In my last message, I talked about how despite all the different ways we can sin which God tells us in the Torah, there is really only one sin, and that is always the sin against God. No matter what we do, or don’t do, sin is always just the one type: against God.

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

However, there are two distinct ways in which we can commit that sin: purposefully or accidentally.

The sin we commit on purpose is easy enough to know because you do or don’t do something that you know, unquestionably, is a sin because God said it is. And knowing this, you decide to ignore God and do it, anyway.

Now, since we all sin and many times we do it knowingly but are incapable (at least, for the moment) to overcome it, we can repent of that sin and ask forgiveness through Yeshua ha Maschiach (Jesus Christ). If we repent and ask forgiveness through Yeshua, we will be forgiven.

Yes, even though we did sin on purpose, we can still be saved and in God’s presence when we are resurrected IF we repent, try not to sin, and (even when we fail) ask forgiveness for our sin through Yeshua. How can I be sure of this? I am sure because in Matthew 5:19 Yeshua says that even those who sin and teach others to sin will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. So, here is clear evidence that sinners will be allowed into heaven, even if they teach others to sin.

How can that be? Well, the answer (as I see it) falls under the other way we sin, which is doing so accidentally. Or, in many cases, ignorantly.

There are many, many people I have come across in the past quarter-century since I came to accept Yeshua as my Messiah who sin, violating God’s commandments about the Holy Days, about Kashrut (Kosher), the Shabbat (Sabbath), and many other “lesser’ commandments found in the Torah, yet they believe that they are worshiping God as they should. They have been taught to commit these sins by their religious leaders, family, and friends, who they, themselves, have been taught this by their religious leaders, family, and friends, and this goes all the way back to the end of the First Century.

These people are sinning against God, but they think they are worshiping him as he desires. It’s the epitome of the situation where the blind are leading the blind.

Because they are totally ignorant of this sin, they do not repent of it and that is a problem, but I believe that this falls under the category Yeshua was talking about in Matthew.

True, they are sinning, and true, they do not repent, but it is also true that this is accidental on their part, and although they are guilty, if they ask forgiveness of their sins, the ones they know and the ones they don’t know, then they can be forgiven.

God tells us in Leviticus 5:17:

“If someone sins by doing something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty, even if he is unaware of it; and he bears the consequences of his wrongdoing.

This is also confirmed in John 9:41, where Yeshua tells the Pharisees that if they were ignorant of the law, they would not be guilty, but since they know it, they are guilty. And in James 4:17 we are told that anyone who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it is committing a sin.

There seems to be a fine line between purposeful and accidental/ignorant commission of a sin, and I think what separates one from the other is repenting of it when you find out.

For instance: if someone is raised Christian and told they are not obligated to celebrate a Saturday sabbath, that they can eat pork and shellfish, and do not have to celebrate those “Jewish” holy days, they are sinning but they are, for the most part, ignorant of those sins because they have been mistaught what the Gospels and Epistles in the New Covenant really mean. As such, they will be forgiven if they repent and ask forgiveness, once they actually are made aware of these sins. And, in my opinion, they must also try to overcome what they have been taught. If they cannot overcome their sins, but repent, feel sorrowful at their weakness, and constantly ask God to forgive them and help them to overcome these weaknesses, I believe from what I have read in the Bible and personal experience that God is not just willing to forgive but will forgive because he desires to forgive them, understanding our human weaknesses.

On the other hand, if someone knows they are sinning and just doesn’t care, or (as many people do) rationalize their sinfulness by saying health codes make food safe, or they were born this way so it means God is OK with them like this, or any other kind of rationalization (I have even heard people say that God is wrong!), well that isn’t going to be of any use to them at Judgement Day.

The way I handle this situation is to ask for forgiveness of my sins, those I know I committed and especially those I don’t know I committed, and through his Ruach HaKadosh (Holy Spirit) to recognize sin before I do it and strengthen me to be able to overcome it. This is part of my daily prayer, and I recommend it.

