Tag: hope

Face to Face in the Fire

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, InspirationLeave a comment

“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children” (Deut. 4:9). 

Parshat Va’etchanan (וָאֶתְחַנַּן) opens with Moses pleading to enter the Land, a request denied. Yet in that denial, we glimpse a deeper truth: that intimacy with God is not always found in fulfilled desires, but in faithful endurance. Moses, though barred from crossing over, stood face to face with the Holy One in the fire (Ex. 33:11). He became the voice of memory and covenant, calling Israel to remember, to teach, and to endure.

In our own trials, we too plead. We ask for healing, for breakthrough, for clarity. Sometimes the answer is silence. Sometimes it is “no.” But in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, we learn that the fire is not a place of abandonment, it is the place of revelation. The Sh’ma, declared in this parsha, reminds us: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4). In suffering, in joy, in exile and return, He is One. And we are not alone, in the calm or the storm, under fire or in peace.

Messianic faith does not bypass hardship, as I’ve mentioned many times before, it transforms it. Yeshua, like Moses, stood on the mountain, but He also walked through the valley. He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and now calls us to follow, not with fear, but with faithful resolve. Not always receiving what we want or hope for, need or require, but assured of His knowing presence all the same. 

So we teach. We remember. We endure. And in doing so, we become living testimonies of the fire that does not consume, but refines (Mal. 3:2). And we stand waiting for that face to face moment when He returns. Still, until then, “We walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

Maranatha. Shalom.

Servant-hearted Leadership

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, InspirationLeave a comment

In Parshat Devarim (Deut. 1:1–3:22), Moses begins his final address to Israel. It’s not just a retelling of events, he shares words shaped by concern, memory, and the ache of leadership. He recounts the wilderness journey, the rebellions, and the burden of judgment, not with bitterness; but with the language of fatherly and pastoral care.

“How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife?” (Deut. 1:12).

This verse is not a complaint, it’s the cry of a leader who has carried his people in prayer, in grief, and in hope. Moses doesn’t distance himself from Israel’s failures; he brings them close, bearing them as a parent would a wayward child. In the wilderness, his intercessions softened divine anger. His rebukes were tempered with tears; and in his farewell, every word is wrapped in fatherly love.

Servant-hearted leadership (Matt. 20:26-27), as Moses examples, is often intercession. Leadership is not just administration, it’s advocating for the people you lead. Moses stood between the people and God, pleading on their behalf in moments of terrible failure. The heart of a true servant-leader bleeds with the struggles of the flock.

Moses does not gloss over the failures of the people, he recounts them to point to the Lord’s faithfulness and their growth. He is not shaming them, rather Moses uses memory as a reminder of the Lord’s mercy. 

Moses knew their complaints and rebellions, yet he still called them beloved (Deut. 7:6-8). The burdens in the wilderness were not easy, but those burdens were holy. A servant-leader loves not because it’s painless, but because it is a witness to how He has loved us (Ro. 5:8; cf. 1 Jn. 4:19). Servant-leadership is blessing packaged within the burden of life.  

As you lead … yes, as you lead … in ministry, family, or community, remember: love does not erase hardship, it sanctifies it. May we look to the teaching example of Moses and lead with: memory, mercy, and the unshakable commitment to bear the burdens of His people (Gal. 6:2). 

And even more so, may we be shaped in leadership by the love of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, who said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:11). He loved His own to the end (Jn. 13:1), and gave Himself willingly, offering not just leadership, but redemption, renewal and reconciliation. He led and made the way through the impossible for us, and He has called us into that way. 

May our servant-leadership be with faithfulness, not selfish ambition, leading by our identity in Him, not from position. Messiah stooped down to reach us. He carries our burdens. He serves and protects the flock. He then called, equipped, and released servant-leaders empowered by the Holy Spirit to make disciples. 

Leading like Christ is not a management strategy, it is redemptive work done to the glory of the Father (1 Cor. 10:31). His yoke is easy, not because the task is small, but because His heart is pure. As we labor unto Him, our servant-hearted leadership is expressed by intercession, burden-bearing, and equipping others for the harvest fields. May we endeavor to serve in faithfulness, and a purity of heart that desires “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4); but to do so, we must love those placed in our care. 

Maranatha. Shalom.