Author: Steven R. Bruck
What is Obedience?
What is obedience?
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
According to the Webster dictionary, it is willing to do as one is told; when I looked it up on the Internet, it says obedience is compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.
The Bible tells us to be obedient to the commands, laws, and regulations that God has given to us in the Torah. The question of whether or not Yeshua (Jesus) made those laws obsolete is not part of this discussion, but we are basing this entire message on the idea that the Torah was not done away with, as many Christian religions have taught.
The real problem with obedience to God is that the Bible tells us to be obedient, if for no other reason than to receive blessings (Deut. 28), but then it also tells us that we are all sinners from birth. You can find this in Ecclesiastes 7:20 or Romans 3:10 or Psalm 143:2 or Jeremiah 32:30, just to name a few places, so we are told to be obedient but the Bible tells us we can’t be obedient. At least, not all the time.
Do you remember the drash Yeshua told in Matthew 21:28-32 about the father and his two sons? The father asks his two sons to help in the field, one says he will do it but never does, the other says he won’t, but later changes his mind and goes out to help. Yeshua asked which son was obedient and they answered the one who actually went out to help. The point is that it doesn’t matter what we say, what matters is what we actually do. Even if we initially decide not to obey God, when we do it is considered to be obedience. And those who say they will obey, even if they want to when they say it, if they don’t actually obey then they are disobedient.
But, I gotta go back to the Bible telling us we are all sinners, which is the same as saying disobedient. So if I want to be obedient, but I cannot be obedient, then what’s the use of trying?
My take on this is that we have to be a little bit of both: willing to be obedient and being obedient as best as we can. No one will ever be sinless, no one will ever be perfect, and no one will ever not sin. That is, by definition, being disobedient, yet there are so many sinners throughout the Bible who were considered righteous! Abraham pimped out his wife… twice! Jacob disrespected his father when he lied to him. Judah slept with his daughter-in-law. Moses was a murderer. Samson had serious anger management issues. Need I go on?
I believe that true obedience begins with the desire to obey. Shaul (Paul) wrote about being “under the law”, which meant obeying as the means to gain righteousness and, thereby, salvation. The desire to obey had nothing to do with this form of obedience- it is what we would call “going through the motions.” The Prophets tell us, continually, that God sees the heart and cares not for the blood of bulls and sheep but that he desires our obedience. I believe this means that God doesn’t want us to just go through the motions but expects us to want to obey, and whether we do so perfectly or only partially if our heart is in the right place then we are considered to be obedient. We can say faith is more than just believing that Yeshua is the Messiah, it also incorporates a heartfelt desire to obey God. And, as James says, when we have faith we will have works that demonstrate that faith.
My belief (and you may disagree) is that the kind of obedience God expects from us is, first and foremost, a willingness and desire to do as he says. Then we must do as he instructs us which, because of our innate iniquity, means we will never be able to do so perfectly. This is where God’s compassion and understanding come into the mix. Just as loving parents know their children will do wrong, even when they want to do right, God understands our weaknesses and incompetence. He accepts us when we want to do what he has told us we should, and do so to the best of our individual ability. Of course, we must also feel true remorse when we fail to obey and have a humble, contrite spirit when we come to God to apologize and ask for forgiveness.
Time out for a moment…let me ask you: Do you ever apologize to God? I do. I don’t just come to ask for forgiveness, but because I really feel bad when I screw up I also apologize to God for not doing what he wants me to do. After all, if I apologize to people to show respect for their feelings doesn’t God deserve at least that much?
Let’s finish up today’s message with the answer I would give to the original question “What is obedience?”, and that answer is: obedience is first and foremost the willingness to do what one is told and secondly, actually doing what one is told as best as one is able.
My friends, we can never be sinless but we can always sin less, so go forth with both the willingness to obey God and demonstrating how genuine that willingness is by actually doing what he says, as best as you can. That is the kind of obedience that, I believe, God will honor.
Thank you for being here and please subscribe, share me out, buy my books, and make comments so I know if what I am doing is actually helping anyone to better know God and what he expects of us.
Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
Video for What is Obedience?
Too Lazy to be Saved
Have you wondered why people who have intelligence and profess to believe in God still hold to the wrongful teachings that their religion has given them? Even when they admit they don’t really think their religion is all that great?
Why do these intelligent people continue to reject the simple, and easy to understand, Word of God for the difficult and obtuse traditions their religion teaches? Why?
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
If you ask me (and since this is my ministry, even if you don’t ask I am going to tell you), the reason is that they are too lazy to change. Even though what they know is more difficult to practice than what God says to do, they are comfortable with it because they have done it all their life. They don’t want to relearn, they don’t want to develop new habits while dropping old, bad ones, and they fall back on the old, lame excuse that God is a forgiving God and will accept them.
