Posted in Through the Bible

Noah

Posted on by Gloria Jackson

Noah

Today I am looking at the story of Noah. When I first started looking at this, I studied and researched and I found some interesting theological points, and I wrote up a post about them. But I didn’t feel right, it didn’t seem like that was where I was supposed to go with it. It’s why I posted nothing last week. I just wasn’t happy with what I had. Today I wanted to take another look at it. I asked myself, “What stands out in the story? What have I wondered about?” Well, the answer to that is Noah’s name. The Hebrew name Noach means “rest”. When I first heard that I was a bit confused. Rest? What is restful about Noah or his story? He spent much of his life building a huge boat. He was likely laughed at, even as he tried to warn others of the coming flood. That does not sound restful! Maybe he was his parents last child, and they named him that because they thought, “Whew, get this one raised and we can finally rest!”

Anyway, I gave it more thought. At the end of the story of Noah, there is a rainbow. That rainbow is the symbol of God’s promise to all mankind that He will never destroy the earth by flood again. We can trust God’s promises. We can “rest” in them. Noah was 600 years old at the time of the flood. Thinking in terms of Shabbat, he worked for 600 years like days maybe? Then he was able to find a “rest” of sorts anyway. His big job, the work that accomplished his purpose, was completed. I don’t know, but it’s a thought. We only know a little bit about the rest of his life. The story moves on to tell us about his sons.     (Genesis 7:6; 9:16; )

My thoughts from here go towards that rainbow. I want to tell you a story about a rainbow. You may think I am crazy or weird, or just way off, that’s okay. The story is special to me, and I want to share it with you.

My mom died in September of 2016. She was in hospice and we knew her time was near. I prayed an unusual prayer. Psalms 23:4 promises that even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, our Shepherd is with us. I took that to mean that Yeshua would come to walk with my mom as she went through that valley, as she made that transition. He would be close. I asked that He show me just a little bit of His glory, just something. I wasn’t trying to be a Moses here; I just wanted to know He was there. I was looking for our Comforter during a difficult time.

She passed on September 4, 2016. The funeral home came to take her away. I followed them out the door and looked up toward the horizon. There in the distance, was a rainbow. I knew immediately, it was for me. I soaked it up for a moment, then ran inside to grab my phone to take a picture of it. I wanted to have it forever, to remember My Rainbow. In the meantime, the van with Mom drove off and I was left. But I knew that my Savior had honored my silly prayer and given me a gift in that moment.

I pondered the meaning of it later. Why a rainbow? But I knew a rainbow reminded us of God’s promises. So, I remembered I could trust God’s promises. His promise to walk with us through death. His promise to always to be with us. I knew my mom was in good hands. He promises to comfort us, and I found comfort in that rainbow. There are also some other very interesting verses about rainbows. My favorite is Ezekial 1:28. Ezekial describes seeing the glory of God as looking like a rainbow.

This story takes me to another one. It doesn’t exactly fit the Noah theme, but I think it fits where I am supposed to go today. It is another story of trusting in God’s promises, and Him showing up.

My father died when I was 11. I remember his funeral like it was yesterday. This was 1974. The service took place in a funeral home. I was sitting by the wall in the first pew, next to my mom. In my innocent mind I trusted that God was there somewhere, He promised He would be with us. He had to be there. These were my thoughts. I was looking around the room, literally trying to find Him. There was a picture of Jesus on the wall above the casket where my dad lay. I looked at that picture for a while. Was Jesus there in that picture? No, He’s not. Where is He? Then, I felt a presence. Someone was sitting beside me, where the wall was. I KNEW there was someone there, the wall didn’t make a difference. He was there, very real, right beside me. I could not see Him, but My Savior was there in the room, and I could feel His presence. It got me through that day. The memory of it has gotten me through many days since.

God made a promise to Noah for all mankind. The rainbow reminds of God’s promises. Not just that He won’t flood the earth again. But just as He has kept that one promise, He keeps them all. Noah’s name in Hebrew, Noach, comes from the word rest. In the story we are told about a rainbow. The rainbow reminds us of God’s promises. We can find rest trusting in God’s promises. Whatever you may be going through. Trust that God is there. Look for Him, look for His promises in His Word, find yours – and trust.

