Tag: yeshua

Parashah Ekev (follow) Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25

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Most of D’Varim (Deuteronomy) is a discourse from Moses reminding the children of Israel all that has happened to them over the past forty years, reminding them of God’s commandments and encouraging them to obey God after they have gone into the land and conquered it.

This parashah starts with Moses continuing his discourse on the history of their journey. He reminds them of the wonderful ways God has protected and fed them, and also of the horrible ways they have rejected God and tested Him. Moses goes back and forth from what God has done, what He will do to help, and how He has kept His part of the covenant, then about how they have, for their part, broken the covenant because they refused to obey and what will happen to them if they continue to refuse.

He tells them they are to go in and take over the land, destroying all the pagan items and peoples, and that even though the people there are stronger and mightier than they are, God will go before them and battle for them.

Moses warns the people that they shouldn’t become complacent when God has done all these wonderful things, and begin to think that they deserved any of it. He is quite adamant that they don’t, and they better not forget that. They are getting the best not because they deserve it, but because God loved their ancestors, who did deserve it. They don’t. He wants them to continually be humble before the Lord- as should we all.

I  like how Moses tells them in chapter 10, verses 12-13 that all God requires is for the people to fear God, walk in His ways, love and serve Him. Sound familiar? Read Micah 6:8.

The message here for all of us is that we need to remember that God will do for us all that we could ever want, and when we walk in trusting faithfulness, He will be there, in front of us, protecting us and forging a path for us so we can complete the trip. He will smooth the path, place hedges on the right and the left to keep us straight, and destroy the enemies blocking our way. And if we fall, He will pick us up. If needs be, He may even carry us for a way. However, He won’t carry us all the way; there may be a smooth path but there will be hills to overcome and valleys to pass through. It won’t be easy, it won’t always be fun, but we must keep going.

That’s really the whole story, isn’t it? From beginning to end, the basic A-B-C’s of salvation are:

A– Accept your own sinfulness and need for God, Accept the rule of God, and Accept His Messiah;

B– Be obedient, Be dedicated, Be an example of God’s wonder and goodness;

C- Continue to work at being more of what God wants you to be so you can Complete the journey.

That’s all there is to Salvation: it’s easy to attain, it’s hard to keep, but it’s well worth having.

Why They Just Refuse to Believe

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I’m no psychiatrist (although my going to one has been suggested) but I think I know, from personal experience, why so many people just refuse to accept the truth about salvation.

I think it’s from fear of loss. And what they fear losing is their freedom to sin.

No one will say that they want to sin. Well, maybe there are some who will admit it, but most people won’t say they want to sin, and being “saved” means they can’t, so they would rather reject God.

But I think that’s the real reason why they reject God.

I know when I was rejecting (and ridiculing) God and all who accepted Him and the truth that Yeshua is the Messiah He promised, I was afraid of having to become “holy”, meaning that I couldn’t joke around, drink, have sex without marriage, make dirty jokes, curse a blue streak when angry, etc. And yet, when I thought about it, I realized that these things aren’t the best parts of my humanity, but I still didn’t want to be ‘transformed’ into the image of Messiah.

Also, as a Jew, I was told that this Jesus guy was a Jew who started a new religion, and history can support the teaching I received, which was that Christianity hates Jews. I  will talk about why Jews reject Jesus in my Monday, 8/3 blog.

Yet, deep down, I did want to change. I didn’t like the cynical comments I made all the time, I didn’t like it when I hurt people (although I blamed them for being hurt) and I didn’t like embarrassing myself. I didn’t like some things about me and I did like other things about me, but being a “saved again Believer” seemed to require giving up everything.

Man, oh Manischevitz, am I glad I was wrong! I finally got sick and tired of not making a choice and when I did I found out that what I really wanted was to have God’s spirit in me to help me get rid of the dreck and improve what was left. I didn’t become a different me, just a better me. There is still plenty of “wrong” stuff to work on so that I am still the “me” I was before, but just with a lot less of the stuff I didn’t want.

I think most people don’t want to review their thoughts and beliefs about God and Messiah because they are comfortable where they are, even though they have a first class seat to Hell. They are enjoying the ride without any thoughts about the destination. That’s a shame, and it’s what the enemy can use to win souls to him, even when those souls have no idea what is happening.

What really frustrates me is when you meet that person who was raised a Gentile and has heard about Jesus all their life, and is comfortable with what their religious leader told them. Most are told either you are going to hell if you are a bad person and heaven if you are good, or that Jesus died for your sins so you are OK, don’t worry about that “Jewish” stuff in the Old Covenant and just be a good person. It’s all OK.

That teaching is a one-way ticket to the hottest spot in creation, and I’m not talking about a night club.

Do you know someone who says they believe in God, pretty much, and they know about Jesus (Yeshua is His real name, and the only name that has a meaning to it) but they don’t want to talk about the bible or God? They just want to go to church on Easter and Christmas and be left alone. If so, try to reach them by reassuring them that whatever changes they may have to make to live a more Godly life will be welcomed changes. Tell them that you changed and you now can look back and realize how much more blessed your life has been, how much happier you are and more calm and peaceful, even when you are in the midst of terrible times. Let them know that they will have to change some of their behavior, take time and make the effort to read the bible and get to know God’s word (which is the best and fastest way to get to know Him) but that with the Ruach HaKodesh helping and guiding them, this work will feel more like enjoyment. Basically, they can still have a really fun ride while also going to the right destination.

