive. We cannot ask God to forgive us while deciding mercy will stop with us.

That is exactly what Yeshua showed us in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21–35). One man was forgiven an impossible debt, something he could never repay. But then he went out and grabbed another man by the throat over a much smaller debt. He wanted mercy for himself, but judgment for his brother. He wanted his own record cleared, while keeping someone else's record open. He received release, but refused to release.

The Kingdom life is mercy received and mercy released. We forgive because we have been forgiven.

This is where ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) is found — not in pretending we were never hurt, but in the blessedness of a heart set free from unpaid debts. Blessed is the one who has stopped holding mercy hostage. Blessed is the one who remembers that the Father's mercy was poured out through the broken body and shed blood of Yeshua. Blessed is the one who refuses to let bitterness outlast the cross.

Friend, forgiveness matters so much that the Lord returns to it before moving on. Why? Because He wants us to walk in His freedom, and the hardest thing is often simply comprehending His love and mercy toward us. But when we truly do, we find the power to extend that same mercy to the ones who have wounded us — and in that power, we walk in freedom. Ashrei are those who know the King has set them free.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: 📖 The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed has just made its way to Amazon! With Elul beginning August 12, now is the perfect time to grab a copy. This 60-day devotional will take you through Elul, the Feast of Trumpets, the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles, and Shemini Atzeret. It’s the best of the best from more than 20 years of devotions, compiled into one journey through the Biblical Fall Feasts. Get your copy before the feasts begin! (Amazon)

Friend, deliver us from the evil one!

Matthew 6:13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Yeshua (Jesus) has taught us to pray as children before the Father, disciples surrendered to the Kingdom, dependent upon Him for our daily bread. He has taught us to forgive and to be forgiven. Now He brings the prayer to its final cry of humility and warfare: deliver us from the evil one. He does not end where fear would end it -- He ends where worship begins. After bread and forgiveness, He brings His disciples to the edge of two realities every believer must face — trial and evil — and does not linger there. The answer to both was never a strategy. It is the declaration of His eternal Kingdom.

This is the prayer of someone who knows his own weakness. The disciple does not boast that he can handle anything, or presume upon his own strength. He asks His Abba for protection because he knows his flesh is weak and the enemy is real. The word translated temptation carries the sense of testing, trial, proving. God may allow testing, but He does not entice His people into evil -- so this prayer is not accusing anyone. It is a plea of a child saying, Abba, do not let me be brought to a place where I will fall. Guard me. This is deeply Hebraic. The righteous man does not trust in himself; he trusts in the Lord. The Psalms are filled with statements such as lead me, keep me, deliver me. Faith is not self-confidence dressed in spiritual language — it is dependence, the confession that we need our Abba not only to forgive us after we fall, but to keep us from falling.

Deliver us from the evil one is more than a plea to avoid hardship. It is prayer for deliverance from the schemes of the adversary, ha-satan (הַשָּׂטָן), whose strategy has not changed from the garden: to question God's word, awaken distrust, entice the flesh, pull the heart from allegiance to the King.

The Kingdom does not advance in neutral territory. To pray Your Kingdom come is to recognize that rival powers resist it. To pray for deliverance is to ask the Father to rescue us from every power pulling us away from His Kingdom purpose.

Then the prayer rises into worship: For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. This echoes King David before all Israel: "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory... Yours is the kingdom" (1 Chronicles 29:11).

The Lord’s prayer ends, not with a request, but a declaration. Malkhut (מַלְכוּת), gevurah (גְּבוּרָה), and kavod (כָּבוֹד): kingdom, power, glory, handed back to God.

The Kingdom is His. The power is His. The glory is His — not the enemy's, not the flesh's, not ours. His reign is not threatened; His purposes will stand. He is not merely willing to deliver us; He is more than able. Every rescue, every deliverance returns praise to His name. This is why the prayer ends in confidence. We ask for help because we are weak, but we worship because He is strong.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — blessed is the one who knows where deliverance is found, who brings his weakness before the Father and refuses to make peace with temptation. Pray with honesty and courage: ask Him to keep you, to lead you from what would enslave you, to deliver you from the enemy's schemes. Then lift your eyes — the Kingdom is His, the power is His, the glory is His, forever.

Temptation does not get the final word. The evil one does not get the final word. Your weakness does not get the final word. Your Father does.

Friend, you are held inside a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, covered by a glory that outshines every shadow. You stand within a dominion whose outcome is already declared: forever. Walk as one already delivered. Speak as one who knows to whom the kingdom belongs — His is the power, His is the glory — and when you stand in this reality, you walk in His certain victory.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: 📖 The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed has just made its way to Amazon! With Elul beginning August 12, now is the perfect time to grab a copy. This 60-day devotional will take you through Elul, the Feast of Trumpets, the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles, and Shemini Atzeret. It’s the best of the best from more than 20 years of devotions, compiled into one journey through the Biblical Fall Feasts. Get your copy before the feasts begin! (Amazon)

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, lay down the ledger before it becomes your prison!

Matthew 18:28-35 "But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!' 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.  33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'  34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 "So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses." 

When Yeshua (Jesus) taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” He placed mercy at the center of Kingdom prayer. We ask the Father to forgive what we owe Him while releasing what others owe us. That one word — as — searches the heart. Mercy received is meant to become mercy released.

This is why the parable of the unforgiving servant is so sobering.

This parable is about the hidden places in us. We can pray “forgive us our debts” while still gripping the debts of others — thanking God for the blood of Yeshua covering our sin while rehearsing every wound, every betrayal, every injustice done to us. Unforgiveness is not a small thing in the Kingdom.

In the parable, when the king hears what the servant did, he delivers him to the tormentors until the debt is paid. Then comes the warning: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother.”

Re-read that! Don’t glance over it — think about it! So will my heavenly Father do unto you — unforgiveness is a serious matter.

The torturers are part of the king’s judgment, a present reality: unforgiveness becomes its own prison. Bitterness becomes a tortuter. Resentment becomes a chain. Anger, vengeance, suspicion, replayed conversations, the constant inward demand for repayment — all become jailers of the heart.

Unforgiveness feels powerful at first but becomes a prison over time. At the beginning, it feels like control, but in truth it seeks to enslave us. It feels like we are administering justice that is owed, but in reality unforgiveness simply keeps the wound bleeding.

