God Loves Us, Jesus, Mental Health, Personal Reflections, Praying for America, Yahweh

Who Do You Want To Be United With Or Yoked To?

January 25, 2025 Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

“George P. Alexander is a Christian believer who grew up in India, which is considered the birthplace of yoga. He reveals that yoga poses are ‘offerings to the 330 million Hindu gods,’ and thus, each pose is an act of worship. Westerners believe they are exercising and breathing, but ‘to a Hindu, yoga is the outward physical expression of a deep spiritual belief. You cannot separate one from the other.’”

“. . . yoga’s foundation comes from pantheism, which elevates the worship of everything as god. The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means ‘to yoke’ or ‘to unite.’ The question is, what is one uniting with?”

Jesus invites us to take His yoke. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29)”

Who do you want to be “yoked” with, The Prince of Peace (Shalom), the One Who is Love, or another?

The above quotes were taken from https://ifapray.org/blog/the-new-age-is-infiltrating-public-schools/, accessed January 25, 2025.

Featured Writers, Guest Post, Praying for America

History of the American Thanksgiving Holiday

December 2, 2024December 2, 2024 Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

Posted on the Intercessors For America webpage dates November 26, 2024.

O Lord we give thanks to you for your many blessings.Thank you for the Pilgrims and their covenant with youand one another. May their devotion be a shining example for us to live and act in our world today. Amen.

With Thanksgiving upon us, our thoughts turn to turkey, pumpkin pie, football, and family. It’s a special day to thank God for all the wonderful blessings He has bestowed on us personally and as a nation.

Who is praying on the wall?

“O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 1 Chronicles 16:34

Thanksgiving is also a time to reflect on our country’s origins and how God led a small band of Pilgrims to the New World. We’re taught the highlights in school. The Pilgrims came on the Mayflower and landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620. The native Wampanoag, Squanto, taught them how to plant corn in the Spring. Then, in the Fall, with Massasoit, the Wampanoag chief, and 90 of his men attending, they celebrated a harvest feast, which we now call Thanksgiving.

But the true Pilgrim story is so much more than a bigmeal. It began a decade and a half before, in 1606.The Pilgrims were members of a religious group called the Separatists who wished to separate from the Church of England, which was a crime.

The Pilgrim Covenant

As IFA founder Derek Prince noted in his book, The Pilgrim Legacy, “The Pilgrim wanted liberty forhimself, for his wife and little ones, and for his brethren,to walk with God in a Christian life as the rules and motives of such a life were revealed to him from God’s Word. For that he went into exile; for that he crossed the ocean; for that he made his home in the wilderness.”

The Pilgrims believed they received their spiritualfreedom directly from God through Jesus Christ, not thestate-run church. To help them live out their faith, they entered into a covenant in 1606 with one another.

William Brewster had opened up his home, ScroobyManor, as an underground house church. Here, thePilgrims agreed to obediently follow Christ and actively cultivate His presence among them.

Dr. Paul Jehle, pastor of New Testament Church andpresident of Plymouth Rock Foundation, in his bookJourney of Faith, described this early Pilgrim churchas a ‘Church by Covenant’. He states, “The Pilgrims formed a church through a commitment to one another by the direct authority of Christ who sat on the throneof their heart.”

Their covenant is known as the Scrooby Covenant, which promises…

“As the Lord’s free people joined by a covenant of theLord into a church estate, in the fellowship of the gospel, to walk in all His ways made known, or to bemade known unto us, according to our best endeavors, whatsoever it should cost us, the Lord assisting us.”

It Cost the Pilgrims Dearly

As a result of their faith, many were put in jail. Whenthe persecution in England grew harsher, the Pilgrim families sold their land, homes, and belongings to livein Holland.

During those 11 years, their children began leaving the Pilgrim faith for, as William Bradford described, “the great licentiousness of youth in that country, and the manifold temptation of the place, they were drawn away by evil examples into extravagant and dangerous courses… and departing from their parents”.

To save their children from sin and with a missionaryzeal to “advance the gospel of the kingdom of Christ inthose remote parts of the world… and be assteppingstones unto others for the performing of so great a work”, they decided to go to the New World.

