This is going to be a real easy lesson today, but as with many things that seem easy, to actually be able to utilize this in your life is not easy.

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So, the secret to happiness, how to be satisfied in all that you do (as Shaul said he was in Philippians 4:12) and have peace throughout your life is this:

Satisfaction doesn’t come from getting what you want; it comes from being content with what you have.

That’s it. Simple, right?

The difficulty is actually being content with what we have.

I am not saying that one should not have ambition- to me, a life without ambition is a boring life. We should try to better our situation, be a better provider to our family, continue to study and learn about everything that interests us, and never, ever stop trying to better ourselves.

And always try to be more of what God wants us to be- not what some religion says you should be, but what God says to be (and you find that ONLY in the first 5 books of the Bible. If you want to say Yeshua / Jesus taught us how to be, he taught from those 5 books).

For me, I really have learned pretty much to be satisfied. For example, I can log onto Amazon and buy only what I really need to get. (Oy! The Acid Test of satisfaction!)

Do I want more? Honestly? No, not really. I have a wonderful marriage to a wonderful woman, I have a house that is paid for, I am (for the most part) healthy, I have friends I have known from childhood that I am still constantly in touch with, my ministry (this ministry) is growing, and even though I would prefer more people buy the books I have written, I have come to accept that what I spout here is never going to be popular.

Why not? Am I being pessimistic? No, I am being realistic- the megachurches and large synagogues and popular online ministries are popular because they tell people all the wonderful things that God will do for them.

Not me- I tell people all the things God wants us to do for him BEFORE he will give us all that nice stuff.

People don’t want to hear about what they have to do to get something: they love to hear about what they will get for doing nothing.

Well…das ist alles! Short, sweet, to the point: it’s OK to try to get more, but not to the point where wanting more takes away from being satisfied with what you have.

If you can teach yourself to appreciate what you have, and especially to thank God for all he has done for you, then you will always be satisfied.

That’s it for this week, so please remember to subscribe, share these messages, buy my books, join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (you need to accept the rules to get in), and please don’t hesitate to give me feedback.

Until next time, l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Oh, I almost forgot- this Monday is Purim…Chag Sameach!

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Have any of you noticed I haven’t been around for a while? Donna and I spent the beginning of February celebrating our 25th anniversary with friends who live outside of London, and when we came back, we had many things to do, so I haven’t been posting regularly most of this month. I hope to get back into my usual routine soon but have a back operation to undergo in a few weeks, which will probably put me out of commission for 6 months or more. I am sharing this with you because I get most of my inspiration when I am riding my bicycle, which I won’t be able to do for anywhere from 4-6 months. So, since I believe that many of the messages I receive are from God, I am sure that if he has something he wants me to write about, he will get that message to me, somehow.

I am still able to ride my bicycle, and today’s message came to me the other day during my ride.

So many socio-political problems today are based on race and religion. It seems that if anyone says anything about a person, it becomes a racial issue, especially if the people involved are of different races.

The world is racist because we have been conditioned to identify by race: for example, here in the USA people say they are a Russian-American (my grandparents came over from Russia), or a Chinese-American, or an African-American, or an Italian -American, or a whatever-American.

By identifying this way, they are (by definition) being a racist.

There is nothing wrong, at all, with being proud of one’s cultural background, but we need to stop identifying by where our ancestors lived. They lived there, we didn’t.

My grandparents, as I mentioned, were from Russia- both sides- but I am not really Russian. I was born in America, and so I am an American. If I want to be proud of my cultural ancestry, then I can say I am an American with Russian ancestry.

But I am, first and foremost, an American.

From a spiritual viewpoint, if someone asked me if I was saved or not, why would I tell them I am an unsaved person who is now saved? Doesn’t it make sense to ignore what I was and be concerned only with what I am? What does it matter that I was once unsaved- we all were! What is important is what I am, now.

As someone who speaks about God, I could be taken as a racist, since the Bible can be seen as a racist document. Really- we aren’t supposed to mix different cloths, to associate with certain people, to marry outside of our own religion: all of these are certainly identifiable as a bigoted (racist) attitude.