The person who wounded us may move on while we stay chained to the memory. They may sleep peacefully while we rehearse the offense at night, slowly drinking the poison of resentment, hoping it will somehow make them pay. But the debt we refuse to release collects interest in our own soul.

Yeshua loves us too much to leave us there.

Forgiveness is not denial. The debt was real, the offense was real — but real debts must be placed into the hands of the righteous King, or they become chains around our own hearts. Forgiveness is not saying “what happened didn’t matter.” It’s saying, “This debt will no longer rule me.” It is releasing vengeance to God, refusing to let bitterness torment our heart, bringing the offender and the unpaid debt before the throne and saying, “Father, I release this into Your hands. You are the Judge. You are the Healer. You make all things right.”

This doesn’t mean trust is automatically restored. Forgiveness and trust aren’t the same. Trust may require repentance, time, fruit, boundaries, and wisdom. Some relationships need distance. Some wrongs need to be confronted. But even then, the heart must be free from unforgiveness.

This is where forgiveness takes its place in the Lord's Prayer — more than a petition, it becomes deliverance for those who grasp its power. Every time we pray those words, the Father invites us to remember the mercy we've received and release the mercy we've withheld. He is searching the ledgers of the heart, asking whether we want to be forgiven people who become merciful, or forgiven people who still live chained to unpaid debts.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — blessed is the one whose heart has been freed from the prison of ledgers, who remembers the Father’s mercy was poured out through the broken body and shed blood of Yeshua, who refuses to let bitterness become a torturer. Blessed is the one who releases the debt into the hands of the King and walks out of the prison that unforgiveness built.

Friend, so let Yeshua's mercy flow through you. Forgive from the heart — not because the wrong was nothing, but because freedom is worth more than the ledger. And as you release them, you will discover that the prisoner being set free is you.

Shabbat Shalom! Have a great weekend! Our sites started coming back online last night and should be fully restored by early Friday morning—thank you for praying! If you’d like to help offset the restoration costs with a gift to the ministry, it would be greatly appreciated. Blessings, and we’ll see you Monday morning!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: 📖 The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed has just made its way to Amazon! With Elul beginning August 12, now is the perfect time to grab a copy. This 60-day devotional will take you through Elul, the Feast of Trumpets, the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles, and Shemini Atzeret. It’s the best of the best from more than 20 years of devotions, compiled into one journey through the Biblical Fall Feasts. Get your copy before the feasts begin! (Amazon)

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, remember the debt the King forgave!

Matthew 18:23-27  Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 

Yeshua doesn't leave forgiveness as an conceptual command. He gives us a story that makes the mercy of the Kingdom impossible to ignore.

A king settles accounts with his servants. One man owes ten thousand talents — in that world, one talent equaled about 6,000 denarii, and a denarius was a day's wage. Ten thousand talents was roughly 60 million days' wages, worth billions by modern estimate. This wasn't a difficult debt. It was impossible by design.

The servant falls down and begs, "Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all." His promise is absurd — he cannot pay it all. He doesn't need more time; he needs mercy. He doesn't need a payment plan; he needs pardon.

And the king is moved with compassion. In Hebrew thought, this is rachamim (רַחֲמִים) — mercy from the depths, tender and fierce, rooted in the heart of God Himself. The king does what the servant couldn't even fully ask. He releases him. The debt isn't reduced; it's canceled. The man walks away free because the king absorbed the loss.

This is the mercy of the Gospel. Our sin was not a small inconvenience to God — it was a debt beyond our paying. We couldn't repair it with religious effort, moral improvement, or more time. We needed the mercy of the King, and in Yeshua that mercy came through a body broken and blood poured out. The debt wasn't ignored; it was covered. Not excused, but borne. Not minimized, but paid by the Lamb of God.

Then the parable turns.

The same servant, just forgiven ten thousand talents, finds a fellow servant who owes him one hundred denarii — a real debt, maybe months of labor, but almost unimaginably small next to sixty million days' wages. And the forgiven servant seizes him by the throat: "Pay me what you owe!"

A man whose neck had just been spared now puts his hands around another man's neck. A man who received mercy beyond measure now refuses mercy in measure. This is the terrifying contradiction of unforgiveness.

Yeshua isn't saying the wounds against us are imaginary. People have sinned against us, betrayed us, owed us something real. One hundred denarii was still a debt. But every debt owed to us must now pass through hands that have already received grace beyond measure. That's the Kingdom issue.

Forgiven people cannot live as though mercy ends with them. If I rejoice over the King canceling my impossible debt while demanding full payment from everyone who has wronged me, I haven't understood the mercy I received. If I want pardon from God but vengeance toward my brother, something in me still resists the reign of the King.

Forgiveness doesn't mean trust is instantly restored, or that repentance, wisdom, boundaries, and justice no longer matter. The Kingdom doesn't call evil good. But forgiveness releases the debt into God's hands. It refuses to keep another person chained to the ledger of the heart, and refuses to let bitterness become the master of the soul.

The king hears what happened and is grieved with righteous anger. The servant received mercy without becoming merciful — he wanted the benefit of the king's compassion without bearing the character of the king's heart.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — blessed is the one who remembers the size of the debt the King forgave. Blessed is the one whose mercy toward others is shaped by the mercy first poured out over him. Blessed is the one who lets forgiven debt become released debt, and received mercy become extended mercy.

Ask the Father to show you the ledger — not only what others owe you, but the ledger Yeshua canceled for you. Remember the impossible debt. Remember the compassion of the King. Remember the blood that covered what you could never repay.

Friend, you have been forgiven a debt beyond your paying. Don't let your heart forget the weight of what Yeshua carried for you. His body was broken, His blood was poured out, and the account against you was fully covered by mercy. Stand there first before you look at what anyone else owes you. Don't become the servant who receives mercy and then withholds it. Release the throat. Open the hand. Forgiveness doesn't mean the wrong was small; it means the mercy of the King is greater. Let the grace that reached you now flow through you, and let your life reveal the heart of the King who forgave what no man could pay.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now on Amazon! This 60-day journey helps you renew your mind through God's Word and walk boldly in your God-given identity and calling. Thank you for your prayers. Grab a few — they make great gifts! Please share and leave a review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, stop counting what mercy has already covered!

