Author: Steven R. Bruck

Empty Is A Good Start

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I got nottin! Usually, I have some idea of what I am going to say. I rode my bike both Saturday and Sunday, and when riding I pray and get inspiration for these blogs, but this morning all I have is a deep desire for December 31, 2016. That’s the day I am planning to be my last, official working day. As for inspiration, a word from the Lord, or even a good idea of how to get my lazy tuchas in gear to go to work this morning, I’ve got “nut’n’ honey!”

That’s why I titled this the way I did, because I realized, as soon as I started writing, that being empty isn’t a bad place to be, because being empty allows one to be filled (as He is doing to me right this minute!)

There’s the old question, “Is the cup half-empty or is it half-filled?” My answer is simply that there isn’t enough there. Being unfilled (or unfulfilled, as the case may be) can mean, with the proper attitude, that you are ready to be filled.

It’s what we fill ourselves with that matters: some fill themselves up with the Holy Spirit, some fill themselves up with themselves, and some are like the parable of the man who was freed from the evil spirit and his house swept clean (meaning he was void of evil thoughts) but he didn’t fill himself up with anything of value. Being empty, but not filling himself correctly, the same spirit that once filled him filled him again, but it brought with it seven other spirits, all worse than itself.

We need to die to self in order for Yeshua to live more within us, meaning to be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit.) This doesn’t mean that we are replaced, but that we are changed. I was scared to death about being “replaced” if I was to give myself to God. What I have learned is that there is so much of who I am that I want to give up, that I would love for the Lord to take away, but He hasn’t. That’s what I have come to realize in my spiritual maturity (what there is of it): we need to be able to call on the Spirit and use the strength and power it gives us, but we are still in charge of who we are and what we do. I asked God over and over to take away sexual thoughts and seeing people as objects, I have prayed that He excise this part of my thinking, remove it, just take it away! And He answered my prayer: He told me that isn’t how it works. I have to overcome my sin. Even way back in the days of the Garden, didn’t God tell Cain that sin crouched at his door and he had to overcome it? God can, if He so chooses, rewire our brains in a heartbeat, but then we don’t learn anything, do we? If it is done for us, how will we find the strength to overcome the Tribulation Days? Where will we find the strength to refuse to take “The Mark?” If one doesn’t exercise the body, how can they ever expect to be strong?

No, God will not just make it happen, He will coach us, He will help us and guide us, He will supply the Ruach to strengthen and empower us with wisdom, discernment and knowledge.

But He will not do it all for us.

That’s why the Prophets and the Psalms talk about being tested in the fire, about burning off the dross, about walking through the valley of the shadow of death- we have to, each one of us- be prepared to do our own battle with evil. God is the coach, He is there to help us, to pick us up, to strengthen and encourage us, but He will not do it all for us. We need to be filled with Him, we need to empty ourselves of much of ourselves, not everything, but enough so that what is left will mix well with the Ruach.

God has given each of us talents and gifts, those need to stay; by being empty of the other things, the things of the world, we leave room for more of Him and that emptiness is a good emptiness, that is, as long as we fill it with His Spirit.

If you’re feeling a quart or two low on Spirit, there is plenty to go around. Being empty or feeling void of God’s spirit is not something to be sad about- that is working with the enemy. When you feel “down” and like you just aren’t making any progress, do not allow yourself to become morose and sad because that evil spirit and his buddies are just waiting for that door to open to them. If you feel that your “house” is empty, when you think you are not measuring up, or any time you just feel “empty”, drive yourself to God’s gas station, get on your knees, look up and say, “Fill ‘er up with high test!”

God never has an embargo on Spirit, and it is always free for the asking.

Always remember this: being empty is the first, and a very important step, to being filled with the Spirit of the living God.

Parashah Beha’alotcha (Numbers 8:1-12:15) When you set up…

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We begin this portion of the Torah with the lighting of the menorah. The Tabernacle has been constructed and anointed, then Aaron and his sons, now the menorah is lit and Aaron is told that he and his descendants are the ones blessed and honored to perform that duty. The Levites are separated, cleansed and appointed (officially) to their duties, and the people are reminded that God has separated the Levites unto Himself for serving Him, as a ransom for all the firstborn that were killed in Egypt. The term of service is to be between the ages of 25 and 50, after which the Levite is still to serve as a teacher and leader, but not physically to work in the Tabernacle or move it.

The beginning of the second year God tells Moses to have everyone celebrate the Pesach festival, and the ruling is given that if a person is unclean and cannot celebrate it in the first month, then that person is to do so on the 14th day of the second month. The rule is the same for both the native and the person who sojourns (a convert) with the people. This is repeated many times throughout the Torah: whether born Jewish or converted, once you have chosen to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob you are an adopted child, and you are not only privileged to be given all the rights of a native, but you are also responsible to follow all the laws.

As an aside, here’s where this has ended up today:

– Christianity wants to be accepted as a child of the same God that the Jewish people worship, have accepted that Yeshua is their Messiah, but worship Him instead of God and have rejected Torah;

– Judaism worships God, follows Torah, yet they have (for the most part) rejected Yeshua as their Messiah;

– the only ones who have it right (in my opinion) are the Messianic Jews and Hebraic Roots movement Christians, who worship God, have accepted Yeshua as their Messiah and also follow Torah, just as Yeshua did.

Back to the Parashah: now it’s the second year since leaving Egypt, the second month so everyone has had the chance to celebrate Passover, the Tabernacle has been up for a while, the Levites are serving and the Cloud has been over the Tabernacle all this time. Now is the first move. We read about how the tribes march out, the Ark of the Covenant in the lead and the wonderful invocation that Moses gives when the Ark leads, and when it comes to rest. These words are still repeated to this day when the Torah is removed from the Ark, and when it is returned.

God commands that two silver trumpets be made for calling the people to gather and to prepare for war. These are ceremonial trumpets, and different from Shofarot.

As the people start to move, they begin to grumble, as they will often, against Moses and their situation. This time it is about not having any meat. I personally think that if they had asked God respectfully He would have obliged them, but as such, with their faithless and selfish grumbling and kvetching, God sent them meat and then made them sick of (and from) it to the point where a plague broke out against the people. Maybe it was a form of Avian Flu? Whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant, or maybe I should say, it wasn’t pheasant (ouch!)