I know people, close to me, whom I love, who refuse to accept that they need to make a decision on their own and to face up to accept or reject. God is binomial- either you are with Him or you are against Him; there is no other choice. And yet, these people just want to stay where they are, lean on the broken stick that their religion taught them about salvation (just be a good person) and refuse, adamantly, to save themselves. It really hurts to watch people run to destruction.

If you are reading this and seeing yourself, please don’t be afraid of the change. You will be more peaceful and able to find that “calm in the midst of the storm” as you go through life when God is your pilot. Life is a storm, we get tossed about like leaves in a tornado sometimes, and there are things we can’t control. But God is in control of everything, and when you choose to be on His side, He will keep you safe. The changes you make will be at your speed because God won’t put on you more than you can take (Yeshua told us His yoke is easy and His burden is light) but you do have to work at it. You will need to live more and more in accordance with the Torah, which is God’s commandments to everyone who worships Him (God has no religion, remember?), but it isn’t hard.

Face up to the reality that you are on a trip to eternity, like it or not. You can choose what you do while traveling, and you can choose who you want to travel with, but the destination is coming and you never know when you will reach it. It may be years from now, it may be today. But you will reach it, it is going to come, and it will be where you remain for all eternity.

The trip is short, as James says, it is a mist that is here and then gone; think about how long it takes for something you really, really want to arrive, and when you look back how quickly the time seems to have passed. Stop thinking you have all the time in the universe, because you don’t. Your destination will be here before you know it, and when you have to get off the ride you will not have any choice.

Enjoy the ride, sure, but make sure that you are going to the right place first.

I’m Drawing a Blank Here

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Ever find yourself just sitting, staring at nothing? That’s where I am right now…listening for an idea and all I hear are crickets chirping in my head.

Maybe I shouldn’t write anything; after all, just because I don’t have a word from God doesn’t mean I have to force something, right? I mean, I know He’s there, I know He has blessed this blog and that so long as what I write is justified and qualified by what is in the Bible, I will continue to reach people who need to know that God is God, His word is true, His Torah is still valid and applicable to everyone, and Yeshua (Jesus) is still the Messiah promised in the Old Covenant writings.

So what do I write about? Maybe I just found my topic- God is always there, even when we don’t hear from Him.

I remember that poem (I think just about everyone knows it) about the guy walking on the beach with God, and there are two sets of footprints, but as the man goes through tsouris and tribulations there is only one set of footprints. Later, there are two sets again, so the man asks God where He was when the man needed Him and was walking alone. God answers that the one set of footprints belonged not to the man, but to God- and God was carrying the man during those troubled times.

We need to maintain faith, which isn’t too hard when you are in the midst of the blessings. In fact, you get absolutely no “bragging rights” for being faithful in the midst of blessings. It’s when those blessings are absent, when we are walking in the desert and we see no oasis, no rocks gushing water, no birds flying to us and landing on the ground that we need to maintain our faith. It’s when we are surrounded by snakes and scorpions that we need to be faithful, and remember that just because we don’t see God in our life it doesn’t mean He isn’t there.  He is always there, waiting in the wings. Maybe He is waiting for us to return from wandering off on our own, trying to do something in our own strength instead of His; maybe He is testing our resolve, our faith, or maybe He is just letting us walk a little on our own.

Maybe we will never know (that’s probably the most accurate answer) because what God does we can’t always understand. I read once that a God who can be understood by the mind of Man is not worthy of the worship of Man. I couldn’t agree more, and those people who dare to say they know what God is all about are the ones you need to leave alone.

Yes, there are times when we realize that God is doing something in our life, and we should appreciate and always be on the lookout for those times, but to understand God? To know His mind? I don’t think so.

This is why I really get a kick out of God! Here, I start out thinking I have nothing to write about, so I start to walk (or write, as the case may be) in faith, humbly admitting my lack of ability this morning, and God just steps in and gives me something to say that glorifies Him.

God is always there, just like the sun: it’s always there but we can’t always see it. Sometimes there are clouds blocking it (humanity and the world), sometimes it’s because at night the sun is out of our sight and sometimes we just stubbornly have our eyes closed.

But the sun is always there, just as the Son is always there, just as the Father is always there. Just because you don’t see Him doesn’t mean He is gone.

There will be times when we won’t see God in our lives, and when you feel that way remember what Yeshua told us: if we seek , we will find, so seek the Lord by doing those things He tells us we should do and you will find Him.

He’s always there.

Parashah D’Varim (the words) Deuteronomy 1 – 3:22

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We are in the last of the 5 books of the Torah. This is where Moshe (Moses) reviews with the people the last 40 years of wandering, their laws and regulations, the history of their travels, warnings to stay true to God and His teachings (the correct meaning of the word, “Torah”) and his song and blessing of the people.

