The people who believe Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah God promised to send have a spiritual relationship that cannot be denied.

But that doesn’t apply to relationships that exist in the world.

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I am going to share with you my personal situation with a young man from a different country, who I have known through this ministry for about 2 years.

He sent me a friend request, which I accepted and we began to talk. He wanted me to act as his mentor, which I greedily and egotistically accepted, not considering the effect this might have on him in the future.

Needless to say, the relationship began to become burdensome to me because he was looking for more than a mentor- he wanted a father figure, something I never wanted to be.

He grew up in a single parent (mother only) family, and lives in a third world country that is high in unemployment and political corruption. He has had a tough life, and been lucky enough to have another American, also a senior citizen as I am, who has financially supported his education to the point where the young man now has a public health certification.

I, also, have sent financial aid to him, to the point where I can no longer afford to send him anything. He is, after all, 26 years of age and must learn to be on his own.

So, now we come to the problem: this young man has been so desiring of a friendship that he has, without realizing or meaning to do so, forced a relationship on me that I never wanted nor asked for. From the start, he tried to force me into a fatherly position, wanting to call me his “Daddy-Steve”, which I refused to allow.

And recently, he told me that I was his best friend! Oy! How can I be his best friend? I am 70 and he is just 26, our lives are as different as can possibly be: I am winding down my time on this earth and he is just starting to live. I am not saying that it is impossible, but it scared the heck out of me to be called his best friend when we have so little in common, and the age difference, backgrounds, experiences, and nearly every other aspect that is the glue of a “best” friendship is missing!

The truth is I felt imposed upon, and that maybe I have been leading this person on, and now can’t extricate myself from the situation without hurting him.

And that is just what I did this morning because I have hinted at not wanting to be contacted every day, but the hints went unheeded, so I had to be totally frank, which I did with the subtlety of a charging rhino.

Here is the reason I am sharing this personal situation with you and how it applies to this teaching ministry: what this young man is (innocently) doing to me is what so many believers do to each other, as well as to non-believers who start to show an interest in knowing more about God: in their zeal to form a relationship that they want to have, they force themselves into the other person’s life, and by doing so instead of drawing them near, they cause the other person to distance themself.

The more you force a relationship with someone, the more you just push them away: you need to let relationships happen on their own.

No one can force a friendship between two people. And especially when there is a significant difference between the two of you; you need to take time to find something that you both share, which is absolutely necessary to form a friendship. And that has to be more than a spiritual belief.

Whether you are dealing with family, people you meet at work or at play, or strangers you get friend requests from on Facebook, you need to be patient and allow a friendship to form on its own. Friendships can’t be forced; they must be allowed to mature and grow at their own pace.

I had to state this clearly to this sweet, innocent kid who I still consider someone I want to know, but not to be texted by or called or left voicemails on my phone every day, forcing himself on me, my personal life, my wife and friends, making me feel like his day revolves around me. I don’t want that kind of pressure at this time of my life, and he needs to have a life of his own with friends of his own age, background, and interests.

He has told me that there aren’t many other believers he can associate with, and many of the people he knows do the sort of things he shouldn’t do. And yes, we are told that we shouldn’t mix with non-believers, but that doesn’t mean to avoid anyone who isn’t a member of your synagogue or church. If we don’t make relationships with those still in the darkness, then aren’t we like salt that has lost its flavor?

If we can’t form friendships with non-believers that allow us to be, at the very least, an example of godly living, then what good are we to the kingdom? Or to them?

You can’t save the souls of people you don’t know, but forcing yourself on them won’t do any good, either.

So, when you are out there in the world, and you meet someone who you want to get to know better, or maybe shows an interest in getting to know you better, don’t force that relationship, even if you feel desperately in need of a friend.

The quickest way to destroy a relationship is to force it to be what you want instead of patiently allowing it to become what it can.

I hope this makes sense to someone out there. I had to share this because I have been losing sleep bothered about how cruel I have to be to get my point across to this wonderful, loving and compassionate young man.

Well, that’s it for today. Please remember to subscribe and share these messages to help this ministry continue to grow (but don’t ram it down someone’s throat.)

L’hitraot, and Baruch HaShem!

We’ve all heard people say, “He can’t see the trees for the forest“, or “He can’t see the forest for the trees.”

Both of those old sayings have the same message: people get involved in seeing what they want to see, and miss out on what is really there.

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I have often come against people who write about the actual shape of the Tabernacle, the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, the “correct” calendar, how many people actually did go into Egypt when Israel moved his family there, what certain numbers mean, and other such minutia that some people just HAVE to know, even to the point of thinking it will affect salvation.

