Author: Steven R. Bruck

Is Your Flesh Weak or Strong?

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Yeshua said of His Talmudim (Disciples), when they couldn’t stay awake with Him as He prayed that night after the Seder, that their spirit was willing but their flesh was weak.

I wonder if, with all due respect to Yeshua, He didn’t get that backwards.

I know that there are many times my spirit (actually, His spirit within me) tells me the correct thing to do, but my flesh outweighs it and I do something else. In that case, isn’t the flesh stronger than the spirit? Doesn’t Shaul say, in Romans, that he does what he doesn’t want to do, and doesn’t do that which he wants to? Is his spirit strong and willing and his flesh weak? It seems to be the other way around, doesn’t it?

We are creatures of the flesh- we have to be. We are born into the flesh, we live in the flesh, and we will be flesh until we die and are resurrected in new bodies which will be born of the spirit. Until then, we are flesh and the flesh is powerful.

When we have the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) within us, we are guided by that spirit to do what is right in God’s eyes and we are comforted by His presence, which that spirit brings. But we are still flesh, and when my spirit says to go get some food for a person who is asking for help, it is my flesh that makes excuses for not doing so: I am in a rush, I don’t have any small change, the cafe is all the way across the street, whatever. It is the flesh that says to do what I am doing and not care for that person in need, even when both the spirit and flesh say it will only take 5 minutes. The difference is that the spirit says, “Oh, come on- this will only take 5 minutes” and the flesh says, “You’re late- you don’t have even 5 minutes to spare.”

The spirit is right and the flesh is wrong, but the spirit requires discipline to follow and the flesh is always the easy way out. That’s the problem, isn’t it? When we are flesh, in a world controlled by flesh, the flesh is the easy way and the spirit is the hard way.

So the only thing to do is exercise your spirit until it is stronger than your flesh. Pray, force yourself to help others, make sure you get some time with other Believers and listen to their stories of how they have strengthened their spirit, and decide for yourself who is going to rule you. Yeshua said we are all slaves to something, so decide: will you be a slave to your flesh, or a slave to God’s spirit?

For me it is an easy decision: I want to do what God wants me to do. Yet, as much as I want to, it is a hard thing to actually do. Maybe that’s why so many are called but few actually get to the end. In fact, we are all called because God says (check it out in Ezekiel) that He is not happy with the death of any sinner; He would rather we all turn from our sin and live.  That means we are all called.

It’s only those who can exercise their spirit to be stronger than their flesh that will make it. Just saying you believe isn’t enough- even the Enemy and every one of his demons believe. It is the ones who believe, have turned from their sin and produced fruit (the offering of good works that we need to present to God at Judgement Day) whose spirit has been strong enough to win out over their flesh.

Are you exercising your spirit? If not, you had better hit the bricks, get on the bike, and start doing a few spiritual push-ups every morning. Only God knows how much longer you have, so don’t delay because He isn’t likely to give you any notice.

Sin is Sin

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I read an article this morning about a Lesbian Minister who has performed over 700 same sex marriages in the DC area. She said that many of the couples have already been together for decades, and that the “paper” makes them feel that they are finally “legal.” She said it was uplifting, that the services are full of love, and that she feels one of the most important things to do to maintain a long relationship is to constantly say to each other, “I love you” and to always ask forgiveness.

It all sounds nice, and despite the fact that I cannot agree with the lifestyle choice, I am impressed that these relationships, of themselves, have shown to be ones of duration. Let’s face it- heterosexual marriage today is no better than a crap-shoot: your chances are better to be divorced than to be together. If same sex relationships are more long-lasting, that’s something no one can argue is a bad thing.

The downside is that it is not right in God’s eyes. The idea of a gay minister is,to me, an oxymoron, but it is a reality that we all have to face in todays world. And, as I have said before, although homosexuality gets a lot of attention, it is just one of the many sins we all commit. I may not be homosexual, but I do many other things that are sinful: in my thoughts, my words against others, and in how I act, as well. I try to forgive but I am still angry about things done against me, unfairly, that happened many years ago. Not “red-in-the-face-yelling” angry, just not feeling the sense of closure that comes when you know the one who screwed you got their comeuppance. Not revenge, so much, as knowing that God has judged in my favor. You see- there’s a sin, right there: I want God to judge them and find them guilty of the sin they committed against me, but I should be asking Him to forgive them that sin for what they really need is His love and salvation. No one has ever come close to really doing anything so terrible to me that they should burn forever in hell. I want revenge, yes- there! I’ve admitted it. And that, in God’s eyes, is not any different than if I was homosexual- sin is sin.

Why I title this the way I do is because in the midst of the lasting and loving relationship this Minister described has been her experience to witness, these people are still living in sin. Maybe they have the approval of human law, but it is not approved under God’s law.

Do you know about LGBT churches? Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender churches, Christian and Jewish, that allow and encourage openly gay (as if that would make a difference to God, who sees everything and who knows the heart) members and clergy.  And this isn’t new. Even in the days of the Temple there were the cult prostitutes, and all the way back to Lot we know of the sexual misdeeds of the men of Sodom and Gomorrah. Homosexuality has probably been around ever since we had more than two of any particular gender.

Does that make it right? No. Does that make it normal? No, and Yes: no, in that God says it isn’t the way we should be, and yes, if we describe “normal” as something that one will usually find existing within a population. And there can be no argument that homosexuality has existed in human populations for thousands and thousands of years.

So…what do we do, those of us who are told we should hate the sin but love the sinner? I can’t speak for you, but I have family members who are actively and openly gay, and I love them. I love being with them, I see their long-term relationship partners as much a part of my family as they do, and I welcome them into my house and my heart.

I just don’t agree with their sexual orientation. That’s no different than if they were liars, or kleptomaniacs, or had adulterous relationships. Actually, I would prefer homosexual to the other sins, if I had to make a choice. And since I also am a sinner, if I am asked about my position, I state it but I don’t “judge” them as being any more sinful than I am.

