Tag: m yeshua

Having a ticket doesn’t guarantee entry

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One of the most comforting quotes from the bible is Joel 2:32, where Joel tells us that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. In the New Covenant this is repeated in Acts 2:21 and, again, in Romans 10:13.

And it is true, of course, but that assumes the one calling is repentant, and remains repentant. Call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved, but that is only your ticket to come in. You still have to arrive, you have to be dressed properly and you need to bring your ID.

We first need to understand that “calling on the name of the Lord” means asking for forgiveness of your sins through the Messiah’s sacrificial death. It means doing T’shuvah, turning from your sinful life, and working towards sinning less for the rest of your life.  If you ask for forgiveness, and mean it, you will be forgiven, but that isn’t the beginning and the end of it- it is just the start. You need to demonstrate your repentance through changes in your actions. You will still be thinking sinful things, but so long as you fight to overcome the sinful nature we all have, and you make progress, you will continue to be saved. Your works, the fruits of your salvation that you demonstrate in your everyday words, actions and thoughts will be the clothing you wear to the “wedding” and the gift you present to the King.

There are quite a few parables about those who have been invited (i.e., those who have called on the name of the Lord and received forgiveness), but because they did not fully repent or because they backslid they did not get to make it to the party.

There is the parable of the wedding guests who were invited but allowed their cares for the world to prevent them from going, so they did not get to attend the wedding. There is the another wedding parable about bridesmaids who didn’t buy oil for their lamps and when the groom came they were too busy trying to find oil, with the result that when they finally had what they were supposed to have already had, they were locked out of the wedding.

There is another wedding parable, this one about one person at the reception without the proper clothing (in those days the wedding host gave clothing to the guests as they arrived) so he was thrown out of the reception.

That’s not all!

There is the parable about the fruit tree in the garden (in the garden= already saved) but didn’t bear any fruit and ended up being thrown out of the garden.

The parable about the three servants given talents and the one returned only what he had been given; for not using what he had been given he was called a wicked servant and was thrown into the darkness.

In 1 Timothy 4:1 we read how, in the Acharit HaYamim (The End Days), even some of the chosen will fall away from the faith; this warning is first given to us in Matthew, repeated in the other Gospels and given as a final warning in Revelations. False Messiahs will come and perform wondrous signs that will fool even some of the Chosen, those who have been saved and given their ticket to Eternal joy and peace. They will turn that ticket in to the wrong place, and just like some stores will honor the coupons of their competitors, the enemy of God will certainly accept you into his realm. He will honor you and shower you with gifts of earthly power and wealth so that you will eagerly trade in your salvation.

Many teach that salvation is irrevocable, and they are right- it is irrevocable, but what does “irrevocable” mean? It means it won’t be taken back. That doesn’t mean we can’t throw it away! That doesn’t mean we can’t disqualify ourselves by accepting the grace of God then misusing or abusing it. Grace from sin is not license to sin, and too many people think that all they have to do is ask God for forgiveness and their position in heaven is set in stone.

It isn’t.

We all can receive the forgiveness God has provided through Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) if we are repentant and if we change. We can’t be repentant without showing a change in our deeds and ways. As Yacov (James) says in the book bearing his name, a well cannot give both fresh and salt water. If you have done T’shuvah, and accepted the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) then you have to change. You can’t help it. It is slow, and there is always that fight between the little guy wearing the halo on one shoulder and the little devil on the other shoulder. That fight will never go away, but the more you read the bible, the more you allow the Ruach to rule your life, the more you “die to self” so that the Holy Spirit can live more fully in you, well, soon the little angel looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger and the devil looks like Steve Urkel.

No one likes to hear that when you call on God for forgiveness that you get it, but you don’t have it. Yet, that’s really what it comes down to- remember, God doesn’t work in the same time zone we do. He is, He was, and He will be- all in the same moment. There is no lineal timeline where God is concerned, so you can have something and not have it, all at the same time.

The guarantee of our salvation is not dependent on God- once He gives you that forgiveness, you have it, but now you have to keep it. The way you do that is to show the world the change that the Holy Spirit has made in you by doing more and more of what God wants. You’ll find those instructions in the Torah. That’s what God told Moses to write down so we would all have the same instructions; that’s what Jesus taught His disciples to preach and what He lived completely as an example to us, and the Torah has the rules for how everyone who worships the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is supposed to live.

In a nutshell, calling on the name of the Lord will get you that ticket to salvation, and there is a seat reserved for you, but you need to hold tight to that ticket, not let anyone else fool you into giving it to them, and to show up at the theater properly dressed, wearing the fruits of your salvation. Don’t wait until the first call to find fruit, because this show doesn’t adhere to any schedule. You may be called to appear at any time, and once the curtain goes up the doors are locked to everyone.

Salvation: if you ask for it, you get it. That’s the easy part- the hard part is working at it, keeping it and being able to show up properly dressed when the doors open.

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away- BIG time!

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The parashot we are in at this time of the year is the story of the plagues against Egypt in Exodus.

