Tag: change

Rosh HaShanah 2017 Message

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Rosh HaShanah began Wednesday evening (the only holy day to occur the same night as the new moon) and the traditional reading is the Akedah, Genesis 22, which is the story of the Binding of Isaac. Even though we have Ha’azinu (the Song of Moses) as this Shabbat’s Parashah, I am going to talk about the Akedah.

The story, as I am sure you all know, starts with God telling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him. Abraham sets off the very next morning to do so, and they walk three days until they come to Mount Moriah, where Abraham takes Isaac, binds him, places him on the wood and is about to slaughter him with a knife when the angel of the Lord calls and stops Abraham. God tells Abraham this was a test of his loyalty and faith; Abraham sees a ram with it’s horns stuck in a bush and sacrifices the ram to God. Then he and Isaac go back home.

NOTE: because it was a ram that was substituted for Isaac, the shofar is usually a ram’s horn to honor that ram.

This reading is considered a Messianic passage by both Jews and Christians, alike. From the Christian (and Messianic) viewpoint, we see the father of the nation of Jews sacrificing his only son (Isaac, who is the “son of the promise”) as a foreshadow of the Father of the Universe sacrificing His only son, Yeshua.

From the Jewish side, I have seen too many different messages from this to even start to say this one is what it means, or that one is why it is considered messianic. The only thing agreed is that the Akedah it is the most read passage in the Torah, since it is repeated daily before the Shacharit (morning) prayer and again on the second day of Rosh Hashannah. In some circles it is even thought that Isaac did die and was resurrected, but the bible is clear he did not die.

I am just going to say the Akedah is considered a Messianic passage by Jews, and leave it at that.

The point I want to make today, though, has nothing to do with it’s messianic foreshadowing. What I want to talk about is how sometimes we hear from God, and we know what He wants from us, but then things change just as we are doing what we thought He wanted us to do!

For instance, in the Akedah (which means “binding”) Abraham was sure that God told him to sacrifice Isaac, but at the last moment God changed that. Abraham was told why things changed, that this was only a test of his faith, but often we may not be told why things suddenly change. They just will.

By the way, God didn’t even tell Abraham to substitute the ram- Abraham took that upon himself to do. I believe it was a thanksgiving sacrifice, for I am certain Abraham was very, VERY thankful to God that the sacrifice of Isaac was not required.

If, and when, we hear God’s calling in our lives, (hopefully) we answer that calling. But what about when after we answer it we find out that what we are doing isn’t working out? Here’s an example: where I have been worshiping, a place I know God called me to go, we are going to be disbanded in a few months. This is currently a Hebraic Roots church which is a sovereign Assemblies of God church; the first Senior Pastor left almost immediately after I joined to pursue his corporate calling (Ezra International) and the current Senior Pastor is quitting to pursue a Masters his employer (Bridges for Peace) is paying for. This leaves the church with no one who has Senior Pastor credentials with the A of G. That means the church will revert to an A of G district church, and that means we can kiss goodbye Friday night Shabbat. It is almost a foregone conclusion that they will go back to Sunday mornings, and even if they send a pastor with a heart for Israel, it is impossible to consider that this will remain a Hebraic Roots congregation. So you see, I am very sure that my calling to this church is about to take a significant turn from what I thought it would be when God told me this is the place for me.

And it has been the place for me. What God sent me here to do wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be, but it turns out that I have been exactly what was needed at that time. And now that time is over. Abraham was looking forward (not in the way of hopeful expectation) to having to kill his only son, and knew that is what God wanted from him.  Both Abraham and I found out that what we thought God told us we were to do didn’t end up being what He had planned for us to do.

When you find yourself following God’s calling in your life and suddenly you have to make a U-Turn, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are under attack from the enemy; it doesn’t have to mean you misunderstood what God was calling you to do; and it doesn’t mean that you have fallen from Grace.  It just might mean when you heard God call you to do something, you thought there was more to it, but there was only what He had planned, and you’ve done it.

Just like Abraham thought God called him to kill Isaac, but all God needed was to test his willingness to kill Isaac.

Just like I thought I could come to this place and only be in the congregation, without the responsibilities or burden of being in leadership, but I ended up holding three positions on the Council and working with the Pastor leading the congregation in liturgy and delivering the weekly messages.