What “gets me” is when the gay community says that they have a right to make their own choice and the rest of us shouldn’t treat them any differently, then turn around and in the same breath demand that we agree with their stand that it is not a sin to be homosexual. Of course it’s a sin- God spells it out clearly, so just admit it. You want to live that way, fine, I don’t- I have as much right to disagree with what you do as you have to do it! So stop being so hypocritical and just admit that you do what you do because you choose to do it- don’t blame genetics, your mothers hormones, or society.  There are more than enough cases of homosexuals returning to a heterosexual lifestyle as there are the other way around to make an argument that it is a choice. Just live your life and let me live mine; make your choices and let me make mine. Stop saying the Bible is wrong, God is wrong, and I am wrong just because you don’t like the consequences of your chosen lifestyle.

Many of those who have chosen to be Believers and live in accordance with the Word of God have suffered bigotry, torture and death, just as many Gay people have.  The truth is that what is really normal in the world is godlessness. The majority of people in the world do not worship the one, true God as He says He should be worshipped. Even within the religions that profess to be God-fearing, they make up their own rules and traditions that overrule God’s word- the same thing Yeshua resisted and told us was wrong when He was walking the Earth.

That’s what my ministry is all about: God has no religion.

Gay, liar, murderer, gossiper, foul-mouthed and nasty, bigoted, hateful, self-serving: all are the same in God’s eyes, all are sinful. And God doesn’t grade on a curve- sin is sin, and any sin separates us from God. It is only through Yeshua that we can have any hope of being with God.

Here’s the final statement on this for today: if you ask me do I think that Gay people can get into heaven, based on all I have said so far, I would have to say….yes. If they accept Yeshua as their Messiah and try to live as He did, if they do T’Shuvah and turn from their sin, then yes- I believe they can enter heaven because sin is sin- I sin, you sin, everyone sins. Those of us who have asked for God’s forgiveness in the name of Messiah Yeshua and done T’Shuvah, still sin. If I am right that homosexuality is a sin, and that every sin is the same to God, then if you are heterosexual and eat pork, you have the same chance of getting into heaven as the gay, kosher person. And remember this: Yeshua told us there is no marriage in heaven, there won’t be sexual relationships, so being gay or heterosexual is only an Earthly condition. It won’t matter who you like to kiss after you are dead.

One last thing: the Minister got it backwards when she said that couples should always ask for forgiveness. People in love should always forgive each other, whether or not they are asked. God commands that we forgive, not that we ask for it. The hurt doesn’t go away when someone asks us to forgive them, it goes away when we DO forgive them, so forgive each other.

They say, “To err is human; to forgive, Divine.” You wanna know something? they’re right!

Red Light; Green Light

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It’s zero-dark-thirty in the morning and you are on a major road going home. You are stuck at a red light: there isn’t a car in sight in any direction. Do you just go through the light or do you wait for it to turn green?

I confess I might go through it. I have been in that situation more than once, and usually I do wait (no, I am not a major party animal. As an IT guy sometimes I have had to stay really late to get upgrades completed after hours. No…really!)

They say that honesty is doing what you know you’re supposed to do, even when you’re positive that no one will ever find out. For those of us who know and worship the Lord, we understand that while no person may ever find out, nothing is hidden from God. So, do we not go through the red light because we know that is the right thing to do, or do we not go through because there could be someone watching that we don’t see?

In other words, do we obey because we want to obey, or do we obey because we are afraid of the consequences when we don’t?

I bet you can see where this is going….Yeshua said if we love Him we will do what He says, and we are also commanded to love God and love each other. In the very same breath we are also told that if we disobey we will be cursed. Obedience brings blessings and disobedience brings suffering, so do we really have a choice?

It doesn’t seem so, does it? Yet, God gives us free will, and even those that not just ignore Him, but outright reject that He even exists, are often “blessed” with riches and fame.

Or are they? Just because someone has all they could want doesn’t mean it comes from God. There is another power that has control over the worldly things that people crave. And his retirement plan is very different from the one God offers.

Should we obey from love or from the fear of retribution and punishment?

We are told that God was sickened and disgusted with the sacrifices offered to Him by the Judeans when these sacrifices were done along side sacrifices to Ba’al, Asherah, Molech, and the other Semitic gods that they worshipped before they were taken into captivity. They obeyed His commands, but he didn’t want their sacrifices because there was no love or true worship behind them. How often are we told in the Book of Nevi’im (Prophets), again and again, that the blood of bulls and sheep means less to God than obedience. Here it is clear that God wants obedience from the heart, not just going through the motions. Does that mean that if we go through the motions they won’t be accepted? Remember Cain? Cain went through the motions and his offerings weren’t accepted, were they?

I think the answer is that God wants us to love Him as He loves us, and to show that love by loving each other as we would want them to love us.

WOW!! Steve!! What a revelation! You’ve changed my life, Man!!

Yeah, yeah….I know. I am stating the obvious (did you catch the cynicism there?) but as obvious as that is, can you tell me why we still don’t do it? I think the answer is just as obvious: people that regularly do not obey the Lord are people that don’t love Him. And that includes professed “Believers.” As such, those who regularly disobey because their heart tells them to disobey (although that may not be how they see it) are doomed people. God tells us, more than once, that we should choose life and not death- He lays it out simply: if we do as He says, we live in His presence and if we don’t do as He says (in other words, we reject Him), then He will reject us.

The good news is that love is absolutely unstable and untrustworthy: that which we hate today we can love tomorrow, and vice-versa. People who hate the Lord have turned to Him and become strong and fruitful followers, and those raised with God who always thought they loved Him can turn against Him as soon as they hit real strife, such as loss of a loved one. So we need to be aware that our love for God is as fragile as the human spirit, and only God’s spirit is strong enough to get us through the horrors of living. Therefore, rely on God and don’t trust yourself.

The answer, for me, is that we obey God because we love Him and from fear of the consequences of disobedience. I think that is OK because we are, in our very nature, sinful sinners and sin is always crouching at our door. The more we love the Lord the easier it is to obey, but it certainly helps overcome the weakness of the flesh when we realize that disobedience carries consequences we don’t want.

