We are living in pretty scary times, aren’t we?

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There is social upheaval, the political polarization of American’s, crime in the cities, college students destroying our historical monuments, financial problems, businesses going under, and let’s not forget the pandemic.

With all this going on, anyone would be justified in being cautious, right? But when does being cautious turn into being afraid?

When do we go from being aware of our surroundings to being scared of every shadow?

When does “I’m coming down with a cold” become “Oh no! I think I have Covid!”

I know someone with a 10-year-old child, and this kid told his mother he had the sniffles. What did she do? She whisked him off to a Covid testing station! The kid said he had a runny nose- no fever, no aches, no headache, nothing that indicated he had anything but maybe a slight cold, but WHAM! Straight to the Covid testing center.

And he didn’t have Covid.

I had a slightly sore throat when I came back from a long weekend in New York City, and no other symptoms, and in a few days I was better. I didn’t run off and get tested, but I did watch for any other symptoms to appear. I wasn’t afraid, I was cautious- my wife and I didn’t kiss until I felt better. A few days after I felt better, my wife developed a cough, but no other symptoms. She was told by people at an animal hospital where she volunteers, that there is a “cough” going around. Are we going to get her tested? No. Why not? Because that is not necessary. If she develops a fever and other symptoms, then we will, but it is already getting better. In the meantime, we don’t get to kiss each other, which I hate.

We are being cautious, but we are not scared.

Do I wear a mask in the car when I am alone? Duh! Of course not, but I see so many that do. And when someone tells me it is probably because they forgot they had it on, I just roll my eyes. I have worn the stupid mask for hours when I was forced to do so because I was traveling by air and I can guarantee that NO ONE finds these masks comfortable. No one forgets they are wearing it. Everyone, absolutely everyone I have talked to who has had to wear a mask for hours at a time hates doing it.

The people who wear a mask while driving alone are afraid.

The people who test themselves or someone else at the first sign of any problem are afraid.

The people who insist they can’t go anywhere or see family members who may not be vaccinated are afraid.

And please don’t tell me they are concerned for the health of others, because that doesn’t really make sense- people who are truly at risk will protect themselves and not depend on others to do so.
When you know you are at risk, you make sure you are cautious, or even afraid, and in those cases, I don’t really blame them for being a little more than just cautious. If I had COPD, diabetes, or was a member of a high-risk group, I would trust in God but still make sure I was safe.

The Bible tells us the difference between being cautious and being afraid:

Isaiah 41:10; Lamentations 3:57; Matthew 10:28 (this is a major source of strength); 2 Timothy 1:7; Hebrews 13:6; Psalm 23:4 (you should have already thought of this one); Psalm 27:1; …and there are more.

Cautious is wearing the right kind of mask. If you believe wearing a mask will prevent the spread of Covid and is necessary, then don’t wear some fashion mask with a face on it or some banner, and especially not one of those gaiters, which are totally useless as any kind of protection. Wear a mask that is OSHA certified, or an N95 (that you change after every 4-6 hours of use), or the mask made by Sonovia Tech, an Israeli company that guarantees their mask will kill the Covid (and Delta variant) germs completely for a full year (it is washable and reusable.)

If you are cautious, you are being smart; if you are afraid, you are being faithless.

I am not saying you should open a kissing booth in the middle of a leper colony and expect God to protect you. We are told, after all, not to test the Lord, our God, but we can be certain that he is watching out for us.

The fact is that 97% of those who have been infected with the Covid-19 virus have survived, and there have been few (if any) long-term problems from it. The vast majority of those in the 3% that died already had pre-existing conditions that rendered their immune systems weak. They could have died from the regular flu or even a bad cold.

The vaccine is proving itself to be a short-term bandage, and nothing more since so many people that have been vaccinated are getting sick 6 or more months after they received their shots. Now they tell us we are supposed to get a booster?

When I was in Sales, I learned of something called a “Loss Leader”- you take a hit on the profit from selling something because that product will need a constant upgrade, which costs money. The real profit is not in selling the product, but in the constant need to refurnish what the product needs to operate. I believe these booster shots are just that.

Someone has to pay for the constant research and production of the vaccines, and since the only money the government has is yours, guess who will be paying for it? Expect increased taxes, increased insurance premiums, and increased costs of health care.