Remember this: most everyone you will ever meet who tells you what God means is telling you what someone else told them God means, so you can choose to trust people, or read for yourself what God really said and ask him to show you what he wants from you.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know, subscribe to my ministry here on my website (messianicmoment.com) and on my YouTube channel, and check out my books. Buy a hundred or so and distribute them where you worship.

I’m done for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

I bet some of you are expecting me to talk about the Akidah, Genesis 22 (the Binding of Isaac) because that is the traditional reading for Rosh HaShanah. Other traditions are the eating of sweets, such as apples with honey and carrot tzimmes. We stay away from nuts because the value of the letters used for the Hebrew word for nuts, אגוז (egotz) adds up to the same number that you get from the Hebrew word for sin (חטה), so we don’t want to begin the new year with any association, even a numerological one, to sin.

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

As for me, we had neighbors over for a Labor Day celebration, which was also a Rosh HaShannah celebration, so we did the traditional Labor Day barbecue of burgers and hot dogs (Hebrew National, of course), and for dessert, I made a Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting. כל טעים מאוד!! (everything was very tasty). The reason for the carrot cake was to incorporate carrots into the menu; actually, I really wanted to try that recipe and this was the perfect opportunity because there is a tradition that comes from Ashkenazi Jews. They dubbed carrots “mehren” which sounds much like “merin”, the word for prosperity. So having a carrot dish of some sort at Rosh HaShannah symbolizes prosperity for the coming year.

So, having shared a little of my personal life with you, let’s get to the spiritual stuff.

Because this is the beginning of the Jewish civil new year (the spiritual one begins on the first of Aviv), and the last thing we want to start this new year with is sin, I thought we’d go against the grain and talk a little about sin.

Here’s the low-down on sin: there is only one sin. There are many different kinds of sin, but when it comes down to it there is only one sin, and that is the sin we commit against God.

King David knew this. After he committed a few really bad sins, some of which were on the Top Ten List, when he was forced to be faced with these sins by Nathan the prophet, he confessed and asked God for forgiveness.

Now, in case you haven’t counted them, let’s see what old Davie did (2 Samuel 11):

1. He coveted his neighbors wife, Bat-Sheba;
2. He committed adultery with her;
3. He lied about it (by not telling Uriyah, who was her husband and a trusted friend);
4. He tried to cover it up by getting Uriyah drunk, hoping he would sleep with his wife;
5. When that failed, he committed murder by having Joab place Uriyah where he was sure to be killed;
6. He implicated Joab to commit murder, forcing him to also have the man’s blood on his hands.

And after doing all these sins, not to mention being the reason for the death of all those other men who didn’t have to die in order to make sure Uriyah was killed, after all this when David confessed his sin to God in Psalm 51:4, what did he say to God? He said:

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil from your perspective; so that you are right in accusing me
and justified in passing sentence.

Whoa! Wait a minute here…what about Bat Sheba, Uriyah, Joab, and the men that died with Uriyah. Didn’t he sin against them too?

Of course, he did, but sin is first and foremost against God. When we do what God says we should not do or do not do what God says we should (that’s the one most Christians are guilty of), that is a sin against God.

If anyone else is involved, well, it’s certainly a sin against them, too, but in reality? – they’re not the ones we need to be forgiven by. They can’t condemn us to hell, but God can, so when you sin, you sin against God, and your first and most important confession and apology must be to God.

You also should apologize to the ones that you sinned against, ask their forgiveness, but that forgiveness is only between you and them. Whether or not they choose to forgive you, that is between them and God.

It is ALWAYS first between us and God, then between us and them. And, for the record, we are not told we must be forgiven by other people, but we are told that we must forgive other people.

And bringing this back to Rosh HaShannah, for a moment, one of the traditional actions we take is called tashlik. This is when we go to a stream or river, some moving water, and throw bread or rocks into it, asking that our sins be taken as far away from us as these items are, to sink and never return. This is also accompanied by going to anyone we think we may have sinned against or upset in any way, and ask for their forgiveness. Sort of like starting the new year with a clean slate. You may recognize this from Matthew 5:23-24; after all, where do you think Yeshua got this from?

