(I am at the dealership this morning getting work done on my car so there will be no video for today’s message. )

I am going to be talking to you, but about me.

I have this problem with food: I don’t eat “bad”, really, and I don’t have a weight problem, but I do like to eat and I am heavier than I should be. The real problem is that when I overeat, I enjoy that feeling more than when I eat the correct portion and do what I know to be right.

So what, right? I mean, there are a lot worse sins to commit than a little food indulgence. And you’re right, but the question I want to drash about for today’s message is why, at any level, does it seem to be that when we do what is wrong it “feels” better than the sense of accomplishment we get when we do what is right?

Now, maybe I am making an improper assumption because I believe that everyone reading this has had a similar experience. Maybe I am not the case, but the exception, when I confess that more times than not, when I do what is not right (to some degree) I get more emotional and/or physical satisfaction than when I do the right thing.

This isn’t always the case. I carry MRE’s (ready to eat meals, the ones used by the military) in my car so when I am at a stop light and there is a (supposedly) homeless person there, I offer them a meal. I feel really good when I do that, both emotionally and spiritually.

On the other hand, when I overeat I know I have done something wrong because I haven’t shown the proper self-control, which we will all need to have when the End Days come. I need to be able to control my emotional desires, and when I eat to a point past full, well into satiety, I know I really shouldn’t have.

But, Oy! That feeling of a full stomach is, well, pardon the expression…heavenly.

There are also times I get angry and channel my Marine Corps vocabulary, and even though I know I shouldn’t do that, it just feels so good to let it out.

Do you also have similar experiences? Do you also do things that make you feel good but you know are wrong?

I suppose that’s why throughout the Tanakh we are told that no one is good and all sin. Iniquity was found even in the most beautiful of angels (yes, I am talking about the Father of all Lies, that old devil, himself, HaSatan.) And, for the record, iniquity isn’t sin- it is the desire to sin.

God told Cain that sin crouches at his door and he must master it, so is there an extra large portion of french fries in the kitchen with my name on them? If I eat the giant hoagie instead of the medium sized one, is that sinful? Not necessarily, but lack of self-control is the foundation upon which sin is built.

So what is the answer? It is simple: when we realize and accept that feeling good when you do wrong is the natural order of things, that understanding of why we do it will help us to develop the level of self-control which will eventually allow us to overcome sin. Never all of it, but a little more, each day.

We are sinners from the moment we exit the womb, and only with the help of God through his Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) can we overcome sin. If you are going to say that sin was overcome with the sacrifice of the Messiah, Yeshua, you are wrong. His sacrifice did not overcome sin- it gave us the opportunity to be forgiven of the sin we commit. The only one who can overcome sin is you. We are totally responsible for what we do and say, and therefor we are the ones who must develop the self-control to keep ourselves from doing that which we know to be wrong.

Any thing that is not right in the eyes of the Lord is something that will, probably, feel good in our flesh.

The good news is that even if it feels good in your flesh, when it feels bad in your spirit, you are on the right track. You need to work on that spiritual feeling, and remind yourself (as I do, constantly) that it is better to feel spiritually good than it is to feel physically satisfied. The physical is only for the here and now, which is nothing more than a mist, and is over faster than the blink of an eye, but that spiritual feel-good feeling will last throughout eternity.

So, as we are told in the Bible (Hebrews 12:2), we must keep our eyes on Yeshua, meaning to maintain an attitude of righteousness and run the good race. That means, in plain language, even if it feels better to do wrong, it is still wrong and we must call upon the Holy Spirit to strengthen us to overcome the innate desire to do what feels good but is not good to do.

I pray for forgiveness every day, in Yeshua’s name (of course!), and also for the strength to see and conquer sin before I do it. I confess it doesn’t always work out that way, but as I said, so long as we feel, in our spirit, that we need to do better, then we are walking the proper path, and we ARE keeping our eyes on Yeshua. Do not let the Enemy fool you into thinking that it is a waste, and what feels good must be good- that is the lie that leads to death.

The truth is that what feels good in the body is more likely bad for the spirit, and when we realize this and take it to heart, we will improve.

As I often say, and will end with today:

We can never be sinless, but we can always sin less.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, check out my books, and I always welcome your comments.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

In the last couple of decades, our government has declared that it supports child sacrifice, which we call abortion, something that God not only says he hates but something that never even entered his mind (Lev. 18:21; Deut. 18:10; Jer. 7:31, just to name a few places where God said that.)

