This week has seen an unprecedented number of public exposures of the good news of our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) in Israel.

1. Dan Sered of the Israeli Jews for Jesus was interviewed on the popular Channel 2 "Good Morning Israel" television show.
2. The Ortiz family, whose son Amiel was blown up by a package bomb (but miraculously survived) was interviewed on Channel 1 weekly TV magazine.
3. A Messianic teenager passed the auditions in the hugely popular television talent show, "A Star is Born," startling the judges with her anointed music and beautiful voice, as she sang from the Psalms.
4. The incident in which the assistant mayor of the city of Or Yehuda organized the burning of New Covenants reached a two page color spread in the Ma’ariv, causing much reaction in the name of freedom of religion.

An ultra-Orthodox man whom I have been sharing with, told me that he wanted to ask his rabbi about what I said. I told him that his rabbi would be angry with him for having talked to me. (He didn't believe me.)  He came back this week in shock about how his rabbi started shouting at him.  He was hurt by the rabbi's anger and now wants to know more of what our faith means.

The seeds of Romans 11:26 that "All Israel will be saved" are being planted now before our very eyes. The promise will be fulfilled. Pray with us for this major national revival, now close at hand.

Spiritual Warfare

At the same time I have had a number of Israeli believers come to me and say they are experiencing what is written in II Corinthians 4:8-9 – "We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." Along with the open witness has come a lot of spiritual pressure and attack. This is what we are feeling in the midst of these breakthroughs for the kingdom.

My oldest son, an officer in the Israeli army, commanding a key battle division, told me that it was all he could do to "hang on" with the stresses and responsibilities on him. It reminded me of Saul's (Paul's) exhortation about spiritual battle, "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age… Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" – Ephesians 6:12-13.  Sometimes you have done everything you know how to do. There is nothing left. All you can do is "stand" – just survive.

There are two kinds of prayer you can pray in that situation, after you have done everything that you know to do. The first is simply to pray in the "Spirit." Ephesians 6:18 – "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." Among other things, that means to pray in tongues (I Corinthians 14:14-15). We sometimes do not even know what or how to pray. Yet the Holy Spirit can pray through us, even though we feel like we have no strength.  (Romans 8:26 – The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.")

Another prayer to pray when we feel such pressure is what Yeshua prayed in Gethsemane, "Not My will, but Your will be done." And how did Yeshua feel at that time? "Sorrowful," "deeply distressed," "My soul is bitter, even unto death," abandoned, tired (Matthew 26:37-41). Often at the most spiritually crucial moments of our lives, we feel totally "non spiritual." We can even be flooded with dark emotions, feeling lost, out of control, defeated. That is the point just to keep repeating, "Not my will but Your will be done." Even if we feel like we are losing the battle, we can just hang on. Pray "not my will but Yours" - an incredible victory may be won, and the depth of Yeshua's character and integrity will be established in us.

Persecution – Boldness – Miracle

In the book of Acts, as the apostles had more and more opportunity to share the gospel, so did the intensity of the persecution grow. The greater the penetration of the gospel into the darkness, the greater the response of persecution. That is the expected pattern.

And what is to be our response? – greater boldness to share more in the future; and power for healing miracles.

Acts 4:29 – "And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to speak Your word with all boldness, by stretching out Your hands to heal and to do signs and wonders by the name of Yeshua, your holy servant."

It is not that the apostles were asking for miracles to back up their current level of witnessing. They already had seen miracles. They had already preached boldly. They had already been beaten and jailed.

What they were saying was this, "Lord we've already been persecuted for our present level of boldness. But that doesn't bother us. Give us more power to preach even more boldly and do even more miracles, although we know that it will bring even greater persecution against us. We are ready for more persecution, as long as we have the boldness of preaching and the miraculous signs and wonders to go with it."

The increased persecution is bringing us into more unity. When the enemy attacks all of us, it becomes obvious that we are all part of the same body. So along with the persecution, let us pray for more salvations, more miracles, and more unity.