Yeshua told the parable about the good son, remember? Even though he refused to do as his father asked initially, for whatever reason he changed his mind later and did as asked, and for that he was recognized as a better son than the one who happily and immediately said he would do as the father asked, but never got around to it. I think one lesson here is that our heart may initially reject what God asks of us because we love ourselves more than Him, but that can be overcome. Maybe not at first, maybe not right away, but it can be overcome, eventually. And let me add this: when we have the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, living within us and when we listen to that spirit talking to us, we can more easily overcome the flesh because we want to.

There is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.  When we stop at the red light, even though we can go through, we are obeying the spirit of the law. To obey the spirit of the law of God, we need His spirit guiding us. If we only want to obey the letter of the law, that is what Shaul (Paul) called being “under the law”, i.e. trying to gain salvation by doing what we are supposed to do, whether we want to or not. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that it is impossible for us to do that, because God really wants us to obey the spirit of the law. That is a heartfelt obedience, that is doing what He wants because doing so will please Him. That is obedience from love.

Next time you come to a red light, and there is absolutely no one around, what do you think you will do? Now ask yourself, “Why?”

Sin is Now; Forgiveness is Later

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We are all sinners.

It isn’t a pleasant thought, but it is true. It doesn’t mean we are a bad person if we sin; if that was true, then every single person who ever lived (except one, of course) would be a bad person. And that one who didn’t sin, by the way, when called “good” refused to accept that description and reminded the person that the only one who is “good” is God.

Since we all are sinners, that means we all sin. DUH!!  We sin every day, and we are supposed to forgive each other. We are not commanded to ask for forgiveness, but to forgive.  Forgiveness is what God wants us to do: read the Bible and realize, if you don’t already, that even though Yeshua tells us to leave our sacrifice at the altar and go make right any relationship issues we have with anyone else before offering the sacrifice, we are not commanded to ask for forgiveness– we are commanded to forgive. Read Matthew 6:14 if you don’t believe me. And that’s just one example; the Manual is rife with other examples of the fact that we are to forgive.

Of course, we are to ask for forgiveness, as well, but forgiving is what we do here on Earth. So if we forgive here on Earth, why am I saying that forgiveness is later? I say that because the forgiveness we really need is from God, and the forgiveness He gives doesn’t really count until we are dead.

David said it in Psalm 51- despite what he did to Uriah (and Bat-Sheba, too) he knew that his sin was, first and foremost, against God. Whenever we sin, and whomever we sin against, it is always against God because He told us not to sin, so when we do it is always a violation of His commandment, and to violate God’s commandment is to reject the Lord. That’s hard to hear, but it is the truth- to sin against anyone is to reject God.

As such, the forgiveness you receive from another person is good, but not for you: the one who receives the benefit from forgiveness is the one who is forgiving. By obeying God that person will receive more blessings. The one who is forgiven by another human being may feel some relief now, but the real forgiveness that does that person good is when it comes from God. Think about it: will God let you into heaven simply because you are forgiven by someone else? If that was true nearly everyone would be allowed in because nearly every Mother will forgive her child anything. It is God’s forgiveness we all need, that is the forgiveness that keeps us from eternal sunburn, and that is the forgiveness that we can claim only when we are one of the sheep shepherded by Yeshua Ha Maschiach. If we don’t have Yeshua in our corner, we have no hope of salvation.

The sins we commit are here and now, but the forgiveness we need to receive will be coming when we face God and Yeshua says, “This one is mine, Father.”  When I am forgiven by another person that is good for that person, and when I am forgiven by God that is good for me. Even though I will feel better, here and now, if I ask for and receive forgiveness from the person (or people) I sin against, it is God’s forgiveness that I need and it comes through asking it in Yeshua’s name. But I must first be one of Yeshua’s sheep.

God will forgive us as soon as we ask it, so long as we ask correctly: we must come to Him with a broken spirit, with a contrite heart, and we have to mean it! God isn’t stupid and He can’t be fooled- if anyone thinks they can get into heaven simply by saying they believe Yeshua is the Messiah and in His name they ask forgiveness of their sins, it doesn’t work that way. Yes, those are the right words, but you need the right state of heart and mind when you say them. You have probably heard the expression, “You get what you pay for?” Well, your salvation will be as real and wonderful as the work you put into it. It is NOT free- just because we can’t buy it or earn it doesn’t mean it is free. It is invaluable. It is priceless. It is more than anyone can ever accomplish on their own, and it only takes your heartfelt repentance to receive it. But it isn’t “free”- it will cost you friends, it will cost you earthly pleasures, and it may even cost you your life. There are Believers all over the world losing their lives, this very day, because of their belief in God and their work for His Kingdom.

No, my brothers and sisters, salvation can not be bought or earned, but it is not free.

What you may give up now are things that you will lose anyway, when you die, but what you will receive now is peace of spirit, and later complete joy in God’s presence, for all eternity.

Not a bad deal, don’t you agree?

Try your best not to sin: we can never be sinless, but we can always sin less. So do that: sin less. Always ask for forgiveness from all those whom you have sinned against: the ones on Earth, and your Father in heaven. And more than that: remember to always forgive those who have sinned against you.

Invest in your eternity by depositing your forgiveness of others every day, and at your final retirement the size of your spiritual IRA will be greater than any CD or stock could ever pay out.

Parashah Shemini (the Eighth day) Leviticus 9 – 11

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The first part of this Parashah has Aaron completing the offerings he is to make as his entry into the priesthood, and his sacrifice is accepted by God, as evidenced by God’s fire coming down to burn up the offering. This miraculous event was witnessed by the people. Then God sends His fire, again, but this time to burn up Aaron’s two oldest sons, who have acted wrongly by offering their fire before the Lord in a way that was disrespectful and unwarranted.

We don’t really know exactly what they did; it seems clear that they were drunk when they did it because the very first thing God says after destroying them is to Aaron, and He says that Aaron and his sons should never have intoxicating drink when serving the Lord. Aaron and his remaining sons were not even allowed to mourn, but the people were allowed to mourn for them. I believe this shows that those of us who are to serve the Lord are to be separated from the people to serve only the Lord, so even our most personal connections are secondary to serving God.