Matthew 18:21-22  Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" 22  Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Peter's question is honest. It rises from a heart trying to obey God while still feeling the sting of repeated offense: How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? In other words — where is the limit? At what point have I done enough?

Peter even offers what sounds like a generous number: "Up to seven times?" In the Bible, seven carries the idea of fullness and completion. Peter may have thought he was stretching mercy to its outer edge. Forgive once, yes. Twice, perhaps. But seven? That sounds complete. That sounds mature.

Yeshua (Jesus) answers, "Not up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." He is not handing Peter a bigger spreadsheet — forgive 490 times, and on the 491st you may finally close your heart. He is dismantling the whole counting system. Forgiveness in the Kingdom is not measured by tracking offenses. It is measured by reflecting the Father's mercy. Peter wants the limit of forgiveness. Yeshua reveals its nature.

The phrase "seventy times seven" reaches back to Genesis 4, where Lamech boasted that if Cain would be avenged sevenfold, he would be avenged seventy-sevenfold — a heart bent on multiplying vengeance. Yeshua reverses that spirit entirely. The old world multiplies retaliation. The Kingdom multiplies mercy.

The natural man counts offenses. The wounded heart keeps ledgers — tone, timing, words, silence, betrayal — filed carefully and brought back out when useful. This is the seventh time. This is where mercy ends. But Yeshua is forming a people no longer governed by the ledger.

Forgiveness does not mean wisdom disappears, or that trust is instantly restored, or that consequences vanish. Forgiveness and trust are not the same thing. Forgiveness releases the debt to God; trust requires time, fruit, and repentance. The Kingdom never calls evil good — but it does call the forgiven heart to release vengeance, bitterness, and the right to keep another person chained to a debt.

Notice that Peter asks about a brother. This is not a stranger in the distance but someone close enough to wound repeatedly — the forgiveness required in families, marriages, friendships, and covenant community, where mercy must move from doctrine into practice.

In Hebrew thought, mercy is never shallow sentiment. Rachamim (רַחֲמִים) is compassion that moves from the depths. Chesed (חֶסֶד) is covenant love — loyal, steadfast, faithful, refusing to collapse the moment it becomes costly. Yeshua is not calling Peter into niceness. He is calling him into the Father's own way: mercy with holiness, compassion with truth.

The Kingdom does not ask, "How many times can I forgive before I stop looking like the Father?" It asks, "How can the Father's mercy be revealed through me again?" The question moves from limit to likeness — from math to mercy.

This is why forgiveness must be rooted in what we have received. A heart that forgets its own forgiven debt will grow harsh toward the debts of others. But the one who remembers the mercy of Yeshua cannot treat forgiveness as scarce. We forgive because we have been forgiven. We release because we have been released.

Ahrei (אַשְׁרֵי) -- blessed is the one who has stopped counting offenses as though mercy were running out. Blessed is the one whose heart is being freed from the prison of ledgers, who remembers that the Father's mercy was not measured out with a calculator but poured out through the broken body and shed blood of Yeshua.

There is a freedom here the flesh cannot understand. Counting offenses keeps the wound alive. Forgiveness opens the hand: Father, I release this debt to You. I refuse to be shaped by bitterness. I refuse to let vengeance disciple me.

Seventy times seven is not a number to reach. It is a life to embody — the end of vengeance's multiplication and the beginning of mercy's multiplication. Forgiveness is not the exception in the Kingdom; it is the atmosphere of those who know the Father.

Friend, the Kingdom is not calling you to keep a cleaner ledger; it is calling you to stop keeping a ledger. You were not forgiven by Yeshua so you could spend your life counting the failures of others. His mercy toward you was poured out through His broken body and shed blood, covering a debt you could never pay. Let that mercy now govern the way you release others. Do not confuse forgiveness with foolishness, or mercy with the absence of wisdom — but refuse to let bitterness become your chain. Release the debt into the hands of the righteous King. Stop counting what the Father has called you to surrender.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note: Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now on Amazon! This 60-day journey helps you renew your mind through God's Word and walk boldly in your God-given identity and calling. Thank you for your prayers. Grab a few — they make great gifts! Please share and leave a review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, mercy at the cross!

Luke 23:42-43 Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."  And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

Few scenes in Scripture are more breathtaking than the righteous King crucified between two guilty men. Beside Him hangs a dying criminal with nothing left to offer — no time to make restitution, no years to rebuild a name, no proof of sincerity to produce. His hands are nailed. His record is finished. And yet mercy reaches him there.

Both criminals begin in the same mockery. But as one watches Yeshua (Jesus) suffer and sees His innocence, his heart turns. He rebukes the other thief: "Do you not fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." He stops defending himself. He does not minimize his guilt or claim to be misunderstood. He simply tells the truth.

In Hebraic understanding, this is vidui (וִדּוּי) — confession; it is an honest acknowledgment of sin before God. This thief has no sacrifice, no Temple court, no offering. He brings the one thing a sinner must bring before mercy can be received: the truth about himself.

Then he turns to Yeshua: "Remember me when You come into Your kingdom." This is not a request for a passing, sentimental thought. It is a plea for mercy from the King — an appeal from a man with no claim on the throne, asking only to be held in the heart of the One who is dying beside him.

And notice what he sees. The rulers see a fraud. The soldiers see a spectacle. The mocking thief sees only a chance at escape. But this dying man sees a Kingdom (malchut / מַלְכוּת) — though nothing visible confirms it. No throne, no army, no crown but thorns. He does not ask to be freed from suffering or demand proof. At the edge of death, with nothing to boast in, he simply trusts the King he cannot yet see, except by faith. People often miss this — the thief had Kingdom insight though he could not see it physically, only by faith.

The answer exceeds the request. He asks for future remembrance; Yeshua gives present assurance. He asks to be remembered someday; Yeshua says, "Today." This is the mercy of the cross — not a reward for a repaired record, but grace reaching a man in his final honest moment. His guilt was real. His consequences were real. But the mercy of Yeshua was greater than his record.

