Excerpt From Upper Room Discourse
(Early) Shabbat Shalom {{firstName}},
Rabbi’s Note: Let’s take a break from Psalm 61 for a moment. What follows in the RR for today was originally written in the Hebrew month Elul, (in 2022). Elul is the month that immediately precedes Tishre, the month of the High Holidays. Elul 5786 (2026) begins Thursday at evening and continues through Friday at evening. Elul is dedicated to preparing us for the spiritual journey that is the fall feasts which each find their reality in events not yet a reality, the second coming of Yeshua. Here is the key to it all… Jacob 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. End RN.
John 14:23 Yeshua answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”
Do you have the sense that we have read this before? The beginning of John 14:23 sounds remarkably similar to John 14:21a He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. They sound similar because the are. Yeshua doesn’t want us to miss this, so He is repeating it for our benefit. When we love, it shows. However; Yeshua is making a much deeper point here and we don’t want to miss that either.
Yeshua is saying, “It’s not about Me.” When we read, “… And the word you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me,” (John 14:24b) we are seeing Yeshua’s humility in submission to the Father. Here’s my proposition,… if Yeshua can humble Himself, shouldn’t we be willing to follow Him and humble ourselves?
Here’s the headline. Newsflash… “It’s not about you either.” Before you pass this off, please take a moment to consider the implications. We have a way of making everything about us. It is the life of the follower of Yeshua to put God on the throne - in all things. If we are honest with ourselves, there is always some part of our life (none of us is perfect) in which we have not yet completely surrendered.
That’s the purpose of the month of Elul, which started this Thursday night. Elul is a time to repent in preparation for the fall Feasts of the Lord. Elul is spelled with four Hebrew letters, “Aleph-Lamed-Vav-Lamed” An acrostic is made up of the first letter of each word of the first part of Song of Solomon 6:3a I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. A more mature perspective on that verse is Song 7:11 I am my lover’s, and his desire is for me, which is less self focused.
To walk in that truth means to trust our “Beloved.” I put “Beloved” in quotes and capitalized it because this is King David’s Hebrew name (David means “beloved”) and Yeshua sits on David’s throne. Isaiah made the connection in his prophesy. Isaiah 9:6(7) Of the increase of His government and shalom there will be no end— on the throne of David and over His kingdom— to establish it and uphold it through justice and righteousness from now until forevermore. The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot will accomplish this.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. Let us, therefore; show that we love Yeshua by obedience to the Word of God and as a result we will receive the love of the Father Who promises to make His dwelling with us. Emanuel! The Hebrew breakdown is “Em” (with), “Anu” (us), “El” (God). Put it together, ‘God with us.” He is with us and He is for us. That’s more than “good news.” That’s very good news. Why, the more I meditate on it, the more I’m convinced, “That’s greatest news ever!” Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Fri 14-Aug 2026 1st of Elul, 5786 Rosh Chodesh Elul Day 2
De 19:14-20:9, Nu 28:11-15 Hos 7-8 2 Ch 1 Phm (Jn 16)
Rabbi’s Note: Let’s take a break from Psalm 61 for a moment. What follows in the RR for today was originally written in the Hebrew month Elul, (in 2022). Elul is the month that immediately precedes Tishre, the month of the High Holidays. Elul 5786 (2026) begins Thursday at evening and continues through Friday at evening. Elul is dedicated to preparing us for the spiritual journey that is the fall feasts which each find their reality in events not yet a reality, the second coming of Yeshua. Here is the key to it all… Jacob 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. End RN.
John 14:23 Yeshua answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”
Do you have the sense that we have read this before? The beginning of John 14:23 sounds remarkably similar to John 14:21a He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. They sound similar because the are. Yeshua doesn’t want us to miss this, so He is repeating it for our benefit. When we love, it shows. However; Yeshua is making a much deeper point here and we don’t want to miss that either.
Yeshua is saying, “It’s not about Me.” When we read, “… And the word you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me,” (John 14:24b) we are seeing Yeshua’s humility in submission to the Father. Here’s my proposition,… if Yeshua can humble Himself, shouldn’t we be willing to follow Him and humble ourselves?
Here’s the headline. Newsflash… “It’s not about you either.” Before you pass this off, please take a moment to consider the implications. We have a way of making everything about us. It is the life of the follower of Yeshua to put God on the throne - in all things. If we are honest with ourselves, there is always some part of our life (none of us is perfect) in which we have not yet completely surrendered.
That’s the purpose of the month of Elul, which started this Thursday night. Elul is a time to repent in preparation for the fall Feasts of the Lord. Elul is spelled with four Hebrew letters, “Aleph-Lamed-Vav-Lamed” An acrostic is made up of the first letter of each word of the first part of Song of Solomon 6:3a I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. A more mature perspective on that verse is Song 7:11 I am my lover’s, and his desire is for me, which is less self focused.