The last chapter of this parashah defines the laws of Kashrut, the Kosher Laws. I believe that too often people think Kosher means clean, and that is the general understanding and meaning, but these laws go beyond just clean and unclean. These laws are part of the Chukim: ordinances and regulations that are supra-natural, meaning these are regulations for which we don’t or can’t understand the reason why God gave them to us. To remain Kosher is more than a physical clean- it is spiritual. To disobey is a violation of everything that God stands for.

Just because we don’t understand the reason for these laws doesn’t mean they aren’t to be obeyed. If you allow me to paraphrase: Ours is not to reason why, ours is to obey or die.

Thanks to Yeshua, the absoluteness of the prior statement is somewhat reduced, since His sacrifice keeps us from the death we deserve for violating Torah.

The Kosher Laws are simple when you break it down to it’s base components: don’t eat any mammal that isn’t a ruminant, and only eat fish that have scales and fins. For birds, no raptors, no ratites, just stick to ducks, chickens, turkeys and pigeons.

All the more difficult regulations, no meat and dairy together, separate dishes, specially prepared, etc. are Rabbinical and although they are not bad, in and of themselves, they are much more difficult to observe than what God says we are to do.

The Rabbinical laws are not Chukim, Mishpatim or Mitzvot- they are human in origin and not God-given. They are the same sorts of things that Yeshua had trouble with: human regulations made more important that God’s commandments. God said don’t boil a calf in it’s mothers milk; He never said eating a cheeseburger is a one-way ticket to hell. These extreme Rabbinical regulations do have a good purpose- they are there to help prevent us from trespassing the law. It is called “Building Fences Around the Law”: let’s say you have a law which you don’t want to disobey, or trespass against, so, nu? How do you keep out trespassers? You build a fence. Well, as we are Jewish and one question with one answer is just never going to be enough, we need another question: “What if I accidentally tripped over the fence?” The answer: build another fence around the fence so it is harder for you to get past them both. This is then repeated, and repeated, ad infinitum, until we end up with the plethora of kosher regulations we have today, which are so numerous and complicated that the simple rules of “no shellfish, no pork: only ruminants, chicken, duck and turkey, and nothing else” have gotten completely lost. We are so concerned about which fences we should build that we have lost sight of the laws they are designed to protect.

The real issue with Leviticus 11 is the teaching in the Christian world that it is not important anymore. Misinterpretations of Acts 10 and Mark 7 have been used to teach people that Yeshua told us that you don’t need to be Kosher anymore. I devote an entire chapter in my book about this, and have mentioned it often in blogs. Essentially, it comes down to this: if Yeshua is the living Torah and the Word that has become flesh, then how can He tell us to do anything that is against what the Torah says? It is the same as denying Himself. It also means that, since God the Father said these commandments are to be throughout your generations, if Yeshua taught to ignore them then He is calling God a liar and going against the word of God. Does that sound like Yeshua, to you?

Kosher laws are as valid today as they have always been: following them won’t get you into heaven, and ignoring them won’t send you to hell (any faster than violating any of the other 613 commandments in Torah, at least a few of which we all violate every day.) I am not condoning ignoring Kashrut, or any commandment from God. When I say not obeying will not send us to hell, it is only because we disobey something in the Torah every day, every one of us. Yes, if you were perfect in every other commandment but you had pork rinds last night watching the game, and if you died prior to being able to offer a guilt sacrifice to be forgiven for eating pork rinds, you would die in your sin. God doesn’t grade on a curve- if you sin, any sin, you are a sinner and unable to be in His presence.

That’s how Yeshua’s sacrifice works for us- His once and for all sacrifice is what keeps us close to God so if we die in our sin, His righteousness will cleanse us before the Lord.

Kosher is still valid, as are all the other mitzvot, mishpatim and chukim in Torah. All valid, all required, none to be ignored. Yeshua did NOT do away with the law- He confirmed it, He explained it to us so we could could understand the deeper, more spiritual nature of these laws, and He lived them to demonstrate what we should be doing.

If you have time, go to the Search button at the bottom right of the page and search for “WWJD?”, then read that blog to see in more detail what I am talking about, and please consider taking the simple challenge I offer there. I truly believe that if you accept my challenge it will make a major difference in your life, even if only to help you better understand Yeshua.

Please don’t think I am saying you need to be “under the law” to be saved; you don’t. On the other hand, that is no reason to disobey them.

Empowered or Enabled?

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Although the definition of these words is very similar, meaning to give someone the ability to do something, the connotation (general usage) is that to empower is to help someone do something beneficial for themselves, and to enable is when we allow someone or support them in doing things harmful to themselves. For instance, we empower people to feel good about their job by paying them a fair wage, and we enable people to hurt themselves when we give money to a homeless person (unfortunately, the money usually goes to drugs or booze- that’s why I don’t give money to beggars but I do offer to buy them food. It takes more of my time to get them something, and it costs more than just giving them change, but it helps them more, and I feel much better. Try it.)

Therefore, if you allow me these usages (’empowering’ is good for you and ‘enabling’ is bad for you), the question today is, “What is your religious leader doing for you spiritually? Are you being empowered to do as the Lord asks, or are you being enabled to do what is easy and comfortable for you by being given ‘excuses’ for ignoring God’s commands?”

Another way to look at this is to start by remembering that God has told us, over and over, how He will bless us when we do as he commands, but when we refuse (i.e., reject Him) we will be cursed and will not receive those blessings (check out the beginning of Vayikra and D’varim, Chapter 28, as well as N’Varim, the writings of the Prophets.) If you are being taught that the Torah is still valid and that Yeshua (Jesus) observed Torah and taught others to do the same, and that Shaul (Paul) did not say ignore Torah but only was talking about how Torah will not be needed AFTER Yeshua returns and is still necessary and should be observed, then you are being empowered to receive all of God’s blessings.