The final chapter relates how Aaron and Miriam complain against Moses for marrying a Cushite woman. Most likely that means she was Ethiopian, although it could refer to Zipporah, a Midianite. It was either a second marriage or just that Zipporah was from Midian- we do not know for sure, but we do not for certain that Miriam is the instigator and Aaron is drawn into the issue by her. That is clear from the Kumash. Miriam is summarily punished by God for speaking against Moses, and Moses immediately asks God to forgive her. Here we learn about how meek and humble Moses is. God allows her to be healed of the leprosy He inflicted on her and makes her wait outside the camp, as one unclean, for 7 days.

The lesson for us today from this that I want to talk about is how simple and manifest the prayer of Moses was to heal his sister. All he said was, “Heal her now, oh Lord, I beseech thee!” Simple, heartfelt, and (if I may use the word) …pure. It is a pure prayer, asking what is needed for both the person making the prayer and the person for whom the prayer is offered for.

How many times do we hear people pray on and on, andonandonandonandon….sometimes I can sense them stumbling, trying to think of something else, anything else, to say. As if the Lord doesn’t get it, like God doesn’t know what we want so while we have His attention let’s just get everything we possibly can out. Sometimes after a service, when we are going to do the blessings over the wine and bread (the Kiddush) the leader will go on praying about the sermon, the communion act, and other things, and I wish that he would just give the blessings. Those blessings are simple and say it all- thank you, Lord, for bringing forth bread from the earth and for creating the fruit of the vine. Maybe a quickie reminder, that this is what we do not just to thank God but in memory of the Messiah’s request that we remember Him, also, when we do this. Communion is not communion with Yeshua, it is communion with God, and serves additionally as a memorial to Yeshua’s sacrifice. Together, the prayers and Yeshua’s sacrifice bring us into communion with God.

When you pray, don’t go on. Your Father in heaven knows what you need (didn’t Yeshua tell us that in Matthew 6:8?) so just ask with a simple, heartfelt request for what you need now. Don’t go on about tomorrow- today has enough problems of it’s own (oh, my- didn’t Yeshua say that, too?) and we are only to ask for what we need now. And don’t ramble on (Yikes! Yeshua said that, too!) We can’t possible need so much that a prayer to God will take more than a few minutes. It should take no time at all. The only thing that should take up a lot of time is recounting all the wonderful blessings God has given us. If I was to thank God, one-by-one, for all the blessings He has bestowed on me (most every one of them undeserved) I would be praying non-stop, 24/7/365 (366 on leap years) from now until I died, and I would still be short.

Make your prayer meaningful by filling it full of meaning. When we say to somone, “I love you”, is there really anything else to say? We all know what that means, the words evoke the myriad emotions and feelings and memories of what loving and being loved has meant to each individual who says those three words. If humans can understand so fully what it means to tell someone you love them, then how much more can the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, our very Creator, know about what we want, need and feel when we talk to Him?

Let your prayer life conform to the KISS rule: Keep It Simple, Schmo!

God knows what you want and he knows what you need, so ask for what you want and He will give you what you need. Don’t try to speak in perfect Shakespearian language, don’t try to emulate Solomon, don’t make King James roll over in his grave listening to you. Just pray as Moses prayed, and as Yeshua told us how to pray in Matthew 6:9-14.

Start by giving honor to God, ask for forgiveness (to cleanse yourself before Him), then ask Him for only that which you need right now, and only what you need to survive, tell God what you desire, and then finish with praising the Lord and recognizing His worthiness and power. Finally, invoke the name of Yeshua ha Mashiach, for we were told that when we pray in Yeshua’s name, God will grant us whatever we ask for. That’s it- if you are praying much more than 1-2 minutes, you’re probably getting off the mark.

I have prayed to God for more than 2 minutes, but it was more like talking with Him. I converse with Him (well, I talk and He listens) and sometimes it does go on for a while, but it is a conversation. And it is totally private. But my prayers, my orisons, my requests and my deepest feelings that I pour out to Him are simple and short.

Do what you feel good about; if you really feel good when you pray for a long time, than don’t let anything I do or say get between you, your prayer life and your communion with God. I just ask that you review what you are doing, and if Moses was comfortable with a 5 or 6 word prayer to heal his sister from a death-like existence, then maybe we should be comfortable with asking God simply and honestly for what we need.

Prayer only has to be from the heart, from a broken and contrite spirit, honest, heartfelt and to God. That’s all it takes.

Lower and Lower We Sink; Closer and Closer We Come

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I read an article in the paper this morning about web sites and phone apps that are designed, essentially, as dating sites. These aren’t the kind where singles of specific age, religion or race get together; these are for married people who just want to have relationships outside their marriage without giving up their marriage.

When I was younger we called them “swingers”, or couples that liked to “swap”, so it’s not a new idea. It’s just an old idea that has met modern technology to form a more perfect union between people who are out to destroy the godly union they committed to at one time.

Oh…excuse me, they aren’t destroying it. They are just realizing their own desires for experimentation, or is it expanding their experience? No, maybe it’s enhancing their marriage by allowing them to know others so they can better appreciate what they have. Right.

After all, what does a monogamous, committed relationship give us that can match fornicating with anyone and everyone you want to? Committed relationships with fidelity can’t give you STD’s, it can’t place you in a position where you may be locked in a room with a sadist or someone who gets off on you getting hurt (that can go in either direction, by the way), or meeting a fanatical, controlling monster who will ruin your life and harm your children.

Oh, yes, and a faithful relationship can’t give you palimony suits or bastard children (yes, that is still a valid term for children born out of wedlock, which assumes the wedlock they are born from is the one you have with your spouse and not someone else’s spouse.)

As society becomes more and more accepting of sinful relationships that erode the very foundation of faithfulness, even at a human level (not to mention faith in an unseen God), we will see more and more degradation of ethical behaviour. If those who commit to a relationship before God are willing to renege on that promise of fidelity so easily, well…what’s next? If it doesn’t bother me to cheat on my spouse, how much more will it bother me to steal from work? Or steal from a friend? After all, I’m willing to sleep with his wife so what if I grab a ten-spot I see on the dresser?