It has been nearly 41 years (this discourse starts on the first day of the eleventh month of the 40th year) since the rebellion at Horeb when the people refused to enter the land, and Moses recounts the fact that he assigned judges over the people to help him, the rebellion at entering the land, the decades of wandering and then, as they re-approached the land the Lord’s command that the Israelites should not battle against certain of their brothers (the Edomites, for example) but will destroy others, such as Og and Sihon. Then he told how those lands were given to the tribes of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh but they would still fight with Israel in the land until all the land was settled. He told Joshua to be brave and to boldly enter the land knowing that God would go before them to conquer the peoples so that Israel would inherit and rule the land.

This final book is the epilogue of the life’s work of the greatest prophet in Judaism. Throughout it we will review all that happened to the children of Israel during their wanderings, constantly reminding them of the way that God had taken care of them despite the many times they rebelled and showed faithlessness. This is a review, a warning, a condemnation and a confirmation of the unique and blessed position that the children of Israel have with God.

What is important here, I believe, is that when anyone who worships God reads this, they should think of their own life. We wander through life, don’t we? Whereas the Israelites wandered at the command of God, we wander at our own command. We go from job to job, house to house, and (unfortunately, in today’s society) we also go from marriage to marriage. We wander, often aimlessly and not even knowing it, just as the Jews wandered in the desert.

And, just like them, we have God protecting and providing for us. However, the Israelites could see the rock give water, the birds gather, and the manna on the ground every morning. They saw the sea split open and the Glory of God on Mount Sinai. They could clearly and unmistakably see the miracles of God happening in their lives.

We don’t. Really, when was the last time you saw a rock split open so you could drink? Do you think that you would eat something off the ground while walking to work? Probably not.

But that doesn’t mean God isn’t providing for you. If you sit down and think, you might come to the same conclusions I have for my own life:

* when I was going from job to job, God provided all those jobs;

* when I was going through divorce, even though I wasn’t a Believer, He still kept me sane (OK, that is an arguable point), provided enough for me to survive and see my children 2 states away every weekend;

* when I met Donna God brought us together despite the worst first date ever;

* when I changed careers, God provided good people to mentor me;

* over 18 years ago, when I sought Him out, God showed me that I can be a Jew, and saved, and still be a Jew. God’s leading my wandering led me to people who helped me realize who and what Yeshua is, and that Yeshua saved me. God also led me to Messianic Judaism, which is what kept me saved. God provided all that for me. Baruch Ha Shem!!!

* God has given me salvation, the marriage I wanted with a wife whom I love more than life, a good job, financial and emotional security, friends, and even though there is still Tsouris in my life, God has carried me through it all.

This is what we can learn from this parashah; in fact, from this entire book of the Torah: God is always there, He is always helping and providing, and He will continue to do so. We may wander here and there, to and fro, but God is steady. He is always watching, never sleeping, and will care for those who care for Him. Even when we are in rebellion and He punishes us, it is not so much punitive as it is restorative- God punishes us so that we will turn back to Him. I know it sounds a little crazy, I mean really? You want me to come back to you so you send trouble on me? Yes, that is how it works with God because the reason for our rebellion is that we think we are in charge. We think that we can get it done on our own, taking care of “Numero Uno”, and all that garbage. God pulls the rug out from under us and makes us fall on our back so that the only way we can look is up-  at Him. And while there, trying to catch our breath and hurting, we have to look at Him and maybe, just maybe, doing that will remind us that it is God who can lift us up and keep us up, and that even though we wander, if we wander the way God wants us to go (meaning obeying Torah as we go) He will be there to protect and provide.

Do you ever just stop and review your life? Never, never, never do so with regrets or wondering about , “What if I had…..” because that will never move you forward. We need to remember the past, but try to filter out the dreck and recall mostly the stuff that helps us to keep going. Don’t dwell on the bad things but remember them as having passed, and recognize that you got through it because God was helping you through it.

Review your life and remember the good with the bad, but remember the bad as what God helped you through and the good as what God has, and will continue, to do for you.

Everything’s wonderful, but…

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I have often mentioned I read Dear Abby and Ask Amy in the morning newspapers, along with the comics and the word puzzles, because these “advice columns” give me fuel for my blogging fire.

If you also read them, have you noticed that so very often the writer starts off with how wonderful their spouse or partner is, how s/he is kind and affectionate and how wonderful everything is with that person. Then they say something like, “But when he is drunk every night , he hits me” or “She spends too much money and we are broke” or maybe even, “I sneak into his emails and he is flirting with co-workers.”

They try to convince themselves that everything is wine and roses, but they have really significant issues and they ask Abby or Amy what to do. Don’t they read their own letters? It’s obvious what to do- get your head out of the place it is in and back on your shoulders! Open your eyes! WAKE UP!!!

I also notice how I almost never see anyone write in who is a Believer. Oh, there are “religious” people who write in, all right, but they are usually the ones that give God a bad name: they are self-righteous, unloving, and stoic. It is good stuff for the column, since everyone reading their bigoted and pretentious attitudes gets a good rise from it (which is why, when we are honest with ourselves, many of us read these types of articles) but you rarely, if ever, see anyone who trusts in God and is faithful write in.

Maybe that’s because we know the best answers aren’t in the newspaper, but in the Bible.