Oh, yes – God is a forgiving God, but he is also a Judge who is fair and will obey the rules he has set up. He may be merciful, but mercy (I have written about this before) is not absolution. Mercy is not just simply forgetting about it, it is not allowing sin to proliferate, and it is not going to get you off the hook. The mercy that God gives is that when he punishes the unrepentant sinner, his mercy will make the punishment less than the sinner really deserves.
But punish, he will!
Now, forgiveness is not mercy. Forgiveness comes when we ask for it with a truly repentant heart, and we ask for forgiveness by means of the blood that Yeshua gave on our behalf. Forgiveness cleanses us of the sin we committed when we ask for it correctly, and mercy is receiving less of the punishment we deserve when we have to be punished.
This is a simple truth that those who are too lazy to want to change will learn when they face the Lord at the final judgment. The sad thing is at that time, it will be too late to stop being too lazy.
If you know someone who is like Herod was, a man who listened to Yochanan the Immerser and felt convicted by him but was too lazy to take action on what he heard because he was too immersed in his own comfort zone, tell that person that they are lazy. Smile when you do it, and do not judge them as being unfaithful or sinful, just tell them they seem to be too lazy to want to change what they have learned, even though in their heart they know that what they have learned is wrong.
You most likely will not change them; in truth, no one can change anyone else, the one that needs to change has to be the one who wants to change. It’s like the old joke:
How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?
Only one, but the lightbulb has to really want to change.
Maybe we all should take a look in the mirror and ask ourselves what is it that we feel led to change but haven’t because it is too hard or too uncomfortable? If you even think there is something that fits that description, ask yourself if it is serious enough to keep you from your salvation?
If you are already “saved”, are you really doing what a “saved” person should be doing? Are you acting saved? Are you still holding onto something that is of the world, which is always going to be against God, but that you just can’t let go of?
These are tough questions to answer. I confess that there are still things that I am too lazy or too comfortable with to change, even though I want to. It is all up to me to get it together and develop the self-discipline to make that change. Fortunately, these are relatively minor things that I do not believe will affect my salvation, and I do come before God every day and ask forgiveness for my weaknesses. And I am sharing this with you because I am not any better than you are, probably a little worse.
James tells us in his letter to the Messianic Jews in the Diaspora that teachers, of which I am one, are held up to scrutiny by God much more than those who do not teach, so I have to become better than I am.
And on that thought, let me end today’s message with what I think this is the best prayer anyone can pray:
“Dear Lord, help me to be just a little bit better in your eyes tomorrow than I am today.”
Amen.
Thank you for being here and please don’t forget to subscribe, share out this message and please consider buying my books if you like what you receive from this ministry. I haven’t sold many, but I can honestly say those who have read them tell me they liked what they read.
Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
Video for Too Lazy to be Saved
Parashah Noach 2019 (Noah) Genesis 6:9 – 11:32
In this second parashah of the annual Torah reading cycle, we read about one of the best known biblical stories, one which is found in nearly every civilization: the Flood.
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
God is fed up with the evil things mankind has been doing and finds Noah to be the only righteous man, so he tells Noah to build an ark and that he and his family will collect all the animals of the earth to save them from a flood God will send. The flood comes, the people are destroyed, and after about a year or so Noah and his family, as well as the animals that were saved, can come out of the ark and repopulate the earth.
The lineage of the sons of Noah is given, leading to the story of the Tower of Babel. The parashah ends with the lineage from Noah’s son, Shem, to Abram (not yet called Abraham) and his brothers, and the names of the wives they took while they were still living in Ur.
Here are a few interesting notes about the flood:
- Before the flood there was no rain;
- Before the flood people and animals were herbivores; and
- Noah didn’t have one pair of every kind of animal: he had one pair of unclean animals but 7 pairs of clean ones.
We all know this story and I feel led to talk about something that is a lesson we can learn from it regarding parenting skills.
In Chapter 9, we read how Noah, drunk from wine, passed out and was in a compromising position, meaning he was not just “four sheets to the wind”, but he was also butt naked. Now Ham, the youngest son, sees this and laughs about it with his brothers. Instead of showing respect for his father as he should have and do what his older brothers did (which was to cover their father), he made a joke about it.
For this show of disrespect, he was cursed by Noah and from his line of descendants, we have the perpetual enemies of the Jewish people.
