Of The Heart…
The fall festival season begins with a 40-day period called, in Hebrew, Teshuvah,
which means “to repent or return.”
At this time every year in the Hebrew calendar is a season of self examination.
Prophetically: Teshuvah’s 40 days of repentance, Prepares Believers For Messiah’s Appearing.
“I Tell You A Mystery: We Will Not All Sleep, But We Will All Be Changed— In A Flash, In The Twinkling Of An Eye, At The Last Trumpet (Shofar). For The Trumpet Will Sound, The Dead Will Be Raised Imperishable, And We Will Be Changed.” 1 Cor 15:51-52
Create in Me A Clean Heart Oh Lord/Adonai and Renew a Right Spirit Within Me. Psalm 51
Elul is the 6th month of the Biblical Calendar year. This month is set aside for Teshuvah/Repentance in anticipation of the Fall Feasts. The month of Elul is a time to prepare for Yamim Nora’im, The Days of Awe by getting our SPIRITUAL HOUSE IN ORDER.
Jeremiah 24:7
This is a time to look into our hearts and ask the Ruach HaKodesh to search our hearts and reveal any hidden sins, resentments, forgiveness, pride, anger, bitterness etc. and to repent, make Teshuvah and work at walking according to the Spirit and not the flesh.
The root of this important word is shuv which means to turn back. Teshuvah is as much a state of mind (faith / creed) as it is a step of action (Faithfulness / Deed).
The call to make teshuvah is a call to leave one’s own path and turn to The Lords/Adonai’s. It is a call to submit one’s will to God’s will.
Perhaps the most important dimension of teshuvah to grasp, is that it requires more than simply turing from sin. One must be willing to turn to the path of righteousness. The cry of the penitent one says, ‘My soul desires what Your soul desires!’
Primarily, repentance calls for the abandonment of the way of sin and the inner resolve never to return to it, and not the outward acts that accompany it.
Note: In Hebrew a person is called a Ba’al Teshuvah who turns to the Lord/Adonai, from a life of sin. Literally this means, a Master of Repentance. It describes the reality that TESHUVAH IS NOT A ONCE AND DONE ACT! As followers of Jesus/Yeshua we live a life of turning back to The Lord/Adonai. We are ever turning from self to The Lord/Adonai.
The 40 days of Teshuvah begins on the first day of the sixth month, the month of Elul. Elul last for 30 days, (known as the month of MERCY, the month when The Lord/Adonai draws near to His people.) 
It concludes with the 1st of Tishrei, the 7th month, which is also the mo’edim/appointed time, known as Yom Teruah or The Day of Trumpets. (Leviticus 23:23-25)
Ten days later, on the 10th of Tishrei, is Yom Kippur or the “Day of Atonement”. (Leviticus 23:26-27). 
The days in between these two Biblical festivals are called Yamim Nora’im which literally means the “awesome days”; commonly called the Days of Awe. This 10 day period, coupled with the 30 days of Elul, make up the 40 days of Teshuvah. (Literally: “returning”; a Hebrew term for repentance.)
The Rabbis said that this is the time when “the King is in the field”. The heart of HaShem is for His beloved to make teshuvah.
We are the beloved of Adonai/The Lord. It is His love that draws us to repentance thus, in love, He beckons us to return to Him. Deut. 4:30
The month of Elul
is sometimes called the month of love and compassion based on the acronym formed from,
I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine. Song of Solomon 6:3
This poignant verse alludes to the mystery that God is our heavenly groom and we are his betrothed. God is the great lover of our souls and the greatest mitzvah/commandment of all, is to keep faith in his covenant promise of love. Romans 8:24 
Our beloved is coming Jesus/Yeshua our Messiah, will soon be here chevarim (friends), don’t miss the bridegroom’s call. 
Return to the passion of your first love. Rev. 2:4
Jesus/Yeshua illustrated the idea of Teshuvah which means returning to God, by telling the story of the prodigal son. Luke 15:11–32.