What will happen to these people who try to convince themselves that all is wonderful while they are in the middle of tsouris? Won’t they be the ones who will run to follow the false Messiahs Yeshua warns us about? Won’t they be the ones to take the mark of the enemy because he will promise joy and riches and all those things people without faith and trust in God will want given to them?

We need to keep our eyes open and be honest with ourselves. We need to follow the example of those in the Bible who were able to accept the truth about themselves. David listened to Nathan and accepted responsibility for his sin with Bat Sheba; long before David, his ancestor Y’hudah (Judah) accepted his guilt when he realized he had not given his son to Tamar in marriage, as he promised; Shaul even took the vows of a Nazarene twice- not because he did anything wrong, but to demonstrate to others that he was not doing anything against Torah.

We need to be very, very careful. The times are here already, the shofar is in the hands of the one who is to blow it, and we need to be aware, alert, and honest with ourselves about what we are doing, who we are with, and where we are going.

It is especially important for those Believers who only want to hear about the love and acceptance that the grace of God gives to stop fooling themselves. They don’t want to even think that their salvation comes at a price; I am not talking about Yeshua’s suffering, but the price each of us must pay when we are saved. Our individual salvation is easy to receive and hard to keep. That’s why Yeshua said that those who wish to follow Him must take up their execution stake every day. We need to work at keeping our salvation, at being better, at doing more for God and dying more to self. Every day, every hour. Those who only want to hear about God’s love and acceptance and heaven are, as my Pastor says it so well, not willing to leave Goshen. They want all the happy-happy and none of the real life truth about how hard it is to be, and to stay, saved in an unsaved world.

Don’t tell yourself lies. Don’t make out that things are fine when they aren’t, and don’t go in the opposite direction, either: don’t be discouraged by the evil and hate in the world. It’s going to get worse. You need to steel yourself, you need to wear that armor Shaul told us about in Ephesians. We all need to maintain our hope in God’s promises and keep faith in Him; more than that, we also need to accept that we all have to work at it. Salvation is here but it hasn’t arrived yet; we have it but we won’t use it until Yeshua returns; when we cash in our chips is when we receive the prize.

Yeshua told parables that ended with Him saying, “Let those with eyes see and those with ears hear.” We need to have eyes that are open, ears that are unplugged, and faith that is unbending. More than just that, we need to have a humble attitude and contrite spirit, as David did, so that we can accept the truth and work within it.

Look for the truth in your life and don’t sugarcoat salvation. Remember what Yeshua told you: the truth will set you free.

Jesus Did Not Take Away the Sins of the World

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Whoa!! Slow down there, son! Of course Jesus took away the sins of the world- why, that’s what John the Baptist told us about him in John 1:29; he said, “Behold! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”

Not. If Yeshua took away the sins of the world, why is there still so much sin left?

I know, it’s really a metaphor, but it is important, is it not, to know that what Yeshua did was to provide a means for each of us to be saved? I think it is more important for us to realize this is a personal thing, not a corporate thing.

When one is part of a crowd the individual disappears and becomes a part of the corporate identity. This is something that is both valuable and dangerous. Think of the term “Mob Mentality”, and how easy it was for the Nazi’s to do such horrible things, and Jim Jones, Charles Manson, and the other atrocoties done by people when they were part of a group.

The good side is that in Yeshua we are one, however, we are also separate in that each has been given different gifts to use for the glory of God. We aren’t stripped of our individuality, it is actually enhanced in that we become more of what we were, the good parts, and the bad parts are lessened.

I am still a sinner and I am still me, it’s just that since I was saved I have sinned less and I am a “better” me (I still have a long way to go, though.)

Yeshua didn’t take away the sins of the world- they are still here because so long as sinful people live, so will sin. What Yeshua did, what Yochanan was talking about, was the fact that Yeshua’s sacrifice would provide the opportunity for anyone and everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, to be saved. Yeshua did not take away the sins of the world, He took away the Rabbinical legalistic requirement to be “Torah-perfect” in order to earn salvation.

The Torah’s meaning had been perverted to a system of legalistic actions, in that between the 613 commandments in Torah and the additional requirements that the Rabbis put on people, it is impossible to meet the requirement that anyone (born of human parents, that is) live in total accordance with Torah. What was supposed to be the road map to salvation became a maze of turns and corners that led to nowhere. The rules that Moses said were not too high or far, but right in front of us, became unreachable. That was the argument Yeshua had against the Pharisees, in that they  made what was supposed to lead us to God into something that kept us from approaching Him.

Torah is valid, Torah is right, and Torah is still something that everyone who worships the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob needs to know and obey, as best they can. Yeshua followed and taught the Torah, the Disciples followed and taught the Torah, and Shaul (Paul) also followed and taught the Torah. The entire book of Romans is all about how Torah is still valid, and because it is in the process of being replaced, as Shaul tells us, that doesn’t mean it is already done away with. Remember that Yeshua said nothing in Torah will change until all things have come to pass (Matthew 5:17), so unless you can show me the new Temple in the new Jerusalem, with a new Earth and new heavens, well…better stick with Torah.