They get so involved in these facts and figures that they lose sight of what is important:

1. God exists;
2. He chose the Jewish people to bring his Torah to the world (Ex. 19:6);
3. God sent Yeshua as our Messiah so that when we fail to live according to God’s way (not the way some religion tells us to live), by means of his sacrifice we can receive the forgiveness we need for salvation.

It’s really that simple; just like Moses said in Deuteronomy 30:11-14, when he told the people that obeying God is not that hard.

And he was right- it isn’t that hard, but it is impossible for us in our present state, being filled with iniquity (the desire to sin) from birth. The only real hope we have now is in Yeshua, because with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem there is no way (under the Torah) for us to receive forgiveness, and without forgiveness of sin we cannot enter into God’s presence.

So, am I saying that studying the Bible in detail is wrong? No.

Am I saying that it is not important to know how certain numbers relate to ideas, such as 7 being the representation of completeness? No.

Am I saying that people who study the Bible in detail and want to know everything they can about every little detail are wrong? No, BUT…they may be missing the point if they let their desire to know everything make them forget the most important thing.

And that most important thing is that we are not saved by pronunciation (do you hear me, Holy Namers?), or by intricate and detailed knowledge (do you hear me, Gnostics?), or by hidden messages in the numbers (do you hear me, Numerologists?), or by strict adherence to man-made traditions (do you hear me, Ultra-Orthodox Jews?), but by faithfully following only those rules regarding worship and treatment of others that are specified in the Torah.

Oh, yes, one more significantly important thing: you must accept that Yeshua IS the Messiah God promised to send, that he was an acceptable sacrifice for sin, that he was resurrected, and that he is now at the right hand of God acting as our Intercessor.

By the way, just for the record…Yeshua is the Intercessor for our prayers, not the Interceptor of them. We are to pray to God for what we need, and we are to pray to God for forgiveness, and Yeshua’s only role in this is that as one of his flock, God sees us through Yeshua’s righteousness, not our own.

I believe God will not reject someone’s heartfelt prayer just because they do not believe Yeshua is the Messiah, but for those of us who do, we have Yeshua’s promise that God will listen and answer us.

You can disagree, but I believe that even though Yeshua said whatever we ask for in his name we will receive (he says this in three of the four Gospels), that doesn’t mean we will get exactly what we request, or when, or even get it at all if what we request is not in line with what God wants for us.

Remember that Yeshua asked his father to let him off the hook, or execution tree (as the case may be), but ended up accepting that God’s will takes precedence over our desires. And I believe that includes prayer, even when we pray in Yeshua’s name.

That brings me to the last point of today’s message: besides getting enmeshed in minutia, so much so that you miss the goal, don’t expect that just because you are a “Believer” that you are in good standing with God. Yes, it is better than one who rejects him, but are you really obeying God, or some man-made religion? If you reject God’s instructions in the Torah, you reject God, and (even Yeshua said) if we reject God, we reject the one he sent, and vice-versa.

Here is today’s message in a nutshell: read the Bible, get to know it well, but do not get all tangled up in the insignificant details which do not affect your salvation and will, in fact, throw you off the track. The Torah is how God says we should worship him and treat each other, and that is all you really need to know. Everything else in the Bible is just historical narrative and commentary.

Thank you, as always, for being here and please remember to subscribe and share these messages with everyone you know, especially unbelievers because you never know how good the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

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

We all know the adages about pride: how pride cometh before the fall, how God humbles the proud and elevates the humble, etc. Yet, the apostle Shaul (Paul) said how he boasted (which the prideful do) about supporting himself while performing his missionary work (1 Corinthians 9:15).

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There is a difference between pride and pridefulness. I have run into this same confusion with the words judging and judgementalism.

In my opinion, the difference is significant: to me, being proud is a personal feeling that results from having accomplished something difficult, or having done something very well. On the other hand, pridefulness is making a public statement of your what you have done in order to increase your standing within the community. In other words, pride is (or should be) a private feeling, where pridefulness is always a public declaration.

I am proud of the accomplishments I have achieved in my life, having been in a position of authority in the military, I have had success in different sports activities, I was pretty good when I was in the business world, and I have been blessed to be considered somewhat influential in my relationship with others in the houses of worship I have attended.

Now, if I was prideful, then I would go into detail about how few people ever get to be a Marine, let alone an officer in charge of 365 men and millions of dollars of equipment, or how many trophies I won at martial arts competitions, beating many other contestants each time, and how I was the top shot in intramural shooting competitions when I was on active duty, and how I won cruises because I was one of the two top salesman in a large company, or being asked to serve on the Council of each house of worship I ever attended, and not only that, but I also …well, you see, now I am being prideful!