The Bible defines all the different types of sin that exist, but no matter which one of the many types of sin you commit, it is always just the one sin: the sin against God. Confess it, repent of it, and then ask forgiveness through Yeshua the Messiah.

That covers you with God, then go and do the same with any and all the people that are affected by this sin.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe to my YouTube channel and this website, like my Facebook page and share these messages with everyone you know to help this ministry keep growing. You might like to check out my books, as well.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and לשנה טובה!! (For a good year!)

I am still in the book of Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) and reading about the prophecies God told Jeremiah to relate to the people. There is a constant theme in these prophecies, which we see throughout the Tanakh, regarding God’s threat to punish Israel (Northern and Southern kingdoms) if they fail to repent, and it is composed of three horrors:

• sword
• famine
• plague

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

These were the most horrible things that could happen to the people in those days, and I believe that these punishments will still be coming to us, but not necessarily in the same way they did back then.

As I have been posting since November of 2020, I believe the current administration is part of the punishment America is going to suffer for the sinfulness of our nation over the past (nearly) 70 years.

During this time period, we have constantly rejected God: first by kicking him out of our schools, then our courts, condoning abortion (which is tantamount to child sacrifice), and condoning homosexuality not just as a normal part of our society, but as a good thing, encouraging children who haven’t even developed hormones to mutilate themselves with sex-change operations! Drag Queens reading to little children, the church hiding sexual molestation by the priesthood, and evangelists being found guilty of extortion, sexual misdeeds, etc.

When God punished the ancient Israelites, he sent the sword, which was in the form of the Philistines, Assyrians, and Babylonians, not to mention Pharaoh, now and then. He also withheld the rains and caused a famine. The sieges that the “sword” brought, along with the famine, led to death, and with no place to bury the bodies that eventually caused pestilence, disease, and that led to plague.

“So, nu? That’s how God punished sinful nations way back then, so what does this have to do with us now?”

Plenty!

Haven’t we been suffering from a worldwide pandemic? People have been suffering and dying from a virus that has been barely contained, even though it has been around for over 18 months. Wouldn’t you call that a plague?

“Well, OK, there’s a plague, but what about famine? There’s no famine here.”

Isn’t there? What is a famine? Isn’t it a severe lack of something, usually something necessary? In the ancient days, they were an agrarian society, so the famine they suffered was the loss of their crops, which represented more than just a lack of food- it meant financial ruin. Well, right now don’t we have a business famine? Hasn’t the financial strength of America been devastated by this pandemic? Don’t we have a famine of workers?

In the past 7 months, Donna and I have traveled to a few different places just here in Florida, and everywhere we have been, there are Help Wanted signs all over. And where are the workers? They are at home enjoying government handouts that will, sooner or later, need to be financed. And where will that financing come from? Heck, the government can print as much money as it wants to, but anyone with even a basic understanding of economics will realize that the more money in circulation, the less value it has. That is called a recession.

Trillions of dollars have been given to people who aren’t working, which means employers aren’t collecting taxes to support the new cash outlay. And with lockdowns and reduced capacity requirements, as well as the fear the media and government have created, no one is going out to buy anything, which means reduced tax income for the government.

Sooner or later, taxes will be required to pay for this deficit, and that’s when the fecal matter will hit the air circulation unit for all Americans!

“OK, OK, so I get it- famine and plague, but there’s no sword. America is still the most powerful country in the world.”

Are we?

According to the report titled State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2020 (https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20201/u-s-and-global-education#k-12-mathematics-and-science), the US standing (measured against 8th-grade students worldwide) in science and math is 7th in the world.

For Science and Engineering degrees issued between 2000 and 2016, the US barely made any progress, whereas the number of S&E degrees issued in China has nearly doubled over the past 10 years.