Yeshua did not take away the sins of the world, He made it possible for us to be saved from our own sin. In that way, John was right: Yeshua made it possible to overcome our inability, individually, to live a Torah-observant life. Yeshua reminded us that Torah is a means to improve and become more holy, which was it’s original intent.

Religion is what changed the Torah from a rope that will help us climb up from humanity to a chain holding us back from salvation. It’s not the Torah that’s the problem, it’s religion. Judaism has, through Rabbinical Halakah, made living up to the Torah a burden that no one can carry, and Christianity, which originally was Judaism, rejected Torah for another religious set of rules, in many ways even more onerous than Torah!

It comes down to this: each of us must make up our own mind about salvation and Torah, and whether or not we do, we will all be held personally accountable for our actions, no matter who told us to do them.

Yeshua didn’t take away the sins of the world, but He did make it possible to take away my sins when I give them to him.

The reason I am stressing the individual’s part is because being part of a crowd doesn’t allow us to “own” our individuality, and what we don’t own we can’t give away. Therefore, if you want to give your sins to Yeshua, then you need to own (up to) them. Not as part of the world, or a church, or a synagogue, but as you, and you, alone.

Salvation is an individual thing, not a group activity. You need to first, and foremost, be saved from your own sins. Then, you will become a part of the group of Believers that are saved. Make sure you join the right group, the ones that understand Torah is still valid and worthy of obedience. Shaul told us that we are all one in Messiah, and he also pointed out that although we are one body, it is made up of separate parts, each doing what they were designed to do to keep the entire body healthy.

When we understand that each of us is responsible for our actions, then we can truly realize the impact that Yeshua’s sacrificial death has made: every single person on Earth can be saved.

Parashah Mattot (Tribes) Numbers 30:2 – 32

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God has Moses tell the tribes that any man who makes an oath to the Lord is bound, totally, to that oath. If a woman who is a minor or married makes an oath, she is bound by it so long as the father or husband, the very first time he hears it (no matter how long after it was made) doesn’t disallow it. If she is a widow living on her own she is bound by it, period.

If the husband or father hears the oath, doesn’t disallow it, then later changes his mind and voids it, the woman is free and forgiven of it but the husband will be held guilty for breaking the vow.

The next section tells of the Lord’s command to the people to revenge themselves against Midian for the trouble it caused at Ba’al-Peor, and there were 5 kings of Midian killed, along with Balaam. The Israelites still didn’t learn, as they took all the women and children as bounty instead of destroying them, as God commanded. Moses chewed out the commanders of the army, then ordered all the captive males and the females that were not virgins to be slain.

The final section tells of Gad, Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh asking for the land east of the Jordan because it was good for cattle, which was their livelihood. Moses gave them ‘what-for’, reminding them that the last time some of the people refused to go across the Jordan the entire nation had to wander in the desert for 40 years. These tribes then promised to fight with Israel on the west side until all the land for the people was conquered before settling down for good. They said they would build sheep pens and homes, and after their promise to fight with their brothers, Moses gave permission but he reversed their statements, and told them to build homes, then sheep pens. This showed that Moses knew where the priorities should be: God first (obey His commandment to conquer the land), family next, then job!

The lesson I would like to discuss with you today is about the taking and honoring of vows. Even though the vows discussed here are to the Lord, since it is always about God, any and every vow we take, whether to God or to another person, should be honored. Because the failure to honor our vows is a sin against the Lord (remember what David said after his adultery with the wife of Uriah and then having killed Uriah to cover it up: he said he sinned against God, and God alone) we should be very careful when we make a vow.

Since vows are so important, let’s make sure we are all on the same page; a vow is a promise, pledge, or personal commitment. In simple terms, when you say you will do something, you have made a vow. There is no such thing as a “maybe” or “if I remember” in the kingdom of God.

How would you like it if you came before the Lord and he said he didn’t remember telling you you were saved? Or maybe He says, “Oh, yeah, the “call on my name” thing. Well, uh, you see…that was said in haste. Things have changed so here’s the SPF 5000 and an umbrella- have a nice afterlife!”

We are commanded not to lie. Yeshua says we shouldn’t even make an oath, and there is nothing for us to swear by, anyway- the heavens, earth and everything else belong to God so we can’t swear by them, and we shouldn’t swear by God, either, unless we really, really, REALLY mean it. That’s because we will be held liable.

I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with making an oath, but I do think Yeshua warned us, just as God does in this Parashah, that because an oath or vow is so binding, we shouldn’t even make one (knowing how weak and prone to sin we are.)

A very valuable lesson I learned when in Sales is this:

People don’t mean what they say, they mean what they do.

There is a wisdom in that statement that goes all the way back to this parashah. That’s why we are to be people who obey God, who keep our word, no matter how important or even how unimportant it is. If I promise to help someone move, or if I tell my spouse I will take out the garbage- if I can’t be trusted with a simple vow, how can I be trusted with an important one? Think of the parable of the talents, where the men that did well with a little were given more, and the one who did nothing with the little he had had even that taken from him. A promise is a vow, is an oath, is no different than when we just say we will do something. It is better not to promise than to promise and renege.