But, this isn’t about the actual pandemic issue, it is about your reaction to it- are you being cautious or scared?

God is always here to protect us and help us, and frankly, if he decides I should get sick and die, what have I lost? Doesn’t Shaul (Paul) tell us that if he dies, he considers that gain because he gets to be with God? (Philippians 1:21)

Personally, I have no problem with getting to be in God’s presence for all eternity sooner than I expected to be. Hey- if I gotta go, I gotta go, and frankly, the sooner the better. It’s getting to be a real drag here on earth.

Not that I wish to die, but I have no fear of it because I have faith in God. I am cautious, usually, but I am not afraid to go around maskless, or to be with family and friends, or to refuse to get a booster shot. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe Covid is real or can be deadly (heck- driving your car can be deadly), but I am not afraid of it and I would rather spend my time enjoying my life than being afraid of death.

You need to ask yourself how much of what gives you pleasure in life is being lost to fear of getting Covid, or of crime, or of having to (maybe) take a vaccine that is beginning to show itself to be as deadly to a select part of the population as the disease!

You need to ask yourself “Am I cautious, or am I afraid?” Because, if you honestly admit that you are afraid, then you need to work on strengthening your faith.

Thank you for being there and please subscribe, check out the entire website (especially my books- I just finished my 4th book which debunks the many traditional lies about the Messiah), and please share these messages with everyone you know.

I also have a Facebook discussion group called Just God’s Word you can join.

That’s it for now, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Recently on my Facebook page (my personal page, not my ministry page), I posted something that while receiving confirmation from some, was offensive to others.

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I never intended to insult or offend anyone, and never even thought that anyone would feel that way since I was talking about how I feel.

Now, having learned something from that experience, I want to make sure I make this disclaimer: to those who may be reading this and recognize themselves, please do not take this as a chiding or insult or even meant to be about you, personally- it was the nature of your response which made me realize something about offending statements and humility, which is the other side of the coin from pridefulness. So, instead of feeling offended, again, please take this message as nothing more than what I think I have learned about myself.

So, what happened? I wrote how I don’t like hearing something that everyone is saying today, which reminds me of the movie “Demolition Man.” If you haven’t seen that movie, it is about a future despotic government run by a megalomaniac who is forcing people to live to his standards of social interaction. One of the things that they do is, upon greeting each other, say “Be well, Steven Bruck” and there is no physical contact allowed.

It is “Be well” saying hello and “Be well” saying goodbye, and so sickeningly sweet it makes you want to puke. What really gets my goat is that in the movie you can see that they say it without genuine feeling but as a conditioned response, which is the result of the government telling them how they should be.

My complaint was that I have been hearing people say “Be safe” whenever someone says they are going somewhere, as well as all over the TV and radio. This is, to me, just like what I see in the movie: we say it because we think we mean it, but in truth, we are being conditioned by the powers-that-be to create an environment where everyone is constantly forced to remember that there is a disease on the loose.

As I said in my post, I do appreciate it when people care about me and stated that I feel the term “Be safe” has become so passé that I prefer “Have a good time” or “Safe travels”, which is general enough to show concern for me without telling me to be safe (as if I wouldn’t be.)

After some of my friends told me they felt insulted or offended and told me they really mean it when they say that, I thought about my response to this greeting. Was I being prideful in saying how much I hated hearing that because I felt insulted and coerced into acting a certain way? Or were they being prideful in reacting insulted and defending the statement, as if this was directed at them, personally? I mean, I was talking about how I feel when people (not anyone in particular) tell me to be safe, so why would they take offense or feel the need to defend the statement?

I think the lesson for all of us here is to be willing to listen to what people say without personalizing it. Of course, the way we relate to the world is to take the words and actions of others and pass them through our own experience, so it is pretty much impossible to not feel something when someone does or says something that “hits home”, so to speak.

And that is where, I believe, we either react with humility or pridefulness. Humility will remind us that it is their issue, their feelings, and their experience that is the subject, and not ours. If someone is speaking in general, yes, what they say may get us a little hot under the collar if they are speaking to something near and dear to our heart, but unless they are looking right at me and/or pointing to me, I have to remain humble and remember that the person is talking about themself, and not about me.