As far as technology, cybersecurity, agrarian science, and medical advancements, Israel is a recognized world leader, leaving America in its dust!

The “sword” today is not some warring country, it is education and technology! Cyberattacks, such as hacking into banks, the stealing of military secrets, and even interfering with a country’s elections- THAT’S the sword being brought against us today!

You don’t have to tie torches to foxes’ tails and release them into the fields anymore (that’s from Samson, in case you forgot): No! All you have to do today is start a rumor about a computer virus and the world comes to a halt.

We shouldn’t worry about a military attack because we can be destroyed from the inside-out through the “Cloud”.

And it is happening, right now.

So, do you see what I mean? God hasn’t changed his tactics, just his methods. America, as well as other countries, is being punished for our rejection of God and refusal to adhere to his codes of ethics and social interactions. We have become as sexually perverse, as selfish, as godless, and as sinful as the worst societies we read about in the Bible.

And the other shoe hasn’t even dropped yet.

So, what can we do? Well, I for one don’t see things changing for a while, so my recommendation is to make sure that YOU are right with God. You will get dirty, just as the righteous in the ancient days suffered along with the unrighteous, but God promised those who remained faithful that they will survive.

And we can always look forward to being in God’s presence, forever, when this is all over.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages, subscribe to this ministry on this website and my YouTube channel, as well (the link is above), like my Facebook page, and check out the books I have written.

That’s it for today and hopefully, I will be able to give a more “upbeat” message next time. But, when it comes down to it, I calls ’em as I sees ’em.

L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Did you ever think how unfair it seems that the entire nation of Israel was punished for the sins of its leadership?

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

In the Northern Kingdom of Shomron, the evil kings were certainly bringing the nation into a sinful lifestyle, but we know there were at least 7,000 who didn’t follow that religious debauchery (1 Kings 19:18), and when the punishment came, although God ensured that they would survive it, they still had to go through it.

Those kings of Israel (the Northern Kingdom after the split under Rehoboam) took it upon themselves to choose their king. Well, not really choose one, but the kings that they had were the ones who took power. The exceptions were Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:29) and Jehu (1 Kings 9), both of whom were chosen by God to be king. The other kings were either a son of the existing king or usurpers.

In Judea, however, those kings were always the son of the previous king, although once or twice a queen took charge, but that never lasted too long. The son of the original king eventually was anointed and placed in his proper position.

So, when God ran the show, the leadership of the people was not their choice, but his. And even so, there were poor leaders who brought the nation into sin.

And because of that, the nation and everyone in it suffered, both the unrighteous and the righteous.

So, nu? What’s my point?

My point is that we have the power to choose our own leaders, but what kind of choices have we made? The leaders we have chosen over the past 4 or 5 decades have resulted in God being kicked out of the schools, the courts, and child sacrifice is not just condoned, but funded by the government (http://www.messianicmoment.com/abortion-is-more-than-just-murder/). The rejection of God and his ways have brought this nation into sin and I believe we are past the time when repentance will do any good.

Despite the merciful and forgiving nature of God, he is still just and holy, and even though he is always willing to forgive, at some point he is no longer able to forgive. What I am saying is this: God will abide by his rules, always, so when we are unrepentantly sinful, and stay that way long enough, even though God is willing to forgive us he MUST punish us for those sins we have committed. He cannot just allow evil to go unpunished, and he tells us that throughout the Tanakh.

Remember that forgiveness of sin is a spiritual event, not a physical one, which means that even though we can be forgiven of our sins, there are always consequences of sin in the real world. We may be able to spend eternity in God’s presence because we have Yeshua, but while we are alive, in this plane of existence, there will always be unpleasant consequences we will suffer, as well as others, as the result of our sins.