No excuses. One of the saddest lessons I learned in Sales was that I could almost guarantee the one sale that will cancel before the paperwork hits the office was the one I made with a “Christian” family. They would listen, we would talk and they would sign. Before I got back to the office they had cancelled, always with the explanation that they “prayed on it” and God told them this wasn’t the right time. I would remind them that Yeshua said to let your ‘nay be nay and your yea be yea’; seems to me that if God tells us to honor our oaths then He would be the last one to tell us to cancel a deal. It is the law of the land that says they have three business days to cancel, not God! God says do what you say you will do.

I am just as guilty as anyone else in that I say I will do something, fully and honestly meaning to do it, then I forget. I don’t think God allows age-related memory issues to be a factor in promising to do something.

Let’s all try to make promises that we will keep, and if we aren’t sure then we should just say no instead of maybe. Make a stand for righteousness and honesty, with God and with each other. If you say you will do something, do it; and if you aren’t sure you will do it, or not sure you want to do it, then just say, “I’m sorry- I won’t do that.” The person may be upset with you, but it is better to be honest with God and people than to lie. And don’t make excuses for that- if you say you will do something and you don’t, whether or not you meant to, you lied. It is a matter of history, not of intention. Do, or don’t do, say you will, or say you won’t, but do not say you will and then not do so.

Yeshua says, in Matthew 25:40, that which we do the least of His brethren, we do to Him. When you make a promise, give a vow, or just say you will take care of something, you are talking directly to Yeshua, and He is the direct link to God.

Remember that the next time you are asked to do something.

How To Smell Nice When You Stink

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Have you ever heard the saying, “All things are relative?” If I am doing 40 miles per hour on the road, I am speeding by a pedestrian walking in the same direction; but the guy doing 60 in his sports car flies by me like I am standing still! Who is going fast and who is going slow? It’s all relative. The one thing that is undeniable is that I am doing 40.

There was a man who was a shepherd. Every day he walked behind the sheep, watching out where they go and making sure none got left behind or wandered off. Of course, walking behind the sheep meant that he often stepped in something he didn’t want to, but it was all part of the job, so every night he went home and smelled like, well, let’s just say he didn’t smell nice. After many years of this, he and his family got so used to the smell that he didn’t even notice it anymore. But his shoes were always dirty and always smelled bad.

One day he went into the city and was standing in an elevator with other people, all dressed nicely for work. As the elevator starting going up, the people began to seem jittery, nervously looking around, some picking up their feet and looking at the bottom of their shoes. Finally, one man came forward and said to the shepherd, “Friend, you smell very bad and you should be more considerate of the other people in the world who have to be close to you.”

At this the shepherd realized that he forgot about his shoes smelling so bad, but in his embarrassment he did not humbly ask forgiveness. Instead, he flicked his shoes at the man, sending sheep-stuff all over the man and everyone close by. Then he said, “You smell bad, too- I’m no worse than you! Who do you think you are talking to me that way?”  Then all the other people accosted the man who told the shepherd he stunk and blamed him for their foul smell. The shepherd walked out of the elevator, feeling justified, the people walked out of the elevator mad at the man who told the truth, and the man who told the truth just rode to the top, smelling bad and wondering how they could all be so blind.

This is what the world is like- those who do wrong and are inconsiderate do not take responsibility for themselves and humbly ask forgiveness, trying to do better. Instead, they throw sheep-stuff all over everyone else, pointing out that everyone stinks, everyone does wrong, everyone cheats on their taxes, nobody stops at stop signs, everyone calls in sick when they aren’t, and they walk away feeling they haven’t done anything wrong.

Well, they seem to be getting away with it, but sooner or later we all face the one judge that can’t be sent on a wild goose chase or be fooled by a red herring.

It is hard to be told when you have done wrong- I think nearly everyone, from embarrassment and shame, would prefer to hide when they have done wrong and pretend it didn’t happen than face the music and apologize. There are some who will immediately apologize, accept their wrongdoing and act responsibly. Most, I am afraid (disagree if you think I am wrong) will make excuses and try to blame others. By throwing sheep-stuff on everyone else, they seem to be, relatively, less smelly. Or, at least, everyone else smells just as bad so they are “normal” and, therefore, not in the wrong.

The difference between those that accept responsibility for their actions and those that try to avoid them, what I call the “Teflon” people (nothing sticks to Teflon), is more than just emotional maturity- it is spiritual maturity and a fear of God. Not fear of retribution, but fear in the biblical sense- awe at His holiness and respect for His commandments.

The bible teaches us much, and one of the most important lessons is that we are, and will be held, responsible for our actions. It is everywhere, from the prophets being responsible to warn the people, to Moses being responsible for striking the rock twice in anger, to Samson being delivered up to the Philistines because of the damage he caused to their crops, to the kings and people of both Shomron (Israel- the Northern Kingdom) and Judah being expelled from their land due to their continued sinfulness.

I liken Yeshua to the man who, in the parable above, is the one telling the smelly person what everyone else knew but did not take responsibility (to the smelly man) to tell him, and ultimately was the one who everyone was mad at. Yeshua did take responsibility, not for Himself but for everyone else. For you, for me, for everyone. He took the stench we have off of us and wore on Himself, all the way to the Execution Stake.

