Author: Steven R. Bruck

Is the Torah the Maximum We Are Allowed to Do, or the Least We Should Do?

Leave a comment

I recently posted about Christmas (this lesson is NOT about Christmas, so don’t even start on that) and a response I received from many people made me realize that there seems to be confusion about something in the Book of Deuteronomy.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

The verse that I was referred to by many people when I was talking about that holiday whose name shall not be spoken is Deuteronomy 4:2, which states (CJB):

In order to obey the mitzvot of Adonai your God which I am giving you, do not add to what I am saying, and do not subtract from it.
(For those who may not be familiar with Hebrew, “mitzvot“, as used here, means “commandments”)

I also checked no less than 5 other versions of the Bible, and in all cases, what was not to be added to or taken away from were God’s “commandments“.

I interpret that as saying what are not to be changed are the commandments, such as the Kosher laws in Leviticus 11, or the Holy Days in Leviticus 23, or any of the commandments that are throughout the Torah.

In other words, what is in the Torah is what we must do, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do more.

For instance, what about the holidays (meaning man-made celebrations) that have become part and parcel of worship over the centuries?

I’m talking about Simchat Torah (Joy of Torah) celebrated after Sukkot on the eighth day , or Purim (this holiday was never commanded by God to be celebrated), or Hanukkah (this one’s not even in the Bible, except for the Apocrypha, and only the Catholics use that), or even that holiday whose name shall not be spoken.

This brought me to the question of today’s message: is the Torah the only form of worship we are allowed, essentially restricting our opportunity to thank God, or is the Torah just the foundation, the starting point, the least we must do when we wish to worship God?

According to those who refuse to worship that holiday, validating their position by quoting Deut. 4:2, what they are saying is that any holiday not specifically mentioned in the Torah is a sin.

Besides that, they are also saying that nearly every Orthodox and Chasidic Jew, not to mention any other sects who follow Halacha, are also sinning because if you want to know what adding to a commandment is like, then research all the rules and restrictions that Halacha has! Oy!

Look, people, I can’t see God restricting our ability to demonstrate our love and appreciation for all he is and all he has done, and IS doing, by saying the only way we can celebrate him is by those 7 specific days, and only in those specific ways.

I mean, really? Does that make any sense to you?

I think that commandment in Deuteronomy was meant specifically to identify the least we should do with regard to worshiping God. It is a foundation for us to build on, not the entire structure within which we cannot go outside of.

How can honoring God ever be wrong? How can wanting to celebrate the wonderful things he has done for us be sinful?

How could anyone think that if we created a new holiday to celebrate God or to honor his Messiah that God would reject that as sinful? And if we think we are doing right by celebrating what God has done (which includes sending us his Messiah), how many millions of faithful believers in God and Messiah Yeshua will be punished at Judgement Day?

I don’t know about you, but to me it is a really frightening thought that creating celebrations to thank God for all he has done will send us to hell!

Sorry, but that just can not be!

I believe from all that I have read about God in the Bible that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will not reject ANY form of worship or ANY celebration that is created by people with the intention to be thankful and/or give worship to him for what he does.

And that includes ANYTHING he does, has done, or even plans to do. If a man-made holiday has been created as a form of worship, thanks, or dedication to God, I can’t see God rejecting that just because it isn’t specified in the Torah.

No, people, I am confident in saying that the Torah is only the foundation for proper worship, and any celebration we create designed to give thanks to God that doesn’t change an existing commandment is not only acceptable to God, but appreciated.

Thank you for being here and please remember to “like” and comment on these messages so that they get more Internet exposure, and share them with everyone you know, even non-believers, Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Walking in Faith Requires Action Before Answers.

Leave a comment

We all know we are saved by faith, and we also all (should) know that faith without works is dead, so how do we actually walk in faith?

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

First off, let’s all understand one very important thing: “works“, in the biblical sense, means to obey the instructions God gave us in the Torah.

Yeshua never taught against his father’s instruction for how to live and worship. Think about it: if he had taught against the Torah, he would have been a rebellious son trying to steal his father’s kingdom (like Absalom), and that would have been a sin. As such, he would not have been the sinless lamb, his sacrifice could not have been accepted, and there goes salvation out the window.