This is the glory of forgiveness. It does not make sin small — the cross proves sin is terrible, and the thief's guilt, consequences, and death were all real. But it proves the King has authority to cancel a debt the sinner could never pay. There is mercy for the guilty who stop hiding. The Kingdom is entered not by self-defense, religious performance, or moral resume, but by repentance and trust.

This is why Matthew 6:12 matters so deeply: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Before we can release mercy to others, we must remember how mercy reached us. Every forgiven person has stood in some form beside that thief — guilty, needy, unable to undo the past, dependent entirely on the mercy of the King.

Friend, ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) -- blessed are those who never forget how great His sacrifice is, how deep His forgiveness runs, and how fully His blood covers every sin. They live blessed because mercy has not become a small doctrine to them, but a living memory. They remember the weight of the debt Yeshua carried, the cost of the blood He poured out, and the love that reached them when they could not save themselves. And because they have been forgiven much, they love much. Their mercy toward others is not forced religion; it is the overflow of a heart still amazed that the King forgave them first.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note:I'm excited to announce that the first book in my new devotional series, Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now available on Amazon! This 60-day devotional is designed to help you renew your mind through God's Word, break free from false labels, and walk confidently in your God-given identity, purpose, and calling. Thank you to all who have prayed for this to come to fruition. Buy a few— they will make great gifts! Please share, and make sure to leave an Amazon review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, the prayer that searches the ledger of the heart!

Matthew 6:12  And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

Yeshua (Jesus) now brings us to one of the most searching lines in the prayer He taught His disciples — a line that deserves more than a single pass. Before continuing through the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, we will spend this week here, in the ledger of the heart, tracing forgiveness from this prayer to the thief at the cross, to Peter's question of how many times, to the parable of the unpayable debt, and to the sobering weight of the tormentors. It begins here: after teaching us to ask the Father for daily bread, Yeshua teaches us to ask for daily mercy. We need provision for the body, but we need forgiveness for the soul.

He calls sin a debt — not a mistake or a moment of weakness, but something owed, unpaid, an account we cannot settle ourselves. In the Hebraic mind, sin is never merely private. It damages relationship, disrupts covenant order, wounds others, and creates real weight before God. To pray "forgive us our debts" is to stop pretending the ledger is clean — to come without excuse or self-defense and say, "Father, I have fallen short. I need mercy."

Hebrew ties this mercy to salach (סָלַח), the gracious act of God pardoning sin. Israel cried out for it again and again, and again and again His compassion answered. He is rachum v'chanun (רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן) — compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in covenant love. We ask with confidence because we come to the Father revealed in Yeshua, who bore our sin and opened the way home. Forgiveness is not cheap. It is costly. But it is truly offered.

Yeshua does not stop at mercy received. He ties it to mercy released: "as we forgive our debtors." That aspect of the prayer needs to be examined closely. He is not saying we purchase God's forgiveness by forgiving others — He is revealing whether we have understood the forgiveness we are asking for. Mercy received cannot stay a private possession. It is meant to move. We love the half of forgiveness where our debt is canceled; we resist the half where we must release someone else's. The Kingdom will not let us rejoice over a canceled debt while keeping our hands around the throat of someone who owes us.

Forgiveness does not mean the wrong was harmless — that betrayal did not wound, or injustice was acceptable. Biblical forgiveness is not denial; it is release. It places the debt into the hands of the righteous King instead of letting it govern the soul. Some wounds are real and still call for truth, boundaries, wisdom, and time. Forgiveness does not call evil good. It simply refuses to let evil become lord over the inner life.

This is why unforgiveness is so dangerous. It feels like control, and becomes captivity. It feels like protection, and becomes torment. It feels like justice, and slowly chains the heart to the very wound it refuses to release. The one who will not forgive may think he is holding another person in prison, but very often discovers the locked door has closed around his own soul. The person truly set free when you forgive is yourself.

You were not created to live chained to the debts of the heart. You were created to walk free under the mercy of the King.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — blessed is the one who lives under the Father's mercy and refuses to become a prison for unforgiveness, who lets the King search the ledger of the heart rather than demanding from others what only God can heal.

Friend,, you are not called to carry the ledger anymore. The Father has forgiven you with a mercy too costly and too holy to remain locked inside your own life. Bring Him your debts honestly — without hiding, defending, or excusing. Then bring Him the debts others owe you: the wounds, betrayals, and words that still ache. Forgiveness does not mean the pain was false or the wrong was small. It means the debt no longer rules your soul. Release it into the hands of the righteous King, and let mercy break the chains bitterness forged. The one truly set free in that release is you.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, Maryland)

Editor's Note:I'm excited to announce that the first book in my new devotional series, Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now available on Amazon! This 60-day devotional is designed to help you renew your mind through God's Word, break free from false labels, and walk confidently in your God-given identity, purpose, and calling. Thank you to all who have prayed for this to come to fruition. Buy a few— they will make great gifts! Please share, and make sure to leave an Amazon review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, trust the Father's for today's bread!

Matthew 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.

After teaching us to pray, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," Yeshua (Jesus) now teaches us to bring our daily needs before the Father. The order matters. We begin with the Father's name, His Kingdom, and His will — but the King who rules heaven and earth also sees the table, the family, the workday, the lack, the pressure, and the quiet concern of the heart. He is not too distant to care about ordinary need.

Yeshua teaches us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Not tomorrow's bread. Not a storehouse built against fear. Not enough provision to remove the need for trust. This echoes the wilderness: Israel, freed from Pharaoh but not yet home, was both free and dependent. There, the Lord gave manna from heaven — bread for each day, gathered but never hoarded in unbelief. The provision was daily because the relationship was daily. Every morning Israel stepped outside to receive what heaven had already provided. Yesterday's manna could not sustain today's obedience, and tomorrow's worry could not be solved by anxious grasping.

Asking for today's bread, and refusing to ask for tomorrow's, is itself an act of trust. It positions the one praying inside a relationship rather than a transaction. The child who asks a father for supper does not need a contract; the asking itself is the relationship. Yeshua will say later, "do not worry about tomorrow" (Matthew 6:34) — and this line is where that trust is first practiced.

"Daily bread" is not only food. It is everything needed to live faithfully before the Father today — strength, wisdom, grace, mercy, courage, peace. This is deeply Hebraic: the blessed life is not independence from God, but dependence upon Him. In the wilderness, the Lord let Israel hunger, then fed them manna, so they would learn that man does not live by bread alone but by every word from His mouth — the very passage Yeshua quoted when tempted. Bread matters, but the Provider is greater than the provision.

