Joy Comes in the Morning

October 7th will always be etched on my heart because of Micha Cohen. In the week prior to this day, I had a dream. I told Steve it was very touching. I saw the image of Yeshua in heaven. Next to him was Jan Cohen, Steve’s late wife and Micha’s mother. She was tugging on Yeshua’s robe saying, “let me go get him, let me go get him”...

…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Ps. 30:5b, KJV

Now, brothers, we want you to know the truth about those who have died; otherwise, you might become sad the way other people do who have nothing to hope for. For since we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, we also believe that in the same way God, through Yeshua, will take with him those who have died.” 1 Thes. 4:13-14, CJB

...and He did.

Steve’s beautiful godly son. Micha went to Yeshua in the early hours of the seventh of October. His precious and hero wife Leah by his side. (I could write a book on this woman. She is an incredible example of a spirit-filled life.) It was so overwhelming that God chose this day to take him home. Micha loved Israel. Micha was a lover of Yeshua! This man told everyone he met about God’s salvation. He served with Jews for Jesus and was continually reaching out to the Jew, sharing the Good News. Almost daily I would receive texts from him to pray for a particular person as he talked with them. It truly convicted me to get bout God’s business and endeared me to him. Micha and I prayed together (including before I wed Steve). He was a kind, loving man, and I can honestly say I never heard him gossip, slander, or mock anyone in the entire time I knew him. I need more Michas in my life. The world needs more Michas.  Besides Leah, Micha left two beautiful daughters Selah and Tikvah (Tiki). They are active believers and remarkable teens. Please remember them all in your prayers. Below is a devotional that Micha wrote. May it be a blessing to you as well.

“For how can I bear to see the disaster that will overcome my people? How can I endure seeing the extermination of my kinsmen?” Esther 8:6, CJB

October 7 will forever be etched in my heart for two different and incredible reasons. Secondly: Israel attacked – again. This time the enemy killed families. Desecrated bodies and took captives. It will only be a matter of time before we are blamed for our own deaths and the war.  Those with no Biblical intelligence will take the side of Satan and blame us, the Jews, for the insane and hideous attacks that came on our people and land. Those who follow false gods have a satanic agenda to exterminate the Jewish nation.  This is not a land issue. The aim is extermination. I have received letters and texts from Israeli friends asking for prayer for their children who have been called to service in Israel in the IDF. Israel does not have an army. It has a defense force (Israeli Defense Force). They have never pursued, they have defended. Once God Almighty gave Abraham a covenant and called Abraham’s descendants His chosen, there was a mark on our heads. When God Almighty led Moses and the Israelites to the promised land, there was a mark on our heads.

God gave a Jewish girl the honor of bringing His only son into the world. Yeshua was Jewish! He was kosher! He kept every law given by God through Moses. Then Yeshua became the required blood sacrifice for sin on our behalf. He died and rose again for the Jewish and Gentile! He loved the world! He still does. He loved the unlovely Samaritan woman – a gentile. He loved the enemies of the Jewish nation – the Roman Centurion. He loves me! He loves you.

Steve and I are Zionists – now what?

We are called to win the lost. Both the Jew and Gentile. It is insanely difficult for me to love a group that murders my people. I don’t have to. Yeshua loves them for me. But I am required to tell them about God’s forgiveness and love. I am commanded to tell them. Difficult? Yes! However, I must remember that God saved me. I was no different from these Islamic murderers in His eyes. God could not even look upon me until I received His forgiveness, claiming the blood of His Son. I remember how the Germans treated Corrie Ten Boom because of her love for the Jewish people. They were monsters. Yet she loved them with the love of Yeshua. This summer, I spoke with a representative of POBLO (People of the Book Lutheran Outreach). Their mission is to win the Muslim. She is a Christian convert from Kuwait. She taught Islam in a University. I told her that I had an intense dislike of the Muslim people, how on earth can she minister to them? She said, “I love the Muslim and hate Islam.” That was the best advice I have ever received concerning these people.  Yeshua loved the sinner. He hated sin – but He loved the sinner! Do your part. If you are a believer, you must tell the truth (gospel) to others. Now is the time. Don’t sit on what you know is true and eternally important to mankind. This isn’t my idea – it’s God's. There are millions of people who have never even read the Bible, let alone heard the gospel. I challenge you to read God’s word.

May our God bless and keep you. It is our prayer that you are free from the bondage of sin and living in the new life God has for all who believe in and trust in Yeshua.

Micha's Devotion

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ. (2 Cor. 2:14-17)

In Bible college, I had a hermeneutics class where we focused on these four verses for a whole semester! They are now my life verses!

In Roman days there would be processions celebrating the return of a king with his captives behind him. We are Jesus' captives. We used to be captive to sin, but now we're HIS captives!

Whenever we talk about Jesus, people will respond in one of two ways. To some, we stink like "death." They respond in anger. To others, we're the sweet smell of Jesus, of "life." They praise God we're there!

One time while doing an outreach in Israel during Sukkot an Orthodox Jewish man came up and attacked us and tried to tear down our booth. He saw I was videotaping his attack and he hit me in the face a few times and stole my camera. Some secular guys took it back from him and returned it to me. Then two women in full Islamic coverings came over and asked, "Why did that man attack you?" We told them it was because we believed in Jesus. They asked, "Why didn't you fight back?" We told them again it was because we believed in Jesus. They asked if we had anything they could read about what we believed, and we gave them a New Testament in Arabic! Praise God!

It's worth it to find those whom God is drawing to Himself out there and be willing to face those who think we stink!

From Devotions from the Field, copyright 2013 Jews for Jesus.

Reprinted with permission.

Micha Cohen
January 10, 1980 - October 7, 2023

Love from my heart,

nanC

Nancy Cohen is the Director of Women's Ministries at Apple of His Eye

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