After squandering his father’s inheritance a wayward son decided to return home full of shame and self-reproach. That while he was still a long way off his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him and he ran to his son threw his arms around him and kissed him.
The father then ordered a celebratory meal in honor of his lost son’s homecoming. When his older brother objected that father said, we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again he was lost and is found.
In the parable reveals that teshuvah ultimately means returning (shuv) to the compassionate arms of your heavenly Father.
God sees you while you are still a long way off. Rom. 5:8
He runs to you with affection when you first begin to turn your heart toward Him. Indeed Gods compassion is so great that He willingly embraces the shame of your sins and then adorns you with a fine robe a ring and sandals.
Your Heavenly Father even slaughters the fattened calf Jesus/Yeshua so that a meal that celebrates your life may be served.
Why did Jesus/Yeshua come? He was like the father in the parable who was actively looking for his lost son. He came to seek and save the lost Luke 19:10
Jesus/Yeshua likened Himself to a shepherd who left his flock to search for one lost sheep and after finding it laid that sheep on his shoulders rejoicing. Luke 15:3–7
He also likened himself to a woman who lost a coin but diligently searched for it. After she found it she called together her friends and neighbors saying rejoice with me for I have found the lost coin. Luke 15:8–10
Jesus/Yeshuas first words of public ministry were REPENT and BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. Mark 1:15
The word repent is metanao meaning to change your thinking and the word gospel means good news. From good and message. We could translate the verse as: change your thinking and believe the message of God’s good will toward you. The good news is that we are to be set free from the curse of the law and futile efforts of seeking self justification before heaven. We no longer need to live in fear of God’s conditional acceptance of us and therefore of our conditional worth.
As Paul later preached, let it be known to you therefore brothers that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Acts 13:38–39
The Jews had known about repentance teshuvah for a long time of course. They understood the rituals and mitzvoth/commandments that were required to keep the law and they even devised legal formulas for making your defense before the Almighty. (ie the Kol Nidre service recited before Yom Kippur which was, we exonerate ourselves for failing to keep our word.) If Moses and the law could have saved us we wouldn’t need to be declared righteous by God’s grace through the redemption in Jesus/Yeshua. Romans 3:24 and we would not need the cross. All we’d need to do is work hard at repentance, perform additional mitzvoth/good works but clearly Jesus/Yeshua meant something other than this when He made the call to repent.
The repentance that Jesus/Yeshua preached was inextricably connected with the good news that He alone is God’s answer to the problem of sin. Jesus/Yeshua was born to die as the divinely appointed Sin bearer of the world. Hebrews 10:5-7
He came to the earth and emptied Himself of His regal glory and power in order to be the high priest. After the order of Malki –Tzedek and the mediator of the new covenant. Hebrews 5:6; 9:15; Psalm 110:4; 1 Timothy 2:5;
He came to Jerusalem, to Moriah for the explicit purpose of suffering and dying and being raised from the dead. Matthew 16:21 Luke 9:22
Jesus/Yeshua died not only for our forgiveness but also to deliver us from the law of sin and death.i.e. the power that sin holds in our lives. He died to set us free so that we could become the beloved children of God. Jesus/Yeshua surely was not calling people to become followers of the scribes and Pharisees, who were blind guides and hypocrites Matthew 23:13–36. 
He did not want people to become slaves to rituals or religion, now he called people to follow Him.
Take up your cross and follow Me.
Turn your thinking around.
Die to your religion.
Be comforted because there is good news from heaven.
Gods unconditional acceptance is given to those who trust in the righteousness of Jesus/Yeshua in place of any self righteousness that might be gained by performing the works of the law. Galatians 2:16, Titus 3:5
Jesus/Yeshua is the goal of the law for righteousness for all who believe Romans 10:4–13
Dying to the religious project of attaining self-righteousness is to admit the need for radical deliverance from the law itself.
Jesus’/Yeshua’s message of salvation was rejected by the religious establishment of His day, just as it is likewise rejected by all other karma-based religions and philosophies that believed that good deeds are sufficient for your place in heaven. After all the religious Jews assumed they already understood the requirements for repentance and the means for finding atonement with God through the rituals and practices surrounding the high holidays.