This prayer also breaks pride. We work, plan, sow, build, and steward, but beneath it all we still live by gift — the breath in our lungs, the strength in our hands, the open door, the meal on the table, all from the Father's hand. And notice: Yeshua teaches "give us," not merely "give me." Kingdom prayer carries the whole family of God in its language. We ask not only for our own bread but with awareness of those who hunger and wait for provision today. What the Father gives us is never only for private security — it becomes, in our hands, His answer to someone else's prayer.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — blessed is the one no longer anxious in self-supply but at peace in daily trust, who does not despise ordinary provision but sees every meal, every mercy, every strength for the day as a gift. Blessed is the one who wakes each morning not as an orphan scrambling for bread, but as a child looking to the Father's hand.

The world says secure enough that you never have to depend; the Kingdom says depend daily, and you will learn the Father's faithfulness. The world hoards from fear; the Kingdom receives with gratitude and gives with trust.

So pray this simply and honestly: Father, give us this day our daily bread — strength for today's burden, wisdom for today's decision, grace for today's relationships, peace for today's uncertainty, bread for the table and bread for the soul. And as He gives, remember: daily bread is not proof that you are forgotten. It is proof that the Father is near enough to feed you day by day.

Friend, you are a child at your Father's table, held today by strength measured for today alone. Come to Him this way — trusting, not grasping — and receive what He gives with gratitude, steward it with humility, and share it with generosity. The God who fed Israel with manna in the wilderness knows exactly what you need in this moment, this season, this day, and His hand is near enough to give it. Rest in strength sized for today, and trust Him again tomorrow morning for tomorrow's — for your Father is not only the King of heaven, but He is also the Giver of daily bread.

Shabbat Shalom -- Have a blessed weekend relaxing in His presence! See you first thing on Monday!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Atlanta, Georgia)

Editor's Note:I'm excited to announce that the first book in my new devotional series, Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now available on Amazon! This 60-day devotional is designed to help you renew your mind through God's Word, break free from false labels, and walk confidently in your God-given identity, purpose, and calling. Thank you to all who have prayed for this to come to fruition. Buy a few— they will make great gifts! Please share, and make sure to leave an Amazon review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, your Kingdom come!

Matthew 6:10  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 

Yeshua (Jesus) teaches us to begin prayer with the Father: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name." But immediately after reverence comes surrender. Before He teaches us to ask for daily bread, forgiveness, or deliverance, He teaches us to pray for the Father's reign: "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This is not religious language to move past quickly. It is the central cry of every disciple who has been awakened to the King.

In Hebraic thought, kingdom is not primarily a place — it is reign. Malchut (מַלְכוּת) speaks of kingship, rule, dominion, and royal authority. To pray "Your kingdom come" is to pray, "Father, let Your reign be revealed. Let Your rule break into what is broken. Let every rival kingdom bow."

Yeshua's own ministry announced this: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Wherever He went, the reign of God was demonstrated — the sick were healed, the bound were set free, and sinners were forgiven. Heaven was invading earth through the life of the Son, and He invites us into that same movement.

Then Yeshua adds the second line: "Your will be done." This is desire, purpose, pleasure — not reluctant submission but active agreement. To pray for the Father's will is to say, "Let what pleases You be accomplished in me." We cannot sincerely pray "Your kingdom come" while resisting "Your will be done." The Kingdom comes wherever the King is obeyed. So this prayer begins inside us — in our motives, our speech, our hidden compromises — before it ever reaches the nations.

Yeshua does not leave this Kingdom and this will floating in the abstract — He names exactly where they are meant to land: "on earth (eretz) as it is in heaven (shamayim)." Shamayim (שָׁמַיִם) is the realm where God's rule meets no resistance — no rebellion, no delay, no divided allegiance. Eretz (אֶרֶץ) is this ground beneath our feet, still groaning, still awaiting its redemption (Romans 8:19-22). Yeshua does not teach us to pray for escape from the earth. He teaches us to pray the atmosphere of heaven down into it. This is the whole shape of Kingdom prayer: not evacuation, but invasion of glory.

This is the heartbeat of the Kingdom, the whole story of Scripture. Habakkuk saw the earth filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:4). Isaiah saw nations streaming to the mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2:2-4). Revelation ends not with souls escaping earth, but with the New Jerusalem descending and God dwelling with man. When we pray this, we ask for heaven's righteousness to touch earth's injustice, heaven's mercy to heal earth's wounds, heaven's order to restore earth's chaos.

This prayer is not passive — it is dangerous in the best and holiest sense, because the one who prays it must become available to embody it. If you pray "Your kingdom come," you are offering your life as territory for the King. If you pray "Your will be done," you surrender the right to rule yourself. If you pray "on earth as it is in heaven," you are asking God to make you a place where heaven is no longer merely believed, but displayed.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — blessed is the one who prays not for God to bend toward earth's chaos, but for earth to bend toward heaven's throne. Blessed is the one whose first request each day is not "fix my problem" but "let Your Reign be seen here."

When the Kingdom comes first, everything the day requires is already positioned inside it.

The world teaches us to build our own kingdom, protect our own will, pursue our own name. Yeshua teaches us to pray the opposite: Your Kingdom, Your will, Your earth, Your glory. This is the prayer that dethrones self and turns ordinary obedience into Kingdom witness. Pray it slowly. Pray it honestly. Pray it until it searches you — but do not pray it from a distance. Let it begin in you.

Friend, you were born for the reign of the King — crowned to carry His rule into every corner of your life. You are a son, a daughter, already seated with Him, carrying His authority into every room you enter. The Kingdom you pray for is near you, in you, moving through you. Every place your feet stand becomes ground where heaven's order is welcome to advance. Give Him the throne of your life — your will, your plans, your hidden places — and watch Him reign there. Pray boldly today: let His reign be seen, let His will be done, let the atmosphere of heaven settle over your home, your work, your body, your city. You were made to carry the Kingdom, and everywhere you go, it goes with you.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Knoxville, TN)

Editor's Note:I'm excited to announce that the first book in my new devotional series, Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now available on Amazon! This 60-day devotional is designed to help you renew your mind through God's Word, break free from false labels, and walk confidently in your God-given identity, purpose, and calling. Thank you to all who have prayed for this to come to fruition. Buy a few— they will make great gifts! Please share, and make sure to leave an Amazon review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, Avinu: our Father we approach in reverance!

