Messianic Judaism & Spiritual Warfare

[SonWorshipper]

After reading JustinHulsey's thread about depression it reminded me that there is much Spiritual Warfare involved in Messianic Judaism. Many that have truly aligned themselves with the "Movement" have come under attack, sometimes very severe. So I started this thread where we can talk about this and also to uplift one another because the more we press in to this call of the L-rd the more HaSatan is "displeased" and will strike at any chance he gets.

Bring your "strikes" of the adversary here" so that we may lift you up in prayer and also to help you through each step.

The L-rd did say,

"You will be persecuted for my name's sake"


But we know the L-rds promise also

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou are we me!" http://www.christianforums.com/images/smilies/clap.gif

[iitb]

I actually thought about starting a thread like this a couple of days ago, but I couldn't come up with a way of wording it that wouldn't offend any Christians who might pop in.http://www.christianforums.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Anyway, I think one of the biggest problems I'm facing at the moment is my location. Colorado Springs is the headquarters for 100+ Christian organizations, which leads to a few things:

1) Most of my Christian friends work for one of these organizations. You think it's hard discussing what you believe with a "regular" Christian? Try talking to one who hears the "New Israel/free from the law" bit every waking hour!

2) The two Messianic Synagogues in town are nothing more than Christian churches that meet on Saturday(I believe simchat_torah refers to this as "Christianity with kippahs"). In one case the guy in charge works for Focus on the Family! Nothing against Focus, but I felt like that congregation was being blocked from going down the right road due to Christian affiliations(in addition to the FOTF connection, they met in a local church).

The result of this is that I'm attending a congregation that meets out in Calhan(aka "the middle of nowhere"). It's a great group, but it's a 35 mile drive one-way, and all of the other members actually live out there. Result? I feel very isolated at the moment.

[SonWorshipper]

But if you feel the L-rd is pulling you out there then it is right to follow. Give it time, relationships will develope. I am 50 miles away from my congregation through very busy major cities and I broke down on the way to synagogue just a few weeks ago ( car engine blew!) but it has not deterred us at all. In fact we have been feeling the pull to move out and be closer to the synagogue and the other members and this has also been on the hearts of others that travel a long distance. This means uprooting families in schools and moving finding housing and a job but we are feeling the pull so largely. But I tell you that the enemy has been trying to discourage us every chance he gets, but we must be strong and hid ourselves in the L-rd.

The way I feel about it is if you weren't doing the L-rds will , and following what the Ruach is speaking to your heart then you wouldn't have any harrassment from "downstairs" ;)

[1Faith1]

Well, this thread hasn't continued on in awhile, so I'll see if I can get it going again.

Since first questioning the "church" about five years ago, my husband and I have been on a tough journey. (Boy, I don't want to offend here, but I'm not sure how else to put it.) We just couldn't help wondering about all the marvelous blessings of Torah and why so many Christians weren't experiencing the full abundance of those promises. Was it because we weren't taking G-d's teachings and instructions seriously? Well, as many of you can probably attest, we got into trouble even asking that question of other Christians and pastors. The answers were always "The Law is dead," "The New Testament is for Christians," "Beware of putting yourself under the Law," etc. Well, we stopped asking those people and started seeking out the Scriptures with all our hearts.

Gradually, we found some other like-minded Believers, but we feel very isolated at times too. Spiritually speaking, I myself have grown immensely in my closeness to Yeshua. My relationship with Him is stronger than ever and I have a greater understanding of Scripture when I actually walk it out as the Spirit of G-d leads me. I love studying Torah with other like-minded Believers. I believe my husband feels the same. I really love the Messianic worship music and Israeli dance worship. But I greatly miss ministry involvement. I used to do missionary work, drama, music, youth ministry, sunday school, etc. Suddenly, I feel my creative talents and gifts held back, because I'm not sure where Yeshua wants me. Missionary work and church involvement contradicts so much of what I now understand and believe. Sometimes I do a little bit here and there in a local church, just because my soul craves to serve, but there's so much I'm not able to share and speak about about my new walk with G-d. I homeschool our daughter and I've put together quite a bit of Torah-based Messianic curriculum, but I rarely have a chance to share it with others.

As far as spiritual warfare is concerned, it has been hard to put our finger on, but I believe we've been more attacked since following the Messianic route. Our marriage suffered excruciatingly and has only recovered in the last year through intense spiritual warfare and prayer with our Messianic friends. Our finances have also experienced unusual suffering that is quite baffling to us. For most of our lives, we could try anything, do anything and it would prosper, yet for the past five years, our finances have been more of a struggle--not with debt, but with clients not paying on time or with clients going into foreclosure, with properties taking "forever" to sell, and with wonderful business opportunities passing us by because our investor network didn't have the funds or some such thing. Maybe it's because we haven't known where to give our tithes and we've given to random places and people as we felt G-d was leading us--and even in this we're trying to stick to Torah, which is different than what most churches teach.

So, what about the blessings of following G-d's teachings and instructions? Where are they? In some ways, we had more blessings when we didn't follow Torah.

Anyone else experiencing this?