Month: January 2021

Are You Used to Your Salvation?

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David wrote this heartfelt prayer in Psalm 51 (CJB):

Create in me a clean heart, God; renew in me a resolute spirit. Don’t thrust me away from your presence, don’t take your Ruach Kodesh away from me. Restore my joy in your salvation, and let a willing spirit uphold me.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

I confess that I pray this on a regular basis, for myself, and not because it is a beautiful passage (which it is) and not because it tells of my love for God (which it does), but because I have become inured to having received the Grace of God and the indwelling of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit).

I have been “saved” for nearly a quarter of a century, and didn’t come to know my Messiah until I was in my 40’s; when I decided to accept Yeshua, I still had to wait nearly three months before I received the gift of the Ruach.

And looking back, I remember the many times I would be in prayer or singing to the Lord and felt his touch, you know- that tingling sensation you get all over-and I knew it wasn’t just a chill or something earthly: I knew it was God.

I can’t remember the last time I felt that. And I know it isn’t because God has abandoned me, or withdrawn his Ruach because of all the wonderful blessings I receive from him and also because of these messages I am given, so to speak, to share with you. I can tell you right now that when I do something that is edifying, which I am happy to say I receive confirmation from people regularly that this is what I am doing, then I know that it is from God ’cause it ain’t from me, I can tell you that right now!

Trust me on this: if something good comes from me, it ain’t me. So when I get a positive reply to a Facebook posting or from one of these messages on my ministry, I accept that as confirmation that the Ruach is still at work in me.

But still, I miss that touch. I know it is my fault I don’t feel it; it is not that I have rejected God, but I have become too used to my salvation. I have worked within it for so long that I don’t really appreciate it as much as I first did. I know that is wrong, but I also know it is part of human nature to become adjusted to almost any condition we are in, once we have been there long enough (I wouldn’t want to use the word “bored”, but that is almost what it is like.)

Now don’t get me wrong: I am not saying I am bored with God- heaven forbid! I appreciate everything he does for me and my wife, and I thank him every day. I read his word daily and pray to him always, but it is that peace of mind, that wonder, that overwhelming sense of joy that I recall when I was first saved that I miss. That zealousness, that strong desire to do absolutely everything in the Torah perfectly…where did it go? Am I the victim of that old adage, “Familiarity breeds contempt?”

Again, not that I hate God- heaven forbid! (I sound like Shaul writing to the Romans, don’t I?) But there is something too familiar with my relationship with the Spirit and to God and Messiah Yeshua. It is like a life-long friendship where two people have formed such a close relationship that they don’t feel it as much consciously, but subconsciously they know they are as one.

So, nu? What do I do about this?

You know what? I don’t know. Maybe someone out there has an answer, maybe someone out there feels they are in the same boat as I am, and maybe the answer will come to me when God is ready to slap me upside my head and say, “Get back with the program!”

I trust that God is still with me, I know that he is waiting for me to come closer, his hand out there, in anticipation that sooner or later I will figure it out. It is undoubtedly some level of pridefulness on my part that is acting as a wedge between me and God, keeping me from getting closer to him.

I don’t know: I just…don’t…know.

So what I will do is continue to study his word, continue to pray, continue to do my best to live more in accordance with the instructions God gave us, and continue to trust that God will, one way or another, in his perfect timing show me what I need to do in order to come closer to him.

And, now that I think about it, that sounds like a good plan for anyone.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe and share these messages to help this ministry grow. I never ask for money because this is a teaching ministry and not a money-grabbing business (although it wouldn’t hurt if you bought some of my books.) I will never tell anyone what they must believe, only what I believe God is saying to us. All I want to do is give people what they need in order to make an informed decision about where they will spend eternity.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

PS: I was making the video for this and as I was reviewing the video, I felt God’s touch! So it seems the answer is as David said elsewhere- a broken heart and a contrite spirit, God will not turn away.

Praise God, now and always, for his love endures forever!

Parashah Vayyechi 2021 (And he lived) Genesis 48:28 – 50:26

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In these final chapters to the Book of Genesis, Jacob dies at a ripe old age of 147. But before dying, he blesses the children of Joseph, placing his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger of the two, and telling Joseph that he is doing this on purpose, because the younger will be greater than the older.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Jacob also gives a specific blessing to each of his children, renouncing Reuben for having slept with his father’s concubine, telling Levi and Simeon that their anger and violence was a sin (when they slew all the men of Shechem), telling Judah that he would be prince among the tribes and rule over them until the coming of Shiloh, which is generally considered to mean the Messiah (not all Jewish commentators agree that this is a messianic prophecy), and establishing what will become the identifying traits of the other sons.

He makes them swear to bury him in the cave at Machpelah, where his father and grandfather are buried, along with their wives. He then dies, is embalmed, and carried to the cave along with a giant retinue, and the whole country mourns for him.

When all are back in Goshen, the brothers of Joseph are concerned that now, with his father dead, Joseph might take revenge on them and they approach him promising to be his slaves, but he tells them that what they intended for evil, God turned to good so that many lives could be saved. Joseph promises his brothers to take care of them and their little ones. He tells them that one day God will bring them all back to their homeland, the land God gave to Abraham and makes them swear that when that day comes, they will carry his bones out of Egypt.

The book ends with the death of Joseph at 110 years of age.

חזק חזק ונית חזק!

(Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!)

For me, one of the most meaningful messages for us from the story of Joseph is how God has a plan, for every one of us, but we never really know what it is until it happens.

I am pretty sure that when Joseph was thrown in the pit by his brothers, he wasn’t looking forward to the future, but was wondering if he would even have a future! Yet, he managed to end up as the second most powerful man in the known world and in a position to save God’s chosen people from extinction.

I find it interesting (because I don’t really believe in coincidence) that we are coming to the end of this story just as we are entering a new year. For just as Joseph didn’t know what plan God had for him until it happened, coming through this past year we all are somewhat concerned about what the future holds. Normally, we look forward to the new year, but right now I think most people aren’t looking forward to the new year as much as they are looking forward to ending the one we just came through!

So what does Joseph’s story have for us today? Simply this: we don’t know what God is planning for us, and we don’t know when it will come about, and we don’t even know if it will be easier or if we still have more fire to pass through. But, what we do know, what we can learn from Joseph, is that so long as we maintain our faith in God, which we demonstrate through obedience to his instructions, and trust that he is working all things for our good, eventually, then we will come out of this tsouris better than when we went into it.

Personally, I believe this horrible year is just the start. We have, as a country, kicked God out of nearly everything important, from our system of justice, to our schools, and even from society, in general. We are more concerned about offending sinful people and those who want to kill us than we are about offending God! And sooner or later, as we see throughout the Tanakh, when we reject God he will reject us. And for those who are still righteously faithful and God-fearing, we also see throughout the Tanakh how the innocent become collateral damage when the sinful leaders must be punished.

So, let us hope I am wrong and that we are coming out of the fire, cleansed of dross and purer than when this year started.

As we leave 2020 behind, pray that the light at the end of the tunnel is, in fact, the opening to a new and better place, and not actually an express train barreling down on us.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages to help this ministry grow, subscribe here and on my YouTube channel (use the link above), and remember that I always welcome your comments.

For those who celebrate the New Year, may it bring you joy and blessings.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Shabbat Shalom!