Their religion was essentially a meritocracy based on the performance of good works. That were thought to impart zechut and righteousness to the soul.
But Yeshua explained to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, that a person is not justified on the basis of their supposed good deeds or merits but entirely by appealing to God’s compassion and mercy.
It was the despised tax collector not the self-righteous Pharisee that left the temple justified: Luke 18:10-14
The talmud (Hebrew Commentary) draws a distinction between those motivated by:
Teshuvah me-yirah, “return out of fear” (of punishment),
And
Teshuvah me- ahavah, “return out of love” (of god).
Of the former, their intentional sins are accounted as if they were unintentional;
Of those who return out of love, their intentional transgressions become like merits.
The concept is that the human personality is capable of regeneration and renewal.
Thus teshuvah is an experience of transformation.
When performed out of fear, it lessens the burden of sin but does not give victory over the sin.
Teshuvah undertaken out of love accomplishes a fundamental transformation, in which healing and purification are complete ‘for the baal teshuvah, the man who returned.’
During this season of teshuvah, we must always remember that the Lord is for us and not against us.
He died while we were yet sinners. Romans 5:8
He is the loving strongman who rescued us forever.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Rom 8:31–39
We are literally saved in this hope. Romans 8:24
Peace – Shalom!
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Heavens Door is Open – Are You Ready To Go Home?
One Day the Trumpet will sound and He will return for His Bride…
If this was your last day on earth…are you ready to meet the Lord?
The reason for this question is that one day one of these years, the Lord Jesus our Messiah, Yeshua Ha Mashiach will return for us, His Bride, the congregation of His body of believers. 
The One New Man combination of Jewish and Gentile followers of I AM that I AM – Who IS The Way The Truth and The Life. John 14:6,
For those who choose NOT to get ready, Jesus promises to come as a thief. Revelation 3:3 KJV This strongly suggests He may have some knowledge as to when He is returning.
Jesus was ascended at this point and was giving revelation to John.
The promise to watching believers is His appearing will not be a surprise. 
Jesus made everything. He knows how it all works together. ‘All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made’ .
John 1:3 KJV
The law is the (Torah) and the Holy Scriptures (Tanakh).) and includes all The Commandments given to every believer. Being saved/born again,does not give us the right to choose which ones we will keep. Being under Grace is not a reason to do and live as we please or a license to sin.
Also from the beginning in 
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Why? 
So bringing all these things together offers an interesting concept that Jesus could return for His Bride sometime around the Fall Festivals./Appointed times.
In the same way Jesus fulfilled those…
This is a time that we prepare ourselves as His Bride and make sure we are ready to hear the Sound of the Shofar!
Here’s some facts and some traditions of men regarding Rosh HaShanah. It is the head of the Jewish year, the time when God reinvests Himself in creation as He is crowned king of the universe through prayer, shofar blasts, and celebration.
The man-made traditions and customs that were not derived from the Hebrew’s Holy Scriptures (Torah, Tanakh) but emerged during, and have evolved since, the Babylonian Diaspora, and have been greatly expanded upon in the Talmud (Rabbinical commentaries).
is the Jewish Civil New Year.
Rosh HaShanah is the head of the year on the civil calendar, and is also known as the birthday of the world since the world was created on this day Jewish tradition believes that Adam was created on this day (Mishnah, San Hedrin 38b). How did they decide that this was the day of the year the world was created? Because the first words of the Book of Genesis (Bereishit), “in the beginning,” when changed around, read, Aleph b’Tishrei, or “on the first of Tishrei.” Therefore, Rosh HaShanah is known as the birthday of the world, for tradition tells us that the world was created then.
The number of the year changes on Rosh HaShanah. This year, we change from 5777 to 5778. The Hebrew Calendar says it is 5778 years from the creation of the world, as determined by counting back years in the Bible. The setting of this date is credited to Maimonides, who mentions it in his book, Mishneh Torah: Sanctification of the Moon, 11:6, written about 1178 CE, but it may have been in use for some time before that. This kind of numbering is called Anno Mundi meaning “Year of the World.”