And as for Shaul (Paul), his letters never said to ignore or reject the Torah, only not to obey it as a means of earning salvation (legalism). His letters were to Gentiles who really didn’t understand God’s ways, and he was trying to teach them just a little at a time. The Elders in Jerusalem understood that, and when James suggested to start them off with just four requirements (Acts 15), he stipulated that this was just a beginning because these neophyte believers would eventually learn the entire Torah, since it is read at every Shabbat.

Okay, so now that we are all on the same page, whether you want to agree or not, this brings us back to how to walk in faith.

The answer is… to walk.

A leap of faith is to leap, and to walk in faith means to walk BEFORE you know where you are going, or BEFORE you get that definitive answer to prayer.

Abraham walked into the desert with everything he owned, leaving behind everyone and everything he ever knew, and he had no idea where he was going, or how long it would take to get there.

THAT is walking in faith.

Yeshua confirms this in Mark 11:24 when he said (CJB):

Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, trust that you are receiving it, and it will be yours.

Faith is trusting God to know what you need and to provide it, and waling in faith is to act as if you already got the email receipt.

And you know what? That’s all there is to it. Walking in faith is taking that step forward, not really knowing where you are going or what will happen, but trusting in God that so long as you try to do as he wants, you will be okay.

Thank you for being here and please remember to comment or “like” these messages so that this ministry will continue to grow, and share them with everyone you know, even non-believers., Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem! .

Does God Triage Prayers?

Leave a comment

When we pray to God we expect that he hears our prayers, and in doing so will answer us.

But with so many people praying so often, and with so many prayer requests for so many different things, does God have to review and assign priority to the prayers he receives before acting on any of them?

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

I know this: God is capable of doing so many things that no mortal, human mind can ever even come close to understanding. And, as such, when receiving what must be millions of prayers, all coming in at the same time, in hundreds of different languages, God can determine which he answers now, which he puts in his “In Box” for later, and which he just tosses into the holy trash bin.

And yes, God does deny some prayer requests, and no one should be surprised at that because so many people request things that are not really needed or even godly.

And please don’t throw John 14:13-14 in my face: do you really think if someone prayed in Yeshua’s name for a bigger car, or money for a cosmetic surgery that is only a reflection of their pridefulness, or anything born from selfish desires or hateful attitudes that Yeshua will present it to his father and ask that it be done?

I don’t think so.

I think I may know how, but can’t be really sure of the way God treats prayers he receives. I mean, how could I? I am not God and I know better than to even try to understand what he does.

That being said, I do believe God hears every prayer and that he knows which are holy and heartfelt, and which are selfish or spiteful. And I do believe I can say that he does answer every prayer, usually with one of these answers:
1. Yes, and right now.
2. Yes, but not yet.
3. Yes, but what you really need and not exactly what you asked for.
4. Yes, but not what you expect or when you expect it.
5. No, not a chance.

(Hey, like it or not, that is an answer.)

God lives on an eternal plane, where time is not lineal, so what we see as either now, then, or later is all the same to God.

So, nu! I guess the answer is that he doesn’t need to triage or assign priority because in his plane of existence, there is no timeline. Then, now, and later are all simultaneously being experienced, so triage isn’t necessary.

And you know what? I am grateful for that because it means my prayers are just as important to God as anyone else’s.

Thank you for being here and please remember to make some sort of a comment or give me a “like” to help this ministry reach more people. And also please share these messages, even with non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Does Becoming an Adult Mean Rejecting All That Your Parents Taught You?

Leave a comment

When we read the letter Shaul wrote to the Galatian Believers, in Chapter 4 he mentions how the Torah acted as a guardian over children, but now that we are one with Yeshua we are no longer children under a guardian, but heirs to God’s kingdom.

My question is this: once you leave your guardian, does that mean you can reject all that they taught you?

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Christianity has always used this letter to the Galatians as a polemic against following the Torah, when in actuality it is an apologetic for the Torah.