On the other hand, if you are being taught Replacement Theology (the Jews are no longer the Chosen people) and that Yeshua did away with “the Law” so that all you need to do to be saved is ask God for forgiveness and you can pretty much go on living as you have, you are being enabled to sin. And if you lead a sinful life, without any concern for God’s commandments or ordinances, you will not receive His blessings (other than the ones He will probably still give you, now and then, only because He is a loving and compassionate God) and you may find yourself being told by Yeshua that He does not know you.

Don’t forget those parables about the maidens who were left out of the wedding, even though they were invited, because they came up short-handed at the time the groom arrived; and that Yeshua told us there are many who will call Him Lord but at the Judgement He will reject them because they did not follow Him. Check it out in Luke 6 (“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?), and it’s also in Matthew. Didn’t Yeshua say that if we love Him we will do as He commands? And what did he command us to do? To follow Him, and He followed Torah, so we need to follow Torah, too.

Yeshua did as His father told Him to do, which is what God tells us all to do, which is found in the Torah. God has no religion, only Torah. Yeshua is the living Torah, so to ignore the Torah is, literally, to ignore Yeshua. And if you ignore Yeshua you will not be on the path to salvation, you will be traveling the Highway to Hell.

I am not saying you will absolutely go to hell if you don’t completely follow Torah, because just trying to observe Torah will not save you. Faith will save you, but if you CAN follow Torah…if you can live every stroke of the pen in Torah as Yeshua did, then you don’t need Yeshua to be your sin sacrifice. Of course, if any human being could follow Torah exactly and completely, then that person would screw up the curve and Yeshua wouldn’t be needed. That means there would be three people in heaven: God, Yeshua and that one creep who ruined it for the rest of us!

It comes down to this: we are saved by faith. Faithfully believing in the existence of God, faithfully believing that Yeshua is the Messiah who sacrificed His life as a sin sacrifice for all of us, AND faithfully doing T’Shuvah, which is demonstrated and proven by spending the rest of our lives sinning less by obeying God more. That means that following the Torah will not necessarily get you into heaven, and not following it will not necessarily keep you out, but the more you follow it the more blessings you will receive on Earth (as God promises), the more fruit you will produce to bring before the Lord at Judgement Day, and the closer you will be to Yeshua.

If you are being told that you need to obey God, which means all that God says we should do to worship Him as He commands us to do in the Torah and as Yeshua confirms we should do, then your religious leaders are empowering you to receive God’s blessings and helping you to be the greatest in the Kingdom of God.

If you are being told by your religious leaders that the Torah is dead, all you need to do is accept Jesus as your Saviour, ask for forgiveness and (pretty much) that’s all it takes- it is set, it can’t be taken away and your are guaranteed to go to heaven so long as you are a “good” person, then you are being enabled to sin and they are separating you from God, preventing you from receiving all His blessings, and possibly giving you a ticket straight to Sheol.

It’s up to you to decide what you will do, not anyone else, because God will hold you totally accountable for what you do.

Promise or Threat?

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I once knew someone who saw the “If:Then” statement not as a conditional event, but as a threat. If you promised something good, that was always nice, but if the promise was conditional, then it was a threat. If I said I will do this if you do that, doing my side of the agreement was expected, but the idea that I would not do what I promised if the other side of the agreement was reneged on? What I heard was, “How dare you threaten me!”

God makes promises to us that are conditional. Even the promise of salvation is conditional: after all, don’t we have to ask for it? If we ask for it, He is good to grant it (all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved) but it takes more than that. Throughout the Manual we are told that it is by faith alone we are saved, but that also is conditional because Yacov (James) tells us that faith without works is dead. God’s promise of salvation is like a spiritual bank account: we don’t need to deposit a penny to open it up, we just need to ask for it, and whatever we put into it we are guaranteed to gain interest. When we appear before God at His Throne of Judgement, we turn in our bank book and receive what we are due: that’s when we receive God’s side of the promise. If our URA (Ultimate Retirement Account) has had many deposits placed into it, when we turn it back in to God we receive a tremendous return, just as He promised; however, if we have not made any deposits, it is no more valuable than what we originally paid into it: nothing! And that is exactly what we will receive. Make deposits, be told to enter into the joy; have an account with nothing in it, be turned away into the darkness where people wail and gnash their teeth.

That’s right- your salvation is guaranteed if, and only if, you meet your end of the promise, which is to produce good fruit, to make deposits, to have more to present back to God than what He gave you to start with.  In D’varim (Deuteronomy) 16, when we are told about how to appear before the Lord at the three festivals which are celebrated in Yerushalayim, we are told not to appear before the Lord empty handed. I believe this has a deeper meaning than just regarding the sacrifices: I believe that we are being told whenever we come before the Lord we should bring something with us to present to Him. And at the Last Days, the Final Judgement, when we come before the Lord, God expects us to present to Him our faithful fruit: the good works we have performed as a sign of our repentance and T’Shuvah. If we come empty handed, we will be turned away.

Face it, people: there is no free lunch, not even at God’s table! We are told by well-meaning religious leaders (probably because it sounds so attractive) only how salvation is a free and irrevocable gift. That’s true: when we confess our sins, ask for God’s forgiveness and accept Yeshua as our Messiah, we receive the gift of salvation from God. No one can take that from us- no one! But we can throw it away, and many do, I am sorry to say, without even realizing it. I think that’s because we understand “free” to mean unconditional, but that is wrong. We receive the gift, we are given a guaranteed place in heaven, but we still have to show up with our offering or we don’t get in. And that offering is the fruit of our salvation: our history of good works, the proof of our T’Shuvah. No fruit, no entry. He kept His promise but we reneged.

Instead of being told salvation is “free”, we really should be told salvation is “priceless”. We can’t buy it, we can’t earn it, we can only receive it by asking, but it isn’t “free” because we do have to do contribute into it for it to be redeemable.

Remember the parable about the Master who gives his three servants talents before he goes on a trip? The two returned more than he gave them and were welcomed into their Master’s joy, but the third did nothing with his talent, and returned only what he was given. He was thrown out into the darkness.

There’s also the parable about the fruit tree in the garden that was tended but gave no fruit. After a few years of fruitless existence, the owner of the garden said to uproot the tree and throw it out of the garden.