I read in my Chumash that Noah may have become drunk because this was the first wine ever made, and Noah was ignorant of the intoxicating effects of it. Personally, I don’t by that for a moment. What I see in this part of the parashah is a lesson for all of us, and especially for those who have children still living with them.
What we do as parents, whether on purpose or accidentally, will be seen, remembered and probably repeated by our children. We shape them with everything we do and say, and if we don’t show them how to respect and compassionately treat others, they will grow up and have a very difficult time in society.
Parenting is the greatest challenge anyone can face. Besides the handicap we all face, which is either trying to be like or be unlike our own parents, the lessons that were imprinted on us from the moment we were born are not only difficult to overcome but sometimes nearly impossible to recognize.
My mother was a strict disciplinarian and believed in corporal punishment, but my father did not. Consequently, there were arguments between them and often I felt this was my fault. Children always think it is their fault when their parents are arguing, especially if it is over something that has to do with the child. I remember sometimes my Dad taking me to the garage, slapping his belt on something and telling me to cry out, so that my mother was satisfied and he was, too; obviously, I thought that was a really good compromise.
Noah’s actions resulted in Ham being cursed and his descendants, for all time, serving his brothers. Now, of course, Ham isn’t blameless, and the fathers can’t be held totally responsible for their son’s sins (the Bible tells us this in Ezekiel 18), but we can’t totally absolve parents of responsibility for what their children do because we, as parents, are the ones who are responsible to train them.
In today’s world, mostly in the last 40 years or so, parents have lost track of their obligation to properly train their children by wanting to be friends to their children instead of parents. They try protecting them from stress and problems, tell them they are OK no matter what they do, and even deny that the children are “problem children.”
How many times have you seen a news report where a young man has brutally attacked someone and the police report that he is well known for doing this, yet the mother says her boy is a good boy? Parents who enable their children and don’t have the time to spend with them because they are so tired from working has led to a society of uncaring, discompassionate and sinful children. And they grow up teaching their kids the lessons their parents taught them.
This has resulted in our society becoming what it is today: composed of self-centered, ignorant and overly sensitive youth who feel entitled to whatever they want. If I want something, not only am I entitled to it but you have to make sure I get it. And if you say something that bothers me, you are wrong; it doesn’t matter if it is true or if you are saying it for my own good, if I don’t like to hear it, you are wrong.
The world demands people to speak compassionately, but it doesn’t want to listen compassionately,
I will not delve into all the different proverbs about how the wise person receives criticism well because we all know that is true. The way we tell people something that might be distasteful to them should be done with respect and compassion, and when someone tells us something about ourselves, we should listen with respect and compassion, understanding that if they say something cruel or nasty or just too frankly, maybe they are having a hard time, too.
Parents influence their children, who influence not just their children, but every single person they will ever meet for the rest of their lives. The way we treat each other is something like a geometric progression, growing and spreading out like hametz in the dough. If my parents don’t teach me respect, then I will not respect others and my children probably will live the same way. As will their children, as will theirs, ad infinitum or until someone breaks the mold.
Maybe this is why God told Moses that he will punish the children for the sins of their parents down to the third or fourth generation. I think God isn’t saying that the children will be caused to sin, but that their parent’s sins will be learned by them and this might take three or four generations before the cycle can be broken.
Always be aware of how you treat your children, as well as when they see you interacting with other people; listen as you would want to be heard, and if you know you have bad habits you have picked up from your parents, try to overcome them.
Remember all that God has done for you and always try to act in a way that will please him because although the third or fourth generation will suffer for your sins, he also told Moses that he will have compassion on those that obey him to the thousandth generation.
Thank you for being here and please subscribe to my YouTube channel and my website.
I wish you all Shabbat Shalom and until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
Video for Parashah Noach 2019
Are We Being Conditioned to Sin?
How many of you are familiar with the movie called “The Manchurian Candidate”? It is about a man who was conditioned (in the old days we used to say “brainwashed”) by the Communists to assassinate a United States figure in the hope of taking over the United States.
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
Conditioning isn’t always a bad thing: it is used to help people break their addiction to drugs, it is used to train animals to save lives, and it is used to make athletes more proficient. But there is also bad use of this psychological tool which is being used against us through the media.
Newspapers tell us nothing but bad news; TV news shows horrible events of death and destruction; video games are designed so we can kill zombies and other aliens or “enemies” with reckless abandon, and the more destructive and murderous you are the more points you get. All of this exposure to violence, death, and destruction is conditioning us to become inured to it. We are, unconsciously, being conditioned to accept murder, violence against others, and illegal activities (I am thinking of the video game Grand Theft Auto) as not only acceptable but commendable.