There is nothing wrong in being proud of accomplishments you have achieved, especially when they have been challenging. It is that sense of pride that gives us self-confidence, which is absolutely necessary to have as a believer because without self-confidence, you will never be able to withstand the attacks of the Enemy.

A sense of pride is an asset that will help you to maintain your faith and strengthen you when you face obstacles in your walk with God, which (if you are walking correctly) you WILL encounter. The Enemy doesn’t worry about those whose faith is weak because they can be easily swayed to apostacy. He doesn’t bother at all with the sinful- they’re already on his side.

But to the faithful, he will come at you with all he has, and when you have a history of accomplishments, the knowledge of your past accomplishments, especially when you have overcome challenges, gives you the confidence to know you can overcome whatever Satan throws at you.

Of course, wearing the armor of God (Ephesians 6:14) is a big help, as well!

Pride can be an asset or a detriment, depending on how you deal with it. If you find yourself bragging, you’re probably on the wrong track; but, when you know you have done things few people have been able to do, but it is not something that you constantly make public, then you are handling it correctly.

We are told in the Bible that God humbles the proud, but I believe it refers only to those who are prideful. It’s true that being proud of yourself, and yet remaining humble, takes a lot of inner strength, whereas pridefulness just demonstrates one’s insecurity and weakness.

That’s it for this week! Please remember to subscribe and share these messages with everyone you know, whether or not they are a believer. Hey! you never know how good the soil is until you put a seed in it.

L’hitraot, my friends, and let me wish you an early Shabbat Shalom!

Prayer is something that we should be doing on a consistent basis. Every day, throughout the day; and, when we ask God for something, we can expect that he will hear our prayer.

But hearing doesn’t mean that he will answer as we ask. In fact, the answer can be anything from “Not yet”, to “OK”, to “NO!”

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

One of the things that I believe is the hardest to deal with as a Believer is to maintain faith when we have continually asked God for something that we haven’t yet received.

It is difficult to deal with the biblical references that state asking God in the name of the Messiah will get us what we ask for. Yes, that is what Yeshua said (this is repeated in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John), but is that really to be taken literally?

Personally, I would love it if it was that easy. But it ain’t!

Let me share a personal experience: I had been praying for something for a long time. It was something to do with how I saw people and what my mind would automatically think, and after years of asking I finally received an answer… God told me it doesn’t work that way.

He made it clear that he would help, certainly, but it was up to me to discipline myself to stop those thoughts the moment they came to mind. It was not to be God, alone, rewiring my mind, but the two of us working together.

And I am still trying to be better, but now I see how God helps- when I find myself thinking the wrong way, which could be anything from a sexual thought when I see a beautiful woman to complaining (to myself) about something my wife does that drives me crazy (ain’t love wonderful?), something happens that takes my mind off those thoughts. I drop something that redirects my attention, or if I am driving a light changes suddenly, or any number of small, seemingly insignificant things happen which force me to stop thinking about what I was thinking about.

Now, someone may say that is just coincidence, but I don’t believe in coincidence; for me to believe that this is God taking a moment out of his busy schedule to help me attain that which I have prayed for is very comforting to me.

So, whenever I haven’t received what I have been praying for, I look for an answer that I didn’t expect. Lots of times God answers us pretty quickly, but in the way that he knows is best for us. The answer to prayer often is not what we ask for, but exactly what we need, and not when we want it, but at the precisely right moment when we need it.

And when I feel impatient waiting for God’s response, I remind myself that Moses was 80 years old before he began his walk with God. Hey, poor old Moses had to wait 80 years, and I was only in my 40’s when I came to know the Lord and his Messiah, so I consider myself way ahead of the curve!

So, nu! here’s the thing… keep asking, keep waiting patiently, and keep looking for the answer: it may not be what you asked for, but I guarantee it will be what you need, and delivered when you need it!

Thank you for being here and please remember to subscribe and share these messages. I have written a book about Prayer, which you can get through this link: Prayer.

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

You’ve all heard of the Holy Trinity, right? Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit?

Are you aware that this is not the only trinity that we have in the world?

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The heavenly trinity represents, from a spiritual viewpoint, a combination of things that lead us to salvation. God, the father and creator of everything, who defined what sin is (in the Torah) and gave us the sacrificial system so we could be forgiven when we sin. Then there’s the son, Yeshua the Messiah (also known as Jesus) through who’s sacrifice we can receive forgiveness of our sins (now that the temple is no longer available).