The parables Yeshua gave us about having to do something with the gift we receive are, to me, undeniable. Yes, salvation is free when we receive it, but unless we put something into it it will be worthless when we redeem it. And yes, it is irrevocable in that God gave it and no one can take it away, and God will not ask for us to return it, but He expects it to be returned to Him with interest. If we fail to water that tree and produce fruit, or we bury it and do nothing with it to make it worth more, we will reap what we have sown.

This is a hard word to hear, but it is the truth: salvation is free but it is conditional, and God’s promises are real and totally trustworthy but we have to live up to our side of the agreement to receive them.

The promise is eternal joy, and the condition is that we will be saved from our own sin if we (1) confess it, if we (2) accept Yeshua (Jesus) as our Messiah, and if we (3) do T’Shuvah (atonement) and live the rest of our lives producing fruit so we do not come empty handed before the Lord at the Final Judgement.

We are told that it is all just so easy- call on His name and be saved! Halleluya!! Well, that’s true, but that isn’t all of it: you need to change, you need to pay into your salvation, and God’s promise is worth exactly what you put into it, so when we keep our side he will keep His side. It’s that simple, it’s that plain, it’s that way.

The good news is that God always keeps His promises: the bad news is that we most often don’t.  I strongly urge all of us, me included, to make sure this is one time we don’t mess up.

Can You Take as Well as You Give?

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We are told it is better to give than to receive, and that is true. However, it is often harder for us to receive with as much compassion and joy as it is to give.

Why is that? I’m not sure, but I am willing to bet it’s because giving can be a power trip and an ego boost: the person giving is in a position of authority and strength greater than the one receiving. The one receiving, therefore, feels obligated to reciprocate at some point in the future.

It’s like the opening scene in The Godfather, when Don Corleone gets back at the men who attacked the Mortician’s daughter- then, when Sonny needed “repair” work after being shot to pieces, the Don called back this favor. The Mortician had no choice but to comply.

I have taught myself to accept gifts as graciously as I want to give them. I remind myself that I like to share the blessings God has given me, and the bible also says that God loves a cheerful giver (I think that really refers to giving to God, although Yeshua said what we do to the least of these, His brethren, we do to Him, so giving cheerfully to others is always good.) Remembering this fact helps me to be as gracious a receiver as it does a giver, allowing me to let the giver be cheerful and fully enjoy his or her ability to give.

What if the other person is really only giving to be on an ego trip? What if they expect something back? Then what do you do?

You do the same thing- you let them give you what they want to, accept it cheerfully and gratefully, and don’t worry or even think about why they are giving it to you. It doesn’t matter, in the least. Yeshua also said that if someone asks for a shirt, give him a cloak, too. If you are asked to carry a soldiers pack for a mile, carry it for two. We give not to receive, and we accept to let others give with the same godly purpose. If their purpose is not godly, then by receiving their gift without a sense of obligation, in a way, we give them the opportunity to know what it is like to give correctly.

We who are Believers do what we do to please God, not people. When we give, we give without expectation of reward or reciprocation. If you can’t do that, then it is better you don’t give at all. And when we receive, we should receive with the same sense of gratitude to God for providing the blessings we get, whether or not it comes from a human or is delivered by a dove flying in our window. If everything belongs to God, then it stands to reason that everything we receive is from God. Right? So, we accept gratefully and graciously, without guilt or need to reciprocate.

If someone gives something to you and expects to get something back, that’s their problem. If they get angry or tell you you owe them something back, if you can return what they gave you, do so. If it is not possible to return it, tell them you gave them back your appreciation and blessings for their generosity. Then it would be best not to accept anything else from them, if for no other reason than to not do anything to cause them to stumble into sin.

Sometimes I feel that people don’t accept God’s grace for the same reason they don’t want to take anything from people- they feel obligated to give something back. The truth is, we are expected to do something in exchange for the gift of salvation- we are expected to stop sinning. Salvation is available to everyone, but it isn’t really “free”: it costs us nothing to accept it but it does cost something to keep it. It costs us our sin because we need to change our way of living to remain saved. We need to do T’Shuvah and turn from our sin once we have accepted God’s Grace. We are expected to give back to God the obedience He asks of us in exchange for the salvation He offers us.

Salvation is not unconditional, and it is not free. And it is irrevocable; that means only that God will not ask for it back, but we can throw it away!

Salvation is not free. It cost Yeshua His divinity, and later His life. When we take on salvation, we are expected to give back to God the obedience He requires and to give up our sinful ways. There is a cost to us, and it is going to come from our worldly existence: friends, family, maybe even jobs, promotions, whatever the world sees as valuable we will probably not have the same opportunities to receive when we choose to live a godly life. In the End Days, accepting salvation and keeping it may cost us our very lives, just as it did Yeshua.

But when you think about what we will ultimately receive, we are still way ahead in this deal. In fact, life itself is just a mist: grass in the field that is alive today and dried out and dead tomorrow. Yet eternity is forever and ever and ever. Eternity has no end, so we receive eternal joy and peace and what we are expected to give back is, comparatively, really nothing.

In the long run, even though being a godly person in a sinful world is costly in many ways, salvation is so much more than anything the world can offer, it is still a gift.

It’s like when someone gives you a kitten or a puppy, you have an obligation to care for it and it will cost you to do so, but you get back so much more that it will always feel like a gift.

That’s what salvation is like, and that’s why we should accept everything we get as coming from God; as such, accept it graciously, gratefully, without guilt and always give without expectation of return.

The greater your cheerful giving (and receiving) on Earth, the greater will be your reward in heaven.

Everything is Wonderful, Everything is Great, It’s Just That….

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Do you read “Ann Landers?” “Dear Abby?” Maybe, “Ask Amy?” I do: not so much for the gossipy kind of stuff you get, or to take pleasure in hearing about other people’s problems (making mine seem less),  but as fodder for this ministry blog.

If you do read these columns, even only once in a while, I hope you also think, “How can they say that?”  They say they have a wonderful spouse with wonderful children and a wonderful marriage of x-number of years, then say that they think their husband is having an affair, or their kids are on drugs, or their spouse is excluding them for no reason!