What about you? Have you found yourself in a position where you could have sworn God called you to, and now it seems that you might have been wrong about it? Are you currently experiencing troubles (tsouris) in your life that you can’t explain, and you are doubting your calling with God? Are you thinking , “Maybe I’m not doing what God wants of me?” You could be right, or you could be done with what God really wanted of you and you just don’t know that yet. Maybe you are being pruned and the real reason for your current troubles is that you aren’t trying to listen to God because you think you already know what He wants?

Overall, the only way to know what God wants for you is to ask Him to show you. Always expect the unexpected from God because He doesn’t have to tell you any more than what you need to know, when you need to know it. That means things may change at any time, so be alert, be watchful, be ready.

And always be listening to the Spirit.

Repentance Without Change is Nothing

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How often do we hear preachers tell us that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved? How many times have you heard missionaries tell you that Jesus died for your sins and once you accept Him, your sins are forever forgiven? How many people believe that by asking for forgiveness they are now set to go to heaven?

How many of you out there believe that anything I said above is true? If you do, please sit back, open your heart to the Holy Spirit and read on….WARNING: your comfort zone is about to be attacked.

Calling on the name of the Lord, accepting Yeshua (Jesus) and asking forgiveness from your sins in His name, repenting of sin (which is what this is all based on) is totally useless if you, yourself, do not change how you act from that moment onwards. You cannot be forgiven for sinning if you do not repent of sinning, and repentance means that you stop doing what you have been doing. That means changing how you act, changing what you think, and changing how you live your life.

Think about it: What if I stole from you, and then said I was sorry and won’t do it again? Later, I steal from you. Do you think that I really meant what I said when I promised not to steal anymore? If I continue to steal from you, then what you finally realize is that I am NOT repentant, that I am NOT sorry I stole, and that I am playing you for a sap.

God is not a sap. God is forgiving and compassionate and patient, but He is not stupid or easily (actually, I should say ever) fooled. He knows our heart, He knows out very essence, and when we ask for forgiveness, if we really don’t mean it, if we are just trying to get away with something, then He will know and He will not forgive.

Read the writings of the Prophets and see how God continually challenged the Children of Israel, in both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, to truly repent, to change their ways. Read the book of Jonah- Nineveh did a real T’shuvah (turning from sin) and God recognized that, so they were not destroyed. Later, they went back to their sinful ways and eventually were used by God to punish the Northern Kingdom (who never even tried to repent), then they were also destroyed.

The way many missionaries and preachers gain congregants, and how they keep them, is to tell them what sounds good: “God will forgive you and God loves you just as you are.” Although these statements are true, they aren’t complete.

God does love you just as you are, but that doesn’t mean that He wants you to stay that way.

James tells us faith without works is dead, and that goes hand-in-hand with what I learned when I was a salesman, which is: people don’t mean what they say; they mean what they do. When we ask God to forgive us our sins, He is willing and desiring to do so, but He requires T’shuvah, which is demonstrated only through a change in our actions. Yes, God can see our heart, but that isn’t enough.

Forgiveness of sin is something that says more about God than it does about us, namely that He is wonderful, compassionate and forgiving, and when we talk about how Yeshua died so we can have a chance to live eternally in God’s presence, we are glorifying both Yeshua and God. And that is why we need to change what we do- repentance of our sins has to be shown by a change in our actions which glorifies the Lord.

We naturally will do and act the way we want to, so to change how we act we need to change who we are. People can’t do that, which is why we need the Holy Spirit, the Ruach HaKodesh, to indwell in us. Through the leading of the Holy Spirit we can change our words, thoughts and actions. That is what we mean when we say “die to self.”

I once read a self-help book that made a lot of sense to me: the basic premise is that we cannot change how we react to things, but we can change how we act. I was not a Believer then and was thinking simply in humanistic ways, but now that I understand better I see that this is how the Ruach can help. I am sinful from birth, and iniquity (tendency to sin) is something that is part of me- I cannot just make it go away. BUT- I can control it, and I can act in a way that will allow me to overrule my desire to sin. The Ruach is how I do that, and that is what you need to do, as well.