America may one day be back in God’s good graces, but right now that ain’t the case. I feel like Jeremiah, telling the people that there is no way to escape punishment, and all the vaccines and face masks in the world won’t stop the pandemic because this is part of God’s punishment. Look at what has happened: our economy has tanked, our morale has tanked, children are not receiving the educational benefits that this country has provided, people paying taxes for schools that sit empty, the cost of living increases, people don’t have jobs and businesses are suffering because they can’t find people, or can’t allow enough people in their stores to break even.

There has been rioting in the streets, racial tensions are at an all-time high, and the current administration, who we chose, is supporting and helping the enemies of America.

We have the power to change our leadership, to repent of the ones we have elected to lead us, but do we? I see so many postings about impeach, and set term limits, etc., all of which seem valid and necessary, but that is all I see- words!

We are past words, and it seems that wanting doesn’t get anything, and the ones who want change aren’t making it happen. Am I suggesting that we rise up in rebellion? Yes, but legally. We need to have leaders rise up from the populace and organize petitions that will force our representatives in the Congress and Senate to enact these measures.

I am not the one to do it- but there are people qualified and able to do it, and we need them. So pray that God will raise them up: encourage, protect, and fortify them to do what needs to be done.

Or, better yet, pray for the return of Messiah Yeshua ASAP / STAT/ PDQ … NOW! We need God-provided leadership to bring this nation back into alliance with God, instead of alliance with the enemies of God.

We are in bad shape here in America, and we deserve to be punished; our nation has rejected God and done things that are horrible in his eyes. And trust me, punishment is not just coming, but here. This pandemic is the start. Think of the ways God has said he will punish those who reject him, then look at what our nation has become, socially, financially, and healthwise. We currently have a breakdown within the nuclear family (ask your kids if they agree, that is, if you can get them to put their phones down), we are suffering financial difficulties, we are in the midst of a pandemic that has lasted more than 18 months! How can this be? With all our modern technology, how can a virus devastate a country for so long?

Maybe it’s because the leadership of this country isn’t handling it correctly? Or, worse yet, maybe they are handling it just the way they planned to?

Enough rambling, there is not much we can do without proper leadership, and I am just as guilty as everyone else I mentioned who spouts off about how bad it is but doesn’t do anything about it. I really don’t think we can fix this until it runs its course, and God has finished doling out the punishment we deserve. That may sound fatalistic, but there is a thin line between fatalism and accepting what we deserve.

Thank you for being here and please, if you think this message has merit, share it with others. I always welcome your comments.

I’ll get off the soapbox now: l’hitraot and Baruch Hashem!

Well, did you miss me? Did anyone even notice that I was gone for 10 days? There is something that Donna and I love to do when we need to get away, but we haven’t been able to do it for over 18 months. And what that is is to go on a cruise.

We were on the Norwegian cruise lines ship Gem, and all last week we were in Central America, relaxing, enjoying unlimited good food and drink, and catching up on doing nothing.

I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

So, that being said, now let’s to work!

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

While reading Jeremiah last week (I may vacation from everything else, but never from the Bible) I came to Chapter 7, verses 28-29:

Therefore, say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of ADONAI their
God. They won’t take correction; faithfulness has perished; it has vanished from their
mouths.  Cut off your hair, and throw it away, take up a lament on the bare hills, for
ADONAI has rejected and abandoned the generation that rouses his anger.‘

Immediately I thought of America. We have rejected God from the courts, we have refused to allow prayer to him by our children when they are gathered together in school. And I am not talking about forcing it on anyone, but rather simply allowing it by those who wish to. If someone doesn’t want to pray, then they don’t have to, but despite what the SCOTUS has stated, they have no right to keep others from doing it!

We have professional athletes, representing America in foreign lands, who show disrespect to our national anthem, and what do we do about it? We make them spokespeople for products we sell!

We have professional athletes here at home who show the same disrespect for our country. And what do we do about it? We sit back and watch it, then cheer them to victory.

