Tag: righteouness

I Just Don’t Know What to Say

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Here’s the problem: I usually take a long bike ride two to three times a week, and while riding I pray. During these prayers, I often get inspiration for a topic to discuss. However, it has been raining for almost two weeks straight and in Florida, if there is even a chance of a thunderstorm, you do NOT want to be caught out in the rain, especially on a conductor like a metal bike.

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Consequently, I have been missing a lot of prayer time, because (good or bad) I am somewhat conditioned after many years of a long commute in my car and now long rides on my bike, of praying when I am doing those things, and not sitting quietly and praying when I am not.

So, here I am, trying to think of what to talk about with you today, and I got nuthin’!

If you follow my ministry, you might recall that this is a situation that has occurred more than once, and I always seem to come up with something once I get started, but today I don’t feel much like starting anything. Maybe that’s because I am so disgusted with what is happening in the world.

I have recently talked about the signs of the coming judgment, and won’t go into that again. If you missed those posts, they are available on the website. And I don’t think political statements are appropriate in this forum, although there are sometimes exceptions.

You wanna know what really pisses me off? It’s when people say they want to be treated like everyone else is treated, but claim that they are deserving of special treatment. They don’t seem to see how hypocritical that is. If I want to be like everyone else, and treated like everyone else, then I need to be willing to do and act and live like everyone else. When I insist that I should have my own subculture, or dress differently, or redefine my gender, or whatever and that is not the way people within that society normally act or think, then I am not assimilating with the people, I am actually estranging myself from them.

And if I choose to be estranged, then how can I justify asking to be treated as a member of that society which I am estranging myself from?

We who call ourselves God-fearing people, are called to be estranged. We are to be holy, which means to be separate, but then again, Yeshua said that a lamp is useless if it is placed under a cover or hidden, so we are also called to be among the people who are not holy. This is a bit of a conundrum, isn’t it? Be separate from yet amongst the people: hmmm…. how do we do that?

We do it by living our lives with society but as an example of righteousness, hoping that this will lead others to do what is righteous, eventually resulting in what was first the estranged behavior becoming the norm.

You may ask, “How is that any different from having a different culture or gender identification or religious belief? We can also be an example to the people to lead them to OUR definition of righteousness.”

And you wanna know something? Your question is valid.

The difference is what we consider to be righteous.

God told us how to be righteous in his Torah, which he gave to Moses to separate the Jewish people from the rest of the people living in that part of the world; the Torah was to transform the Israelites into a lamp, making them light in the darkness. The darkness was itself also a social and religious system. When we read the Bible, it shows us that the darkness more often than not, blocked out the light.

Let’s face it, Folks…sin is often much more fun than righteousness. The problem with sin is that it only feels good for a short time, then the truth sets in, which is that righteousness is necessary for eternal joy. Too many people choose to reject their opportunity for eternal joy by choosing the temporary pleasure of sin.

When we see what is happening in the world today, we see unrighteousness abounding. And it will only get worse, which is what God has been warning us about for millennia. Every social or religious system believes it is the standard to be followed, and in that, we all have the right to choose which system we will assimilate into. Don’t fool yourself into saying you shouldn’t have to choose how to behave, because you do. Within every society there are rules and if you don’t obey those rules, you are out of that society and will be treated with disdain, prejudice, and persecution.

Don’t you dare cry about it- it’s by your own choice! If you aren’t one of us, you are against us- that saying goes back a long way, and it is true.

Each of us has to choose which society we will be a member of; righteousness as defined by God or righteousness as defined by those who reject God. As Yeshua said, no one can be a slave to two masters, and I suggest that when you choose your master, you don’t think about immediate gain or pleasure but consider, instead, the eternal consequences of your choice.

It’s your choice: always has been and always will be, and when you face God, he won’t accept your excuse that someone else told you you were acting righteously because it is what HE said is righteous that counts.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with others, as well as subscribe to the YouTube channel and this website.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

How to eat an elephant

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Have any of you heard this question before? It is similar to the statement about the elephant in the boardroom, meaning that both situations seem overwhelming. Eating an elephant and having one in your boardroom? Impossible, right?

Not impossible. Not when you understand the meanings. The elephant in the boardroom is a figure of speech alluding to a major issue that no one really wants to face, and eating an elephant is a major issue that no one wants to undertake.

In relation to today’s message, the elephant in our boardroom that we all need to eat is sin. We all are sinful, both in action and in nature. That is why God had to provide a Messiah, one anointed to lead us into communion with the Almighty Father, but first charged with bringing us back from sinfulness to righteousness. Yeshua (Jesus) was that Messiah, and He still is; having saved us all by providing the pathway back to God through His sacrificial death.

I call our sin an elephant in the boardroom because even though we all are willing to admit we are sinful, too often we don’t really “feel” it. Even those people who have no fear of the Lord and don’t care about Him at all, are open to the fact that they do things some sections of society and the “religious people” think are wrong. They are just used to rationalizing their actions, so they don’t even see the elephant.

But for Believers, the elephant is the sin we don’t want to “own”- it’s one thing to say, “Yes, we are all sinners and Jesus died for our sins”, but if the underlying feeling when you repeat that (often from rote) is that you don’t really want to “own up” to your own sin, then don’t look now, but there’s an elephant in the room! No one really wants to be “bad”, so we thank Jesus for all He has done and say we are saved. Hallelujah!

But being saved isn’t enough: too many times being saved is thought to be the end of the trail, the 19th hole, the No More Worries Inn. Sorry- that’s not how it works. Being saved is just the beginning, and the trip isn’t easy. Calling on the name of the Lord is how you start, but following the pathway of righteousness is how you travel, and eating that elephant is what you survive on.

Eating the elephant called sin, in truth, is no different than eating one in real life. The answer to the question, “How do you eat an elephant?” is: one bite at a time.

And that is the way we turn from sinfulness to travel the path of righteousness: one bite (step) at a time. We walk a white line throughout our lives, with sin on the one side and righteousness on the other; we are constantly stepping on one side or the other. There are other lines running alongside the white line we first follow, paths that veer off to different directions. When we step too often on the side of sin, we tend to get farther and farther away from the line leading to God, and we end up on a pathway leading to damnation. But, when we walk on the side of righteousness, we find roads that all lead to salvation. What I am saying is that the way we walk becomes easier as we walk it, so if we start our trip in the right direction and keep our eyes on the goal, we find the trip easier.

Just like eating the elephant: one bite at a time, one step at a time, keeping our eyes on the elephant on the serving platter but concentrating mostly just on what is on our plate, today. Before you know it, the serving platter will not have so much on it anymore.

Maybe that’s why Yeshua said to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread…”, meaning one bite at a time, one day at a time, one step at a time.

Have you heard this expression: “Slow and steady wins the race.”? It means when you constantly do the right thing the right way, you will achieve what you are trying to do.

So face up to that elephant, sit down at the table with your napkin on your lap and your knife and fork in your hands, and get to work.

Be hungry for righteousness.

(No elephants or other large mammals were hurt in the construction of this message)