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In the last couple of decades, our government declared that the 10 Commandments have no place in our judicial system.

In the last couple of decades, our government has made it legal and supports the growing homosexual movement, which includes transgender operations. What is worse is that now there are members of the government, including a candidate for the Presidency, who openly state they will support a pre-pubescent child’s desire to have a transgender operation performed!

In the last couple of decades, our government has declared that God has no place in our school system.

Today, some of our state governors are supporting rioting, looting and murder within their cities, even releasing from jail those who have committed these crimes but imprisoning people who are trying to make a living by giving haircuts. And all the while trying to reduce their police force, which can only result in less protection for their citizens, the very people who elected them, trusting that their leaders would protect them.

Currently, using a virus scare as an excuse, we aren’t even allowed to go to our house of worship to honor God.

Homosexuality, child sacrifice, sexual deviancy, and anarchy are not just being condoned, but supported and funded by the government.

We, the United States of America, have removed God from our country.

So the question is: how much longer will God allow this?

We know from reading the Bible that God is a patient and compassionate God, understanding our weaknesses and he is not just willing to forgive, but God desires to do so (Ezekiel 18.) Because of his great compassion, when evil controls his people (as it is doing today) he doesn’t allow it because he can’t do anything about it, he allows it to continue so we have a chance to repent before he does something about it.

He allowed the Northern kingdom (Shomron, also called Israel) to be sinful from the moment it was formed under Yarovam, the son of N’vat, for many generations until he finally had to act.

He allowed the Southern Kingdom, called Judea, to sin until the sins of King Manasseh were too great to ignore anymore, his rulership being so evil and sinful that God could no longer hold back his punishment (2 Kings 21:1-18.)

So, again, I ask (in light of all that America has done in the past 60 years or so): is God still with us? I believe this upcoming election will provide the answer.

I do not like having politics in my messages, as those of you who are followers will attest, but right now it isn’t really politics anymore: for anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear, we are in the battle between godly and satanic.

We have on one hand a president who has been a friend to Israel, tried to keep God in his speeches, tried to protect his people from foreign influences and attacks, and tried to help his people have a better life by giving them the opportunity to become self-reliant.

On the other hand, we have a political party that has done nothing but tried to stop the president from doing these things; a party that endorses child sacrifice, homosexuality, transgenderism, has removed God from our courts and schools, denies us to right to worship together, and is offering as our leaders, those who represent America, a man who has been in office for 47 years and done nothing, and a woman who has slept her way to power and openly declared that anyone who doesn’t vote for her, when she wins will be punished.

If this ain’t God verse Satan, I don’t know what is.

That is why I believe this election is going to be a watermark in American history. Not just because of the polarization we have within our country, but because it will place in power either a godly agenda, or a satanic agenda.

If the Democrats win, that will be the sign (for me) that this country is in the same place that Judea was after the kingship of Manasseh: there will be no more time for repentance.

You may say “But God never runs out of patience!”, and you’re right, he has unlimited patience, but his patience doesn’t overrule his holiness and his holiness demands that he make good on his promises. And God has promised, first to Abraham, then the other Patriarchs, to David, Solomon, and the rest of the kings he appointed over his people, that if they reject him, he will reject them.

And God always keeps his promises.

The US of A has rejected God for a while now, and this election will show us whether or not we have finally crossed the line and passed the point of no return, which is when repentence is no longer available and all that is left is judgment.

I am voting for what I believe is right in God’s eyes, as I always have. In past elections, where I didn’t see either side as godly, I abstained, which is a vote in and of itself: it is a vote for neither. If you don’t like Trump or Biden, then I would ask you to please abstain. I believe it is better to not vote than to vote for evil, for if you do then you have sinned on two levels: you have supported evil, which is a rejection of God, and if you vote for Biden just to not vote for Trump, you have hated in your heart, which is murder.

It’s also childishly spiteful and an insult to those who have fought and died so you can choose who to vote for.

I am anxious, in every meaning of that word, to see what happens in the next few weeks, because this election will tell us if we still have a chance for survival, or if we are in the same boat with Manasseh.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, share these messages with everyone you know, check out my books, and when you vote, please don’t vote for or against a person but vote for an agenda; hopefully, one that is right in God’s eyes.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Tonight begins Sukkot, the third pilgrimage festival and the last High Holy Day for this year.