What Shaul is saying is that following the Torah as a means of earning salvation (which is what Legalism is) is useless because once you try to do everything in the Torah, you will fail. The reason you will fail is because no one can be 100% obedient to the Torah 100% of the time.

That is why God gave us the sacrificial system- so when we fail, we can recover.

But he doesn’t say the Torah is obsolete or done away with: his message is not anti-Torah, it is anti-legalistic approach to obedience to the Torah.

Yeah, I know that is somewhat hard to follow, but it is really simple: the Torah is the way God wants us to worship him (Leviticus 23) and how to treat each other (pretty much the entire Torah), and he also gives us the sacrificial system (Leviticus 1-7) because he knew that we would not be able to be 100% obedient.

Think of it as a contract with an escape clause.

As I have said, in Chapter 4 Shaul relates the Torah to being a guardian, and once we were joined to Yeshua, that guardian was no longer controlling us (or, at least, that is the way he makes it seem).

Okay, so let’s go along with that. Before Yeshua, the Torah was in charge, teaching us the way God wants us to live. Now Yeshua comes along, teaches us the deeper, spiritual meaning of the Torah (his Sermon on the Mount is a great example of that) and we follow his teachings.

Wait a minute! Christianity says Christians should obey the “Law of Christ” because we are no longer under the Torah, but Christ taught the Torah!

Uh… what?

That’s right! Yeshua taught us the Torah, even though Shaul made it seem that as our guardian the Torah wasn’t necessary after we joined with Yeshua.

Now, the question I am raising is this: a true guardian will teach you the proper way to live, to worship, and to treat others, but when you reach maturity and the guardian is no longer in control of you, should you reject everything the guardian taught you?

If you are no longer legally required to obey a guardian, does that mean once “free” you can reject all that you were taught and live any old way you want to?

Well, the answer is…Yes, you can. You can be taught all that is righteous and proper, and once you no longer have to obey that guardian, you can be as sinful and perverse as you want to be.

However, if we are talking about spiritual life, and God’s Torah being the guardian, sure you can apostatize and live as you want to, but you will suffer for it when you come to Judgement (as we all will).

And what I have never been able to “get” is that Christianity teaches you can pretty much do that.

Not to be perverse and sinful, but it teaches when you “believe in Jesus” (whatever the heck that is supposed to mean), you are no longer under a guardian (i.e., Torah) so you can pretty much live anyway you want to, so long as you are a good person and love your neighbor.

Funny, isn’t it though, how Yeshua himself refused to be called good, saying only his father in heaven is good (Mark 10:18), yet Christianity teaches that you should be good.

That’s a pretty tough standard to reach, considering according to Yeshua you would have to be God.

So, nu? …where does all this mean?

Do you love someone? If you do, don’t you want to make them happy? Don’t you want to do what pleases them? Isn’t doing a “labor of love” not as difficult as doing it because you had to?

If these statements make sense to you, then you know what Yeshua meant when he said the most important commandments are to love the Lord and to love each other, because all of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot.” (Matthew 22:40)

Those two requirements do not reject or do away with the rest of the Torah, they simply make it possible for you to follow the entire Torah without having to try very hard.

Thank you for being here and please remember to comment and share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

What Science and Religion Have in Common

Leave a comment

I have often said, and will continue to do so, that scientific proof is the antithesis of faith.

And that’s because it is, but that doesn’t mean science and religion do not have one very important thing in common.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Let’s kick this off with what a scientific proof is all about. You start with an hypothesis, which is a fancy word for guess, questioning why something in nature occurs. You then test that hypothesis with experimentation, using both a control and a variable group. If your hypothesis is correct, the scientific proof is that you are able to recreate- at will- that event which you first asked, “How does this happen?”

Religion is quite different. Religion requires faith, which we are told is believing in things not proven or seen (Hebrews 11:1). In fact, Yeshua himself identified the importance of faith over proof when he told Thomas (John 20:29) that he believes because he has seen, but blessed are those who believe without seeing.

So, nu? If science and religion are so very different at their very basic level, what can they possibly have in common?