If we can cheat on the very person we promised to be faithful to, forever, then how much more easily can we cheat on our taxes? After all, we never even kissed Uncle Sam, let alone promised to be faithful, right? And we can lie about it, too- what’s lying compared to adultery? Very similar, actually, so if I can do one then the other is a breeze.

The only good news in this decrepit environment we live in is that the lower we sink, as a society, and the more accepting we find sinful actions to be, the closer we come to the final judgement. That should be frightening for those who do not know the Messiah of Adonai, and it should be a source of hope for those that do.

I find these things disgusting, an abomination. Anything that erodes even the slightest ethical mores of a society will be like the hametz Yeshua warns us against which will grow, and grow, and grow until we live in a new Sodom and a resurrected Gomorrah.

Actually, we are pretty close right now, aren’t we? Instead of cutesy names like OpenMinded, Adultfriendfinder or Fullofdesire (no single men allowed on that site) they should just call themselves what they are: cheatonyourspouse, hurtyourkids, bealouse, getadisease, rejecttheLord, sinforfun.

Be prepared for even worse stuff to come. There will soon be more sinfulness, the strong will take advantage of the weak, society will begin to split into those who band together in sinful activity and those that will be rejected; the ones who refuse to take the mark of the enemy will not be able to buy anything (Revelations) and will find themselves outcasts. Family values will disintegrate into faithlessness, adultery, and probably more (sexual) child abuse and inbreeding.  This is foretold to us in the writings of the Prophets, and Yeshua confirms it in His warnings to the Disciples.

We must be prepared, and the best preparation is to know what to expect. I don’t care to read the newspapers, except for the comics and the word puzzles, but I do glance at the headlines: not so I can intelligently discuss current events, but to look for the signs of the End Days.

This article I read today is a road marker: “Destruction is just ahead.” I’m not sure how many miles we need to go before we get there, but the road is getting bumpier and more winding. It’s getting harder to stay on the straight and narrow when every road our society creates is bent out of shape and lined with brothels and low-class bars instead of family hotels and IHOP’s.

It’s rough weather ahead, Matey’s, so steer your course true and watch for sandbars along the way. We will have to go through a maelstrom before we hit quiet waters.

Hope is a Future Thing

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{ I was rearranging some papers the other day and came upon a book of sermons and Bible teachings I have composed over the years. I couldn’t help but glance through and saw some good stuff in there (of course, it’s from the word of God so how can it be bad?) and thought I might share some now and then with you. Today it’s about hope and faith.}

The past is just that- the past. It can’t be changed and there is no hope for it: the best we can do is learn from it and let go those things that need to be let go of.

The present is just one heartbeat away from being the past. There isn’t that much hope in the present, and the best we can do is pray that we make good decisions as we react to what is happening this very second.

The future is where it’s at! It is wide open, it hasn’t been written and it can be changed. We can plan for the future (although there is the old adage: if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans) and the idea of what may lay ahead should be exciting.

There are those, however, who fear the future because it is unknown. They worry about what may happen.

Yeshua tells us in Mattitayu 6:25 not to worry about anything because we have no control over it- we can’t even add one hour to our lives. He also reminds us that God cares about every bird that falls to the ground, and He cares even more about us. We are also told that no child of God will go hungry or without a roof over his head, and that God has provided for the birds and the flowers, and He will provide for us, too.

Yet, we still worry. Why is that? Simple: lack of faith. We feel uncomfortable and worry about the future because we are still trying to control things ourselves, and since we don’t know what is coming we can’t control it. We are looking to our own power, not to God, for protection and help.

Romans 5:2 and Galatians 5:5 both talk to us about this. Faith is believing in things unseen and unproven. It was through faith, not through human endeavors, that the Patriarchs survived, that the nation of Israel lived 40 years in a desert, and the people of Judea were saved over and over from the Assyrians and Babylonians; up to the days when they stopped acting in faith. When they deserted their God, and rejected faith in Adonai, they didn’t survive.

Faith is the process by which we receive salvation: First, faith in a God unseen, then faith in His works that are seen, then faith in His justice we see when we are obstinate and reject Him, then faith in His mercy and compassion when we do T’Shuvah, then faith in Yeshua who showed Himself to be the Messiah, then faith in His crucifixion and resurrection, as the sacrifice for all of us that was accepted, and finally faith in the promise of salvation that is possible by that sacrificial death.

As we go through life we need to show this faith, and strengthen it. When you feel concerned about things, remember those times when God rescued you, recount your blessings when you are worried about the future, and remind yourself, daily, to thank God for all that He has done, is doing, and especially for what He has planned for you. God only does what is good for us, even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He is there with us, guiding us to the light. He will never forget nor forsake us.

If these things don’t strengthen you and give you hope for the future, then you need a good slap to the side of your head! Get with the program, and don’t you dare profess to be a good, spiritual person, a Believer in the Lord, then show people your fear and trembling. You desecrate the name of the Lord when you do that. You need to stand firm- how many times did God tell His prophets to stand firm, to be iron against the kings of the day? To speak the truth even in the face of public disgrace and anger?

You don’t have to walk around half-naked as Isaiah, or wear a yoke around your neck like Jeremiah did, but you do, if you profess to be a Believer, have to walk around without stooping in fear, you do have to show courage and trust in God, faith in His provision, so you can show the world that being a child of God is the best way to control your future.

That’s what it comes down to- control. Those who want to be in control are doomed from the start, which is why there is so much fear and anger (from frustration) in the world- we want to control that which we can’t. It’s a lose-lose proposition.

But those who trust in God, who give control over to Him, are secure and free from worry because God is the only one who can control the future- to God, the future has already happened, so He already knows exactly what is coming long before it gets to us.

Exercise your faith so that it becomes stronger. Recount your blessing, forgive people, give hope to their hopelessness through your trust in God, remember Psalm 27:1, and fear not.

God gives us a spirit of victory, not of fear, so be victorious.

