YAIY - March 2010 - Sisters for Yah (via Instant Mobilizer)

Yahweh's Assembly in Yahshua

Sisters for Yah

Volume 4, Issue 3

March 2010

Preparing for Yahweh's Scriptural New Year

It's hard to believe another scriptural year has come and gone! Those of us who have been worshipping Yahweh for many years already know that the real new year does not happen in January as the world believes. But for the sake of all our new readers, here's a quick overview. Yahweh's new year begins in the spring when new life springs into action! Flowers begin blooming, days get sunnier and warmer, and the leaves on trees start sprouting. It is also the time for believers to prepare to keep Yahweh's Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. Many of you will be keeping these for the very first time. On page 4, you'll find a super easy basic recipe for unleavened bread and other yummy recipes suitable to be eaten during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Inside this issue:

Yahweh's New Year

Accepting the Truth

Bits and Pieces

Recipes

Time to use up all your products that contain yeast, baking soda, and baking powder. For a more complete list of items to avoid, see our March YAIY News. Don't buy anymore leavened products until after the days of unleavened bread are completed. Yes, this means ignoring good sales on bread at the store. Also, don't stock up on these items beforehand or you'll need to throw them away. Be careful to read labels at the store for items containing leavening. Avoid store-bought flour tortillas and use corn tortillas instead, or try making your own flour ones without leavening.

There are lots of foods you can eat during the days of unleavened bread. There is no need to feel deprived. Fruits, vegetables, rice, clean meats, poultry and fish (non-breaded, of course), eggs, pasta, rice, dairy products, and of course unleavened bread and crackers are all fine to eat during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

This is also a good time to 'examine' ourselves as the Apostle Paul mentions in the New Testament. Passover is a time to renew our commitments to Yahshua. We do not want to partake of Passover unworthily. Are you actively overcoming sins in your life? Are you putting your relationship with Yahweh first? Are you becoming a better parent, spouse, and servant of Yahweh? Let's think on these things. Happy new year!

Accepting the Truth

Learning to live Yahweh's way is a lifelong endeavor with many great and glorious benefits, both now and in the future (especially the future!). But it is not always an easy path to walk upon. Many believers have similar stories to tell about how they came to learn the truth. For quite a few, it happened while they were attending a mainstream church. Almost suddenly they realized that what their pastors were preaching simply wasn't matching up to what the Bible really said. Others were handed literature proclaiming the truth, and after much prayer and study, accepted it. Some, seeking a deeper relationship with their Creator, prayed for knowledge and began reading their dusty Bibles often for the first time, and came to the knowledge of the truth unlike anything they were taught in their childhood Sunday school classes!

Learning the truth for the first time is exciting, but with that excitement can come feelings of loss, especially when those closest to you don't accept the truth as you do. Some longtime believers have expressed how difficult it was to give up pagan holidays at first. They had spent most of their lives celebrating those days and creating rich family traditions. When they gave up participating in pagan practices, often they were shunned by family members and friends. People attempted to make them feel guilty by saying such things as, 'Christmas is for the enjoyment of the children! Do you want your children to be deprived?' We often suffer in other ways too. Many believers have lost their jobs because of Sabbath-keeping. And those who don't lose their jobs are often ostracized by co-workers for not participating in the office Christmas parties and the like.

Indeed, accepting the truth often comes with a price, unless your whole family is converted along with you, which is extremely rare. Believers must struggle with the simple truth that Yahweh is not calling all people at this time. It is painful to realize that those you love are blinded. Many of us have spent hours at a time trying in vain to convince our friends and family members of the truth. Sometimes there is alienation as the people you love no longer feel they have anything in common with you. They may feel resentment toward you and accuse you of trying to break up the 'comfortable' family unit. One believer had the painful experience of rejection at her father's funeral when one of her relatives got angry because she (the believer) did not believe that people go to heaven immediately when they die, but instead believed in the future resurrection.

The pain lessens over time as believers get used their new way of life, with or without the support of their friends and family members. Believers create new memories by keeping Yahweh's feast days with other believers. Soon the memories of keeping Christmas and other pagan days fade, and instead are replaced by the real rejoicing that we know is pleasing to Yahweh. We get used to being thought of as being 'different' by others. And it sometimes makes us a little glad that we are different. We know that being different now will yield incredible rewards in the future. So we continue to trudge along this lonely road waiting for the day we will hear, 'Well done good and faithful servant.'

Bits and Pieces

How to recognize a stroke:

Ask the person three simple questions: (1) Ask them to smile. (2) Ask them to raise both arms. (3) Ask them to speak a simple sentence (coherently), such as: 'It is sunny outside today.' If the person has trouble with any of these tasks, call 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher, prompt treatment can prevent brain damage.

The following are also symptoms never to ignore: Heart attack—chest pain/pressure, shortness of breath, pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach, sweating, nausea, lightheadedness.

Time-saving cooking idea:

When grilling or sautéing chicken, make extra. You can then have a quick meal with minimal preparation. Extra chicken is great for a wonderful Chicken Caesar Salad. Just marinate the chicken in Caesar dressing and warm slightly. Serve over a green salad and top with parmesan cheese.

Easy gardening tip:

Save large salt shakers to use as handy dispensers when it's time for planting your garden. Fill them with seeds, then shake out in neat rows.

Relieve leg cramps naturally:

Mild leg cramps can be caused by a strained muscle or potassium deficiency. Try gently stretching your legs. Also eat more potassium rich food like bananas. Be sure to see your doctor if the cramps last more than 3 days, or if you are on diuretics, or you notice redness and swelling (possible sign of a blood clot).

YAIY

Recipes

Yahweh's Assembly in Yahshua

2963 County Road 233

Kingdom City, MO 65262 map

Basic Unleavened Bread:

4 cups flour

1 t. salt

2/3 cup cooking oil

1 1/3 cup milk

Sift flour and salt in a bowl. Mix oil and milk, then pour into flour and salt. Stir into a firm dough. Roll out on wax paper, making it as thin as pie crust. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 inches wide. Bake at 400 degrees on a greased cookie sheet until slightly brown, about 13 minutes. Can sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar if you like. Roll thin for crisp bread. Makes up to 30 pieces.

Melt in your mouth cookies:

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 1/3 cup flour

1 t. vanilla or flavor of your choice

Stir together flour, cornstarch, and sugar. In medium size bowl of mixer, beat butter until smooth. Beat in vanilla and flour mixture until smooth. Cover dough and chill ONLY an hour. Shape into 1 inch balls, place them 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork dipped in flour. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.

Oatmeal Crackers:

1 1/3 cups flour

2 cups rolled oats

2 T. sugar

1 t. salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup boiling water

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cover butter with boiling water. Stir liquids into dry mixture and mix. Roll out thin, cut like crackers and bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes.

Correction:

In the January 2010 Sisters for Yah, the recipe for Cranberry Orange Bread also needs 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda mixed in at the same time the other dry ingredients are mixed together. This recipe contained leavening so you'll need to wait until after the Feast of Unleavened Bread to make it!

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