The Pilgrims undertook a frightening journey. Fierce storms blew them off course, driving them northwardfrom Virginia to the frigid wilderness of New England.They landed in Plymouth on December 21, 1620.

Of the 102 passengers that set sail from England, only 52 Pilgrims survived the first winter – a heavy cost indeed.

In the Spring, when the Mayflower set sail for England, Captain Christopher Jones offered the Pilgrims free passage back. Not one soul took him up on his offer – so strong was the Pilgrims’ covenantal commitment to one another and to God.

God’s Covenants with Humanity

Covenants are as old as Genesis. God made covenants – or special promises – throughout history. God’s first covenant was with Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply” and to take care of His creation. (Genesis 1:28) Sadly, they broke their covenant with God, and sin entered the world.

God’s Covenant with Abraham was for the creation ofIsrael whose purpose would be to shine God’s light tothe world. I will make you into a great nation, and I willbless you. (Genesis 12:2)

God’s Covenant with Noah is the first Covenant of Grace, in which God promised to safeguard and bless the creation until the creation of the new heavens and the new earth Never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. (Genesis 8:21)

God’s Covenant with Moses and the Ten Commandments provided a framework for people tolive within the Covenant of God’s love, like this… If youlove me, you will have no other Gods before me… andso on. (Exodus 20:1-17)

God’s Covenant with David was one of hope and thecoming fulfillment of the law and the prophets in Jesus, the true Son of David. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:16)

God then made a New Covenant, His ultimate promise of love, and it was to be written not on tablets of stone but on the hearts of His people. And it cost Him dearly – His very own Son. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son that whosever believes in Him will have eternal life.. (John 3:16)

The ‘Whatsoever It ShouldCost Us’ Generation

The Pilgrims saw themselves as the ‘whatsoever itshould cost us’ generation who, like Abraham, faithfullyleft their homes and families to follow God to an unknown land. Like Noah, the tiny vessel Mayflower became the ‘ark’ of their salvation. Like Moses, theywere prepared by God to form their church and community around a covenant that God Himself promised to uphold. Like the first disciples, they knew that they were bringing to a new land the great GoodNews of Christ’s New Covenant, that He commandedshould go forth into all the earth.

Today, we are privileged above all the peoples of the earth to live in a nation founded by free people whose freedom came from God. We are the legacy of those free people, not only for the nation but, more importantly, for the Church, which is the hope of this nation.

We have a sacred and solemn duty, as God’s freeCovenant people, to preserve and tell God’s story ofthese Covenant people, who followed God, whatsoever the cost, to plant a churchthat was the seed for a nation and a harvest of millionsof souls.

We’re indebted to the Pilgrims for their legacy as free people before God, who has guaranteed our right toworship him as our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer freely without any interference from the state.

This Thanksgiving, let us reflect on what it means to be the “Whatsoever it should cost us’ generation for our times. It will take all courage, faith, resolve, and absolute dependency on the Lord, which we must live out in spirit and in truth. Like the Pilgrims, we were born for such a time as this.

Every Thanksgiving, the Brewster clan offers a simple toast written by historian Dr.

Samuel Eliot Morrison…

To the Pilgrims,

A simple people, inspired by an ardent faith in God,

a dauntless courage in danger,

a boundless resourcefulness in the face of difficulties,

an impregnable fortitude in adversity:

thus they have in some measure become the spiritual ancestors of all Americans.

Let’s Pray

Oh Lord, may we as Christians today seek your faceand your will and have the ardent faith and dauntlesscourage to share the light and salvation of Christ to thelost. As your free Covenant People, today rooted and firmly established in your love by the unity of your HolySpirit, may we stand strong so that future generationswill stand on our shoulders.

Lead us as a nation as faithfully as You led the Pilgrims to America. May we boldly embark on the journey you have set for us whatsoever it should cost us, to move into the future of your Kingdom: lookingoutward and sharing the love You have given to us. May your Covenant with our nation, once again, be the cry of our hearts, for such a time as this, for the love of Jesus and for His sake. Amen!

Are you encouraged by the covenant legacy of the Pilgrims? This Thanksgiving, share this article with your friends and family to remind them of this legacy!