The answer, as I see it, is that they both are based on asking a question.

Science questions what it sees in order to understand what makes something in nature “tick”, and religion questions who is saved, is Yeshua God, is there a hell, which calendar is correct, should we eat this or not, do we follow Torah or not, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

And what is important to remember is that truth- whether about nature or God- is strong enough to stand up to being questioned.

When I am having a discussion with someone about God or Yeshua or the meaning of something in the Bible, if we disagree the first thing I will do is ask, “Why do you believe that?”

Now I know I have stated that faith is believing in what can’t be proven, but generally speaking everyone does have some reason for believing what they do. In my experience, it is rare when someone can use biblical knowledge or life experience to prove that what they accept on faith is actually based on a reasonable explanation for that belief.

I chose, long ago, to believe Yeshua is the Messiah, but I can also back that up, to a degree, with biblical verification and even non-religious verification (the writings of Josephus, for example). I do not need proof, and if questioned I can stand up to the “doubting Thomas’s” simply by providing enough documentation to show there is some justification for my belief.

Science is based on asking questions, and religion is based on faith, but both are correct when asking questions in order to dig down deep enough to come to the truth.

Science does that through experimentation, and religion does it through study of the Bible, study of extra-biblical documentation, and (believe it or not)…logical thinking.

Many scientists over the years, after becoming more familiar and learned about the world, have come to the “scientific” conclusion that there is some higher intelligence that has formed the universe, and that conclusion is based on observation and knowledge of how the world and nature works.

They have actually proven, scientifically, that order does not come out of chaos, but quite the opposite- order eventually devolves into chaos. So, knowing (again, scientifically proven) that there was a Big Bang billions of years ago, that was certainly chaos, but it has evolved (for lack of a better word) into order. And not just order, but a perfectly designed order of life.

That doesn’t just happen.

So, if anyone questions your faith, be prepared to justify it with more than just “Because”, because because ain’t good enough for those who need to question.

And understand this… people question in order to seek an answer, and by accepting their questions with calm, confident answers, you have an opportunity save someone’s soul.

Thank you for being here, and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

If Yeshua is God, Since We Are Told We Are One With Yeshua, Does That Mean We Are God?

Leave a comment

In Galatians 3:28, we are told that we are all one with Yeshua. Now, since many believe that Yeshua is God, if we are one with Yeshua then are we also God?

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Before you try to cause the nearest body of water to split into two, let me say that we are certainly NOT God, or even close. And when we say we are one with Yeshua that doesn’t mean we are the same as him.

It was meant to indicate a spiritual joining and not a physical resemblance.

The Bible has many terms and statements that are meant to imply a similarity, a sense of symmetry in action and thought, but not to be taken literally.

For example, in John’s gospel (which I have often said I believe to be a false gospel) it starts by stating that Yeshua was with God from the beginning. Christianity has traditionally taken that statement to be literally true, in that Yeshua existed before his birth by Miryam, but I believe it means the idea of a Messiah, one who will allow all people, Jew and Gentile, to find forgiveness of sin was part of God’s plan from the start.

So, yeah, okay, the Messiah was with God from the start but not in form or spirit; he was always part of the overall plan, and didn’t actually appear until God chose Miryam to bring his idea to life as a physical man.

We are told that through faithfully accepting Yeshua as our Messiah, we will be one with him (meaning in spirit), but if we aren’t living the way he lived, which was in accordance to God’s instructions in the Torah, then can we truthfully say we are one with Yeshua?

What I mean is this: you have a dear friend who is a cop, but you chose to commit crimes because that is what you want to do. Now, can you truly say you are one with your law-abiding friend? You can believe he is right in obeying the law, and you are friends with him (or her), but if you live a different lifestyle you can’t say you are one with that person, either in spirit or in behavior.

So, what’s the bottom line today? (I’m glad you asked)

If you truly want to be one with Yeshua, you must live as he lived, and that means being Torah observant. You cannot say you are a follower of Yeshua if you don’t follow the way he lived, and you can’t say you are one with him if you do not live and worship as he did.