Or any other number of serious problems. And how often are they the real problem, but they fail to face it?

I appreciate the difficulty of writing a column like that, although the one thing you never have to worry about is, “Gee- will I have enough mail from people with problems to write a full column today?” That is the easy part- there will be plenty of mail if you offer to answer people’s problems. The hard part is being correct in determining what they should do.

These “advice columns”, as they are called, are to me a clear and present example of just how many lost sheep there are in the world, with no shepherd because they haven’t turned to God. The world is a godless place not because God isn’t present, but because the world refuses to seek Him out.

Maybe if God was to write to Dear Abby,  it would read something like this:

I have a wonderful relationship with many of my children, which has lasted since I created them, and I have had a lot of kids, but there are so many of them that just won’t listen to me. I have given them life, food, water, and shelter; I have told them and showed them how much I love them, and yet most of them look to others for love. They sell their souls to my worst enemy because he offers them the things I know are bad for them. I just feel like they don’t love me anymore, and it was so nice in the beginning. All I want is for them to have a wonderful and joyous existence, but they just don’t want to listen to me. What can I do? I even sacrificed my first born son so they can have these things, but they reject Him, too. Here I have given them the opportunity to have total joy and peace, forever, and they choose something that feels nice for a moment but will lead to eternal pain! Help me, Abby! What can I do or say that I haven’t done already to make them listen to me?

That’s a tough one. I don’t know if Abby can handle this one: I know I have no “pat” answer. I guess the only answer one could offer is that this is how some people are- they just refuse to listen, to do what is best. Maybe God needs a bit of a wake-up call, i.e., maybe we need to suggest to God that when He gave us free will He set Himself up for heartache. If we, as humans, can make our own choices about what we want to do, then there will be those that will choose the wrong things.  And God, since you did give those kids their own choice, knowing that their hearts are sinful and self-absorbed, why would you be surprised when they choose the enemy’s choice tidbits and immediate rewards instead of the hard road that You offer? True, Your Son Yeshua went through a lot to make it possible for your children to find their way home again, but that path is hard because it goes against the world’s desires. You offer them the best that there could ever be, but not when they want it, and not the way they like it.

That’s true, isn’t it? God offers us eternal joy and peace, but not the way we want it, and not when we want it. Maybe God knows better than we do?  Maybe God knows something we don’t? Maybe this life isn’t all there is, and maybe this life wasn’t meant to be all we have?

Maybe, just maybe, this life is nothing more than preschool for eternity? Really! In preschool we learn to develop our muscles and motor skills, we develop our social skills, we learn to play with others, we learn how to speak better, to do things better, and we even get sick faster, which gives us anti-bodies which make us stronger and healthier when we grow up.

Preschool is how we learn to survive in the world, and life is what we are given to make our choice where we will spend eternity.

Maybe the answer to the question I hypothesize above is simply that God knew what He was doing when He created us, and when He gave us free will, and He has done all that He can do. Just keep loving us, and be happy for the ones that choose Him over the world and the enemy. He has made salvation available to all His children, but only a very few, a remnant, will choose life.

This past weekend we were reminded of the choice that Yeshua made for all of us: He chose to do His Father’s will. It cost Him a lot at the moment, but He gained everything that there ever will be that is truly wonderful. And He gained it not just for Himself, but for every one of us. All we need to do is accept it.

Many, many people, and most of the ones I know and love in my own circle of friends and family, have chosen to accept only what they want to accept, even when (I think) in their heart of hearts they know they have chosen what is easy and not really what they need to choose. It is easier to think that all I need to be is a “good person” and I will go to heaven, which is what many people are taught. If that is true, then why did Yeshua have to die? What is “good”, after all? Is it “good” according to the world or “good” according to God? If God is the judge, then shouldn’t you be doing what He considers “good?” He tells us what He considers “good”- doing everything in the Torah. It’s that simple- live your life in total accordance with the Torah and you will be “good” according to God’s definition. Well, “good” luck with that! No one ever has (except Yeshua, of course), and even though it isn’t all that hard, we just can’t do it. Not every minute of every day. So what is left? Yeshua’s sacrificial death, that’s what: and that is why being “good” isn’t going to be “good” enough! So wake up, people! Get with the program! You need to accept Yeshua as your Messiah AND you need to accept your own sinfulness. You’re NOT a good person; at least, not in comparison with God’s definition. That’s OK- it doesn’t mean you are a bad person, it just means you are a human being.

Accept who you are and what you are so that you can accept Him. Being baptised when you aren’t even old enough to know your right hand from your left isn’t going to make any difference, and going through some religious ceremony (when you are told by parents and religious leaders alike that you have to do this ) won’t make any difference, either. Catechism, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Baptism, Confirmation: none of it matters if you did it because you were told you had to, and not because you wanted to choose God. That’s a hard word to hear, but it is one that will set your feet on the path to life, so take the carrots out of your ears and hear! As Yeshua said, “Let him who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

I am saddened when I read about these poor lost souls who need to get personal and spiritual guidance from a newspaper. Nothing against the people writing these columns, but really? A total stranger in a cubicle somewhere is telling me how to be loved and how to treat others? Isn’t all that in the Bible? Didn’t God tell us how to live, how to treat others and how they should treat us? Can an advice columnist give me eternal joy? Can a newspaper be as influential as the Bible? Is the Op-Ed better for me than the Word of God?

Go to the source, read the ultimate User’s Manual, and get your head on straight! This past weekend we have seen and heard of God’s deliverance; from Egypt, from sin, and from destruction of our very souls! Are you listening out there? If you are, and if you have made the choice Yeshua made, which was and is to do God’s will, then go out there and show people. Let your light shine on their darkness, and let them see what a difference God has made in your life.

I confess I am no better at demonstrating all the wonderful things God has done for me than anyone else. I ask you to be better than me at showing what God has done for you, so that maybe through you someone else will make the right choice.

One less letter to the newspapers, and one more soul in heaven. That’s a trade-off I can live with!