Remember what Yeshua tells us in Mattitayu 19:26- “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Trust in God, lead by faith, walk fearlessly into the lions den. Daniel survived, and with faith, you will, too!

Parashah Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89) “Take”

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This reading starts with a census of the Levitical clans so that the number of those who are able to do service in the Tent of Meeting can be counted. The age range for service is from 30 to 50 years old.

It also outlines the regulations about restitution for sin against each other, the Water of Jealousy and the Nazarite vows. It finishes with the tabernacle being completed, and the gifts bestowed by the 12 tribes, which were exactly the same gifts from each tribe. The Chumash says the gifts were exactly the same so that no one tribe would outrival the other.

Verses 6:23-28 is the only place in the entire bible where God specifically tells us how we are to be blessed. No where else are we told exactly what to pray (the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew is really more of a template describing the manner in which we are to pray than an actual prayer, although on it’s own it is a really good prayer) or how to bless someone. These three sentences, which God told Moses to have Aaron use when blessing the people, are God’s own words that we are to use when placing His name on the people.

The Talmud goes into detail about the underlying meaning of each of these three blessings. If I may shorten the commentary a bit, the first line is in the singular to represent that the entire nation of Israel is one in the eyes of God, and we are to feel that we are a single entity. God’s face shining upon us is a symbol of not just happiness and purity (light) but friendship, as well. Yeshua also uses light this way, in telling us that those full of light have compassion and charity.  When God’s face is turned towards us He is showing and pouring out to us His love and salvation. The bible talks much, especially in the books of the Prophets, about how when God turns His face away from us we are left on our own and unprotected by  Him. So, to turn His face , to shine it upon us, is a symbol of His protection, love and divine intervention for our good. And to be gracious unto us is to provide in abundance both our physical and spiritual needs. Finally, to give us peace means more than relaxation: it is peace for us and peace from us to others, it is individual, familial and national. It means to be healthy, financially secure, without fear and tranquil.

God said this is how the Kohanim are to place His name upon the people; the Talmud is clear that even though it is the Kohen who pronounces the blessing, it is God who does the blessing. The Priests are only the channel through which God’s word and blessings are conveyed to the people.

The majority of religions I have studied and experienced, including Judaism, have forgotten this fact, i.e. that God is the one who we worship and God is the one who forgives and God is the one who is the origin and source of our blessings. How many religions have made God secondary to the Priests (or Saints) when it comes to asking for forgiveness, blessings or help? The Rabbi’s are the ones who decree what the bible means in the Orthodox and Chasidic religions, with the Talmud often taking precedence over the Tanakh; in Catholicism the Priests forgive sins and the Pope is the one who determines what God’s will is for the church. In the other Christian religions Yeshua/Jesus has been lifted up (just like He said He would be) like the serpent in the desert to where He is prayed to, and He is asked for forgiveness from sin instead of God. Yeshua never said to pray to Him, but to pray to God in His name- meaning to invoke His righteousness as our intercessor, not as the source and origin of our salvation. Yeshua is to be a Kohen like Melchizedek- not in place of God but as intercessor to God on our behalf.

Christianity and Judaism have placed their Priests and Rabbis in a position of status higher than God- the people go to the priest for forgiveness and they pray to Jesus, and the Rabbis quote Talmud instead of Torah. We are to pray to God, and not to anyone else. We pray to God, we ask for God’s favor and for God’s forgiveness, and we invoke the name of the Messiah as our mediator and as our intercessor. We should NOT pray to Jesus instead of God; we should pray to God in Jesus’s name , which means to have Jesus bring our requests to God; praying this way it will be Yeshua’s righteousness God sees when our request is before Him, and not our own sinfulness.

Don’t pray ‘retail’:  get factory-direct blessings and forgiveness. No one can do for you what God can do for you, so why ask anyone else?

Be Careful What You Ask For

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Just shoot me!! It seems like everyone brought back problems from their long weekend and they all are taking a long time to resolve.

To remind you, I am a Help Desk Tech and I thought yesterday was going OK, not too bad during the morning, then all of a sudden, late in the afternoon, I resolved one ticket and looked at my board and there were 7 new tickets. No way was I going to be able to get to them all today.

I remember years ago, when I was working in home remodeling as a Project Coordinator (the person who ordered the materials, assigned the crew to the job and scheduled it with the customer) that I was trying to learn how to rely on the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) for strength and endurance (emotional), and after asking God to teach me how to do that, my job responsibilities doubled, literally, overnight.

At first I reacted as a human, seeing only the “flesh” in that situation, and thought, “Somebody shoot me! NOW!” It wasn’t until a few days after this happened that I (finally) realized that this was the answer to my prayer. I asked God to teach me to rely on His spirit, and for that to happen I need to be in a place where my own strength will not be enough. I will need to be “up the creek without a paddle” because to fall into the hands of the Holy One of Israel, you need to be falling with nothing else to hold onto.

That’s how we humans are-always wanting to save ourselves, never wanting to admit that we can’t. It is a kind of conundrum, since self-preservation is a natural reaction whereas to call on God is something we have to think to do. For us, myself included, calling on God should be the first thing we do, but it seems to come in second or third when the chips are down. We seem, I seem, to always default to trying to figure it out on my own.

So, I asked God for help and He threw me into the fire. Thank you, Lord, for answering my prayer, even though it was a bit of a shocker. As many of us have learned, God always answers prayers, but rarely exactly the way we expect Him to and most often not when we want Him to.

I want to reconcile with my children and have done everything I know how to do, without doing what I know won’t work anyway, and I am in a place where I have only God to help me. I ask that He send them angels to guide them to Him, or to give them a spirit of curiosity to know what Dad’s side in this travesty is, or just to get us sending each other an occasional email. I just want them back in my life, and I want to be part, any part (other than the past) of their lives. I trust God to answer this prayer, but I don’t trust my kids to do their part.

You see, I believe that God will send angels, and that God will give them a spirit of curiosity, but each and every one of us has the free will God gave us to choose what we will do, and even though whatever God wants done will get done, God will not force someone to accept Him. And God will not force anyone to love anyone else.