For those who don’t know, the Torah is sectioned off, so to speak, into portions to be read at each Shabbat service. These portions are called Parashot (parsha, or parashah for each one) and when following this annual cycle every Jew across the world is reading the same exact part of the Word of God, every week.

Currently we are in the midst of the plagues that God sent against Egypt, designed to weaken the Pharaoh, call down judgement on the Egyptians and free the Israelites from bondage. These plagues first destroyed the land, then the cattle, the crops, the people and even the very heritage of Pharaoh, when his first born son is killed. Finally, the power and might of Egypt, it’s army, is drowned in the Red Sea.

When I read this I think of Genesis 12:3, where God promises Abraham that He will bless those who bless him, and curse those that curse him.

Come, Sherman, to the Way-Back machine, and let’s go back some 400 years, to Genesis 41. Here we read how Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, and Pharaoh immediately blessed Joseph. He raised him to a level of nearly autonomous power, and when Joseph brought his family into Egypt for protection from the famine, Pharaoh gave them the best of the land. This Pharaoh blessed the seed of Abraham, and through Joseph he became the richest man in the world. When we read this story we see that Pharaoh, who at that time was already the political and religious leader of the country, also came to own the country, the people and their goods. As they ran out of money to buy grain, Joseph had them exchange their cattle, the land and even their homes. The Pharaoh that blessed Joseph was totally blessed by God.

Back now to Moses and the current Pharaoh, the one who has cursed the seed of Abraham with bondage and cruelty. Let’s see what happens to him:

  • the Nile to blood kills his fish and the fishing economy
  • the cattle disease kills his cattle
  • the hail destroys his trees
  • the locusts destroy his crops
  • his political and religious authority is eroded (we read how the people take protection as Moses tells them, ignoring the Pharaoh’s example. His authority and position as a god is eroded as the God of the Hebrews shows His true sovereignty)
  • the death of the firstborn throughout the land destroys the people’s morale, and robs the Pharaoh of his legacy
  • the destruction of the army in the Red Sea not only robs Pharaoh of his military strength but leaves his entire country defenceless. I guess it was a good thing for them they had nothing left to take!

Everything God had given to the Pharaoh who blessed His people was taken away from the Pharaoh that cursed them; in fact, not only did God take away that which had been given, but what he had already (his political and religious authority) was taken away, too.  It’s just as Yeshua said in Matthew 25:29:

For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

In our everyday life it seems sometimes that we are being cursed, that what we have is being taken from us, and many times I have heard people say that this is punishment from God. It may be, but I don’t think so; at least, not in most cases. People always want to blame God for everything, when we should remember that as we come closer to God, the enemy is more threatened and he will move more against us. The trials and tribulations we go through aren’t always because God is “after us.” The enemy likes to screw around with God’s people in order to fool them into thinking God has abandoned them.

Don’t fall for it and don’t worry about stupid things like clothes, jobs, money, etc. Yeah, yeah- in a modern world we need it, but recall how Job lost everything but it was returned to him, doubled! If it was God who sent tribulation upon you, if you repent and return to Him, He will return to you what was taken. He tells us that in Joel 2:25:

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

Also, we read in Matthew 6:25-34:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ? 28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

The Prophets talked continuously about the regathering of the people, and we are a blessed generation because we are seeing this prophecy fulfilled, today. The world is coming down around us, and in the midst of the dust and debris we see people making Aliya (literally, “going up”, returning to Israel) and many of the groups helping these people to make Aliya are Christian based! The “one man in God” that Shaul (Paul) talks about in Galatians 3:28 is actually happening! Right now! Today!

Look at the history of God’s people, with respect to those that have cursed them: the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Philistines, the Ninevites, the Assyrians, the Romans, the Spanish (yes, they were the world power from the 14th through 18th Centuries, but after the Inquisition they were destroyed as a world power, forever), and, of course, the Nazi’s. Even though we still have the Arab countries constantly try to destroy Israel, they have failed. Today as technology increases and our dependance on the oil fields lessens, the arab nations whose power and wealth is tied up solely in oil will fall. And each time they try to destroy Israel it goes this way:  they attack and we kick their butts!

As the Jewish people have said for millennia: “They tried to kill us; we killed them; let’s eat.” And we can say that because God is on our side, just as we are told in Psalm 118:6.

Salvation is a gift from God that we can never buy or earn, but blessings are things we can earn. And since they can be earned, they are not irrevocable. As Job said, God can give and take away. We can’t always (in fact, we probably never will) understand what God is doing or why, but we can trust that He always does what is best for us. So even when you find yourself in the midst of the fiery furnace, keep trusting, keep praying, keep growing in faith and continue to lovingly obey the Torah, and you will be saved.

God likes to bless His children, and we are all His children, so never, never, NEVER think that you are abandoned by God. You can abandon Him, and He may stay out of your way (which takes away all your protection from a fallen and cursed world) but God is always in the wings, rooting for you, and His hand is always held out waiting for you to reach for it.

If you think that God doesn’t care about you, you’re wrong.  You probably don’t care enough about Him, so do T’shuvah (turn from your sin) and reach out to Him. He’s waiting for you.