It is hard to be responsible. Not just for what we do, but to tell others when they need to know they are doing wrong. It has to be done with compassion and with the strength to accept that you may end up being the one hated for telling the truth that everyone else knows but doesn’t have the strength, spiritually or emotionally, to face.

We all sin, we all will sin, none of us can stop sinning; don’t use that fact as a reason to keep sinning. Everyone will be held accountable for their choices when they face the Holy One in the final court, and if you can’t handle being corrected on Earth, while you have time to amend your ways, in front of God you will not be able to throw sheep-stuff on anyone else because it will be just you and God, and God can’t be fooled.

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

So clean your shoes, wash your body and be aware of when you start to stink. And more than anything else, accept correction humbly and gratefully- it may save your soul!

Even if the person correcting you doesn’t do it well, the bottom line is not whether they correct you nicely or angrily: the bottom line is whether or not they are right!

Why Predestination Doesn’t Work

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The answer is found in Ezekiel 33. This chapter, similar to Ezekiel 18, is where God tells Ezekiel that he, Ezekiel, is like a watchman on a tower. When God tells Ezekiel of upcoming doom for the sinful, like a watchman blowing the shofar to warn people when the enemy approaches , he is to tell them what God says so they have warning and time to turn from their sins. If Ezekiel warns them, he is free of their blood. Therefore, God is saying that people can choose to turn from their sin, or choose to die in it.

God tells us that He takes no pleasure in the death of a sinner while still in his sin:

11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

The gist of predestination is that the elect are chosen already, and we don’t have any choice. God has designed and determined everything that will happen. There are some things in the Bible that can be used to make this argument; for instance, God told Jeremiah he was chosen to be a prophet and that God knew Jeremiah when he was still in the womb, Moses being chosen, Gideon, Samson, and there are others. All of these Prophets, Judges, and Saviors of Israel (oh, yeah- don’t forget Esther, who was where she was “for such a time as this”) were determined by God to do His will.

Does that mean they didn’t have a choice? Jonah had a choice, and even though he did get a lot of “encouragement” to turn back to Nineveh when he ran away, he still could have fought off the calling. He probably would have died, and we would not read the Book of Jonah at Yom Kippur services; maybe it would be the Book of Bob, or the Megillah of Myron? In any event, if Jonah had turned from his calling, or Gideon, or even Moses (remember that God almost killed Moses as he was first going back to Egypt), God would have still raised someone up to do His bidding. Even Yeshua, when He was praying before capture, asked if the cup could pass from Him let that be so. Even the Messiah clearly could have changed His mind about what He was to do. That’s not predestination, that’s free will in action.

You can’t make an argument from nothing (this is a very important lesson to remember when interpreting the Bible) but we can never know how many babies were pulled form the Nile. Perhaps there were more than just one baby saved during the Pharaoh’s decree, so if Moses hadn’t chosen to fulfill the role God had for him, there might have been others available to God to serve His purpose.

Ezekiel isn’t the only place where we can see people have had choices, and God has given them that right. We do have free will, we do have the opportunity to chose God. Really, when you think about it (something most religions seem to want you to avoid doing), predestination can’t be God’s plan because if the Lord already chose what and who, then why bother allowing evil in the world? If God knows who will be in heaven, then why put billions of people through the Tribulation, or make innocent people die? Why even tell Ezekiel to warn the sinners? Why send the Prophets? If God has determined, ahead of time, who will live and who will die, why even give those destined to die life?

None of it makes any sense. Not that we can be expected to understand God, but really? God making billions of people go through life for what is, essentially, no reason other than to die is… ridiculous. That makes God out to be a young boy with a magnifying glass digging up ants just to incinerate them. Or creating the ants to watch them die (Oy- that’s even worse!)

God is the captain of our lives, and His ship will sail from Creation all the way to Salvation on Earth, a new Earth, where the people who have chosen to choose God (through Messiah Yeshua) will live in eternal joy and peace.

Those who have chosen to ignore God’s existence and choose sin will suffer eternal damnation.

The bottom line is that it is a choice, and it is our choice. It is your choice, and you are the only one responsible for that decision. You can’t blame your parents, your Priest, Rabbi or Pastor. You can’t say your favorite teacher taught you that God is dead, or that you just don’t know what to believe.

Not believing is a choice. And, take it from me, it’s the WRONG choice!!

Yeshua said that those who are not against Him are with Him. Not accepting or believing is being against Him.

Also, accepting what others say without confirming the truth for yourself is, well, it’s just plain stupid! You are going to have to answer to God, and He will not give you a break because you were too lazy to read the Bible and ask for the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to lead your understanding so that you can make up your own mind. And he won’t buy the, “But that’s what I was taught” line, either.

I will talk about God with anyone, believer or atheist, and if I don’t respect their choice, I respect their God-given right to make that choice.

Make your own choice, and do that with the knowledge that comes from reading the Bible for yourself. There are some parts that are boring and tough to get through, but get through it. Please- at least once in your life do this so that you  have a real chance at having life eternal. It may take a few days or weeks, or even months to get through it- the whole thing, from Genesis through to the end of Revelations. If you are Jewish, read the New Covenant writings, also (it will help if you get a Messianic version of the Bible) and if you are Gentile, read the Old Covenant writings first. You may be surprised at the fact that Jesus did not say anything new. Same thing for the Jewish readers of the B’rit Chadashah: Yeshua taught Judaism, He did NOT invent a new religion.