God will lead us to water but He won’t make us drink- we have to choose to drink. And when we ask God for something in our lives, assuming that we ask for something that is righteous and in His will for us, He will be trustworthy and faithful to answer that prayer. So you better be ready, and looking for that answer.

I am careful, now, what I ask of God because I know the power of prayer and that God will do what is best for me, in the long run. That means it may not seem like the best for me when it happens. I ask for Him to show me, without doubt, like with Gideon and the fleece, what He wants of me. But it scares the heck out of me that when I hear that answer I won’t be strong enough to obey. So I also pray that when He does answer me, He will also make it so that I have the strength and faithfulness to do what He asks.

I know myself- if God wants me to do something that I will have to do without my wife, I don’t think I can. If He requires me to do something that means we have to move away from this house, I don’t think I can. I am not strong enough, faithful enough, and it scares me to death that I will finally hear, absolutely, what God wants of me and I will “pull a Jonah.”

That’s why I am careful what I ask for. I confess, and I hope you don’t think less of me, but I am still struggling to find the strength that Moshe found, that David lived, that Hosea showed and that the Talmudim of Yeshua had, which enabled them to suffer with dignity.

Yet, with all the fear and trembling I have when asking God to strengthen me, I still ask. That’s because, in the long run, it’s all about what He wants and it’s all about what He desires. It’s not about me, or Donna, or my family, or my job….He can replace all of that (as he did with Job.)  No, Steve- it’s not about what you want: it’s all about what He wants.

And to make it worse, even though I would like Him to wait until I feel ready, I know He knows better than me when I am ready and He will not give me anything I cannot handle.

That’s the scary part: I know no matter how impossible it seems, I have no excuse because when God is with me, who can be against me?

Jesus and the Torah

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Chag Semeach to all my friends out there. That is the Hebrew greeting that translates, roughly, to Joyous Festival.

We just celebrated Shavuot, the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai. This is one of the three Big Ones, the festivals that God commanded us to celebrate only at the Temple in Yerushalayim. The other two being Pesach (Passover) and Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles.)

This Holy Day is also called by the Greek term for 50 days, Pentecost. I have always heard people refer to Pentecost as a Gentile celebration, but it is a Jewish holy day. The 50 days comes directly from the counting of the Omer, which God decreed we should do starting with the first Shabbat after Pesach. The Gentile celebration is from Acts, where the Disciples receive the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, from God while celebrating Shavuot.

This year Shavuot also falls right at the end of the readings from Leviticus, which is the book in the Torah that has the most laws and regulations, especially referring to the priestly duties. The past week or so I have found myself writing more and more about how Torah is still a necessary and valid book of laws that all Believers, not just Jews but all Believers, should be trying to follow.

The historical teachings of the Christian world are that the Torah is for Jews and Jesus is for Christians; the God of the Old Covenant is an angry and punishing God and the God of the New Covenant is loving and compassionate (funny- I always thought He was the same guy!); the Jews are living under the law and the Christians are under the blood, so the law doesn’t apply to them.

That last one is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. The law doesn’t apply because we are under the blood of Christ? So what, then? Messiah said to ignore the Torah? To quote one of the disciples, Shaul (Paul), who wrote about ignoring the Torah in his letter to the Romans, “Heaven forbid!” The Torah is what Jesus, Yeshua, taught from, and it is what He lived, and it is what He said we should obey.

Yeshua did NOT do away with the Torah. One of the verses from the Gospels that people love to trespass against (meaning, as in Yeshua’s day, to misinterpret) is Matthew 5:17. They say that since Yeshua fulfilled the law, by doing so He completed it and thereby, it is not longer applicable. By completing it fully He did away with it.

Horse Apples!!  If that is a valid statement, then if someone comes to a complete stop at a stop sign, looks left, right, then left, and only then continues to drive they lived that law completely, so no one else ever has to stop at a stop sign.

Oh, yes- and if someone lived their entire life without committing murder, it’s OK for you to go kill someone. And let’s not forget the person who never had sex- that’s the one for me! Thank goodness for that someone who never fornicated during their entire life so that now we all can do it. I’m going back to college!!

Ridiculous, isn’t it? Just because someone obeyed a law, that did away with it? Absurd, stupid, and very, very wrong.

Yeshua did live the Torah to it’s fulfillment, He lived it completely and correctly but not to do away with it (which He confirms in Matthew 5:17.) No, He lived it fully to show us how we are to live it! When He said He came to fulfill the law He meant that He came to interpret it correctly: in the First Century , to “fulfill the law” meant to interpret it correctly, whereas to misinterpret the law was to “trespass the law.” That’s why the “Lord’s Prayer” says we should forgive those who trespass against us- meaning those that sin against us, since misinterpreting the law is a sin.

I have gone over this many times: John says the Word was first, then that Word became flesh. The only “word” John had was the Torah. The flesh that Torah became is clearly Yeshua. As such, that also is hemeneutically accurate since Joel and Jeremiah tell us that in the end days we will have Torah written on our hearts, meaning we will be living, breathing Torahs, ourselves. We won’t ask our brother if they know the Lord because all will know Him. Yeshua says that if we know Him, we know the Father, so it all comes down to Yeshua is the living Torah.

Now, if He is the living Torah, how can He teach anything but what He is? Did you ever read Yeshua telling anyone that they should not do as He does? Didn’t He say a house divided against itself cannot survive, yet His kingdom will never be torn down? If He is the Torah, as we have shown, then to teach or even suggest that those who follow Him do anything except what the Torah says is to teach against Himself, dividing His house and thereby, His kingdom will not stand.

Doesn’t He say that if we love Him we will obey Him? If so, then show me where He said ignore the Torah. Show me where He said Torah doesn’t matter. Show me where He said the heck with God and His rules and regulations, I want you to follow me, instead.

Oh, wait- someone else says that, doesn’t he? That is the one who wants to usurp God and calls Him a liar. Is that who you want to follow? If you follow anyone telling you the Torah is not valid and you can ignore it, you are not following God. That leaves just one other.

The Torah is who God is. He tells us about Himself, he tells us about ourselves, He shows us how to live and how to treat each other. It is what God says we should do, it is what Yeshua did perfectly (in order that He could be the sacrifice He was meant to be) and what He taught from, and it is just as valid today as when Moshe brought it down from the mountain some 3500 years ago.