And you know what else, people? Like it or not, what I just said is not really an opinion, but a fact! You can’t say you are one with anybody if you do not live, act, worship, and believe as that person did: Yeshua lived and worshipped according to the Torah, and taught others to do the same.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch Ha Shem!

You Don’t Get to Come Back as a Snake

Leave a comment

There are many who believe in reincarnation, which is different from resurrection: with the former, you get to come back and try to do it better, but with the latter you only get one chance to make it.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Of course, we who worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, including those who accept that Yeshua (also called Jesus) is the Messiah God promised to send, know that there is no reincarnation.

I know that you are probably saying to yourself, “He knows we don’t believe in that, so what’s his point?”

Good question.

First, let’s review what reincarnation is about: as I recall from my studies, religions that believe in reincarnation also believe that if you led a bad life, you come back as a snake, or some other lower form of life, and have to live an entire lifetime that way. If you do it well, then you get to come back as some higher form of life.

(Yeah, I am also wondering how do you live a good life as a snake?)

Ultimately, you hope to come back as a Brahman (Priest), and if you do that well, you finally get to go to Nirvana (heaven).

My point is that too many people think they can get away with something now, and then ask for forgiveness of it later. Thinking that you can do something now and be forgiven later is similar, isn’t it, to believing in resurrection? Doesn’t Shaul (Paul) tell us that we are born a new creation every day (2 Corinthians 5:17)? Isn’t that very much like reincarnation?

It sounds the same, but it isn’t, because (as I said) reincarnation is a second chance, then a third chance, then a fourth, ad infinitum… until you reach Nirvana.

But for believers in God and Yeshua, we may be born anew every day, but that is a spiritual thing and not a physical thing, so you still have this one, and only one, chance to make it in God’s presence for all eternity.

Remember always that you never know what day will be your last, and since this is the only chance you have to make the grade, make sure you try your very best every minute of every day.

When it comes to salvation, there are no mulligans.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Sin and Visceral Fat

Leave a comment

Alright, I know you must be thinking that this title is totally off, but believe it or not I see a relationship between these two things.

But first- a message from our sponsor!

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

For those who may not be familiar, visceral fat is the fat that forms around the liver, heart, and intestines, underneath the subcutaneous fat (the fat directly under the skin). The danger of visceral fat is that it isn’t as obvious, yet it increases the risk of chronic diseases, inflammation, insulin resistance, hormonal imbalances, and can cause premature death. 

(Of course, if you believe in Predestination, then there isn’t any such thing as premature death, right?)

So, visceral fat isn’t just fat, it is a silent and invisible killer.

Starting to see where I am going with this?

Sin is not always so obvious as we would like it to be, but it is a killer, none the less.

Oh, yeah, sure, you know when you have killed someone, or committed adultery, or cursed out a parent, or any other of the many sins outlined in the Torah. Those are easy to spot.

But what about when your religion tells you it is OK to eat pork, or to observe Sunday as the Sabbath Day, then after church go out to a restaurant for a nice brunch?

Or what about when you reject God’s Holy Days to celebrate man-made, non-biblical holidays because you have been told that is worshipping God?

Or maybe you don’t know you have sinned simply because we have a sinful nature, and doing what feels right is probably not right in God’s eyes; and, not being intimately familiar with the Bible, you aren’t aware of what you are doing.

In the end, though, just like when you tell the cop who stopped you for an illegal turn that you weren’t aware it was not allowed, God will give you the same reply when you say you didn’t know it was a sin:

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

The way to get rid of visceral fat is to eat the right foods, get regular exercise, and reduce stress (stress causes the release of a hormone called Cortisol, which promotes fat storage, especially visceral fat).