God has determined what will happen to mankind- no one who says the Bible is true can argue that point. However, because the fate of mankind is settled and already determined, that doesn’t mean the fate of any individual man (or woman) is already determined. The ship is sailing, it will reach it’s final port, and we all have the right and the freedom to decide if we will sail with this ship or not.

It is your choice, so make it a good one.

Parashah Pinchas Numbers 25:10 – 30:1

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The plague was just stopped by the zealousness of Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron, when he killed a prince of Israel who was with a Midianite woman (also of high birth) and blatantly showing disdain and rebellion against Moses’s command to not have any relations (especially physical ones) with the Midianites. God makes a covenant with Pinchas that throughout his generations his seed will serve in the Priesthood.

The Israelites are at the end of their wandering, and God has already demonstrated His support as they have defeated two kings and taken their lands. Now He has them take another census, and after 40 years of living in a desert, the difference in the size from when they came out of Egypt and now is less than 3/10 of 1%. Essentially, there are as many now before entering the Land as there were when they left Egypt. Some of the tribes are less but the nation, as a whole, is the same size.

The rules for inheritance are stipulated and God reminds the people about the regulations for sacrifices, Joshua is appointed as Moses’s replacement and Moses is allowed to view the land, although he is still not to cross over and enter it.

Isn’t it amazing that when the Jews were in Egypt as slaves, with plenty of food, water and shelter they were able, despite their slavery, to grow into a great nation, and then after 40 years in a desert, devoid of food, water and shelter, they were still able to maintain their great size? Well, maybe it is amazing to someone who is secular minded, but to me it is just what I would expect from God. He said that the generation which had rebelled would die in the desert, and they did, but still we read in this parashah that not only did God maintain the size of His people, but even the descendants of Korach have survived (26:11) to enter the land.

Now, as God prepares the people for what is to come, He reviews the laws for the daily sacrifice and the holy convocations, since these were first given to the prior generation (Leviticus) before they were to enter the land. They didn’t get in, though, and it has been 40 years, so God is reminding them what to do when they enter.

The lesson I see here is simple: God’s plans, whatever they are, will be accomplished. He is flexible enough to make it seem to us, with our limited ability to understand, that He changes His mind or doesn’t accomplish what He said, but what is really happening is that the ship is moving. We may have to take a round-a-bout way to avoid some reefs and rough waters that weren’t on the chart, but it is always going to the place it is sailing to.

God’s plan of salvation has been working itself out since before Adam was created. The Israelites in the desert got to see miracles daily, and these have been recorded for us because we are too “sophisticated” and too “scientifically wise” to see the miracles that are still happening today, every day. We think that just because we can explain how an event occurs that knowing how it happens makes it less of a miracle. I can describe how the digestive system works, but does that make it less of a miracle? Could anyone of us design that system? Could any one of us make a stomach? Can we create a physical being that can spontaneously create hydrochloric acid inside itself and not burn itself to death from the inside out?

God needed a nation to enter the land that was big enough and strong enough (and faithful enough) to be His weapon of judgement against the nations that had been defiling His land for centuries. The first group didn’t meet that criteria, so God got rid of them and had the second group, just as large but more faithful, do the job. When all was said and done, what God wanted was accomplished. Oh, yes, not all of the baddies were destroyed and, yes, the people screwed up royally and ended up being thrown out of the land, also. But has that stopped God’s plan? No, of course not: God is this very day actually completing His plan. We see the regathering of the people back to the land and the land becoming a fruitful garden, again. And we see the world starting to suffer the judgement that God promised would happen through the words of the Prophets and in Revelations.

This parashah shows us that whatever God plans to do gets done. Maybe not when it was first started, maybe not with the people that it was first intended to use, but it will be done, one way or another. That is something that the enemies of God should find totally frightening, and the children of God should find totally encouraging.

The generations we are reading about in today’s parashah got to see God up close; they saw Him on the mountain when they were children, they have been miraculously fed and watered by him in a desert for forty years, and now they see Him supporting them in their battles, allowing them to defeat bigger and stronger nations, easily. They saw His plan to free them from slavery and lead them into the land evolve and succeed. We, today, are also seeing His plan evolve and succeed. We have seen the Messiah overcome sin, we have seen the gathering of the people back to the land happening for the past 60 years, and we are seeing the earth being judged and in turmoil, weather-wise, politically and spiritually. The enemy is on the move, this is his time and we are seeing it happen. We need to steel ourselves against what is to come because it will come! Don’t listen to the prophets that advised Ahab, or the ones that told Zedekiah everything is fine. We are coming into the End Days, and it won’t be pretty.

Take hope, no matter how bad it gets, in the knowledge and the proven, historical evidence that God’s plan WILL be done, and the promises He made and the ones He will make are all absolutely trustworthy.

And also remember that you are responsible to do your part- God will keep His word to you, but you need to hold up your end of the bargain.