What I mean is this: I can never be sinless, but I can always sin less. I can sin less tomorrow than I did today, and I can do that through repentance (true repentance) by asking the Ruach to help me. And by surrendering to it. When I put my pride and stubborn heart in subjection to the Holy Spirit, then I will have a change of heart, and I will act differently. And my change will demonstrate not to God, but to the world, the truth of my repentance. Our repentance must be obvious to the world in order to glorify the Lord.

That is the essence of today’s message. When we repent and mean it, we will have to change how we act and what we say because the repentance must be obvious to the world- what we do and say as Believers is not to reflect on us, it is to reflect on God and glorify Him.

When we change our words and thoughts, we show the world that our repentance is genuine and that glorifies God. If we tell people we are saved but they see us acting the same way we always have, what are they going to think? I’ll tell what they are going to think- they are going to think that whole “God thing” is a bunch of hooey! We will not only have lied to God but will have defamed Him, trampled the blood of Messiah into the dirt, and possibly prevented someone from being saved from their sin.

That is not a good thing to do.

So, remember what David said in Psalm 51: “Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit in me.”

And while we’re at it, my personal prayer is from Psalm 19: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”

Repentance must be real, it must be demonstrated through a change in your words and your actions.

Repentance that doesn’t change you is not repentance, and without repentance of sin there will not be forgiveness of sin.

does God ever change His mind?

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Let’s start by remembering who it is I am going to talk about: it’s God. The one and only, the Lord of lords and King of kings, the Everlasting, the One who created everything and everyone. He never slumbers nor does He ever sleep, He remembers, He knows, He is always present and ever lasting. He is the Eternal One.

He is also the same today, yesterday and tomorrow and whatever He wants to do, He does. Whatever He wants done, gets done, and whatever He says is absolutely absolute.

Got it? So, nu? With all that going for Him, does He ever change His mind? Does He say He will do something then decide not to do it? Does He say a thing will happen, but then prevent it? I have often said that what God says will happen is so certain that it is already history. Yet….

He told the Hebrews coming out of Egypt that He would bring them into a land filled with milk and honey, the land He promised Abraham, but they never entered it.

He told Moses He would destroy the Israelites in the desert, yet He didn’t. More than once.

He had Jonah tell the Ninevites they would be destroyed in 40 days, but they weren’t.

He told King Hezekiah (2 Kings, 20) that he was going to die, but instead He added 15 years to his life.

In each of these cases God told someone that He was going to do something, and it didn’t happen. It really does look like God changed His mind.

But He didn’t- what happened was that the conditions upon which God made the decision changed.

The Hebrews coming out of Egypt were brought to the land God promised, but they refused to go in.

God said He would destroy the Israelites and make a nation out of Moses, but Moses refused that option. God was ready, but Moses didn’t want to do it, so the conditions changed.

Nineveh repented of their evil and asked for forgiveness- up to then, they were rebellious and didn’t fear the Lord. They changed the condition of their hearts when they did T’shuvah (repentance), thereby changing the conditions on which God decided their fate.

Hezekiah cried bitter tears and prayed to God to spare him. God didn’t have Isaiah tell the king that God was going to kill him, just that he was going to die. But when Hezekiah cried to the Lord and reminded God (not that God forgot) about all the good he had done, God granted the prayer of the king to live. The king’s prayer to be cured changed the conditions of the situation.

I am sure there are other examples of when something in the bible makes it look like God changed His mind. I submit that God can change His mind, if He wants to. He is, after all, God, and can do whatever the heck He wants to. However, we have to remember that the timeline we live in has no effect or bearing on God- He is above all the laws of physics that we understand. So when God says He will do something, if the conditions for that decision remain unchanged, that something will be done. It may not be done in a straight, chronological line, but it will be done.

The Israelites did come into the land God promised; Nineveh was destroyed for it’s evil; Hezekiah did (eventually) die; and the best part is still yet to come- God will gather all His people from the four corners of the Earth and settle them back in Israel. In fact, that is happening as we speak. Today we see the promise of God’s regathering His people and judging of the nations coming true before our eyes.

We also saw God’s promise to send a Messiah come true, some 2,000 years ago, and that promise is just as alive and active today as it was then. Yeshua (Jesus) is alive, He sits at the right hand of God, and all who accept Him as their Messiah and do T’shuvah will be saved.

Although it seems somewhat contradictory, God’s decisions are based on the conditions at the time He announces them to us, but those conditions can change, henceforth the events based on them change. God doesn’t change, His decisions don’t change, but the conditions can change, causing new decisions to be made.