Matthew 6:9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Yeshua (Jesus) does not begin prayer with a request. He begins with relationship.

After warning His disciples against praying for performance and reminding them the Father already knows their need before they ask, He teaches them how to pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name." This is the foundation of the Lord's prayer. Before bread, before forgiveness, before deliverance, before any burden is named, the disciple is taught to lift his eyes and remember who God is.

Our Father. In Hebrew thought, fatherhood is not sentimental. A father is source, covering, authority, provision, instruction, identity, and inheritance. To call God Avinu (אָבִינוּ) — "our Father" — is to come before Him not as an orphan begging outside the gate, but as a son or daughter welcomed into the house. Prayer begins with belonging.

If God is only distant power, prayer becomes fear. If He is only judge, prayer becomes accusation or defense. If He is only a source of blessing, prayer becomes transaction. Yeshua teaches us to begin with Father, because the Kingdom is not built on striving servants trying to earn attention — it is built on beloved children learning to trust the heart of the King.

Yet He does not say only "Father." He says, "Our Father in heaven." The Father who is near, but is also enthroned. He is tender, but not common. Intimate, but not small. Personal, but not powerless. Heaven is His throne, and earth is His footstool — above every kingdom, every fear, every circumstance that tries to define our lives. So the Lord's prayer begins with this holy revelation: God is Father, and God is King. Close enough to hear the whisper, and yet He rules the universe.

Then Yeshua teaches us to pray, "Hallowed be Your name." To hallow means to treat as holy, set apart, worthy of reverence — kadosh (קָדוֹשׁ), utterly unlike all that is common. The name of God is not merely a label. In Scripture, His name represents His character, His reputation, His nature, His revealed glory. So when we pray, "Hallowed be Your name," we are saying, "Father, let Your name be treated as holy in me, through me, around me, and in the earth."

This is not just worship language. It is surrender language. Before we ask God to change our circumstances, we ask Him to sanctify our perspective. This is why the order matters. Yeshua does not teach us to begin with "Give us," but with "Hallowed be Your name." The Lord's prayer is not first about getting heaven to serve our agenda — it is our lives coming into alignment with the Father's name, reign, and will.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — the blessed life rightly aligned with God. Blessed is the one whose prayer begins not with panic, but with Father. Blessed is the one whose requests are held inside a holy reverence — who does not use God's name to advance his own agenda, but offers his life so God's name may be honored.

The world begins with need. The Kingdom begins with the Father. The world says, "My problem is first." Yeshua teaches us to pray, "Our Father is first, and His name is holy."

Friend, so before you rush into the list, pause. Before you name the need, remember the Father. Before you carry the burden, behold the King. Say Avinu (אָבִינוּ), and remember whose child you are. Say kadosh (קָדוֹשׁ), and remember whose name you carry. You are not coming to a distant ruler who must be convinced to care; you are coming to your Father, who knows you, sees you, and welcomes you near. Prayer begins here — not with performance, not with panic, not with many empty words, but with the child standing before the throne, saying, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name."

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, MD)

Editor's Note:I'm excited to announce that the first book in my new devotional series, Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now available on Amazon! This 60-day devotional is designed to help you renew your mind through God's Word, break free from false labels, and walk confidently in your God-given identity, purpose, and calling. Thank you to all who have prayed for this to come to fruition. Buy a few— they will make great gifts! Please share, and make sure to leave an Amazon review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, your Father already knows!

Matthew 6:8  "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 

Yeshua (Jesus) now gives one of the most tender revelations in the Sermon on the Mount: "Your Father knows." He has just warned His disciples not to pray like the nations, piling up empty words as though prayer becomes powerful by volume, length, or repetition. The issue was not persistence — Scripture honors persistent prayer. The issue was anxiety disguised as religion: the fear that God must be informed, convinced, pressured, or awakened before He will care.

Yeshua cuts through that fear with one sentence: "Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." This changes the whole atmosphere of prayer. In the Hebraic world, to "know" is more than mental awareness. The word yada (יָדַע) speaks of intimate, relational knowledge — not distant observation, but covenant awareness, the knowledge of One who sees, understands, remembers, and is personally involved. When Yeshua says the Father knows what you need, He is not saying God has collected information about your situation. He is saying your need is already held before the heart of your Father.

That means prayer does not begin with panic. It begins with trust. The Father is not ignorant until you explain, not reluctant until you persuade, not careless until your words become impressive enough to move Him. Before the request forms on your lips, before the burden becomes language, before the tears become sentences, the Father already knows.

This does not make prayer unnecessary — it makes prayer relational. If the Father already knows, why ask? Because prayer is not mainly the transfer of information. It is the surrender of the heart, where fear becomes trust, need becomes dependence, and desire becomes aligned with the Kingdom. We do not pray to notify God. We pray to draw near to the One who already sees.

This is why Yeshua says, "Do not be like them." Do not pray like an orphan trying to earn attention, or a servant unsure of his master's heart. You are not coming before an unknown deity. You are coming before Avinu  (אָבִינוּ) — our Father. A child does not need to perform hunger to be fed by a loving father, does not need to exaggerate pain to be noticed, does not need to craft perfect language before being held. The Father's care precedes the child's asking; His knowledge comes before the petition. This is the heart of the Kingdom — Yeshua is forming disciples who pray from sonship, not striving. It is not passive resignation but active trust. We still ask, still seek, still knock — but from the assurance that we are already seen.

There is deep freedom in this. You do not have to make your prayers dramatic to be heard, or explain every detail perfectly, or carry the burden of convincing God to be good. You can come honestly, simply, reverently, and boldly, because the Father's knowledge surrounds your need before your words ever reach heaven.

This is ashrei  (אַשְׁרֵי) — the blessed life of one who knows the Father already knows. Blessed is the one whose prayers are freed from performance, whose heart no longer strives to be noticed, whose needs are brought before God with childlike trust.

