AUDREY DICKEY MINISTRIES
Glory International Center
"A Center for God's Presence"
Making the right connections will require being in God’s will and timing for your life. From the beginning of creating man on earth God set man in time. When He did that He gave mankind a way to tell time on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. He gave man a Biblical calendar based on the lunar system. The lunar system means it is the moon’s cycles instead of the sun’s cycle. The Biblical/Hebraic calendar loses about 11 days relative to the solar calendar every year, but makes up for it by adding a month every two or three years. Therefore, the holidays don’t always fall on the same day, but they will always fall within the same month or two.
God’s Calendar begins in the Bible in the book of Genesis:
In Gen. 1:5 A DAY was birthed. On the first day God called the light day and darkness night. In Gen. 2:2
A WEEKcame into existence. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing. So on the seventh day He RESTED from all His work. (Also see Hebrews 4:9-10.) In Gen. 1:14, Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night and let them serve as SIGNS to mark sacred times (seasons), days and years. (Also see Gen. 8:22 where it says day and night shall not cease). In Gen. 1:16 the sign for A MONTH was established. God made two great lights, the greater light (the Sun) to rule or govern the day and the lesser light (the Moon) to rule the night. He also made the stars. God arranged for the moon to go through a complete cycle around the earth twelve times per year. God created A YEARto equal one revolution of the earth around the sun. Within the year the Bible speaks of the former and latter rains indicating two six month periods, (Joel 2:23; James 5:7).
Please Note:
For those concerned about falling under the “Law,” God began His calendar before the “Law” was given. The Law which are instructions were designed to give God’s people loving instructions on how to live on this earth in His will and stay under His protection. The Law was completed and fulfilled in Messiah/Christ but not done away with. The moral and ceremonial laws still exist today but the sacrificial (killing of animals) part of the law has been completed, fulfilled and done away with (Matthew 5:17-20; I Cor. 5:7). The Moral Law includes the Ten Commandments and the Ceremonial Law includes God's three main feasts that we are to remember.
Regarding the Sabbath:
With the Sabbath comes the instruction of the Law of Rest. It helps to maintain our strength, energy, and youthfulness as we are reminded that God is our source. Under the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Hebrews 8:10, 12) the Sabbath Rest is in Christ/Messiah and at any time on any given day we can rest in Him. Furthermore, the Lord will honor it if we take one day a week and use it as a rest day to preserve our bodies as well as honor Him by not doing the regular work we normally do on other days of the week. The Sabbath can entail other activities just not regular work so our minds and bodies have an opportunity to rest, be refreshed, replenished and rejuvenated in our spirit and soul.
For many Christian Believers our worship day is different from a day of rest; although we can rest on the same day we worship in the house of the Lord. The Lord once told me to choose a day and rest on that day. After experiencing that I found it literally would refresh me for the entire week. Remember, we were made with three parts: spirit, soul and a body, (I Thess. 5:23) and God knows our bodies better than we do.
The body must rest at least one day a week from regular work to really receive the refreshment it needs and to be replenished. When you trust God, you are able to do this. In Mark 2:27 it says, “And Jesus said to them, The Sabbath was made on account and for the sake of man, not man for the Sabbath; So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” The instruction is to not do regular work on it but nothing about not being able to do other things.
The Sabbath can also bring balance into our lives so we can focus on our relationship with God, family, friends, projects, instructions from the Lord and so forth. In Genesis 2:2-3 God ended his work, blessed and rested on the seventh (7th) day and made it holy (sanctified, set apart, special). He formed a covenant with the number seven (7). The number seven is a supernatural symbol of release, return and recovery. The Jubilee (represented by the number fifty (50)) is a combination of 7 years x 7 = 49 years plus one. The Shemitah Year is every seven (7) years and it also brings the power and anointing that God releases to us. With the Sabbath comes the instruction or the law of Rest. As we honor the Law of Rest God will honor and preserve our bodies and health. Believers can enter God's rest 24/7 and be replenished and refreshed in their spirit and soul.
Other Aspects of His Timing:
What God is doing in this hour is going to require His Glory to unlock, to release and bring forth or transfer to the rightful owner things that have been held back from them for centuries. In these last days God said we would do greater works than He (John 14:12), and He said, apart from Me you can do nothing, John 15:5. Well, it will all begin with the Releasing of His Glory that is appointed in this hour that will come upon the earth.
Therefore, in order to receive, we will have to be in position, which is in the right place at the right time, in other words in God’s will and timing for our lives. Will this require that we are perfect and cannot make any mistakes? Of course not! But it will require that we are willing and obedient Isaiah 1:19 NIV says, “If you are willing and obedient you will eat the good things of the land” (You will partake of the harvest). Being in His will align you with God and you will be able to make the right connections and choices to move forward into your purpose and destiny which advances the Kingdom of God.