To walk in that truth means to trust our “Beloved.” I put “Beloved” in quotes and capitalized it because this is King David’s Hebrew name (David means “beloved”) and Yeshua sits on David’s throne. Isaiah made the connection in his prophesy. Isaiah 9:6(7) Of the increase of His government and shalom there will be no end— on the throne of David and over His kingdom— to establish it and uphold it through justice and righteousness from now until forevermore. The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot will accomplish this.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. Let us, therefore; show that we love Yeshua by obedience to the Word of God and as a result we will receive the love of the Father Who promises to make His dwelling with us. Emanuel! The Hebrew breakdown is “Em” (with), “Anu” (us), “El” (God). Put it together, ‘God with us.” He is with us and He is for us. That’s more than “good news.” That’s very good news. Why, the more I meditate on it, the more I’m convinced, “That’s greatest news ever!” Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Fri 14-Aug 2026 1st of Elul, 5786 Rosh Chodesh Elul Day 2
De 19:14-20:9, Nu 28:11-15 Hos 7-8 2 Ch 1 Phm (Jn 16)
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January
RR Psalm 42:12(11) Part 8RR Psalm 43:1 Part 1RR In Praise of Milk By David HarwoodRR Psalm 43:2 Part 2RR Psalm 43:3 Part 3RR Psalm 43:4 Part 4RR Psalm 43:5 Part 5RR Psalm 44:1-5(1-4) Part 1RR “The Priority & Power of Relationship” by Jerry MillerRR Favor on top of Favor By David HarwoodRR Psalm 44:6-9(5-8) Part 2RR Psalm 44:10-13(9-12) Part 3RR Psalm 44:14-17(13-16) Part 4RR Psalm 44:18-22(17-21) Part 5RR The Throne By David HarwoodRR Psalm 44:23-27(22-26) Part 6RR Psalm 45:1-3(1,2) Part 1RR PPsalm 45:4(3) Part 2RR Psalm 45:5(4) Part 3RR Psalm 45:6(5) Part 4RR Psalm 45:7(6) Part 5RR “Guarding our Relationship with the Lord” by Jerry MillerRR Doubting Favor by David HarwoodRR Psalm 45:8(7) Part 6RR Psalm 45:9(8) Part 7RR Psalm 45:10(9) Part 8RR Psalm 45:11-13(10-12) Part 9RR Favor and Calling By David HarwoodRR YESHUA BEYOND THE BIBLE By Dr. Raymond Finney RR Psalm 45:11-13(10-12) Part 10
February
RR Psalm 45:14-16(13-15) Part 11RR Psalm 45:17,18(16,17) Part 12RR Psalm 46:1,2(1) Part 1RR Psalm 46:3,4(2,3) Part 2RR Charismata - Signs of Favor By David HarwoodRR Psalm 46:5-8(4-7) Part 3RR “Guarding our Relationship with the Lord” by Jerry MillerRR Psalm 46:5-8(4-7) Part 5RR Psalm 46:5-8(4-7) – Part 4RR Psalm 46:5-8(4-7) Part 6RR Psalm 46:9-12(8-11) Part 7RR THE ONE AND ONLY YOU (Part 1) The Amazing Mystery of Light and You By Dr. Raymond FinneyRR Favor and Sanctity by David HarwoodRR Psalm 46:9-12 (8-11) Part 8RR Psalm 47:1-4(1-3) Part 1RR Psalm 47:1-4(1-3) Part 2RR Psalm 47:1-4(1-3) Part 3RR Psalm 47:1-4(1-3) Part 4RR Gratitude for Favor By David HarwoodRR Psalm 47:6(5) Part 5RR Psalm 47:7(6) Part 6RR Psalm 47:9(8) Part 8RR Psalm 47:10(9) Part 9RR Psalm 48:1-3 Part 1RR “Guarding our Relationship with the Lord, Part 3” by Jerry MillerRR Some Favorite Verses (1) By David HarwoodRR Psalm 1:1 Part 1 (rerun)
March
RR Psalm 48:4(3) Part 2RR Psalm 48:8,9 Part 5RR Psalm 48:8,9 Part 4RR Psalm 48:5-7 Part 3RR Psalm 48:10-12 Part 6RR Psalm 48:10-12 Part 7RR Some Favorite Verses (2) Generosity and Enabling Favor By David HarwoodRR Psalm 48:13-15 Part 8RR Psalm 49:1-5 Part 1RR Psalm 49:1-5 Part 2RR Psalm 49:6(5) – Part 3RR Some Favorite Verses (3) Favor in Speaking and Knowledge By David HarwoodRR Psalm 49:7-9(6-8) Part 4RR Psalm 49:10,11(9,10) Part 5RR Psalm 49:12(11), 13(12) – Part 6RR Psalm 49:14(13) Part 7RR Manifestations of Favor in Speaking and Knowledge By David HarwoodRR Psalm 49:15,16(14,15) Part 9RR Psalm 49:15,16(14,15) Part 8RR Psalm 49:19-21(18-20) Part 11RR Psalm 49:17,18(16,17) Part 10RR Psalm 50:1,2 Part 1RR Psalm 50:3 Part 2RR “Guarding our Relationship with the Lord, Part 5” by Jerry MillerRR Yeshua’s Enriched Speech and Knowledge By David HarwoodRR Psalm 50:5 Part 4RR Psalm 50:4 Part 3RR Psalm 50:6 Part 5RR Psalm 50:6 Part 6RR Psalm 50:7-15 Part 7
April
RR Psalm 50:7-15 Part 8RR Psalm 50:7-15 Part 9RR Yeshua Provides a Pattern By David HarwoodRR Pasach 3 Torah Lesson – Exodus 33-12-34:26 By Jeffrey FreemanRR Let's Celebrate Yom HaBikurimRR Psalm 50:16-21 Part 10RR Psalm 50:16-21 Part 11RR Sh’mini Torah lesson – Leviticus 9:1 – 11:47 By Jeffrey FreemanRR Psalm 50:22,23 Part 13RR Psalm 50:16-21 Part 12RR Yeshua Grew By David HarwoodRR Psalm 51:1,2 Part 1RR Psalm 51:3 Part 2