Rosh Hashanah and the Ten Days of Awe - Transitioning Into Spiritual Awakening - Part Two

Rosh Hashanah and the Ten Days of Awe - Transitioning Into Spiritual Awakening - Part Two

This is the conclusion of a prophetic word Matt Sorger received recently as we approached the Jewish New Year.  Please read and pray over it carefully as we enter into this New Year.  God bless.

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WHAT WE SOW NOW WILL DETERMINE THE DIRECTION FOR THE COMING YEAR

The position we take before God will determine the direction of the rest of the year. What we sow now will release a harvest for the coming year. Rosh Hashanah is known as the "Head of the Year". Jewish tradition says that this day marks the anniversary of the creation of the world and is the day when God takes stock of creation. Just as the head directs the body so God's judgments on Rosh Hashanah direct the events of the coming year.

I shared earlier that it is very important what we sow during this season. The seeds we sow will come into quick harvest. Since Rosh Hashanah begins a season of God's judgment, we must be very careful not to sow seeds of judgment into the lives of others. When I talk about God's judgment some will jump on that and say 'Yeah! Man is so sinful God is just going to destroy the world!' When I say judgment I don't mean God's destruction. God's judgment is always redemptive and His discipline is always in love and with encouragement. Correction that comes without encouragement is not from God's heart. His discipline always encourages us to rise higher; it never discourages us nor knocks us down. That is usually the work of a critical, judgmental spirit.

In Mt 7:1-2 Jesus exhorts His disciples "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."

We must be sure to keep a humble heart and not sow critical, fault finding judgment into the lives of others. That kind of judgment will release a harvest you don't want in your life. The measure you sow will equal the measure that comes back to you.

God will allow this reaping to expose what is in our own hearts. Many times we don't even know everything that is within us, nor what is driving us to feel the things we feel. Usually false judgment starts with an offense. That offense may not even be grounded in absolute truth. It may result just from a difference of opinion or style. We think our way is better and become critical of others. This is actually a self righteous spirit and does not communicate the pure heart of God.

DISCERNMENT V. ACCUSATION – KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE

It is important to understand the difference between discernment and accusation. Spiritually immature people don't know how to distinguish the two. They begin to operate in a spirit of accusation thinking they are operating with the heart of God when they are actually coming into agreement with the wrong voice, the voice of the enemy. The enemy's voice can sound very self righteous and indignant. If we are not spiritually mature enough to check our inward attitudes we can easily come into agreement with this voice and become a 'crusader' for judgment and accusation thinking we are helping people by pointing out everything we think is wrong. This can be a dangerous place when we step into agreement with the accuser of the brethren and begin to sow division rather than love, encouragement and restoration in people's lives. God has called us to be agents of healing and love, not division. Be very careful that your discernment doesn't cross the line into accusation. Those are seeds you do not want to be sowing.

When we are operating in true discernment from the Holy Spirit our hearts will overflow with love for that individual and we will respond like Jesus. Jesus laid His life down for others. If we ever discern something negative in someone's life that does not give us the right to bring the correction we think is needed, unless we are in such a relationship and place of authority in that person's life that we are able to speak with love and encouragement. We must learn that there are levels in the army of God. Privates don't correct generals. Generals correct generals. There is a divine order in God's Kingdom. The main purpose for discernment is prayer. If we lay down our lives for others in loving prayer, then God's hand will move beautifully in their hearts bringing the change that is needed and we don't even have to say a word. It is actually a form of spiritual pride to think we are God's agent of correction. Our job isto pray with a right spirit and then speak only if we have earned that place in a person's life through loving relationship, trust and humility. Prov. 27:6 says "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." The key word here is 'friend'. These wounds are easily healed because they are full of heartfelt love.

Jesus never threw stones or spoke hurtful words. He rebuked the religious people from time to time, but never cast stones at those caught in a sin. He would confront sin when needed but at the same time would offer perfect, eternal love with a heart of mercy and restoration. We must hate sin, but always remember to love the sinner. We must also be careful not to judge someone just because they have a different style or way of doing things. Style is not a sin issue. Man judges by the external, but God always looks at the heart. We must be careful to look with God's eyes and not our own.

A GOOD TIME TO TAKE STOCK

If you have ever been the victim of false accusation or judgment, it is a good time to take stock of your own heart and ask yourself, "Have I ever sowed this into someone else's life? Have I ever had a critical, fault-finding attitude toward someone else?" Maybe you have, maybe you haven't. But it is good to check. Sometimes we have such a sense of conviction with our judgments that we are sure we have God's heart. Not always. We can be sincere, but sincerely wrong about another individual. We are all susceptible to this deception if not careful.

As we move into the next season God has for us, the position to take is that of humility, searching and judging our own hearts so that we ourselves are not judged. It is also a time to pray for God's blessing and favor on the New Year.

Following Rash Hashanah is the Ten Days of Awe leading into The Day of Atonement on Oct. 2, 2006.

The Day of Atonement is the day the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies and apply the blood of the sacrifice to the mercy seat to atone for the sins of the people from the previous year. There was no barrier between the High Priest and the full manifested glory of God.

I believe that as we humble ourselves before God and embrace the sacrifice of the cross in a new way in our lives, we will experience a depth of intimacy and communion with God deeper than we have ever known before. There will be no barrier between us and the glory as we embrace the work of the cross. Humility opens the way for us to go deep into a pure communion with God.

It will be out of this place that we reap the amazing Harvest that is awaiting us. Not only a harvest of God's mercy and love in our own lives, but a harvest of global proportions as we see the heart of humanity turn towards God in this last hour. Get ready to move in His extraordinary power based in a life of holiness, humility and extraordinary love. The best is yet to come!