Posted in Through the Bible

Beginnings

Posted on by Gloria Jackson

The Bible begins with the story of the beginning of all things, the story of creation. I once heard it said, “It is the core of the Torah, from which all else radiates.” That makes sense. It is not just the beginning of the world’s history, which is how we usually view it. We tend to stop there. But it is so much more. (Gensis 1:1 – 6:8)

It is the beginning of our pattern of disobedience, God’s punishment, and then eventual restoration through Messiah. It is the first time we see grace. Yes, here in the beginning of the Torah. Adam and Eve disobeyed. They did not even say I’m sorry, let alone confess or pay any penance. They did recognize that they had sinned, by disobeying God, but they only blamed someone else for their action. But our loving Father, asked nothing from them. There was a price to be paid, he had warned them of it, but He also provided a covering for their sin. He also made a plan for justice. Without them doing a thing. (Genesis 3)

I see the first hints of Messiah here. On the first day, before there was a sun or a moon or even stars – God said, “Let there be light.” What or who was that light? In some way or fashion, that I cannot yet understand, I believe it was Yeshua. He declared Himself to be the Light of the World. John 1:1-4 tells us He was there from the beginning. That all things were made through Him. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. I see Yeshua’s future sacrifice for our sins in the animal that was slain to provide covering for Adam and Eve for their sins. (Genesis 1:3; John 1:1 4; 8:12)

This “Beginnings” also gives us context for the rest of the teachings to come. We begin with the story of mankind, to the story of the beginning of the people of Israel, the story of Abraham’s family. Their story and the giving of the Torah, the misnamed “Law”, the “Teachings” all the way to the redemptive story of Yeshua who was born of Abraham’s seed.

Through sin, man lost his special connection with God. But HaShem already had a plan in place. He chose a man, a family, a people. He sent them to Egypt and brought them out. He taught them, gave them the Torah, and brought them to a Promised Land. He brought His Son to us and He gave us life’s instruction manual, through this special family.

We see the beginning of God’s calling to us and teaching us through His holy days. He blesses the seventh day and sanctified it, made it holy. This is the first of more to come. These days have something to show us, something to teach us. God made them special. The Sabbath is the only the beginning.

We think we chase after God, but HaShem has been chasing after us from the beginning. Always, from the Beginning. We hide; He calls. We sin, we lose our way, He makes a path for us to return. We get kicked out of Eden, and He goes all out to show us the way back, even to the giving His Son life. This passage is the beginning of our leaving Eden, but it’s also the beginning of the story of our return to Eden. This is the goal of the entire redemption plan, and we see hints of it already in this “Beginning”. (Revelation 13:8)

All these beginnings! From the beginning, in the beginning – Adonai loved us. He created us, formed us, in His own image. He called us and had already put His redemptive plan into action. This should inform how we live our lives. This should cause us to love and worship our Creator God, Adonai, Yeshua – each and every day of our lives. After all our lives literally belong to Him they came from His own breath.

Posted in Faith

Avinu

Posted on by Gloria Jackson

Last time I spoke to you, I gave some exhortations. One was to pray. Today I want to talk a bit more about that. I have struggled with my own prayer life, and I have given it a lot of thought over the last couple of years. I even considered writing a book about it, but I doubt now that will happen. But I do feel good about the direction it has gone, and so I thought maybe I could share some of what I have learned.

So first let’s talk about the basics. Prayer is how we talk to God, how we communicate. It is spiritual – not physical, but it takes you physically stopping, acknowledging Him and talking to Him, even if it is just in thought. It is our hearts and souls to Him. When you start, it may feel like you are talking to yourself, or to the air. That’s normal. But keep talking. Keep sharing. He does hear. Here is another thing to realize as well. He already knows. But prayer is us coming to Him, asking Him, seeking Him. Knocking on His door. He wants that relationship with you. He wants you to take the step of coming to Him, acknowledging that you need Him.

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Posted in Faith

Happy? New Year!

Posted on by Gloria Jackson

Happy New Year! A little bit late. As we start 2026, I know many of you struggle with life. 2025 was a difficult year for me. I had a number of life changes that came at me unexpectedly and right on top of each other. I even felt a bit dumped on with some of it. I really, really struggled with it all. It was a tough year emotionally for me. So far, 2026 is not off to a great start either. It is a fight to keep the anxiety at bay. Last week I had a really hard day over a fear that I had let get out of hand. I shared a revelation and a healing at Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t mean that I am not human, and although God is faithful, I get fearful, I let go of trust and lose, for a minute, the gift I was given.

God has many names. Many of us have a favorite. My favorite is “Adonai El Roi”. It means “The God who sees me.” This name was given to God by Hagar. She was struggling, she was in a place of despair. This is an interesting story with much that could be unpacked, but I want to point out a couple of things here. Hagar was in this place of need for 2 reasons. She had been badly used; she did not ask to be Abram’s concubine. She did not ask to be pregnant with this child. It was the choice of others. But – she did acquire a bad attitude over her ability to conceive and thought herself above her mistress. She acquired an attitude of entitlement. Like Hagar, we find ourselves in a bad place and we blame circumstance or other people. Yes, sometimes we are in a place not of our choosing because of the actions of others. But I think we also often contribute to it ourselves by our response to those choices and circumstances. But still God sees. (Genesis 16)

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Posted in Faith, Israel

Chanukah

Posted on by Gloria Jackson

So – tomorrow is the beginning of Chanukah, which means the first candle of this 8-day celebration is lit tonight. The word Chanukah means dedication. It is about the rededication of the Temple. The question I want to raise today is: As Christians should we celebrate Chanukah?