So, nu? What am I trying to say?

Simply this: we need to stop identifying by race or religion or political affiliation, and simply see each other as God sees us- not for what we are, but for who we are.

Race, ancestry, political idealisms, religion- these are things that identify what we are, and as such do not always define who we are.

If we can teach our children to identify with everyone else by their similarities instead of their differences, we will create a society that is closer to what God wants than what we have now.

Try to see people for who they are; ignore their skin color, their ancestry, even their religion, and make whatever judgement about them you need to based on their personality and the way they treat others.

I believe if we can do this, we will be living a lot closer to the way God wants us to live.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know to help this ministry grow. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, buy my books, and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (please make sure you click that you agree to the rules, or I can’t let you in).

And remember that I always welcome your comments.

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

How do we pronounce the Tetragrammaton, the 4- letters (יהוה) which signify who God told Moses to tell the people sent him to them?

Are God the Father and Yeshua the Messiah really one entity in two distinct persons?

Was Job a real person?

How many other questions have you come across that seem to be difficult, if not impossible, to answer?

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Here’s my question to you:

What does it matter?

Will knowing how the four letters are pronounced make you any more saved than you are now?

The Bible tells us what the relationship between God and Yeshua is: God is the Father of Yeshua and Yeshua is the Messiah he promised to send. So, what else do you need to know to be saved? Will knowing if their relationship is more than that get you a better seat at the table?

And what if Job is just a story? Does that make the message it sends, which is we cannot always understand why God does what he does, any less important?

I have seen, all too often, so many arguments about the topics I just mentioned, as well as many other things which haven’t edified anyone or given anyone a better understanding of God and that’s because the only thing that most of these arguments has done is to cause confusion and dissension within the body of believers.

Remember how pissed Shaul (Paul) was at the Jewish believers in Galatia? They were trying to make the neophyte Gentile believers convert completely to Judaism all at once. Shaul knew that this would turn away more people than it would help, which is why Shaul had the Gentiles he was bringing to Messiah learn about the Torah slowly, teaching them the spiritual meaning of the commandments (which is what Yeshua did) instead of having them go through the motions of converting.

He knew what was important for them to know, when it was important for them to know, and what they didn’t need to know in order to stay on the right track to salvation.

I feel the same way he did- frustrated and angry- with those people who argue about topics that have no value at all when it comes to being saved.

How are we saved, really? It is very simple: we need to accept that Yeshua is the Messiah God promised to send, and that his sacrifice replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple in order for us to be forgiven of our sins.

The sacrificial system never went away- what did go away was the ability to perform the sacrifice as God commanded after the temple was destroyed in 73 A.D., which was the only place the Torah said we were allowed to perform a sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12:11).

That is why in John 14:6 Yeshua said the only way to The Father is through him. When Yeshua was resurrected, that proved his sacrifice was accepted as a substitute for bringing an animal to the temple.

Sin prevents us from being in God’s presence, and salvation is the result of being cleansed of our sins. The sacrifice of an innocent animal used to provide for that, and now that is provided through the sacrifice of Yeshua.

Leviticus explains that after a sin sacrifice there would be a friendship sacrifice. This was the only sacrifice where the one bringing the animal also got a share of the animal to eat there, in a holy place. This was sort of like having dinner with God. Yeshua’s sacrifice served as the Yom Kippur sin sacrifice and since it was done on the Passover, which is a friendship sacrifice, it also served that role: Yeshua’s one-time sacrifice was for both sin and friendship. That is why through Yeshua we can be saved and thereby commune with God.

So, my point to all this is that questions that lead to a better understanding of God and his Torah are not unimportant, per se’, but most are not needed for salvation. I’ll go along with discussing these things as a way to get to know God better or gain a deeper understanding of his Torah, but when they become just a way for someone to show off how much more they know than you do, well…that serves no one but the Enemy of God.