Remarkably enough, that is also the way to reduce sin (using a spiritual equivalent):

Eat the right foods means to take into yourself only that which is healthy, meaning reject false doctrine and any tenets or ceremonies that are not biblical;

Get regular exercise means to read the Bible every day, strengthening your spiritual muscle and maturity; and

Reduce stress by increasing your faithful trusting in God to keep you safe, even when you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

You may be wondering how to increase faith, and the answer (at least, for me) is to recall all the times you were nearly hit by another car, or when you really needed to get somewhere and all the lights were green, or when you lost something valuable and a stranger returned it to you intact. Every time something in your life happened that you thought would end up terribly, but you came out okay, that was God protecting you. When you think about how many times that has happened, even (as with me) way before you became a Believer, that is how you strengthen your faith- by remembering and believing that all those times, it was God interceding on your behalf.

And one other thing- because visceral fat is nearly invisible, you have to know it is there by measuring yourself. The rule for visceral fat is your waist should be half the number of inches of your height, so if you are 5’10’, that is 70 inches, your waist (above your bellybutton) should measure 35 inches. Any more than that, you’ve got visceral fat!

As for your spiritual visceral fat, read the Torah; that is the only place where God, himself, tells us directly how he wants us to live, and see how close you come to God’s definition of what the ideal measurement should be.

For the record- Yeshua was skinny as a rail!

I know this message feels more like an infomercial than a spiritual encouragement, but I have been working on my visceral fat (the physical kind) recently, and it occurred to me how invisible fat and unrecognized sin are the same: both are dangerous to your health.

We all need to work at being healthier than we are, both physically and spiritually, and it has to be a lifetime commitment.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

PS: Hey, can I ask you to do me a favor? Will you please make any sort of comment on this and all of my messages in the future? Even just a Thumbs Up emoji helps these messages get more exposure on the Internet. Todah Rabah!

Are You Praying or Just Trying to Sound Prayerful?

Leave a comment

Prayer is such an essential part of our relationship with God. Unlike using Facebook or Messenger, which are really very impersonal forms of communications, having as much intimacy as a corporate memo, prayer is a very intimate sharing.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

When we pray, most of the time we are sharing more with God than he is sharing with us, but he always listens and he does answer. That answer is not always what we expect or when we want it, and sometimes it’s just “Nope- no gonna happen“, but he always answers.

The trick is being open enough to recognize the answer when it comes.

I have heard people go on and on and on…and on when they pray, and they even stop often. When they do, it’s almost comical because you can see their faces contort because they are trying to figure out what to say next.

If you ask me (and even if you don’t), that ain’t praying: it’s trying to sound prayerful, and I will also go as far as to say it is probably meant more to impress those listening than to impress God.

I think if you ask someone well-versed in the Bible what they consider the most beautiful prayer, they might say 1 Kings 8:22-53, which is the prayer Solomon made at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. It is quite beautiful and I believe the, if not one of the, longest prayers I have read in the Bible.

But for me, the most beautiful prayer in the entire Bible is in Exodus 12:13, when Moses prayed for his sister, Miryam, to be healed from God’s punishment, when he gave her tzara’at (leprosy) after she and Aaron spoke up against Moses.

And what was his prayer?

“Oh God, please heal her!”

Why do I believe that is the most beautiful prayer?…because it comes directly from his heart. It is simple, direct, and heartfelt to the point where just reading what he says you can feel his pain and anguish at the fate of his sister.

He doesn’t run on, he doesn’t repeat “Father God” fifteen hundred times, and he doesn’t search for something to say that sounds very “King James-ish.”

You know, I am pretty sure that Yeshua would agree with me because when he was asked how we should pray, he gave us not just a simple and short prayer (in Matthew 6:9-13), but what is the template for all prayer:

1. Start off recognizing God’s authority and omniscience
2. Ask just for what you need
3. Ask to be guided in the proper way to live, and
4. Finish with thanking God and (again) recognizing who he is.

Let’s not forget that Yeshua warned against babbling on and on like the pagans do, so the next time you are praying and find yourself thinking of what to say, my recommendation is that you have already said too much, so just shut it down there.

Don’t misunderstand me- if you are praying long and hard, but it comes directly from your heart, maybe even with some tears, that is okay. In fact, that is great!

But if you are repeating the same things over and over, and find yourself trying to find more words, or feel there should be more to say, you need to stop.

We are told that God already knows what we want and what we need, so you might ask,
“If God already knows my heart and mind, and what I need, why do I have to pray to him and ask for it?”