Parashah Pesach (Exodus 12:21 – 12:51)

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Weren’t we in the book of Leviticus last week? How’d we get back to Exodus?

Today, actually tonight, begins Passover (‘Pesach’, in Hebrew.) As such, this being one of the most important and happiest of all the Holy Days God gave us, we read this portion of the Torah and then get back to Vayikra next week.

Passover is a Holy Day that is somewhat misunderstood, by both Jews and Christians. If you ask most any Jewish person how long Passover lasts, I’ll bet the answer you get is “7 days”, but that’s wrong. “Passover” only lasts from evening until midnight, when the angel of death passed over Egypt. The 7 days that we fast (no leavened products, i.e.. nothing with yeast) is called Hag Ha Matzot. It is the Feast of Unleavened Bread that lasts 7 days. Another thing that is misunderstood is that Passover is when God said we should celebrate the new year; God never said that Rosh HaShannah is the Jewish new year. In Exodus God tells Moshe that this day (the day the Jews left Egypt) is to be the first day of your year. Rosh HaShannah, the Jewish New Year, is a Rabbinical holiday and not a God ordered Holy Day. The day that it is celebrated on is a God-ordered Holy Day, but that day is called (by God) Yom Teruah, or Day of Trumpets. It is a memorial day.

From the Christian viewpoint, because of the undeniable association of the sacrificial death of Yeshua (Jesus) on the day after Passover, leading to His resurrection on the third day (Sunday, the beginning of the Jewish week, as we are told in the Bible) the sacrifice of the Passover lamb is considered to be what Yeshua underwent, which was a sacrifice to absolve us of our sin. Especially since He is often referred to as the Lamb of God. Even the Jewish people, for the most part, believe that the Pesach lamb was a sin sacrifice.

Oh, oh…not so, oh no. The Passover lamb was sacrificed, yes, but it was a thanksgiving sacrifice, a peace offering, not a sin or guilt offering.

Go back and read the first chapters of Leviticus we just went through- it describes how the different sacrifices are to be administered by the Kohen. There is only one type where the person offering the sacrifice also partakes in the eating of the sacrifice, and that is the peace offering. God demands that the Passover lamb be roasted and eaten by those offering it, so that makes the Passover sacrifice a peace offering, not a sin offering.

But didn’t Yeshua offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin? Yes, He did. Well, when do the Jewish people offer their sin sacrifice? That’s on Yom Kippur.

You see, Yeshua is both sides of the coin, so to speak: His sacrifice to overcome our sin was on Passover, and the Passover sacrifice is a peace offering to God. When we think about it, isn’t the Messiah supposed to bring us all back into relationship with God?  So when He sacrificed Himself as a sin offering, didn’t that also allow us to come into relationship with God? Wasn’t the curtain torn from the top down? From God to us? When Yeshua died on that execution tree, His sacrifice was both the sin sacrifice that comes at Yom Kippur (the final one that will be at the End of Days) and the peace offering that brings us back into relationship with God. His sacrifice counted then as two- the sin sacrifice to cleanse us before God and the peace offering that will bring us into relationship with God. They may be a little backwards to us, since our time is linear, but God’s time is different. What Yeshua did back then was for then, and for now, and for the rest of time; one sacrifice to accomplish two things, from then until forever.

Isn’t God just amazing?!? It gives you goose-bumps. Now do you see the real association between Passover and Yom Kippur? We usually associate Passover with freedom from physical slavery and follow it up with Shavuot, the giving of the Law on Sinai as a “one-two punch” against sin. For those that accept Yeshua’s Messianic calling as true, these two Holy Days also represent the freedom from spiritual slavery and the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, which only because of Yeshua’s sacrifice can now indwell forever. Prior to Yeshua the Ruach fell on the person, but was lifted up later. Only because of Yeshua can that Ruach now indwell and remain.

And there’s another misunderstanding- as nicely as this all fits, Passover is not really associated with Shavuot, but with Yom Kippur. Passover and Yom Kippur are the two sides of the same coin, sacrifice for sin to cleanse us and peace offering to bring us back into relationship with God. Again I ask, isn’t that what the Messiah is supposed to do?

I also do two things at once to my Christian friends at this time of the year: I teach them by kidding with them and rebuking them at the same time. I ask them if they ever considered that as they are celebrating and honoring the resurrection of Yeshua, they are eating something that He would find to be an abomination and an insult on His table?

Think about it before you buy that Easter ham. Also think about it when you have bread and cake all next week. Yeshua told his Talmudim (Disciples) to beware the Hametz (yeast) of the Pharisees;  Yeshua and all His followers fasted from yeast during the celebration of Hag ha Matzot. Do you want to do as Yeshua did? Do you really want to please God?

If you do not normally fast during the 7 days after passover, try it. I am sure there are many who fast from something for a day or a week to get closer to God. Don’t you think that fasting as God says you should would bring you that much closer to pleasing Him? To being in communion with Him?

Forget the ham- do a turkey or a chicken. No lamb- that is not allowed because the lamb is the demanded sacrifice and it must be done at the Temple, but the Temple doesn’t exist anymore so we don’t do lamb on Passover. Chicken, turkey, maybe a nice brisket, no bread- only matzah for the next week. No cakes, no nothing with any yeast in it at all.

Try it. Do what God says and He promises to bless you (read Deuteronomy 28.) Don’t get all caught up in that drek about obeying Torah means you aren’t under the blood- that’s nothing but a bunch of fertilizer taught by those who don’t understand and don’t want to obey God to those who don’t want to make their own decision about how to worship God.

Here are my two most favorite ways to eat matzah: spread butter lightly over it with salt (warm the butter a bit first or it will crack the matzah)- YUM!!! And for breakfast eat Matzah Brei: soak matzah in warm water, when it’s soft wring out the water (carefully) and then drench the matzah is an egg wash with a little milk (and cinnamon), then fry in a frying pan greased with butter. Serve hot with syrup or sugar. It’s sort of a Jewish french toast, and I cannot believe you won’t LOVE it!

Chag  Sameach!!