Today, our nation is polarized on almost everything: from politics to history to race to religion to what to have for dinner. Being able to remain humble and overcome our own feelings is so important to remain spiritually pure. It is a sin to be prideful, and that means not just in what we say but also in how we accept what others are saying.

Here is why I believe the world has become too self-centered: everyone wants us to speak to them compassionately and be careful how we say something, but no one is trying to listen compassionately. It is all about how what you say affects me, and no one seems to want to try to slow down when they hear something offensive or insulting, and think “Why would someone say something like that?” Maybe that person is in pain? Maybe that person has been told a lie? Maybe that person is upset about something totally different than what they are saying?

Or maybe that person is a major A-hole? The best way to answer these questions is to remain humble and overcome our initial prideful feelings when something someone says affects us, emotionally.

In the case where we are being insulted, directly, we can still remain humble in simply ignoring that person, which to me is the most insulting thing anyone can do to someone else. Better yet, we should ask them, “Why are you saying this to me?” showing compassionate listening by giving them a chance to explain. It may be a misunderstanding that can be resolved so that the end result isn’t two people angry with each other, but two people coming to an understanding and remaining on good terms with each other.

Doesn’t that sound more like the way Yeshua would act?

So, if anyone is feeling insulted, put upon, offended, or just put out by this message, I do apologize and hope that you will see this isn’t about YOU, but about all of us, me included, and how we should be just as careful listening to someone as when we speak to someone.

Yeshua had the advantage of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) letting him know what people really thought, but we don’t, so please listen with compassion and humility; and when something you hear bothers you, personally, step back a moment and ask yourself, “Is this about me or about them?”

If you can do that, then you are showing true humility, compassion, and love for others. And, if you ask me, that is the best way to be safe.

Thank you for being here. If you haven’t done so already, please subscribe here and on my YouTube channel, and check out my books when you are on the website. My newest book is called “The Good News About the Messiah for Jews, Debunking the Traditional Lies About the Jewish Messiah”.

And remember, I always welcome your comments.

So, l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

I am going to surprise you today- this is probably going to be one of the shortest and most direct messages I have ever delivered, so hold on to your hats ’cause this ride is going to be fast!

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Forgiveness is something that is absolutely necessary for any Believer to give to anyone who has sinned against them. Period.

If you feel you are “just not ready to forgive them”, then if you die before you do forgive them, don’t be surprised if you are told “I am just not ready to forgive you” because Yeshua warns us in Matthew 6:14:

For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;  but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.

That’s not an idle warning, and it isn’t something that you can avoid just because you “believe in Jesus”.

We are not commanded to ask for forgiveness, although we are told that we should do so to anyone we think we have sinned against before leaving our sacrifice or gift at the altar (Matthew 5:24); but, here in Matthew 6:14-15, we are told in no uncertain way that we must forgive if we want to be forgiven.

Not only does forgiving others ensure our ability to be forgiven, but it is the ONLY way to be rid of the pain we feel when we are harmed, physically or emotionally.

And remember that when we sin, it is always against God (Psalm 51): even when someone does you a terrible injustice, that sin is first and foremost against God- you come next in line. And the forgiveness of that sin against God is always and exclusively between the sinner and God; your forgiveness of the sin has nothing, whatsoever, to do with that person’s relationship with God. They need to make it right with God themself.

The important thing to remember is that your forgiveness of the person who sinned against you has everything to do with YOUR relationship with God. You cannot influence the forgiveness of the sinner with God, but you can ensure your forgiveness from God by forgiving them.

When we forgive others, it doesn’t make them right with God- it makes us right with God!

So forgive others, whether you feel like it or not, and do so genuinely. Yeah, I know it is hard to do, but here are the two things you need to remember that will help you overcome your flesh:
1. If you don’t forgive, you will not be forgiven; and
2. Forgiving others is the only way to be rid of the pain.

Do you get it now? Forgiveness does nothing for the other person, but it does everything that matters for you. In a way, forgiving others is not just godly, it is selfish, so be a little selfish because, in this one situation, it is a good type of selfishness.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages out, subscribe to my webpage, YouTube channel, and join my Facebook discussion group called “Just God’s Word”.

My newest book, “The Good News About the Messiah for Jews, Debunking the Traditional Lies About the Jewish Messiah” is available through my website or Amazon, in paperback and Kindle format.

That’s it for today so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!