My answer is that God wants us to pray to him because when it comes from the heart, prayer creates a strong bond of intimacy, which is something that God desires to have with everyone.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believer. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, and I will be off all next week (Donna and I are going on a cruise), so until then, l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Automatic Tipping and the Bible

Leave a comment

Okay, I’ll bet you are waiting to see how this one turns out, right? I mean, what do restaurants with automatic tipping have to do with the Bible?

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Let’s start by reviewing what Yeshua said in Luke 17:7-11 (CJB):

If one of you has a slave tending the sheep or plowing, when he comes back from the field, will you say to him, ‘Come along now, sit down and eat’?  No, you’ll say, ‘Get my supper ready, dress for work, and serve me until I have finished eating and drinking; after that, you may eat and drink.’  Does he thank the slave because he did what he was told to do? No!  It’s the same with you — when you have done everything you were told to do, you should be saying, ‘We’re just ordinary slaves, we have only done our duty.

Let’s first talk about the slave thing- if you recall, and even if you don’t, in the Gospel of John, in Romans, and in 1 Peter we are told that everyone is a slave to that which controls them. So, we might be a slave to sin, a slave to obedience, or a slave to Facebook…but we are always a slave to something.

The ideal thing is to be a slave to God. (DUH!)

We’re getting closer to the automatic tipping part of this message.

By the way, when I talk about obedience I do not mean obeying a religion but obeying what God said we should do, how to worship him and how to treat each other, and that is found only in the Torah. That obedience is not something that we get extra credit for- it is what we are expected to do. There is no “tip” for resting on the Shabbat, no “tip” for fasting on Yom Kippur, and no “tip” for loving your neighbor.

No! That is the minimum required.

Now let’s get to automatic tipping: one of the real problems in America today, as I see it, is that people in a service industry, such as a waiter in a restaurant or a steward on a cruise ship, are being given tips automatically. The bill comes and there is a 17% tip automatically charged to you (sometimes it’s called something else, but it is a tip), and they still have a space under the subtotal for you to add another tip!

Why is that a problem, you may ask? I’ll tell you why- it supports the selfish and lazy attitude people have because they feel they are entitled.

C’mon, tell me that you don’t think many of today’s youth think they are entitled. They expect their school loans to be paid for, they expect to work hours convenient for them, they expect raise at work for just showing up! When people are expecting to automatically get a reward, where is their motivation to give the best service they can?

In my experience I have found that when you have people working together, and the ones who do the least get the same rewards as the ones who do their best, guess who changes their attitude?

When I was an Executive Officer in the United States Marine Corps, I was transferred to a company whose morale was so low you could walk on it without having to get on your tip-toes! I spent a month or so punishing those who were lazy and not doing what they were supposed to do, and the morale increased tremendously.

Most Christians are taught that because Yeshua served God, they don’t have to! The idea of following all those rules and regulations in the Torah are not for Christians because when you believe in Jesus, you get an automatic tip called salvation, no matter how good or bad your service is.

Sorry, Folks, but salvation is not automatic, forgiveness is not automatic, and when you just do what you want to do you are a slave only to yourself.

But to be saved you must be a slave to God!

So, from this point on, please review your service to God and make sure that you are doing what you are supposed to do without expecting any special treatment in heaven or here on earth. Remember how Yeshua often said that those who seek their reward from men will get only that?

Too many have been taught to expect a lot from God only because they believe in Yeshua, but that won’t get you anywhere. Remember, every demon in hell believes in Yeshua! What you need to do is to faithfully believe Yeshua is the Messiah, and because of that (not in spite of it) obey God, which is demonstrated by your good works.

I can tell you that when I face God at his Throne of Judgement, all I want to hear is “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I don’t need anything more than that because I know when I do what is right in God’s eyes, that is what I am SUPPOSED to do!

But it isn’t all bad news: just like servers who do exceptionally well get a larger tip, according to Deuteronomy 28, when we serve Adonai as best as we can we receive blessings, which is God’s way of giving us a tip.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!