I don’t want to get much into history. You can look up the Maccabean Revolt to get the world history, but let’s talk about what is celebrated. The Greeks had desecrated the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The Maccabees amazingly won their revolt.  When they were cleaning the temple and getting it ready to resume worship, they discovered that there was only 1 jar of oil for the menorah, the special lamp in the temple that is supposed to continuously burn. This 1 jar would only last 1 day, but it took 8 days to create more of the special oil used. They stepped out in faith, used that last jar of oil and rededicated the Temple and lit the menorah. The 1 jar lasted 8 days. That is the miracle that the holiday celebrates. It is a thoroughly Jewish holiday; it is not a holiday the scriptures require to be celebrated by anybody. So – why should WE celebrate it?

I would like to share with you why I believe it is worth taking the time to remember. You know, I feel called to align myself with God’s Chosen people, land and scriptures, but more than that let’s look at other “whys”. First, it is a miracle of God. Like the story of Elisha and the widow’s oil, he made the supply last as long as it needed to. It is good to remember the goodness of God. Second, Yeshua himself celebrated it. In John there is a story of Yeshua, Jesus, in the Temple during the Feast of Dedication – Chanukah. If He thought it worth His attention, His presence, it makes me think maybe it’s worth ours.

Third, and this is the best – look at the elements of the holiday: oil that sustains and a light that does not go out. The Bible often uses oil to denote the Holy Spirit. When the temple priests, in faith, used what little they had, God sustained, and increased the amount they had to cover what was needed. Does not the Holy Spirit do that for us as well? We give what little we have, God takes it, God sustains us and gives us what we need to finish the task. Jesus is the Light of the World! I have been told that during Chanukah, there were huge menorahs set up in the temple courtyard. They were said to light up the whole city. What a sight that must have been! When you imagine “THE Light of the World” in the middle of that! How can you not want to praise God? (2 Kings 4:1-7; John 10:22)

It is a thoroughly Jewish holiday, but like all the Jewish holidays, it speaks of things that should be honored by all who trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  It reminds us of the miracles of God, His faithfulness to us we when walk in faith. Best of all, remember Yeshua our Light in the great darkness of the world – a light that does not go out. Even when evil seems to win.

My heart goes out to the victims of the massacre in Australia, people who trusted in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – who were celebrating this very holiday and were gunned down by hate. My dear Friends, my heart aches, but still I know, The Light of the World was not extinguished. He still lives. There is still hope for a better day to come. So let us still remember the Oil that sustains and the Light the does not go out. Let us be His light in this world that needs it so desperately.

Posted in Faith, Life Stories

A Tale of Two Thanksgivings

Posted on by Gloria Jackson

On this Thanksgiving Day, I would like to share two stories of healings that our Savior performed during His stay with us on earth. They each brought thanks giving’s and praise to Hashem, and they each hold a special place in my heart for reasons I will also share. Interestingly, to me anyway, they both deal with the sin issue in all our lives.

The first one is a story about Yeshua healing a man born blind. As they pass him, Yehsua’s disciples question Jesus and ask if this blindness was because of his sin or that of his parents. Yeshua answers and says it was neither, it was so God’s power might be seen in him. They stop, Yeshua goes on to perform a kind of strange procedure, the result of which the man is healed. The man is so thankful that he stands up to the Pharisees (those who chose not to “see”, actually!). He himself becomes a disciple of Yehsua. (John 9)

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Posted in Faith

Shabbat Shalom

Posted on by Gloria Jackson

Shabbat.

This is a post that I intended to wait for a while before I wrote. But it keeps coming up and so I am thinking maybe it needs to be talked about. The recent death of Charlie Kirk has brought it back to the forefront, because as his life and beliefs are rehashed in the media one thing that comes out about him is that he apparently was a Christian who honored the Sabbath.

For me it became an important question about 3 years ago. A new believer that I was honored to spend some time with, asked me a question that didn’t exactly stump me – but it did. It stumped me because I didn’t like the answer I gave her. It didn’t feel right. The question? Why do we not keep the 4th commandment?  Why do we not “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”? Why do we keep the other 9, but ignore this one? I had the typical Christian answer about Jesus rising on the 1st day of the week and so we celebrate on that day instead. But it felt wrong. Why?

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Posted in Faith, Israel

Israel

Posted on by Gloria Jackson

It was a lifelong dream of mine to visit Israel. It will always be a dream to go back. I was blessed with an opportunity to go in October of 2019. I was blessed in so many ways by that trip. Let me count the ways!