And now, the President of the United States has allowed the Taliban to take possession of billions of dollars of American cash and military equipment, which includes secret technology, and he wants us to congratulate him! Did he save American lives…really? I have no doubt that the Taliban will the equipment they now have, thanks to President Biden, against Americans anywhere they can. And more than that: I will bet you dollars to donuts that there will be thousands of Afghanistan, Middle Eastern, and especially Israeli people who will suffer and die in the future by this American technology.

I am thinking of the first Iron Man movie when Tony Stark realizes that the weapons he designed to save American lives are being used to kill Americans, as well as the innocent townspeople. Now, thanks to our President, in the real world American technology, which we have always wanted to keep out of the hands of terrorists, has been freely given to them.

I am a military man, a former First Lieutenant in the Marine Corps, and I can tell you that if I was ordered to leave equipment behind, I would have destroyed it before allowing the enemy to have it.

President Biden’s previous Boss, President Obama, gave millions of dollars to Iran before he left office and now his protégé is doing the same sort of thing, financing and equipping terrorists that want nothing more than to destroy Israel.

The Democratic Party, which has always had a lot of Jews as members, mow seems to hate Jews. The Democratic Presidents that have come after Jimmy Carter have done nothing to help Israel, despite lip-service to the contrary. They say they are friends of Israel, but they don’t do anything for Israel. And now, between Obama and Biden, they have not only financed those people whose one purpose in life is to totally destroy Israel and all Jews, everywhere, but they have given them the equipment to do it! Why is the Democratic Party helping the enemies of Israel?

Maybe we should rename it the Demoncratic Party?

Messianic Moment is a ministry and not a political forum, but at some point, I must speak out against the ungodly and anti-Semitic actions that are taking place. And I am embarrassed at our government, at our professional sports affiliates, and at our youth, who want to ignore and remove evidence of events in our history that they don’t like.

The most dangerous, because it is the most effective, weapon that the Enemy of God, haSatan, has at his total disposal is the Media, both news AND social. Through social media “fact-checkers”, who (in truth) are fact-deniers and the liberal news media, people are being fed lies and misinformation, which they soak up like a sponge.

As I have written on the bottom of my Home Page, Hosea 4:6 states that we are destroyed for lack of knowledge. It isn’t just a lack of knowledge about God, but also about what is happening in the world, and that is a fatal combination of ignorance.

I was talking with a friend yesterday who actually bragged about his atheism, and that he knows this is all there is ever going to be, and all I could say was that he will be saddened when he finds out that he is wrong. I feel so sorry for those people, people who ignore God, and I also feel sorry for President Biden, VP Harris, Ms. Pelosi, et.al., who have been given the trust and responsibility to protect American lives and interests but have for decades misused that trust for their own desires. I doubt they will ever have to face up to what they have done in this life, but they WILL have to face God, and as terrible as the things they have done or will do in the future, it won’t be anywhere near as terrible as what they will have to endure for all eternity.

One last thing from Jeremiah to talk about, and this is now with regards to the traditional Christian teachings that deny the Torah. It is from Jeremiah 8:8-9 where God says:

How can you say, “We are wise; Adonai’s Torah is with us,” when in fact the lying pen of the
scribes has turned it into falsehood? The wise are put to shame, alarmed, entrapped. They
have rejected the word of Adonai, so what wisdom do they have?

The Christian doctrines, tenets, holidays, valuing what Shaul says over what God said, as well as the Jewish people giving the Talmudic Halacha (Way to Walk) precedence over the Torah by adding many unnecessary rituals and restrictions, are all (to me) the lying pen of the scribes. People have taken what God said and turned it inside-out and upside-down to meet their own desires.

And everything we have talked about today is why America has lost the blessings of God. We are past the time for repentance, we are past the ability to act on God’s warnings because we have come to the time for punishment.

The government we have now is part of God’s punishment of this country, and God will not relent from his righteous anger. Jeremiah and I have one thing in common: we both know that the land we love and the people in it are destined to suffer.

But there is always hope: we can look forward to peace after this time of punishment. That is when God will regather all his children, Jewish and Gentile alike, all those who have listened to his word and lived in accordance with what HE said, and not what some person said, and bring us into his presence, forever.