The Torah is the ultimate User Manual for life. In fact, it is the User Manual for Eternal life! If you ignore it, you will miss out on much that God has for you.

Here’s the part that confuses people: when we live Torah perfectly, we will be saved. The problem is this: we cannot live the Torah perfectly. That is why God sent Messiah Yeshua, to provide the means for us to have a single, once and for all sacrifice that will take away our sins as the Torah’s sacrificial system was designed to do. And Yeshua will take them away not just once, but again, and again, and again until everyone can have their sins forgiven, not once a year at Yom Kippur, but every second of their life. Yeshua came to Earth to live as a human, perfectly in accordance with Torah so that He could then act as our ultimate sacrifice (as it is pointed out in Hebrews) once and for all.

The difference between Torah being lived correctly and incorrectly is what Shaul pointed out, over and over, in his letters to the Messianic Kehilot (communities): if we think we can be saved by living according to the Torah we are dead: not because the Torah is not the way to salvation, but because we have no chance of living the Torah perfectly. If we use Torah as the only means of our salvation we lose before we even start. Yeshua is the only way we can be saved. He did not replace the Torah, He made salvation through it attainable by giving us a “handicap”, so to speak. His sacrifice is our salvation, His death is our life, and His teachings are to live Torah as best we can and to trust in Him to do the rest.

We will all stand before God at the final judgement, and Yeshua will be at the right hand of God. When we, who have given ourselves to Yeshua and who accept and trust Him to be our Messiah and Savior, fall short of Gods commands and are faced with our own sinful lives, Yeshua will stand forth and say, “Father, this one is mine.”

That’s all it will take. Yeshua will stand between us and God, between our sinfulness and His righteousness; God will see us through the righteousness of Yeshua, and as such, we will be acceptable. His blood will cover us, encapsulate us like a cocoon, and we will emerge clean and righteous, forever. We will be transformed from sinful flesh into righteous spirit.

The Torah is the road map to salvation, but there is a great chasm we need to cross that Torah cannot get us across. The only way to span that chasm is to use Yeshua as our bridge between death and salvation. The Torah is what we need to live by, as best we can, and Yeshua is who we need to accept as our guide, our Messiah and our Savior to get us across the chasm between our sinful nature and God’s complete holiness.

The truth is this: Torah is valid and God expects us to live according to it’s rules, regulations, laws, commandments and ordinances. Yeshua is the Messiah, and He also expects us to live in accordance to the Torah. It is what He taught, what He used to explain Himself, and what He is: He is the Torah, in the flesh. Why, oh why, would He teach us to do anything else but live as He did?

Following Torah will not save you, following Yeshua will, but Yeshua said to obey Him and what He taught was the Torah. God promised us (in the Torah) that when we obey we will receive blessings, so don’t follow Torah to be saved- that is a waste and the wrong reason to follow Torah. Follow Torah to receive blessings, to hold God to His promises, and to do as Yeshua did to show Him how much you really love Him.

When it comes to following the Torah, you have to make up your own mind. Read Deuteronomy 28 to see what blessings God has in store for those that obey Torah. And what He has for those that reject it.

Torah won’t get you saved, but it will make life on Earth soooooo much better.

Parashah Bemidbar (In the Wilderness) Numbers 1 – 4:20

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This is the 4th book of the Torah, and whereas Vayikra was mostly ordinances and regulations, this book is more historical, although we do have the laws about wearing tzitzit, the regulations regarding jealousy, the Red Heifer, the menorah and Nazarite vows.

The name “Numbers” comes from the Septuagint and is (probably) based on the beginning of this book recounting the counting, so to speak, of the Israelites that are old enough for war, and also of the Levites old enough to serve with the maintenance and moving of the Tent of Meeting.

It is interesting to me that there are census takings that are commanded by God and there are census takings that are forbidden by God. The census in the desert (there were two of them) were at God’s command, but when David took a census (2nd Samuel 24) it resulted in severe punishment. Why? What was the difference? I think it is because when God commanded it He did it to establish something that served His purposes, but when David took it the purpose was selfish, and centered in confirming his own power and rulership instead of trusting to God to win the battle.

I also find it interesting that these numbers, from the leaving of Egypt , in the desert and when coming to the Land, are so very close to each other. It’s like God knew just how many people could be supported, and even though He could have supported any number of people He wanted to, the number of the Children of Israel seems to remain stable throughout the 40 years they travel.

This Parashah tells us the number of members in each tribe, their positioning when encamped and their order of travel when they are moving. It also shows us how God positions the Levites between Himself (the Tabernacle) and the people, which was to protect the people from themselves, since we already saw Abihu and Nadab destroyed by acting unrighteously before God. God knew the foolishness of the people and so to prevent them from coming into the holy area and dying, He positioned the Levites to keep the people away. Just as the commandments separate the holy from the unholy, the Levites kept the unholy people separate from the holy God.

I would like to think that this can also represent the opposite for us, today: we who worship the Lord are to between God and the world, not as a blockade but as a bridge to bring them together.

God reminds Moses (in Chapter 3) that the firstborn belong to him, and here the Levites serve another purpose: they are not just to serve God but to represent the people as their firstborn. There is a census of the firstborn of the Levites, which is substitutionary for the entire nation’s first born sons.

The idea that the firstborn belong to God goes against the familial system at that time. Back then, the firstborn inherited a double share, and usually was the leader of the family. If the firstborn belongs to God, then the next in line ends up leading and inheriting. And we see this a lot: Jacob was second born, Ephraim was second born, and David was way down the line.  The cultural norms mean nothing to God, so we should remember this when we are torn between what the world says is right and what God says is right.

The beginning of this book is a little boring, what with all the numbers and such. This tribe has this many, that tribe has that many, but these numbers and the fact that they are given here means something. What, I don’t know, but it means something. There isn’t anything in the bible that doesn’t have a meaning for us; after all, it is the Word of God and we are told that His Word never returns void. Just because we don’t understand or see the meaning of something doesn’t mean it isn’t important to read and know. One day the Ruach may lead us to an understanding that we never had before. I know that I have read the bible many times, front to back, and each time I do I get a new meaning from things I never even saw before.