One, just that I got to go! I will never forget the Sunday the trip was announced. I sat in my seat and cried. I knew this was my opportunity. I knew I was going to Israel, that my life’s dream was about to be realized. I looked at my husband, he knew it too. It was in his eyes as we looked at each other. I didn’t yet know how, but I knew I was going!

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Posted in Life Stories

Starting Over, an Introduction

Posted on by Gloria Jackson

Dear Brother or Sister and Friend,

This is a new beginning. I am restarting my blog all over. Why? One, to clarify for myself what I believe and why I believe it. Two, because I feel like it’s an important enough journey to ask others to join me. Three, because I love Israel, and I love the Jewish people. I want to share with you how special these people, this culture and this land and most importantly, their scriptures are. Four, and this is really culmination of it all – I want to do my part to try to bridge the gap that exists between Christianity, the faith of my childhood, and the Jewish beginnings and teachings that are at its roots, and that I have come to love.

I love my God. If I have any gifts they are organizing, teaching and writing. I have seen that there was a divorce between the Christian Church and Judaism. This is very sad and very wrong. The Church was grafted into Israel – not the other way around! Yet we know so little about the roots we get our nourishment from. The result is what we get is only a little of what our home tree has to offer. I want to use what gifts I have been given and try to bridge the gap that persecution, hate and misunderstanding has caused.

Over the years, I have been asked questions that have challenged what I believe and why I believed it. While they use to frustrate and even sometimes anger me, I have come to love those questions because I always come away with a greater understanding of why I believe what I believe. Sometimes it causes me to change what I believe.  It is good to not only dive deeper into scripture, but to also read and listen to others’ opinions, even when they differ from your own. From these things we cement our own belief and faith.

I still have questions. But it feels good to have these questions! I am finally beginning to see how simple yet how deep the teachings of the scriptures are! I have also found some of my own answers. They may not be your answers. But I want to invite you into my questioning and share with you, my answers. Not because I think I have it all right, but because I think we need to ask the questions! I feel like there is so much to be learned by going back and by digging deeper. I am excited by this journey and want to share it with my brothers and sisters. Join me, please.

Since I was a child, I understood that the Jewish people were special. I recognized that Jesus – Yeshua – was Jewish, because He came from the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). In Sunday school I heard about a special chosen people, a special promised land. I never heard that God had changed His mind about this. I heard that as Gentiles, we had been included in this people and this land and felt a relief. I find solace in the news that as a believer I am part of the Greater House of Israel. We have been grafted into the Olive Tree of Israel and like the song says, “Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you, so let’s just praise the Lord!” By our faith in Messiah, we have become part of God’s Chosen People. We have not replaced Israel in God’s heart or in His plans. The original Olive Tree was not destroyed. We have only been added to it; we have not taken its place.  But if this is true, should we not know more about the Tree we are a part of?

I grew up Christian. But from this same Christian community, that taught me to respect and love the Jewish people for Jesus’ sake, I heard that Jews were somehow bad. Given what I had learned in Sunday school, that confused me. But I am thankful for that confusion because it set up a lifetime question and a lifelong quest. It began a lifelong love for God’s chosen people. It began a quest for something that I felt was missing in how we honored God. As I have grown up in what we call the Church, I felt like there was more to be learned. I felt like there was something different that we should be doing. That is where my journey began, and I would like to share with you where it has gone. I am a learner. Be a learner with me. Come with me, and find your own questions, cement your own answers.

Please understand, I don’t think I have all the answers. I have some answers. You may read these things and agree or disagree. That’s okay. I only ask that you listen and consider. As long as we all put our faith in Yeshua HaMashiach, or Jesus Christ, if you prefer, we are still brothers and sisters. And I still love you because of that.

Posted in Faith

Changes

Posted on by Gloria Jackson

Who likes changes? “Me, me, me!” Said no one. Ever. We have just come out of a year full of changes. Some changes are pleasant – this last year was not.

Our family, prior to 2020 had just experienced a couple of really blessed years. We had moved out of the big city; we were able to buy a home that we love. It is in the small town of Sandy in the foothills of Mt. Hood. We were blessed in our jobs. My husband was moving up the ranks of seniority and enjoying the benefits that come with that. I was given a promotion into what is really my dream job. My daughter got to attend a small-town high school, incidentally, the same high school my mother graduated from – pretty cool! These were changes too, but happy ones.

When 2020 started, I know I wondered if maybe our time of being so blessed was coming to an end. I had no idea EVERYONE’s year was going to be so challenging! But there it is. We have made it to the other side of it and here it is 2021. What can we make of it? What lessons can we learn from 2020? Changes have been a hot topic of late.

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