Now, you may say, “Steve- what harm is there is killing zombies? I mean, they’re already dead?” There is no harm to the dead, but there is harm to our children because they are being conditioned to accept that they can randomly kill a certain type of being without remorse or responsibility. What I see is not a video game that has children killing zombies: what I see is a systematic approach to teaching children it is acceptable, even commendable, to kill zombies.
The next step is simply to identify a class of people as “zombies”, and the conditioning will be complete.
Hitler didn’t start by telling the German people to kill Jews, he started by identifying the problems in the country and then associated those problems to the Jews. Subsequently, people didn’t see a Jewish man or woman anymore, they saw their own suffering, they saw the food they want but can’t afford to buy, the clothing they can’t give their children and the destruction of their country. They didn’t see the person, they saw what they were conditioned to see: a thing that needed to be gotten rid of. Hitler, through his propaganda regime, made the German people see Jews as zombies.
This is, of course, a simplistic explanation, but I hope it serves the purpose of making you think about what is happening today.
The example I gave above about killing zombies is only the tip of the iceberg. We are also told what to eat and how to invest. We are told that someone else has a better deal, which erodes loyalty. It may not be a big deal when I switch from Crest toothpaste to Arm and Hammer, but the constant exposure to TV ads telling us to switch products or services for a better deal is a form of conditioning, which erodes loyalty and teaches us that we should only look for the best “deal” and ignore anything else.
From a spiritual viewpoint, the Enemy is teaching people that they should take what they want now and forget about the future. And when we forget about the future, we forget about doing what needs to be done in order to keep our salvation.
Salvation is a free gift from God, achievable through faith in Messiah Yeshua. It is a gift to us, which we cannot buy or earn. And, being a gift, it is something that once received is totally under our control. In other words, whatever is yours today you can get rid of tomorrow. The Bible is clear, especially in the warnings we find in the New Covenant letters from Shaul and Yacov (James), that apostasy is a real threat to Believers. Revelation tells us most will fall away from the faith, and Yakov tells the Messianic Jews in his letter that once someone has known Messiah but then falls away and returns to their sinful life, they are impossible to save.
The only way to prevent yourself from being brainwashed to sin is to recognize the process. This message is your wake-up call to get your kids away from games that teach them killing anything is commendable. You should make sure that what they watch (as well as yourself) on TV and in the movies is not teaching that killing is a good thing. Killing the bad guy has been part of the movies for decades, but the Bible tells us that God is the one who judges and God is the only one who should avenge.
We love to see the good guy kill the bad guy, but is that going to help you or your children become more spiritually mature?
I don’t think so.
We all need to be aware and selective of what we are watching and reading because we are being conditioned that murdering others is acceptable behavior, that leaving something we have used and trusted for years just to save a few dollars is wise, and that other sins are good because it demonstrates that you are a compassionate and understanding person. Things such as abortions at birth, drag queen pedophiles at libraries reading to toddlers, children who aren’t even producing hormones allowed to change their gender surgically, and many other sinful and perverse activities that condition us to sin, and not just to sin, but to sin and think we are doing what is right.
That’s how Satan wins souls: not by coming right out and telling you to do evil, but by conditioning you to think that doing this or that is not only acceptable and correct behavior, but he makes it fun and attaches both physical and social rewards to it.
Just because something feels good to do doesn’t automatically mean it is a bad thing, but it very well could be. That is why we all need to think about what it is we are doing and being told to do, and compare it with what God tells us to do in the Bible. If there is the slightest doubt that what you want to do is not what God says you can, then don’t do it!
Thank you for being here and if you like what you read or hear in my videos, please share me out, subscribe so you will be notified when I post and consider buying my books. I appreciate your interest and welcome any comments or suggestions.
Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
Video for Are We Being Conditioned to Sin?
Are We Strong Enough to Give Up?
What do you think of when you hear “Give up?”
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
Do you think that it means to quit trying to do something, like in a prizefight when one contender throws in the towel and by doing so shows that he gives up?
Or do you think of ceding land, as in a war, when one side gives up land to the other?
Or maybe it is when you tell a secret to someone else, and give up the information?
In some cases, giving up shows cowardice; in some cases, giving up shows compromise; in some cases, giving up shows the strength of will and dedication to something greater than yourself.
From a spiritual viewpoint, it could mean to surrender our life, meaning the way we live now, and allow another life to take over, one led by the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit. This is the type of giving up I want to talk about today.
Too often I see people who are fighting with each other, verbally, about things of the Bible. The pronunciation of God’s name, the importance of speaking it, the idea of the Trinity, and even arguments about which tribe they are from or what will really happen during the Tribulation.