The world teaches us to fight to be seen; the Kingdom teaches us that we already are. The world says, make your need impossible to ignore; the Kingdom says, your Father knew before you asked.

So bring Him your needs — the small ones and the heavy ones, the things you can name and the things you barely know how to express, the ache beneath the request and the fear beneath the ache.

Do not come as though you must awaken His compassion. Come because His mercies have already moved toward you. He knows the provision you need, the wisdom you need, the healing and strength and comfort you need — He knows the hidden place no one else can see. And because He knows as Father, you can pray with peace.

Friend, come as a son or daughter, not a servant pleading for notice, not as an orphan working to be seen. Speak simply, trust deeply, and let every prayer rise from the quiet confidence that you were never unseen, never unheard, never forgotten — your Father already knows ahead of your asking.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, MD)

Editor's Note:I'm excited to announce that the first book in my new devotional series, Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now available on Amazon! This 60-day devotional is designed to help you renew your mind through God's Word, break free from false labels, and walk confidently in your God-given identity, purpose, and calling. Thank you to all who have prayed for this to come to fruition. Buy a few— they will make great gifts! Please share, and make sure to leave an Amazon review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, the Father meets you in the secret place!

Matthew 6:5-7  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 

Yeshua (Jesus) now turns from giving to prayer, but the issue is the same: the hidden life before the Father. He is not condemning public prayer — Israel's worship included public prayers, synagogue prayers, Temple prayers, and corporate cries lifted together before God. The problem is not praying where people can see. The problem is praying in order to be seen.

Yeshua says, "You shall not be like the hypocrites." A hypocrite was an actor on a stage — someone performing a role before an audience. Prayer was never meant to become theater or a way to build an image of spirituality. Prayer is not a performance before men; it is communion with the Father.

In Hebrew thought, prayer is deeply connected to the word tefillah. It is not merely reciting words or presenting requests. It is the turning of the heart toward God, standing honestly before Him, being searched by Him, and aligning the inner life with His will. Prayer is where the soul comes out of hiding.

This is why Yeshua says, "Go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place." The secret place is not about geography as much as sincerity. It is the place where the masks come off, where there is no crowd to impress, no reputation to manage, no spiritual image to protect. It is where the Father meets the real you — the inner chamber where the treasure of communion with Him is formed.

The Father who sees in secret is the same Father who rewarded hidden giving. He is not distant from what no one else notices. He sees the whispered prayer, the tear no one knows about, the burden carried quietly, the repentance spoken in the dark, the intercession lifted when no applause will ever come. The world may overlook the secret place, but heaven never does.

Then Yeshua warns against vain repetitions, praying like the nations who think they will be heard because of many words. He is not forbidding persistence in prayer — Scripture is full of repeated cries, repeated psalms, faithful intercession, and Yeshua Himself prayed with intensity and repetition in Gethsemane. The issue is not repetition; the issue is emptiness. The prophets confronted this often: God was never impressed by words disconnected from the heart, by lips that drew near while the heart stayed far. Prayer does not become powerful because it is long, loud, or religiously polished. Prayer becomes alive when it is true.

The Kingdom restores prayer to its proper center: the Father. "Pray to your Father." That changes everything. Prayer is not magic, not manipulation, not the piling up of phrases until heaven is forced to respond. It is the child coming before the Father — trust, dependence, surrender, communion. We are not impressing Him with vocabulary. We are bringing Him the heart.

This is the idea of ashrei quietly at work beneath the whole passage. Blessed are the poor in spirit — those with nothing to leverage before God — for it is exactly they who need no audience but Him. Blessed are the pure in heart, for a heart with nothing divided in it has nothing left to perform. The secret room, then, is not a discipline bolted onto faith from the outside. It is what faith looks like once it stops needing witnesses — a return to the one relationship prayer was always meant to express: sonship rather than solicitation, nearness rather than negotiation. Blessed is the one who no longer needs to sound spiritual before men because he has learned to be honest before God.

The world rewards performance. The Kingdom rewards sincerity. The world asks, "Who heard me pray?" The Kingdom asks, "Did I meet with the Father?" The world measures prayer by impression. The Kingdom measures prayer by communion.

The Kingdom is not built first on platforms. It is built in hidden rooms, surrendered hearts, and prayers no one heard but God.

Friend, you already have the Father's full attention — no performance required, no image to maintain, no audience to win over. You are free to come into the secret place exactly as you are: hungry, honest, trusting, fully known. Your Father delights in a heart turned toward Him, not clever words or polished phrases — so let your prayer life be communion, not performance; nearness, not striving; sonship, not display. He is already waiting for you there, and what He forms in that hidden place will carry the fragrance of His Kingdom into the open. Ashrei are those who pray behind closed doors, for the Father who hears in secret will reward them openly.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, MD)

Editor's Note:I'm excited to announce that the first book in my new devotional series, Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now available on Amazon! This 60-day devotional is designed to help you renew your mind through God's Word, break free from false labels, and walk confidently in your God-given identity, purpose, and calling. Thank you to all who have prayed for this to come to fruition. Buy a few— they will make great gifts! Please share, and make sure to leave an Amazon review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, the Father sees what is done in secret!

Matthew 6:1-4 Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. 

Yeshua (Jesus) now moves from the visible actions of Kingdom life into the hidden motives beneath them. He is not warning against doing good — He is warning against doing good as performance. The issue is not whether others see the deed. The issue is whether being seen has become the reason it was done.

In the Hebraic world, giving to the poor was never optional charity. It was tzedakah (צְדָקָה) — righteousness, justice, right covenant order. To give to the needy was an act of faithfulness to God's way of ordering life, because Israel's God is a Defender of the vulnerable. But Yeshua exposes something sobering: even righteous acts can be corrupted by the hunger for human recognition.

"Do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do." The word hypocrite described an actor wearing a mask, performing before an audience. Yeshua is warning against a good deed that turns mercy into theater. A gift may reach the poor, but if the heart is reaching for applause, something has already gone wrong.

The Kingdom does not only ask, "What did you do?" It asks, "Before whom did you do it?" Did I give because love moved me, or because I wanted to be noticed? Yeshua is not condemning public obedience — He is confronting performed righteousness, spiritual activity aimed at human praise.