That means you can be an unrepentant sinner today and are (thereby) condemned to death, but any time you change the conditions of your heart, you change the conditions of God’s decision.

Think about that- you have the potential to change God’s decision! What an awesome thought. All you need to do to change God’s decision is change your attitude, your actions, your heart. If you are evil you are condemned to death, yet if you turn from your evil ways you will be saved. If you are a God-fearing person who decides to apostatize and turn your back on the Lord to do evil, then whatever righteous deeds you had performed will be forgotten and you will die in your sin (Ezekiel 3:20.)

God’s promises are absolute; what God says will happen, will happen; what God wants to be, is. The only thing that changes is you, is me, is us. If we change, then the conditions upon which God has said something will happen will change, and God will make a new decision based on the new conditions.

God’s plan for salvation is like a willow tree in the breeze: it stands firm and will not be moved, but it is able to sway with the wind and bend as it needs to.

God’s plan of salvation is like a ship sailing from one port to another: the beginning and the end are set and unmovable, but the ship may stop at different ports, tack against the wind, or sail around an obstacle while on it’s journey. Those on the ship can stay on board or leave anytime they want to, and those on the land can come aboard any time they want to. The captain has set the destination, and even though the course may be here and there, the ship will arrive where it is going to when the captain wants to be there.

God does not really change His mind, but when the conditions of His decision change He will re-evaluate the situation and make a new decision based on the new condition. You are in total control of the conditions of your life, so make it easy for God to decide to do good for you.

Change sucks

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But I do change…every day! I change my socks, my shirts, sometimes I go to work taking a different route. Why, once I even tried a new blend of coffee!

That’s all fine and good, but when was the last time you changed your job? And not because the boss suggested a different career path, but because you wanted to try something new?

When was the last time you decided to try a new food at a restaurant? To try reading a different type of book? To learn a new language?

Or, what I really would like you to try: when was the last time you tried to stop doing something you know you shouldn’t?

AHA!! Now we’re getting somewhere. AHA!! Now we’re hitting close to the mark. AHA!! Now we’re breaking a sweat just thinking about it! AHA!! Now we’re……Okay, okay, I get it: enough with the “AHA! Now we’re…” stuff.

Change does suck, mainly because we all get comfortable, even when we are talking about the miraculous workings of the Lord, God Almighty. The Israelites walked through the desert with a cloud to lead by day and a column of fire at night, and after a while all they saw was the cloud and the fire; they lost the “feeling” of wonder at what God was doing. Not only did God miraculously feed them good tasting manna every morning, but He provided water and food in the desert. And eventually they complained about how boring the manna was and how they wanted vegetables.

What has God done in your life that you have become inured to?  As for me, I miss the sense of His presence I used to feel when I was first saved. I miss His touch, which I haven’t really felt for years. That’s not His fault- His hands are always reaching out to me. It’s my fault because I am taking for granted what He has done, and what He still does. I am thankful that, every once in a while, I still get teary-eyed when I think of the moment the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) first entered me. I am thankful for the way God has protected me and Donna, and how He is answering my prayers to reconcile me to my children. Slowly, all too slowly for me, but I trust in His timing more than in my own understanding.

We come to trust God, to feel comfortable with our salvation, and to take advantage of His protection. Even David, a man after God’s own heart, said in Psalm 51, verses 10-12:

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation; oh, how many times have I asked that from Thee, Oh Lord? As if You should do that, when it is really my responsibility, it is my job, my actions that will restore the joy. The joy You gave me is still there, deep inside, covered with dust from all the times I left it sitting and unused, hidden under the moss that grew as I did not move myself, spiritually, farther along the path of righteousness You have laid out before me, and rusted from my lack of care and maintenance.

I started this message with nothing, and look what You have given me, given us…a message that is straight from Your heart, Lord: “Come closer to me and I will come closer to you” We need to move, we need to change, we need to break out of our comfort zone and push the envelope, and we need to stop using so many cliches and just do it!

I must try to identify something that will please the Lord and work it into my life. I must try to pray to God to remind me of His wonderful gifts that He provides, every day, and thank Him constantly. I must try to see, what I have gotten used to seeing, in a new light, and I must commit myself to doing more in His name; at home, at work, at worship, and even at play.

