Moving Forward in Him

The Sisterhood of Beth Messiah Congregation in Columbus, Ohio, extended a special invitation to Miriam Nadler, head of Women’s Ministries at Word of Messiah, and were privileged to have her speak at their fall conference.  The conference took place from October 16-18 and was entitled “Moving Forward in Him!”  The theme verse of the conference was John 15:4,5b: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me… for apart from Me you can do nothing”

This special weekend began on Friday evening as candles were lit and Erev Shabbat dinner was served. Scriptural teaching followed as Miriam went through the parable of the vineyard from Isaiah 5, detailing the Father’s relationship with His beloved. The women listening were challenged to believe in Yeshua as their Beloved, give Him great significance in their lives, ask Him to remove stones and foxes that erode their trust, and call upon Him to move in their lives.

Shabbat was a day of worship and praise! The conference continued as Miriam taught about obstacles to moving forward: our flesh and the war within, and Satan and the war without.  Living a Spirit-filled life which honors the Lord requires obeying God’s Word and identifying sin, calling it by its worst name without minimizing it.  Miriam covered multiple Scripture passages which teach God’s way of getting rid of worry, anxiety, and fear.  This is essential, for worry rather than trust in Yeshua is disobedience to God’s Word.  Putting on one’s Armor of Light (Rom. 13:12) equips the believer for warfare.  The women were challenged to agree with God about sin, renounce it, and sink into their armor of light, clothed in Him, as He is the guarantee!

The conference continued into Sunday with an acknowledgement that moving forward requires truly abiding in Yeshua.  Miriam explained that as sap flows into branches to make them fruitful, we can bear fruit as we abide in Messiah.  God alone gives us grace to surrender our pride and walk in love, joy, and truth with Him.

Miriam pointed to the fact that Scripture calls believers to vigilance on the topic of abiding, and encouraged all to understand its importance, as, “Abiding with Him is not that casual idea of hanging out together as believers, rather it’s a conscious, sustained communion with the Lord whereby believers are in fellowship with Him!”

50 women, ages 12 – 70, were present at the conference and represented Messianic Congregations in Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, and Kansas.  Many were impacted by the weekend and several expressed:

• “Thank you for a great weekend. Miriam was terrific.”
• “Wow! I enjoyed Miriam’s delightful manner of teaching. Such pleasant memories we have of her visit!”
• “The time together at the conference was glorious!”
• “Miriam’s teachings brought me into a closer relationship with Yeshua. I want to abide with him every day.”

Carla Gliebe, who traveled from Illinois to attend the conference, remarked:
“This was my first time at Beth Messiah’s Sisterhood conference.  I along with my daughter, and two of our friends from our congregation in Skokie, Illinois, Devar Emet Messianic Synagogue, traveled to the conference together. We were all looking forward to the unknown: meeting new sisters in Yeshua and being challenged by the teaching of Miriam Nadler.

We were not disappointed. Miriam taught about abiding in Yeshua and bearing good fruit from John chapter 15. This is a topic that I needed to hear as I am in a new season of my life where my kids are newly married and I’m asking the question, “What now, Lord?”  I still desire to bear fruit for His Kingdom.

My favorite parts of the conference were watching Lola Klein, the Sisterhood Chair at Beth Messiah, work behind the scenes, hearing Miriam break into song spontaneously, and meeting for the first time the mother of a young lady that we dearly love.  I am already looking forward to being able to attend next year’s conference!”