By Joseph Shulam

 

Men of God sometimes go through though testing.  If we look at the Word 
of
God we find the following teaching on this topic:

 

Abraham was tested when the Lord told him to take and sacrifice his son
Isaac on Mt. Moriah.  Genesis 22:1, "Now it came to pass after these 
things
that ??God tested Abraham, and said to him, "?Abraham!?"

God tested Israel in the wilderness.  Exodus 20:20, "And Moses said to 
the
people, ??"?Do not fear; ?for God has come to test you, and ??that His 
fear
may be before you, so that you may not sin.?" ? So the people stood 
afar
off, but Moses drew near ??the thick darkness where God was."

These are the words of God to Israel just before they would enter the 
land
of Israel: Deuteronomy 8:2-4, "And you shall remember that the Lord 
your God
??led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble 
you and
??test you, ?to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His
commandments or not. ?So He humbled you, ?allowed you to hunger, and 
fed you
with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He 
might
make you know that man shall ?not live by bread alone; but man lives by
every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord."

An interesting verse from the prophet Zechariah comes to mind.  The 
Lord
does test us and it is often as hard a test as being refiner's fire.
Zechariah 13:9, "I will bring the one-third ??through the fire, will
??refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.   
They
will call on My name, and I will answer them.   ?I will say, '?This is 
My
people?'; and each one will say, '?The Lord is my God.?'"

In the New Testament we find such statements as in 1 Corinthians 
3:12-15,
"Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious 
stones,
wood, hay, straw,  each one's work will become clear; for the Day ?will
declare it, because ?it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will 
test
each one's work, of what sort it is. ?If anyone's work which he has 
built on
it endures, he will receive a reward. ?If anyone's work is burned, he 
will
suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."

In a way these last days I feel that the Lord has been testing me, 
Marcia,
and in fact my whole family.  As a family we have experienced such
difficulties in the last few weeks.  First our daughter Danah has been 
going
through a very difficult time with her family.  We have never 
experienced
such a problem in the Shulam family through our history.  Second, 
Marcia had
a fall from the steps in my daughter's home, and broke a bone in her 
foot.  

In fact we are here in California in order to help our Daughter's 
family.  I
had do cancel my trip to Brazil, and speaking engagements in the United
States in order to stay here with my daughter's family in California.  
I can
share with you, my prayer partners, that these days are some of the 
hardest
in the history of this Shulam family.   We have had to deal with cancer 
in
the family, with illness of all kinds, and still these are the hardest 
days
and there is no other interpretation that I can give to what is 
happening
other than a testing our faith by the Almighty.  Others might call it 
an
attack from the devil, but I hate to give the devil such honor and
capability.  For us it is a test of our faith and strength in the Lord. 
For
those who are tormenting us it is an attack. We will pass the test 
together
with our brothers' and sisters' help.  

First of all we need your prayers for Marcia's healing.  She will have 
to
wear the cast on her foot for six weeks.  We also ask you to pray for 
Danah
and Noaam's health.  

The brothers in the North Boulevard church in Tennessee have permitted 
us to
use funds for hotel stay, car rental, and airline tickets.  Because we 
did
not travel on the dates and to the destinations that our airline 
tickets
were written for, we have lost those tickets.  We ask you to pray for 
the
financial needs that this situation has brought to us.  In the forty 
years
of ministry we have not asked help for personal needs, but now with 
some
complex expenses, we are asking you to pray for our needs to be met.  

If you are interested to help the Shulam family financially just send 
your
help to the same place that you have been sending it and earmark it for 
the
"Shulam family."

One of the good things that have come from these crises is the support 
and
understanding that our brothers and sisters in Israel, and in Brazil, 
and in
the United States have shown toward our personal problems.  All our
brothers, with whom we had appointments for ministry in Dallas, Texas, 
and
in Los Angeles, and in Brazil, have been so kind and understanding.  In
Brazil the brothers and sisters had lined up a very impressive schedule 
of
interviews with major newspapers, and media interviews, and speaking
engagements in many fine churches in Vitoria, Brasilia, Belo-Horizonte, 
and
Curitiba.  All these appointments had to be canceled or postponed.  It 
was
not easy for me to cancel my trip to Brazil, or to Dallas, but it 
became so
much easier when the response of our fine brothers and sisters in 
Brazil and
in the United States showed such understanding and support.  All praise 
is
to God our Lord and Master who is gracious and longsuffering.  The most
wonderful of all responses came from our staff and leadership in 
Jerusalem.
Normally my best brothers and sisters are also the most critical (in a 
very
constructive and good way) of some of the things I do.  Our brothers 
and
sisters in Jerusalem have stood as one person to support us in the 
Shulam
family and encourage us in what we are doing.  

Of course the Shulam family is not the only one with needs.  Netivyah 
is
helping so many other people in Israel.  Netivyah is helping people in
Jerusalem with the Soup-Kitchen feeding the needy.  We have been 
helping
disciples of the Messiah who are students in the Universities and 
Institutes
of higher learning with a special stipend of 200 dollars per month to 
make
it possible to study.  We also help several young families with little
children who have special needs that can not be met by the bread 
winners in
their family.  All these things are nothing but the obligation of every
disciple to do good.  As the Apostle Paul said to the Galatians,  "And 
let
us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap ?if 
we
do not lose heart. ?Therefore, as we have opportunity, ??let us do good 
to
all, ??especially to those who are of the household of faith."  James 
said:
"Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it 
is
sin."

The commentary on the Jewish Roots of Galatians is going to be out by 
the
end of this month.  It is already in print, and the cover is being 
finished
and made ready for the binding.  We have printed 2500 copies only and 
we
will start shipping those who have ordered in the beginning of March.  

We need your prayers on all these fronts and we know that because the 
Lord
tests His children to make them stronger and equip them for better and
greater battles and victories in the future.  We have nothing but 
praise and
expectations of God's mercy and grace even in these difficult hours.  

Thank you all,

Joseph and Marcia Shulam