But that won’t happen until the punishment has been given, so hold on to your faith because the fecal matter is about to hit the air circulation unit.

Sorry for such a downer message, but that’s what I feel is needed to be said at this time. If you agree, then please share this message with everyone you know, and also (if you haven’t done so yet) please subscribe to this ministry on the webpage and my YouTube channel (link above) so you will be able to get notified when I post (don’t forget to set notifications).

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

Every morning when I take my daily meds, which is always proceeded by my thanking God for these meds and that they work for me and Donna, a thought came to mind…if God knows what I am thinking and he knows the gratitude in my heart, why am I thanking him? I mean, he already knows this so why be redundant?

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

I thought also of when Yeshua told us to invoke his name when we ask for something so that he will make sure we get it, but that is the same thing. We are told in the Gospels that Yeshua knew (by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh) what the people were thinking, so to ask in his name is also somewhat unnecessary, right? God knows our minds and what we are thinking, so why even ask in Yeshua’s name when God knows that’s what we mean?

Then it hit me: the reason we need to pray is that relationships are strengthened by communication, and the more we talk with someone the stronger our relationship becomes. With God, it is mostly one-way communication, but we can still, now and then, receive a response, either verbally or that still, small voice we hear in the back of our head.

Personally, I never trust myself to know the difference between hearing from God or just telling myself what I want to hear, and so, for me, when that little voice tells me something that I really find difficult, or that is not really what I was hoping to hear, then I can be pretty certain it is from God.

For example, I once asked God (and still do) to excise any lustful or sexually questionable thoughts from my head when I see an attractive woman. That being my prayer, I waited for it to happen. After all, I asked in Yeshua’s name so when will it be?

Don’t get the wrong idea- I am not a pervert or a lustful man, really; it’s just that I have been raised in this country
where everything we see growing up on TV or hear on the radio is aimed at sexuality. This is terrible conditioning
that we all grew up with that makes us see nearly everything as some sort of sexual object.

Over time, even with constant prayer, there was no change; then, suddenly one day as I asked, again, for the umpteenth time, I heard this little voice in the back of my head saying, “It doesn’t work that way.”

“Huh? Whaddaya mean, it doesn’t work that way?!? I asked and I even asked in Yeshua’s name, so what’s the problem?”

The problem was, at least for me, that even though I trusted that God can rewire my brain, if he did that I would never be able to strengthen my spiritual muscles and withstand the temptations that the Enemy will throw my way, In other words, the answer to my prayer was not just doing it for me, but showing me that I had to practice self-control. And asking God to do it all for me isn’t going to help me, at all. I need to use the Holy Spirit to guide me to control my own desires and thoughts, as best as I can.

This doesn’t mean that God will not, or hasn’t in the past, done exactly what I asked for myself: to totally rewire someone’s head. But that doesn’t help anyone, really, in the long run. Although he did do for Charlton Heston in the movie “Exodus”, and I know if he wanted to, he could do it to me, too.

But as he told me, it doesn’t work that way.

So I continue to pray, which confirms our relationship and strengthens my trust and devotion to God. Praying is how God and I keep in touch, it is how we share our emotions in a way that I can hear and feel and know that God is listening. And I know he is because he so often lets me know.

Have you ever been praying and felt a chill go throughout your body? You’re not in a draft, and it may even be hot outside but you feel this shiver, this touch all over, and you begin to tear up because you know it is God letting you know he is there with you.

I have felt that many times, but not so much lately. I know it’s not because of anything of God’s doing, but my own, and I need to pray more earnestly and openly. I also know that one day, without warning, God will touch me through his spirit again, and I constantly look forward to when that will happen.

I know he guides me by the Ruach because there are so many times I realize how stupid I am acting, or (more constructively) by knowing that what I want to say is not to be said, and (believe it or not!) most of the time now, I actually don’t say it.

When I do or say something that is right, I know it is God working through me; when I totally screw up, then I can take full credit.