These topics are really hot buttons, as we say, and it is not much different than when we are in a social group and everyone knows better than to get into a political discussion (especially today) because the emotions are so strained and people are so passionate they end up not discussing as adults but arguing and throwing insults like little children on the school playground.
Frankly, I am surprised I haven’t seen someone react with “Oh Yeah? Well, my Daddy can beat up your Daddy, so there!”
The strength I am talking about is the strength that comes from humility, which allows us to overcome our own prideful need to have people tell us we are right or to know that we were able to change their way of thinking to what we think.
The Prophets of old were instructed by God -actually, they were warned- to tell the people what God wants from them and that they need to do what God says. If the Prophet refused, then the bloodguilt of the people would also be on the head of the prophet; in other words, God would consider the prophet to be as guilty as the people. If, however, the prophet told the people what God instructed him to say, then even if the people failed to listen or change their ways, their bloodguilt would be on them, alone, and the prophet would not be held guilty of their sins.
I would like to point out that as often as we read about the Prophets in the Tanakh being ignored, persecuted and even killed, there is not one reference I can recall where the prophet was insulting or judgmental.
When we discuss topics that are God-related, or what we consider biblical truths (which, if you are willing to admit it, are always going to be what you think is the truth) and the discussion begins to turn heated, do you have the strength to give up? Are you able to say, “I see we are at an impasse, so we will have to agree to disagree” and then move on? If not, I would ask you to please think about why you can’t give up. Many people use what I consider to be the lame excuse that they are only telling the truth, which (apparently) in their mind gives them the right to be insulting, judgmental, and to badger people with Bible references until the other person blocks them. Then they brag about being blocked.
I don’t know about you, but I would never brag about being blocked because what I am bragging about, in reality, is that I was so stubborn and prideful that I purposefully rejected someone who I could have brought to a better understanding of God. If I am willing to give up this battle, I may be able to win them over in another battle. And, if I can maintain the communication, then maybe if I AM right about the topic I previously gave up on, I may get another chance to help that person see the light.
Now, there are cases when we should block people, or when we should not just stop trying, but ignore them, altogether. Shaul’s letters to Timothy and Titus advise them to stay away from useless arguments and discussions about irrelevant topics. This is something that we should do in discussion groups, as well. People who insist on arguing for the sake of arguing need to be avoided because they are doing the Devil’s work and we shouldn’t encourage that by participating. Also, those who are nasty, judgmental and insulting need to be avoided because they are slaves to their own egos and don’t really care about whether or not you are helped because they only want to hear themselves talk and have people confirm how wonderful and spiritually mature they are.
A meaningful and mature discussion is like walking in a field of flowers, where the more you walk, the more lovely scents you encounter. However, an argument that is a battle of egos is like walking in a field of sheep: no matter where you step you will end up stepping in something that smells terrible and you will wear that smell on you when you leave the field.
We must try to bring people to an understanding of God, an understanding and appreciation of the Messiah and what he did for us, and ultimately to the goal of salvation through Messiah. It is also important to teach the instructions God gave us for worship and treating each other so that we can persevere through tough times. These are important topics because they are eternal topics, and our very salvation is based on these things. Anything else might be edifying, it might educate us, it might even help someone to come to faith, but if it leads to argumentation and division, it is not being used in a godly way.
If you find yourself in an ongoing discussion that is going nowhere, and it is because (now, be honest) you are still trying to change someone’s mind, then you need to give up. Give up your pride, give up your stubbornness, and give up throwing pearls before swine. Yeshua told his Talmudim (students/disciples) that when they entered a town that refused to listen to them, to leave it and shake the dust off their sandals as a warning to that town. When you are in this same situation in a Facebook or internet discussion, other than sending some sandal-shaking emoji to someone just tell them, respectfully, that you will have to agree to disagree. I often use this phrase, “I appreciate your side of this, but we seem to be at an impasse so let God be the judge between us.” Honestly, if someone is going to argue that God should not be the judge, then don’t shake your sandal at them- slap them upside their head with it! (I’m kidding)
Here’s today’s lesson in a nutshell: when you realize the discussion has mutated into an argument, it’s time to flex your spiritual muscles and show that you have the strength to give up.
Thank you for being here and please subscribe if you like what you hear, and share these messages with others. I also welcome your comments, confirmations, and even your disagreements.
My hope is to give people the right information so they can make the right decisions: I never tell anyone what they should think or believe, my ministry is a teaching ministry. I want you to know that whatever you choose to do, you will be held accountable for it, so make sure you are choosing what you want to and not just what someone else told you to choose.
Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!