Reading the bible is like digging for gold: at first, you see nothing but rock, but you keep digging. Soon you hit some gold, which you can now recognize because you have seen so much rock you now can easily see the difference when gold is present. And as you keep digging, you start to recognize other things in the rock, which before you only saw as rock. You can see fossils, specks of nickel and iron, and the more you dig the more you uncover what has always been there for you to see but, until you saw it often enough, couldn’t recognize it for what it is.

The more we read the bible, and the more we allow the Ruach (Spirit) to lead our understanding, the more we will see that which God has for us to learn.

Art Imitates Life Through Supply and Demand

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What can these two things possibly have in common? Our social media, that’s what.

Look at television, Twitter, FaceBook, movies, radio, Youtube, TV sitcoms…art imitates life, and the media is full of sexually sinful activities acceptable as normal (fornication, adultery, homosexuality, even necrophilia if we include dead people in love, as with the vampire movies that are so popular lately), cop shows are all over the TV listings and they show only the worst aspects of civilization, reality TV demonstrating the sickness of society: everything from hoarding to gross obesity to naked strangers in the woods, marriage at first sight (what could be more derogatory to this holy institution that that show?), etc.

The media shoves this drek and schmutz down our throats, stuffs it in our face and feeds it to us on a platter. And then! to add insult to injury, they make us sit through commercials that are little more than an insult to even the least intelligent of humankind. Now, here comes the tie-in to supply and demand: they are able to sell this stuff because the people want it. They can put anything they want in the media but if it doesn’t sell, i.e., if it isn’t popular with the audience, then the advertisers won’t endorse (meaning: pay for it) the show and it will go off the air. So, ergo, the drek we see is because that’s what we want- they supply what we demand.

And what’s the bottom line? Society is going to Sheol, in a handbasket! We are getting closer and closer to the total degradation of God’s creation. In the garden God put us in charge of the world and the animals, and what have we done to it? I don’t even have to answer that, do I?  God also has given us commandments to follow in order that we become separated from this cursed world, and the vast majority of religions (remember- God doesn’t have any religion, only humans have religion) have taught their followers to ignore these commandments.

The “vast number” I am referring to, just so we understand each other, includes the Oriental religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, also Islam (they do not follow the Torah), and just about every form of Christianity which, for the most part over the past two millennia, has taught that following the Torah is being “under the law” and after Jesus came it is not important and refers now only to the Jews.

God’s laws and His commandments, given to the Jewish people to make available as a lamp unto the world, has been rejected by the world. Basically, God said, “Here ya go- this is the way to live forever” and the world has said, “Thanks, but no thanks. We’ll make up our own rules. The Jews can keep it.”

So, let me get this straight- the Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe and Master of all there is, who created everything and is in total control of everything, who answers to nobody and whom no one can command, says to do something and we say no. And then, we expect to be accepted? Really?

Puh-leeze!!!

The good news is that the lower we sink, the worse society becomes, the more sinful and disgusting we are, the closer we get to the Acharit HaYamim, the End Days, the Final Judgement, the Lord’s Day!!

BTW…the Lord’s Day is not really the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day for the Lord, meaning a day committed to honoring Him. The “Lord’s Day” is not a descriptive term, it is a possessive term, and throughout the Tanakh it refers to the Day of Judgement.

Therefore, in the midst of the garbage that we have to sift through every day as we read the paper, hear the news on the radio, watch the TV or the surf the Internet, remember that all this is leading to something wonderful. But also remember that we have to get through this without becoming a part of it. You can’t just walk through a cow field without stepping in something now and then, so we need to watch every step we take. We need to pray for discernment, look to the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) for strength and guidance (it’s our spiritual GPS) and obey God’s Word- yes, I am talking about the Torah.

When we read about the stone which the builders have rejected we all think of Yeshua (Jesus), right? Well, what did John say Yeshua is? The Word that became flesh, and what is “the Word”? It’s the Torah! That is all there was when Yeshua walked the earth. That is all He taught from, and what the founding fathers of today’s “church” taught and obeyed.

Yeshua was, and is, the Living Torah, He is the rock rejected, so that means the prophecy about the world rejecting Yeshua means that the world will also reject Torah (which it has.) Now, if  you have accepted Yeshua, then, by definition, you have accepted Torah! Therefore, if you say Yeshua is your Messiah, then you must follow the Torah, or you are a liar.

If you believe the Bible, if you have been brought up being told that the Old Covenant is for Jews and the New Covenant is for Christians, if you want to do as Jesus did, then understand this: Jesus said, over and over, that He did as the Father wanted Him to do, and the only instructions the Father gave to us was (and is) the Torah, so Jesus had to be following the Torah. If He didn’t do everything the Torah said to do, then (by definition of sin) He sinned! And if Jesus had sinned, He couldn’t be the sinless lamb of God, could He? And if He wasn’t blameless and without defect when He was crucified, then His sacrifice could not be accepted, and that means we have no hope, no salvation, no chance of ever being with God. And, ultimately, that would mean that God’s plan of salvation will need another Messiah.

Everything that Christianity is based on- Jesus being the Messiah, blameless and perfectly sinless so that His sacrificial death is the path to salvation- is a lie if Jesus isn’t the living Torah.  And if Jesus is the living Torah, and we are to do as he did, then….well, if you haven’t figured it out by now, better stock up on sunscreen and aloe.

The Torah will not save you, mainly because no one can live totally in accordance with it. Forget about the sacrificial laws, just the moral and ceremonial laws and commandments are way beyond what any of us sinful humans can live up to. Yeshua, Jesus- He is our salvation. And that is because He did live the Torah perfectly.

But that is no excuse for ignoring Torah.

Please think about what I am saying. We cannot earn salvation, but we can earn blessings, and we earn blessings by doing as God says. No one can argue with that. That’s all I am saying: to do what God says you should do, you need to know what He says you should do! NOT what some human decreed as necessary.