To help us stay in the timing of God we must follow the biblical calendar that God placed on the earth. Through God’s feasts He wants us to enter into the joy of meeting with Him for worship and then experiencing the fullness of His blessing. As stated, in turn we receive blessings, divine wisdom, strategies, protection, and so forth for our willingness to meet with Him, to do things His way, and because we honor the covenant between God and ourselves. The entire Bible is the story of a binding covenant agreement that God made in order to restore His relationship with mankind.
God’s Feasts are crucial times of the year. Why? They help us as His people to draw closer to Him and stay in fellowship with Him and to be able to remain sensitive as He reveals His plans and purposes. Now this may be difficult for those who operate with a Greek mindset – thinking that their way is the only way. But the true Hebraic mindset allows God to be God realizing that whatever He plans it is going to be for our good and the good of His Kingdom. He is a Living God Who gave the earth to mankind so He honors His decision and has given people a free will. With that free will we make the decision to do things His way, the right way or to do things solely our way independent of Him. We get to choose and deal with our choice’s consequences! Deuteronomy 30:19.
THE FEASTS OF GOD
God has given the following major Feasts of which the first four have been fulfilled by Jesus (Yeshua). These Feasts are a part of the Ceremonial Law (instructions) that were fulfilled by Christ/Messiah. The three main Feasts are to be remembered throughout the generations which means they are for today. They are Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles.
Passover aka Pesach (Hebrew): Jesus is our Passover Lamb (I Cor. 5:7; Lev. 23:5; Exo. 23:14)
Unleavened Bread aka Bread of Life: (I Cor. 5:8; Lev. 23:6; John 6:32-35; Exo. 23:15)
Firstfruits: (I Cor. 15:20; Lev. 23:10; Exo. 23:16)
Pentecost aka Shavuot (Hebrew), Feast of Harvest or Weeks (Acts 2:1-4; Lev. 23:16; Exo. 23:16)
Feast of Trumpets aka Rosh Hashanah and Yom Trooah (Hebrew) (Lev. 23:24-25)
Day of Atonement aka Yom Kippur in Hebrew (Lev. 23:27-28; Lev. 16 & 17)
Tabernacles aka Sukkot (Hebrew) or Feast of Ingathering [Booths] (Lev. 23:34-42; Exo. 23:16)
During God’s three main Feasts as directed by the Bible/the Word of God and Holy Spirit we are to plant a seed (give an offering) in good ground. It is important to give with the right heart and attitude. To be thankful and grateful for all that God has done for you including offering you Salvation and the Infilling of His Holy Spirit and all that is included in that.
Exodus 25:1-2 AMP:
And the Lord said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites, that they take for Me an offering. From every man who gives it willingly and ungrudgingly with his heart you shall take My offering.
Exodus 23:14 AMP:
“Three times in the year you are to keep a feast to Me.
Luke 2:41-42 NIV: “Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of Passover” (Pesach). “When He was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom.”
John 5:1 AMP: “Later on there was a Jewish festival (feast) for which Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”
Father God appointed three of the seven Feasts to be observed through out the generations (Exo.12:14; 23:14; Lev. 23; Deut. 16:1). “Three times a year…appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you” Deut. 16:15-17 AMP. These three Feasts are the times that these windows or portals will be open. In Deut. 16:1 it says to observe the Passover in the month of Abib which is the month of Nisan, in the months of March/April. Passover is the first Feast that was given by God. Pentecost (Feast of Weeks) is the second (Deut. 16:10) and the Feast of Tabernacles is the third (Deut. 16:13).
He will bless you in all your produce and in all the works of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful. There are different blessings with the various feasts. For example there are seven blessings associated with the Feast of Passover: (1) For protection as He brings you into the place He prepared for you (Exo.23:20); (2) fight your battles (Exo. 23:22); (3) give you prosperity and (4) take your sickness (Exo. 23:25); (5) blesses you with a long life (Exo. 23:26); (6) will give you an increase and an inheritance (Exo. 23:30); and (7) will give you a special blessing (Exo. 23:31).
I Corinthians 9:11-14 instructs the people to bring an offering to financially support ministries that are feeding them spiritually. The Lord builds His Kingdom with the finances of His people. God has ordained it this way and so giving during the Feasts, God’s holy appointed times will cause your seed to work toward manifesting your future harvest of blessings.
For a Biblical Hebraic Calendar please visit www.Elijahshopper.com
To review God's Calendar regarding the Feasts Dates (Click Here)
Be Blessed,
Dr. Audrey L. Dickey
Christian Love Fellowship Church, Inc.
GOD'S TIMING - CELEBRATE HIS FEASTS
Dr. Audrey L. Dickey, Los Angeles, CA