So, learn all you can- that’s okay- but I suggest you do not get involved in arguments about topics that do not affect your salvation; because, unless it is in an atmosphere of mutual respect where everyone understands it is just for knowledge and not a salvation issue, you may find yourself getting more and more confused, being led down a path of Gnostic irrelevance instead of being edified and receiving spiritual guidance to a better knowledge and relationship with God and Messiah Yeshua.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to this ministry on both my website and YouTube channel. If you like what you get here, you will like my books, which you can get through the link on the website.

I also invite you to join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word”, but please ensure you click that you agree to the rules, or I can’t let you in.

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

PS: I won’t be posting all next week as I will be celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary to Donna while visiting with friends in the UK.

I don’t mean to sound envious of these gigantic churches that have maybe a thousand or more congregants, whereas I have only a couple of hundred subscribers, even though I am on the Internet, which gives me exposure to the entire globe!

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Over the years, and even before I became a Believer, I have watched some of the great speakers that run these congregations, such as Oral Roberts- that man was an inspirational and charismatic speaker, which you really need to be if you are going to keep the interest of hundreds and hundreds of people for an hour or more.

But what is the message they give that keeps so many people wanting to hear more?

Is it how God wants them to live their lives?

Is it about tithing and doing for others?

Does it cover the entire Bible, teaching that we all should live according to how God said to in the Torah, that the Torah is what Yeshua taught from, and not to do what some man-made religion misinterpreting Paul’s letters says?

I can’t recall ever hearing any of that from any of them.

No. In fact, not just the megachurches, but most churches I have been exposed to tell only of all the wonderful things that God will do for you.

Faith healing churches (many of which have been exposed as frauds) don’t ask for a regular tithe but for contributions. I remember when I was in the Marine Corps (late 1970’s) and living in North Carolina, a certain televangelist faith healer used to say if they called and made a pledge, they could then touch the television screen and he would heal them.

Imagine that! Digital faith healing- wow! God enters the age of technology. Maybe instead of calling them “prophets” we should call them human modems?

Alexa….say a prayer for me.

My ministry will never be big because I don’t tell people what God will do for them; I tell them what they are to do for God.

God’s promises of blessings (Deuteronomy 28) are not from God to us, but first and foremost, from us to God. The order of things is that God tells us what he wants us to do (in the Torah), then we do it, then God sends us blessings.

That’s the way it works, people.

Do you want to know if God will do wonderful things for you? The answer is ” Yes- absolutely!”

But you have to do your part first- blessings do not precede faithful obedience; no, blessings are the reward for faithful obedience.

And when I say faithful obedience, I don’t mean going through the motions, or that we receive salvation through works. Faithful obedience means doing as God says because you trust in God, because you want to please God, and because you know that whatever God says to do is in your best interests.

And, for the record, what religions have misinterpreted Shaul’s (Paul) letters to mean is NOT from God- it is from Shaul to the people in those congregations he wrote to who were having interpersonal and spiritual problems. The letters to the churches are not God-breathed scripture; what Shaul said in 2 Timothy 3:16 refers to the Tanakh, which was the only scripture that existed then.

The letters Shaul wrote are managerial directives to get the neophyte Gentile Believers back on track, teaching them how to be Torah observant (albeit a little at a time).

Remember that in Acts 15:21 James said,

“For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

which demonstrates- unquestionably- that the Elders in Jerusalem expected these new Gentile Believers to eventually learn how to be Torah observant.

So, if you enjoy watching those paragons of religion on TV, please ask yourself what you find so enjoyable and uplifting about them. Is it because you feel “Oh! So good!” when they tell you how God loves you and will do all these wonderful things for you?

If your answer is, “Well, yeah- what’s wrong with that?” I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it- it is misleading you. While telling you all about what God will do for you, they are leading you into rejecting all God said he wants you to do for him.

God has more blessings in store for you than you will ever be able to count, but they ain’t free! You’ve got to be obedient to what God says, not to what some guy running a church tells you.

If you can’t tell the difference between what a religion tells you is God’s word, and what God’s word is from the Bible, then you will be misled.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe and share these messages with everyone you know to help this small ministry be just a little bit bigger. Buy my books and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word”, but please make sure you click that you agree to the rules, or you’re not allowed in.

And remember that I always welcome your comments.

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