Please allow me to introduce myself. After many years and wanderings, the Father has brought me to the awareness that, as a fellow believer, my love for YHVH is shown in how I love the brethren
(1John 3:16).
I am endeavoring to use the resources and talents the Father has blessed me with to bless the Body of His Son, Yeshua. Baptized in water and Spirit, I belong to the Assembly of the First Born of YHVH whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and meet wherever two or more are gathered in His Name.
Born of Gentile parents, I have become grafted-in to the Hebrew family of YHVH by virtue of receiving a circumcision of heart through actionable belief in Messiah as spoken of in
Acts 2:39
and, therefore, am recognized by the Sovereign of Sovereigns as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Israel. Over 40 years ago, shortly after meeting YHVH, He placed a love in my heart for His People and His Land, revealing to me that I would one day be living in Israel. Of course, being young and brash at the time, I thought that to be the next month - surely by the following year. Over the years, I went from dismay to it ever happening, to re-embracing it, to giving up on it; finally, just hoping beyond hope that what He spoke would ever come to pass. 40 years later, since 2007, I have found myself living off and on in Israel as a testament to the faithfulness of haEl haNeAman (Hebrew for "the Faithful One"), to bear witness to the Truth of Who He Is and to be a support to His People - encouraging them to who YHVH ordained they be from the beginning, a Light to the Nations
(Isaiah 49:6).
Most of the persecution handed out to YHVH's family over the last 2,000 years has come from under a "Christian" banner. As a result of this persecution, the general perception of a "Christian" in Israel (from the guy just working to support a family, to the highest levels in government) is lumped into the same barrel as the Roman Catholic Church, the Crusaders, the Spanish Inquisition, and Hitler, among others; so there is much bias to overcome on many different levels. Presenting a picture of a believer in a Hebrew Messiah that is different than what has been encountered over the centuries requires someone who is willing to assimilate into their culture, to stand with them and, if necessary, to die with them, as brothers of the same One True Living Elohim of Israel. Consequently, this has been a ministry of building relationships, engendering trust and fulfilling promises - probably not the type of "ministry" most are familiar with. It is not very flamboyant, more behind the scenes than anything. But it is foundational work that is essential for lending support to the rest of the building.
My testimony of how I came to know YHVH can be viewed by clicking on
The Power of God.
Since my visa status has prohibited me from working in the Land, my services and resources are offered, for the most part, without recompense wherever His Spirit leads so as to be like the apostle Paul was in the first 14 years of his ministry - supporting not only himself, but those he ministered to by making tents (a printer by trade, I also build websites, do graphic design and database development, some samples of which can be viewed at the
SmithPrints website).
My services have been made available to any who Spirit reveals with a need. The most prominent is the third largest and oldest hospital in Israel,
Assaf Harofeh,
along with Light and Mercy,
and Covenant Alliances,
to name a few. Also, these articles are sent out a couple of times a month to over 50,000 email addresses around the globe all at my own expense (when you get into those numbers, it can't be done from a web-based server or Outlook Express, requiring me to purchase space on bulk-mail servers) simply to show what the Father is teaching me about Himself.
Let me be clear in saying that these articles are not presented as having all the answers. I am no expert on anything. I am nobody special. My prayers are no more effective than yours. I don't have access to anything you don't have access to in ruach hakodesh (the spirit of holiness). My life has been the least of any. If the Father does anything through this life, it has only been to show that He can redeem anyone who will totally give themselves to Him in Truth. My sole purpose and desire for being is to present the Father in the clarity and purity that He has shown Himself to me through the Life of Yeshua that has healed me and set me free. I am just reading the Book solely for what the words on the page say without overlaying any predetermined theological template upon them while, at the same time, listening to ruach hakodesh. These articles are designed to encourage others to do the same - to dig in and find Truth, LIFE, for themselves and those around them. Consequently, I do not adhere to nor am I tied to any one's "movement", group, organization or religion, nor am I trying to form one - preferring to walk as Yeshua did, free from such entanglements and aligned to no one but the Father. I am humbled before Him and before you that He would allow me the privilege to correspond with you and to learn with you, His most precious of saints, things involving His Kingdom.
Let us press in and continue to work while it is still Day - for the time is short and there is still much yet left to do.
ABOUT THE NAME, haRold - It is said that when
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda
was reinvigorating the Hebrew language, all he had to go by was the Torah for the original wording. As he undertook this endeavor, he came to realize that many words and phrases common to any language were just - lost. Consequently, as he with his wife and children would gather about the table for meals, they would make up words based on the language architecture found in the scriptures. This is how the "lost" language of Hebrew was reconstructed (the only dead language in history ever to be resurrected and placed back into the mainstream of life).
When I first came to the Land, I noticed immediately there was an emphasis in inflection used upon the last syllable in this language so that my name, Harold, was often pronounced "haROLD". I also observed that many times, when Jewish immigrants make aliyah and move to the Land, they change their name to take on a new, Hebrew representation of who they are. Knowing that ha means "the" in Hebrew, I researched the word "Rold" and, while not explicitly found in the Hebrew language, managed to find a distant cousin of that word in Hebrew meaning "valiant". Harold comes from a Scandinavian root meaning "champion." So, in keeping with the grand tradition of this Land and its people (Abram receiving the new name "Abraham" and Jacob receiving the new name "Israel", etc.), I have received of YHVH the moniker haRold and believe it to mean "the valiant champion." I consider it an honor and a privilege to champion the cause of this Land and His People of which you, by right of re-birth in and through Yeshua HaMashiach, have also been made a citizen of the Commonwealth of Israel, right now, today - this is our inheritance.
Because of the redemptive sacrifice of Yeshua and with my embrace of His Life, I have been reborn into the Spirit of the Father (the very same Spirit that fathered Him). Scripture says that, because of that rebirth, the same DNA courses through my body as that of my Elder Brother, Yeshua - flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone
(Ephesians 5:30).
There are those who would say, "well, that's a spiritual take on things," but I feel that Yeshua's message was one of bringing the Kingdom that lies within
(Luke 17:20-21)
to behold as reality in this earthly realm
(see the Kinsman Redeemer series for a more in-depth look).
Please, take a moment and fill out the form above to receive articles of encouragement from time to time that will always uplift Yeshua HaMashiach (the Messiah). Thank you, haRold.
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