Belinda Brewster lives in Plymouth, MA, America’s Hometown, with her husband, Wrestling, an 11th generation direct descendent of Elder William Brewster, the spiritual leader of the Pilgrims. She and Wrestling attend Chiltonville Congregational Church which is the fourth daughter church from the first church established by the Pilgrims. Chiltonville has adopted the Scrooby Covenant as its own. Belinda is a contributing writer for IFA. Photo Credit: Robert W. Weir (photograph courtesy Architect of the Capitol) – Architect of the Capitol.

Charles J. Rolls, God Loves Us, J3 Khai Ambassadors, J3 Khai Restoration, J3Khai Ambassadors, Jehovah, Jesus, Messiah, Praying for America, Yahweh, Yehovah

I am Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:13)

July 4, 2023 Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

As we Americans celebrate our independence, shall we say our beginning, today, July 4th, 2023, let us consider Jesus who has provided for our greatest freedom and who has not beginning or end.

“Other than you Jesus, no person exists who is in possession of titles and designations beginning with every letter of the alphabet, and no one can truthfully say that your names are merely incidentals casually coined. Every title you bear Messiah Jesus is wisely selected with a set purpose in view, and the profound accumulation of so many such, which rank highest in renown, vouch for that famous unchallengeable declaration made in your Word that a name is given to you, ‘which is above every name’ (Philippians 2:9). No other person, so manifoldly potential in capacity and so many-sided in practical ability, exists.”

“In majesty of power, in dignity of grace, in beauty of virtue and in eternity of love, you are without compare Messiah Jesus. The expansive orbit of your incorruptible glory never diminishes, the high tide of your imperial authority never recedes, and the floodlight of your immortal loveliness never declines. Age cannot palsy your perennial power, nor can the throes of time terminate your thoughtful tenderness. The years cannot compel you to yield your youthful vigor, nor can the centuries circumscribe your complete control. Duration cannot disintegrate your dominion, nor can millenniums mutilate your matchless majesty or mar your mercy.”

“What a glorious luster environs your abiding love Jesus! What a gorgeous miter engraces your attractive brow! What a gracious scepter engages your almighty hand! What a generous nature expresses your heavenly mind! Yet, withal, the tender touches of your wondrous grace and the silken sympathies of your plenteous mercy are dispensed alike to all; for you are no respecter of persons.”

“Can any one of us, or all our capacities combined, ever expect to fully comprehend you, Gods Messiah? How profitable it is to pause a moment and muse on your regal majesty and royal meekness. How edifying it is to think for a while on your replete might and resplendent mercy. How delightful the exercise to contemplate for a time your renowned merit and resourceful ministry. Each of these features surpasses in value and virtue the noblest estimates of the most venerable minds. Appraisers and valuators are altogether out of place in this domain; for the only suitable attitude is reverent worship.”

“When we attentively consider you Jesus, behold, your bountiful blessings are without boundary, your ocean-wide sufficiency is without trace of a shore, your lustrous lovingkindness is without limit, your care and considerateness are without circumference and the fervor of your fragrant faithfulness is free from all faction or friction, formality, or frustration. No artist, musician or poet can make you perfect. If we attempt to portray your obvious qualities and virtues using earthly analogies, we will need to utilize thousands of them. Should we venture to present your vocations and virtues even partially, we should require a whole host of types, symbols, memorials, images, and figures of speech to depict the range of your renown and to voice the riches of your resource within the visible realm, to say nothing of those functions which remain unrevealed. No other known Leader is so admirable, no other Ruler is so adaptable, no other Deliverer is so acceptable, no other Helper is so accessible, and no other Lover is so adorable as you are, Jesus Gods Messiah.”

Charles J. Rolls, The Indescribable Christ: Names and Titles of Jesus Christ: A-G (Loizeaux Brothers, 1984). (Reworded into a personal prayer by J3 Khai Restoration Ministries)

Praying for America, Uncategorized

First Prayer Of The 1774 Continental Congress

April 13, 2023 Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee. To Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give. Take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their Cause and if they persist in their sanguinary purposes, of own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle!

Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior.

Amen.

From Praying America Great Again, accessed April 13, 2023.