This is what I must do, and I will try to do it for the rest of my life. There is nothing wrong with being comfortable, and everyone needs to take a breather, now and then, to enjoy what they have. I ask you all to recognize, right at this moment, what God has given you and thank Him, reach out to Him and ask for His touch and open your heart to receive it. Even if you don’t get that sensation, that tingling all over, that sense of relief that causes you to cry tears of joy …wait for it. We are not supposed to test God, but He is right and just in testing us, After all, He never goes back on His word and we do so often it almost seems silly to even promise anything. So keep asking, as the woman asked the unrighteous judge for justice (Luke 18), because whereas even sinners will do what is right for their own sake, how much more so will God do what is right because He is righteous?

Just keep at it, keep asking, keep working towards being a little different every day, doing something a little differently now and then. Be comforted by God’s gifts and protection, but don’t get too comfortable.

Will Rogers once said that even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there. So, get off your tuchas, get moving and change into what God wants you to become.

Change sucks, and it is scary, and it is disquieting, and it is hard. However, stagnation is worse.

 

 

Parashah Vayyelech (And He Spoke) Deuteronomy 31

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This parashah is short. Moses tells the people he is going to die, appoints Joshua as his successor and is told by God that the people will be rebellious and suffer greatly in the future. God tells Moses to write a song that will be a witness for God against the people when all the troubles they will bring upon themselves happens.

The Chumash suggests that the Song of Moses (that’s in the next parashah) and the only Psalm Moses is known to have written, Psalm 90, may have been written around this time in Moses’ life. They show how short life is and how important God is.

Everything changes, except for change, itself. Without change there is only stagnation, and there can be no improvement without change. Change is the way we become better, but almost everyone I have ever dealt with would rather have things stay the same.

Did you know that the American Revolution was not to change anything? No- they just wanted everything to remain as it had been. Since they couldn’t get it to stay the way they were used to, they ended up, out of a total lack of any other option, to rebel. That rebellion resulted, with God’s help, in the best non-Theocratic political system the world has ever known.

There was about to be real change for the Israelites. Pretty much every single one of the million-plus people had grown up with Moses being in charge. They had lived in the desert with manna in the morning, water available, divine guidance by day and night, and now they were losing it all. Everything was going to change. No more Moses, no more manna, no more pillar of cloud and fire, no more marching out or staying put. They were going to cross the Jordan. They were going to (finally) enter the Land, the one thing their entire existence has been aimed at doing. No more waiting , no more wandering. It’s here. It’s now. It’s really happening.

Good thing they didn’t wear underwear, because if they did they would probably have had to change it!

They were told God would go ahead of them and not to be afraid. We read later how true that statement was. God did do amazing things to get them there, and once there He continued to do amazing things for them. God is always there; even when He is forced to ignore us (because of our rejection of Him), He is still there. Waiting in the wings, so to speak, for us to return to Him. And He will send us reminders. It won’t be a cute little “Missing You” greeting card, or a post on His Facebook page. What it will be is to allow us to suffer the tsouris of being left alone in a cursed world. And He will wait, patiently, painfully, until we realize how totally stupid we have been; self-centered, self-absorbed, rebellious and, well….you get the point. And when we turn back to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, He will accept us. Gladly!

He also knows that most will never come to that realization. It has always been, is now, and always be only a remnant that will be saved. Not because of God’s desire for anyone to die, but because of our stiff-necked and sinful nature. He told Moses this, who told the people, who went ahead and did what they shouldn’t have done, anyway.

I guess no matter how much things change, people never will. Individuals, yes, but people? I don’t see it happening. And that is probably the most important change we need to make.

So, forget the “people” and concentrate on you. You make sure you are able to change, you make sure you are willing to accept change in your life, because like it or not, it’s coming and there isn’t anything you can do to avoid it. Our loved ones die, our children grow up and need us less, we grow old and need others more, the world gets more technological and less human, and pain, strife, injustice, cruelty, love and compassion all survive and continue. There will be constant change until the final judgment.

Until then, realize that change is necessary and unavoidable. So nu?… since you can’t stop it and you can’t avoid it, you might as well accept it and grow with it.

Just remember the most important thing to change is your devotion and faithful obedience to God- it should constantly grow stronger.