So pray constantly, earnestly, honestly, and ask for whatever you believe you need. Know, also, that God already knows what you want, he knows (better than you) what you need, and he WILL answer your prayer, one way or another, sooner or later, and always with exactly what you really need and just when you need it.

Prayer is our way of maintaining and strengthening our relationship with God, so as Shaul recommended, pray constantly.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, share these messages, and check out my books (I have written one about prayer.)

And remember that I always welcome your comments, here and on my Facebook discussion group called “Just God’s Word”.

I will be taking a vacation for the next 10 days, and will not be back with you again until later this month.

Until the next time, then, l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

That’s right- I got nuttin’ today.

However, as a man of the cloth, so to speak, if I just start jabbering away, something will come to me.

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

So should we talk about the current condition of the world?

The moral compass of our government seems to be pointing in the wrong direction, society is in such a severe case of division that we are almost in a de facto Civil War, and we are all being led down the path of fear.

I am not in any way reducing the impact of COVID or the importance of being careful, but for the love of Pete! Enough already, right?

As far as I am concerned, we should get back to normal, and let this thing run its course. I mean, are we even still in a “pandemic” situation? There are percentages that identify a pandemic, and with almost half the population inoculated, is it still a pandemic? Or has it been downgraded to an epidemic?

Maybe it’s now just a contagious disease that is hanging around? Like the “regular” flu or when we say there is a “bad bug” going around?

In any case, Donna and I have finally been able to get passage on a cruise ship and we leave from Miami this Sunday for a week. We are on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship, the Gem. It is a 7 day Caribbean cruise; that is where we normally go every February to celebrate our anniversary. Of course, we haven’t been able to cruise anywhere since February 2019!

NCL requires vaccination proof (which I got ONLY so I could take the cruise) but now, with this sudden revamping of the fear, they changed their policy to have to wear masks (which they didn’t require a week ago!) in some enclosed places.

We are living in an environment of fear.

Anyway, this is a ministry and not a forum for political debate or comment, so let’s bring this down a bit, and get God back in here.

Fear is what the Enemy uses to control us and to lure us away from God. When we trust in God, we know that tsouris will happen and we will be in a bad place regularly- that is how it is when you live in the world. But that doesn’t mean we have to be afraid- we can be cautious, we can be careful, and we certainly should watch our steps all the time, but being afraid is wrong.

Being afraid is showing a lack of trust in God. Look at it this way: even if something happens that is terrible- even if you are killed- if you know the Lord then what is so bad? You will no longer be suffering the idiots in the world, the stupid TV commercials, the weather, the political situation, or even a headache. You will be resting until the final judgment, and then you will be experiencing the total joy and peace of being in the presence of the Lord, forever.

In Philippians 1:21, Shaul said that to live is for Messiah and to die is gain. Living in this fallen and cursed world is not really a lot of fun, but it is necessary. However, no matter what happens, so long as we continue to trust in God, it will turn out for the good. C’mon, remember this…the worst thing anyone on this planet can do to you is to kill you, and that means being in the presence of the Lord, so what’s the problem, right?

I really wish I could go to some island, somewhere, and be away from all the mishigas, but I can’t. So what is left? Dealing with it by remaining faithful to God, doing what I know to be right, putting up with all the stupidity and waiting, (again) faithfully until we are past it all.

My friends, nothing mortal lasts forever, and even if this current state of affairs goes on for years, it will be over and done with, eventually. Trust in God, be patient, stick to what you know to be right, and still respect the right of others to do what they think is right for them, and it will all turn out OK.

And if you don’t believe me, believe history- nothing of this world, good or bad, has ever lasted very long. But God has always been there, is there now, and always will be there for you and me.

Thank you for being here and thank everyone who has subscribed to my YouTube channel recently. Please continue to share these messages (or ramblings, as I’ve done today) to help this ministry grow. Comments are welcomed, but please, even though I did open the topic, don’t make this a political forum.

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