Of such people He says, "They have their reward." A terrifying sentence. If the goal was applause, applause is all they receive. If the goal was reputation, reputation is their payment. Heaven owes nothing to the deed that was already paid for by human glory.

Then the Kingdom way: "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Give so the deed does not become a monument to yourself. Do not rehearse it inwardly, polish it for retelling, or let your own heart turn generosity into self-congratulation. This is the purity of tzedakah — righteousness without a trumpet, mercy without self-display, the open hand before man and the hidden heart before God.

Your Father who sees in secret will reward you — that is the anchor of the passage: your Father sees. He is El Roi (אֵל רֳאִי), the God who sees. Hagar discovered this in the wilderness, unseen by everyone but seen by God. The Father sees the quiet gift, the hidden sacrifice, the burden carried, the kindness no one praised or remembered.

In the Kingdom, the Father's gaze is enough. His applause is the only one we were ever meant to live for, and once we know that, the praise of men holds no power over us. Our reward comes from Him — so we are free to give, to serve, and to love without ever needing to manage an image of righteousness before others.

This is what it means to live a life of ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) — blessed. Blessed is the one whose giving has been purified from performance, whose mercy flows without needing attention, and whose heart is content to be seen by the Father alone.

This does not mean every good deed must be hidden from every eye — Yeshua has already said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." The difference is the aim. In Matthew 5, good works lead people to glorify the Father. Here, they are used to glorify the performer. The problem is not visibility. The problem is vanity.

Friend, heaven has already taken notice, and you carry a generosity that needs no trumpet to be real. The King has set you free to give from joy, to serve without needing to be seen, and to love simply because love is who you are. Every hidden gift, every quiet kindness, flows from the Father who made you this way — and the God who sees in secret is faithful; nothing done before His eyes is ever wasted.

Shabbat Shalom! Have a wonderful weekend resting in His presence. We’ll be back in your inbox first thing Monday morning!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, MD)

Editor's Note:I'm excited to announce that the first book in my new devotional series, Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now available on Amazon! This 60-day devotional is designed to help you renew your mind through God's Word, break free from false labels, and walk confidently in your God-given identity, purpose, and calling. Thank you to all who have prayed for this to come to fruition. Buy a few— they will make great gifts! Please share, and make sure to leave an Amazon review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!

Friend, called to be whole before the Father!

Matthew 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

At first, Yeshua's (Jesus') words sound impossible. If we hear "perfect" through the modern idea of flawless performance — never mistaken, never struggling, never falling short — we misunderstand Him entirely. The Kingdom does not produce anxious perfectionists. It creates sons and daughters who become whole before the Father.

The word translated "perfect" carries the idea of maturity, completeness, wholeness. This statement comes immediately after Yeshua commands us to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who persecute us. The "perfection" He describes is the completeness of love that reflects the Father — the same Father who causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and unjust. His goodness is not rationed to the deserving. He does not love in fractions.

This connects deeply to the Hebrew word tamim (תָּמִים) — blameless, complete, whole, without defect. Moses makes it explicit: "You shall be perfect (tamim) before the LORD your God" [Deuteronomy 18:13].

The context is not moral perfectionism. Israel had just been warned against divination, sorcery, and consulting mediums — the surrounding nations hedging their loyalty across many gods, many sources of guidance. To be tamim was to refuse that division. One God. One allegiance. A heart not parceled out among rival altars.

This is the same word used of every offering brought near the altar — tamim, without blemish or defect. This was never about the animal's moral record. It was about wholeness: nothing missing, nothing withheld. A divided gift was no gift at all. When Yeshua calls His followers to this same wholeness, He is not saying "perform flawlessly." He is saying "hold nothing back." Bring the whole heart. Keep no blemish of divided loyalty hidden in the fold.

This is why the command lands exactly where it does — immediately after "love your enemies." A love that blesses only the lovable is a divided love, a blemish in the offering. A love that reaches only as far as reciprocity is comfortable is tamim broken in half.

He is the Rock, His work is perfect (tamim); For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.  -- Deuteronomy 32:4

Deuteronomy 32:4 describes God’s own character with this same word: His work is tamim (תָּמִים). This describes God’s work as whole, faithful, and complete. And 1 Kings 8:61 turns that wholeness into a charge for His people: “Let your heart be shalem” (שָׁלֵם) — whole, complete — “with the LORD your God.” Wholehearted, not flawless. Undivided, not sinless.

Noah was called blameless in his generation. (Genesis 6:9) Abraham was told, "Walk before Me and be blameless." (Genesis 17:1) The consistent call was never perfectionism, but covenant wholeness — a people whose lives belonged fully to God. This is the same call on the mountain. Yeshua has just taught His disciples not to let anger rule the heart, not to let lust defile desire, not to repay evil with evil, not to limit love to those who love them back. Then He says, "Therefore..." This is where it has all been leading. Be whole. Be undivided. Let your life reflect a Father whose character does not fracture under pressure.

The world teaches divided living — love your friends, hate your enemies; show mercy when deserved, withhold it when offended. The Kingdom calls us into a different life, one where the inner person and the outward life come back together under the reign of God. That is tamim. That is ashrei — not shallow happiness, but the deep flourishing of a life rightly aligned with God, no longer ruled by divided loyalties or selective love.

Friend, Yeshua is not calling you into the crushing burden of flawless performance; He is calling you into the freedom of becoming whole before the Father. Do not settle for a divided heart, a hidden life, or selective love. Walk before the Lord as tamim — open, honest, yielded, and fully His. Let Him gather every fractured part of your life under His reign. He is not asking you to pretend you are perfect; He is forming you to be blameless, complete, and undivided in His presence.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Baltimore, MD)

Editor's Note:I'm excited to announce that the first book in my new devotional series, Identity in Messiah Revealed, is now available on Amazon! This 60-day devotional is designed to help you renew your mind through God's Word, break free from false labels, and walk confidently in your God-given identity, purpose, and calling. Thank you to all who have prayed for this to come to fruition. Buy a few— they will make great gifts! Please share, and make sure to leave an Amazon review. (Amazon Paperback | Kindle )

Editor's Note: Come with us this October as we lead an unforgettable tour across Israel! Walk through the land of the Bible, experience its history and prophetic significance, and see Scripture come alive. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up before the trip fills up!