Teruah means “an awakening blast.” A theme associated with Rosh HaShanah is the theme “to awake.” Teruah is also translated as “shout.” The Book of Isaiah (Yeshayahu), chapter 12, puts the shouting in the context of the thousand-year reign of Messiah, the Athid Lavo. The Messianic era and shout is mentioned in Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 42:11; 44:23; Jeremiah (Yermiyahu) 31:7; and Zephaniah 3:14. The first coming of Yeshua is associated with a shout in Zechariah 9:9. The ultimate shout is the rapture (natzal) in First Thessalonians 4:16-17.
Whether it is by the blast of a shofar or the force of a supernatural shout, God’s goal is to awaken us!
For this reason it is written, “…
The shofar is the physical instrument that God instructed us to use to hear (shema) the sound of the shofar teaching us to awake from spiritual slumber (1 Corinthians 15:46).
The gates of Heaven are opened on Rosh HaShanah so the righteous nation may enter (Isaiah [Yeshayahu] 26:2; Psalm [Tehillim] 118:19-20). Because the gates of Heaven are understood to be open on Rosh HaShanah, this is further evidence that the rapture (natzal) of the believers in the Messiah Yeshua will take place near or on Rosh HaShanah.
The Old Testament Holy Days were ordained by God as
”Appointed Times” which He considers Holy unto Himself.
Yom Teruah, 1 Tishri 5778
Rosh haShanah is called “The Day That No-One Knows”
because it is the only Hebrew Feast / Festival day that falls on the first day of a month Rosh Chodesh.
On Rosh HaShanah, we remember the Creation of the world and we look ahead to the Judgment of God.
Traditionally sweet things are eaten on Rosh HaShanah: apples and honey to express our desire for a sweet year ahead.
followed by
On Rosh HaShanah we hear the sound of the Shofar [ram’s horn.]
The Fall Feasts are a Blueprint for Restoration Sacrifice, Atonement and are joyful. They also include the ingathering—this is the path along which the Fall Feasts of Israel move.
This is also a reference to:
Street sign in Jerusalem.
In essence there are two Jewish New Years – the first is the biblical one in the spring, Nissan/ Passover which is largely ignored, and the second is the morphing of the biblical Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the seventh month into a new Jewish New Year. Which this year will fall on Sept 21/22 Followed by Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement on sept 30th.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Festivals—He is our atonement and joy, and in Him we have a new beginning and a new life.
For believers it’s a time to rejoice and to look up 
for our redemption draweth nigh 
and be identified with the wise virgins who were ready and awaiting the return of the bridegroom. 
Keep your lamps trimmed and be filled with Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh for when midnight comes, we do not want to be on the wrong side of the door.
And the trumpet will sound…let’s all make sure we have ears to hear it.
and a book. 
(Psalm 56:8)
And when they buried their deceased loved one they would place these lacrymatories or ‘bottles of tears’ inside the tomb. The ancients believed this practice actually helped begin the healing process of losing a loved one.
There are 3 types of physical tears produced by our bodies:
Laugh till we cry,
frustration,
anger,
sadness
and grief
loneliness
depression 
love
relief
excitement
happiness
success
ecstatic joy
If that is the case for water outside a physical body, 
The Black and White Photographs in this post can be found in the public domain on www “Topography of Tears,” (photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher of ‘The microscopic structure of dried tears’.)
Tears are the medium of our most primal language communicating from birth to death, hunger and everything in between.
Yeshua wept
Each tear we shed has a purpose.
All our perceptions and all our lives experiences are contained within the tears of failure, joy, etc., and every human emotion we have experienced in our lives; good, bad, or indifferent.
He Knows!
Never again will we shed a tear over losing a loved one or a beloved family pet;
or see a flag-draped casket of a soldier who lost his life in a war.
Jesus quoted and said that He came to bind up the broken hearted and only God is able to do such a thing.
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