There is only one place where God tells you what you should do, and it is not in the New Covenant because there is nothing ‘new’ in the New Covenant. You need to read and live according to both the Old and the New Covenants.

It is one book, we have only one God, and there is only one Messiah, Yeshua. .

Living in Fear

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How many people do you know that always think the worst that can happen? When they hear about a plane crash they say, “I don’t know if I want to fly anymore.” Or when they get a call late at night, the first thing they say is, “Oh no! Someone must have died!” (The first thing I say when I get a call late at night is, “Someone better had died!”)

Maybe it’s more subtle, maybe it’s something as seemingly innocuous as not driving a car, or refusing to travel, or even something as silly as never ordering anything different at a restaurant. Sometimes this is personal preference, and sometimes it’s just doing what one wants. If someone is brave enough to go their own way, and eat only what they like, that’s fine. But if their resasoning is that they are afraid they won’t like something, or that something bad might happen, then they are living in fear.

Fear is a very strong emotion, and it is like fire; it can be a friend or a foe. Oh, yes- there are things to be afraid of, and someone without fear is a fool. Fear is what keeps us aware, fear is what protects us from running foolishly into trouble or personal harm. Fear can be a lifesaver, or a life-ruiner. It all depends on who is on control: are we controlling our fears or are our fears controlling us?

There is one verse from the B’rit Chadashah (Good News) that I try to remember and tell people I know who profess to believe in God and worship Him: It’s 2 Timothy 1:7, where Shaul reminds Timothy that, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and discipline.” Within the context of the letter, Shaul (Paul) is empowering Timothy, a young Disciple and someone struggling to preach the word. Paul is in jail and stating how he has been abandoned by friends. This letter is to encourage and strengthen Timothy to continue preaching with confidence and zeal, despite the suffering that Paul is going through.

The Bible is rife with statements and encouragements by God to those who have faith:

Psalm 23:4; Psalm 27:1; Psalm 118:6; Deuteronomy 31:6; Psalm 56:3-4; Isaiah 41:13; and on and on and on…

Fear that controls us, that keeps us from trying new things, that runs our life…this is not fear of the Lord, it is faithlessness. Yes- that’s exactly what it is. If you are a person who says you worship the Lord, then you are not to be afraid. The angels that went to Gideon and Joshua began by telling them not to be afraid. Why? Because they were afraid, because they did not trust. God sent His angels to be a physical sign to them that God is with them. After which they acted faithfully, took hold of that encouragement and fearlessly ran with it. Look what they did with it!

We all have fear in us. Abraham was as faithful as anyone ever was, yet he had fear- he “pimped” his wife two times out of fear! And when Moshe first saw the burning bush he was told not to be afraid to go to Pharaoh. Moses took a little more convincing than Abraham, but once he devoted himself to doing God’s will, even the failure to free the people after 9 plagues did not dissuade Moses from facing a Pharaoh that said he would kill him and a people that wanted to stone him. And in the desert, did the people not revolt? Did they not want to stone him and Aaron (at least) a few times? Did not Pharaoh’s army pursue them? All this time Moses grew stronger in faith, and fear left him. By the time they reach the land, Moses was unshakable.

I work with someone who assigns the incoming calls to the system engineers (if she is reading this do not be disheartened- please take hold of what I am saying and be strong, for yourself. I only want you to be happy and faith is the path to joy.) Each time she calls me to say someone is on the phone for me, she whines my name and sounds apologetic. I have told her, over and over, there is nothing to be afraid of. She is constantly afraid that she will “bother” me because she knows how busy I am. Well, DUH!! Of course I’m busy- it’s a help desk, there are barely enough techies to handle the calls and I am always busy. I tell her to just let me know if someone is calling for me, and I will let her know if she can send them through or to please take a message.  Yet, despite my constantly telling her it’s OK, and just say, “Steven: so-and-so is on the phone, do you want to take it?” Instead I constantly get, “Steeeeve? I’m sorry to bother you, I know how busy you are, but so-and-so is calling. They are asking for you and I know you’re busy and I don’t know if you want to take this or not? Do you want to take it?”

This is what I mean about living in fear. Despite the many times I have told this person that it is OK to just tell me who is on the phone, she refuses to accept that she can approach me openly. She thinks she is being courteous, but the truth is she is afraid of upsetting me, or getting yelled at, or upsetting the caller, and it is all founded in her overriding fear of being rejected. Of not being “liked.”  If only she showed faithfulness. She says she is a Believer, but yet, she is ruled by her fears and not by the spirit of victory that we all have in God .

Yes, even something as small and seemingly insignificant as transferring a phone call can indicate if one is living in fear or not.

Here is Zechariah 4:6, “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”  We mere humans have little to nothing with which to accomplish great things, but God has everything that ever was and is, and whatever He needs he can create with a thought. It’s true! When He is with us, who can stand against us? Shaul tells us this in Romans 8:31, the basis for which is found in Isaiah 41. Whether we are battling the demons of the Enemy, or just asking someone to do something for us, we need to be firm and faithful.

How do you get this faith? It’s actually quite simple: do what God says you should do. Follow His commandments and He will bless you here on Earth. He promises that throughout the Torah, throughout the books of the Prophets and Yeshua confirms all this in His teachings, as well.

God has provided all you will ever need, and if you are afraid, remember who is on your side. If you are ashamed of God, Yeshua says that He will be ashamed of you (Mark 8:38) so stand firm and be faithful.

Being afraid of everything is not humility: humility takes strength and faithfulness (search “humility” on this page to read more.)  Being afraid does not serve God; it serves the Enemy of God. Being ruled by fear is when your actions are based not on, “How will this reflect on God?” but on, “What will happen to me and what will people think of me?”

It’s not about you, it’s not about me, it is all about God. Be faithful, trust in God, and he will justify your trust. Live in fear and the Enemy will eat you alive (Matthew 10:28.)

When you stop living in fear you can be truly free. When you reach out to grab hold of God you have to let go of your fear, first. So let it go, reach for God, and His hand will grab yours.

Fear of the world (being afraid of everything) will enslave you, slowly kill you and destroy your soul, whereas fear of the Lord (meaning faithful and obedient) will give you courage, strength and freedom.

You choose.