Finally, the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, which is a counselor (as Shaul called it) to help guide us in understanding of, and obedience to, God’s holy instructions for how to live a righteous life.

But, there are other trinities that we have to deal with, and they are unholy.

There is the unholy Trinity of Satan, the Beast, and the Anti-Christ, which are designed to be a wedge between us and God. This trinity was designed by Satan, himself, and has (over many millennia) proven itself very effective in leading people away from God.

But we humans aren’t going to be outdone by God or the Devil- if they have a trinity, we want a trinity, of our own! And we have one.

But our trinity isn’t holy or righteous- it is one which stems from our Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination), or what you can call our innate iniquity (desire to sin), and it is made up of fear, greed, and pride.

The first one we have to deal with is greed- the desire to have more than we do, and especially to own what others have. This is followed, and increased, by fear: not the fear of death, and definitely not the fear of the Lord, but the fear of loss.

And when our greed has made us gather things up, the fear of loss turns us into selfish, Scrooge-like beings, we develop pride because we now have more of what others want, convincing ourselves that we must be better than they are.

And this unholy trinity will bring us, eventually, under the power of the Enemy of God, because Satan’s trinity convinces us that fear, greed, and pride are good things to have, encouraging us to continue to trust in ourselves (instead of God) and to build a fortune, no matter who we destroy along the way.

In one of my favorite movies, “The Magnificent Seven”, the evil gang leader taking over the town of poor, God-fearing people, says to the leader of the seven that if God didn’t want them sheared, he would not have made them sheep (perhaps not even knowing that he was quoting from Psalm 44:22).

I believe it is usually the rams in the herd who are the ones that have this unholy trinity more than the members of the herd, i.e., the sheep. So many of the “successful” people in the world- successful by the world’s standards- are somewhat selfish, greedy, and definitely fearful of losing what they have.

Fortunately, there are those who have worldly success but are not subject to the unholy trinity of human emotions; they are the ones who give the rest of us (that is, we sheep) godly leadership and comfort.

This simple lesson of how the unholy trinity of human emotions can destroy a people is very apropos today, when here in America we are electing the next President, and our choices are between a godless party and a God-fearing party.

The godless party wants to continue to murder babies, cause anarchy by allowing illegal invaders into our country to commit criminal acts without consequence, encourage social unrest, and control the media and government subsidies in order to gain power over the people through creating a country wide climate of fear. Within that atmosphere of dreadfulness, they will reward greed and prideful judgementalism by accusing the righteous of being exactly what the power-holders are: racist, cruel, and uncaring.

The policy of the godless is to act in a godless way, then point their finger at the righteous, blaming them for the way things are.

We all are born with the Yetzer Hara controlling us; and, just like you don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s Rye bread, you don’t have to be Jewish to have the Yetzer Hara. In Judaism, we believe that it will control us until we develop the Yetzer Tov, the Good Inclination, which is when we reach the age of Bar Mitzvah (13 years old).

I believe the best way to overcome an enemy, whether it be a military force trying to defeat us, or a spiritual entity trying to separate us from God, or the Yetzer Hara, is to know that enemy. We can study a nations military history and their military leaders to know what to expect from them, and we can read the Bible to know what to expect from Satan, but the only way I believe we can truly overcome the Yetzer Hara is to know the person we see in the mirror.

I can tell you, from personal experience, that the hardest thing to see is who you really are.

That is why so much of the self-help philosophy is actually, in my opinion, working with the godless powers in the world to separate us from God. Why do I say that? Simple- their whole program is about helping yourself, being comfortable with who you are, and not asking for God’s help, at all. Nor do they want you to fight against your nature, but rather (in most cases) to embrace it!

I agree that when people call us names or accuse of us of being a certain way, we shouldn’t allow their opinions to upset us. BUT, on the other hand, if we truly desire to improve ourselves (hopefully, in a godly way) then we should be willing to listen carefully and humbly to what they say.

You know, they might just be right!

So, the bad news is that you, me, and everyone you ever knew or ever will know has this unholy trinity of fear, greed, and pride within them, but the good news is that when we seek God’s help, follow his instructions for how to lead a godly, righteous life (they are found in the first 5 books of the Bible), and strive to always do what is right in God’s eyes and not what the world says to do, then we can develop our Yetzer Tov to the point where that little devil on your one shoulder looks like Steve Urkel, and the little angel on the other shoulder looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Please remember to subscribe and share these messages with everyone you know, saved or not- you never know where the good soil is.

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

PS: If you are voting today, please…don’t vote for a person, or against a person, but vote for those policies which are godly, and which you truly believe will be best for all Americans.