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The traditional reading on the first day of Sukkot is Zachariah 14:1-21. This passage talks of a terrible future, when the whole world comes against Jerusalem. Even Judah will fight against the Holy City! At that time there won’t be night or day, and there will be a terrible plague sent by God against all those who come against Jerusalem. At the end of it all, whoever survives will go to Jerusalem for the festival of Sukkot, and anyone refusing to come will not receive rain.

Wow! Talk about your scary End Times prophecy!

We could say that much of what is supposed to happen is already happening. The whole world, pretty much, is against Israel, even within the United States, despite the current administration’s support. And what about that prophecy of Judah coming against Jerusalem? How could anyone think that a tribe of Israel would fight against their own Holy City?

Yet that is happening, today. There are many Jewish members of the Democratic Party who support their party, which has constantly come out against Jerusalem and Israel. There are Congress members, such as Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and even Bernie Sanders (a JEW!) who have been very vocal about their hatred of Israel and Jews.

These people also support abortion up to the 9th month, which should be, in anyone’s book, murder. Remember what God said about child sacrifice? Think about it!

Sukkot is a joyous festival, memorializing how God took care of his people while they traveled in the desert for some 40 years, which is why we build and (should) live in a Sukkah for the entire week. Most people today who do build a Sukkah will eat one or more meals in it and often allow the children to sleep in it.

On the 8th day, the day after Sukkot is over, we celebrate Simchat Torah (Joy of Torah), also called Shemini Atzeret (the 8th Day) which is the end of the annual reading cycle of the Torah. During the service, we read the last few lines of Deuteronomy, then as the people dance and sing, the Torah is (carefully) rolled back to the very beginning, and we read the first line or two of Genesis. This is also a joyful celebration because we get to read the Torah, all over again.

And let me tell you, if you want to get forearms that look like Popeye’s, you can by rolling back a Torah scroll!

God has always taken care of those who fear (meaning worship) him. Even when we fail to do as God wants, which the Israelites did SO many times, he is not just willing to forgive us, but actually desires to do so. God wants so much to do good for us that he is just waiting for us to ask for forgiveness so he can be in communion with us, and we with him. And he wants us all to have eternal life, which he tells us in Ezekiel 18:23.

But there is still this prophecy from Zachariah. We are in for some pretty terrible times ahead. Maybe we are already in it, maybe we are just starting to get into it, or maybe what is happening today is just more of the same and we are nowhere near it. It doesn’t really matter because you need to be ready for it, NOW. I mean you need to know God and his Messiah, Yeshua. I mean you need to get your spiritual life in order and make sure that in the physical world you do, and support those who do, godly things and not those who work against God’s commandments.

I almost never talk politics in my messages, but this upcoming election is more than just politics. In my opinion, as a life-long student of history, it is as important as the 1864 election, and America is just as polarized as the people were back then. We aren’t just voting for a person, we are voting for a set of morals, an agenda of protecting Americans against invaders, or protecting the invaders. We are choosing an administration that wants to help Americans pull themselves up, even though it means taking away certain government support, or an administration that wants to give Americans everything they need and, thereby, subjugate them to a form of financial slavery by enabling them to stay on welfare instead of becoming financially self-supporting. It means choosing an administration that is supporting Israel or one that hates Israel.

It means the difference between an administration that wants to protect children or one that supports sacrificing children to Molech.

You must decide for yourselves, and I only ask that whichever decision you make, whether it be about a President or about God, please don’t make your decision based solely on your emotions. Research both sides of the story, listen to people, and read the Bible to see what is right and what is wrong, then you can make a decision based on information, not on emotion.

Please decide as if your life will depend on it, because in both this world and the world to come, it will!

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, check out my books and share these messages with everyone you know, even people you don’t like.

Until next time, Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!

I have faith in God and that Yeshua is the Messiah- that is a fact. But facts have nothing to do with my faith.

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In Hebrews 11:1 we are told that faith, or trusting, is being confident in what we hope for and convinced about things that we do not see. So, by definition, faith and facts are almost the antitheses of each other.

If we can see, touch, smell, hear or taste something, we know it is real because our senses tell us it is. However, our senses can be fooled, quite easily, so facts aren’t really the best reason for having faith.

Here’s an example: experiments have been done where a person is told they will have a hot poker or lit match placed against their skin. They are blindfolded, then allowed to smell the match or feel the heat of the hot item. Then they are touched with a piece of ice and the person’s reaction, including sometimes the physical reaction of their skin, is the same as if they were being burned. Their belief made ice feel like fire, which to me means that faith is stronger than fact.

Faith in God and faith that Yeshua is the Messiah is what God wants from us, and the strength of our faith is proven in how we act with each other and how we worship God. God gave us the instructions for how to live, and if we faithfully believe in his existence, in his authority, and in his promises to reward (and punish), then we would be stupid to do anything BUT what God says we should do.

The kind of faith God wants from us is based on nothing more than our decision to believe. Facts should have nothing to do with it.

It is similar when believing that Yeshua is the Messiah God promised to send. Although we have eye-witnessed attestations to the miracles Yeshua performed, there is no scientific or archaeological evidence of his miracles. In fact (pardon the expression), the only evidence of his existence is in the writings of Josephus, who mentions him briefly as the brother of James who was killed.

People who choose to believe based on what they are told can easily be swayed from one belief to another. Think of all the people you know who started off as a Catholic or a Jew, then became something else, went from Western to Eastern religious theology, then back again, and now (at least, for the moment) believe in something totally different. Again. They are making a choice, but their faith is weak because they see-saw from one system to another, most likely because (from my experience) they are looking for something they want instead of recognizing what is there.

I have known people who went from doctor to doctor looking for a doctor to tell them what they wanted to hear.

Faith cannot be based on what happens. If you are faithful because of a miraculous event in your life, the event may have been wonderful but your resultant faith is weak. Why? Because if a miracle can convince you, your choice to believe is based on a factual event, not on what we are told it should be, i.e., on what you can’t see. And the really dangerous aspect to having faith as a result of a miracle is that the Devil can make miracles happen just as easily as God can and if one miracle can turn you from sin to faith, then another miracle can turn you back to sin. Easily!

So don’t believe in God because of the testimony of others, although that testimony isn’t useless. Put it in the back of your head for later. And don’t believe in God because of some Evangelist healing someone on TV. And don’t accept that Yeshua is the Messiah because you were brought up being told that by your Priest or Minister, or that he isn’t the Messiah because your Rabbi said so: many of them, if not most, believe because they were brought up to believe that way. And what they teach isn’t always from the Bible, it’s from their Seminary classes. Why do you think that so much of Christianity has nothing to do, really, with the instructions God gave to the world in the Torah?

And as for my own people, we aren’t any better: so much of Halacha (the Way to Walk) is from the Talmud and not the Tanakh.

Let your faith be based on your choice to be faithful, and don’t let that choice be influenced by others. But, and here’s the caveat- make sure you are totally comfortable with your choice and that is based on what you read in the Bible, and I mean the WHOLE Bible, which is from Genesis through Revelation. This is especially important when you make your choice about Yeshua (Jesus) because everything you are to know about recognizing the Messiah is in the Tanakh (the Old Covenant.)

I can’t stress enough how important it is that your choice be your own and based on the bible because at the final Judgment you will be held accountable for whatever choice you make, no matter why you made it.

I chose to believe over 20 years ago that God really does exist, and that Yeshua is the Messiah he sent. I made that choice, without realizing (at the time) my choice was actually a Leap of Faith. And since I made that choice I have received confirmation through being given the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), which didn’t happen until about 3 months after I made my choice, and from many blessings in my life which have shown me that God is watching after me.

These blessings didn’t motivate my choice, but having made the choice and not swerving from it (despite attacks I received from other Jews and some family members) I know that these blessings confirm I made the correct choice.

And I also believe that because my faith motivated me to be more obedient to God’s instructions in the Torah, the blessings I received, and still do receive, is confirmation that my choice to be faithful was correct.

If you have already chosen to believe in God and Yeshua, that is great, but if your daily life doesn’t demonstrate your faith through good works (James 2:14) then may I suggest you re-evaluate the foundation of your faith.

Faith is also a form of trust, and between humans, as a rule, trust is given only after it has been earned. But with God, it works the other way around. Our trust in God must be first, and when we demonstrate that trusting faithfulness through our actions, he will then earn our trust through the many blessings we will receive from him, just as he promises to do in the Torah.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe, share these messages with everyone you know to help this ministry grow, and consider checking out the books I have written, as well. If you like what you get here, you will like my books, as well.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!