Tag: beatitudes

Christ isn’t a Christian

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I know that sounds blasphemous to some, but it is the truth. Well, actually, Christ isn’t even a name (https://messianicmoment.wordpress.com/2015/08/05/whats-in-a-name-2/) so I would be more accurate to title this, “Yeshua isn’t a Christian.” At least, not the way Christianity is today.

Today Christianity, for the most part, teaches that Christ is the Messiah (OK- that’s true), but from there it goes off on it’s own, ignoring Torah (Jews have Torah and Christians have the Blood of Christ) and teaching that as long as you are a good person you go to heaven because Jesus died for your sins, implying that you are now essentially sinless because you are immediately and constantly forgiven.

That is not at all what Yeshua taught. He never even thought such a thing- Torah not important? No way! Some rules for Jews and others for Christians? Ridiculous- God’s laws are paramount, eternal and for everyone!

God gave the Torah to His chosen people, who were not chosen to be the only ones saved from sin, but chosen to be the ones to save everyone else from their sins by teaching them how to obey the Torah! Yeshua taught us that the letter of the Torah is important, but the spirit of the law is even more important. He did this best when He preached the Beatitudes in the Gospels. That is where we hear the real A-B-C’s of Yeshua’s teachings, and none of it is against the Torah. In fact, it is all about the Torah: Yeshua tells us how the Torah says we should act, then not only endorses that but takes it to the next level by telling us it isn’t enough to act in accordance with Torah, but we must think and feel in accordance with Torah, too!

The basis of Yeshua’s teachings is this: it isn’t enough to just do what Torah says, you need to be what Torah is. Yeshua showed us that throughout His life and ministry in that He was the Living Torah. The prophets tell us (Jeremiah, for one, and Joel for another) that in the Acharit HaYamim (End Days) all will all know the Lord, we will prophesy, and we will have the Torah written on our hearts.

Christianity is very, very different from the laws and regulations God gave to us in the Torah. That’s because Christianity was not created by God, or by Yeshua. It was Constantine who planted the seeds of modern Christianity, which was then expanded and perverted by Luthor, Smith, and the other founders of all the separate sects of Christianity we have today.

God has no religion. His rules and laws and regulations are for anyone and everyone who professes to worship Him. Torah is as valid today as the day He gave it to Moshe (Moses) and it’s laws and regulations are still 100% necessary for all people to follow. Kosher is still required by God, the Sabbath is on the 7th day (Friday night to Saturday night), homosexuality is still forbidden, the penal code in the Torah is still to be observed, and we are all still sinners who have to ask forgiveness of our sins to have them forgiven.

Being forgiven is NOT a given- you have to ask. Yes, the sacrificial system is no longer being practiced, but not because Yeshua did away with it: it is not done because the sacrifices had to be made at the Temple in Jerusalem, and that was destroyed. We don’t sacrifice because we can’t do it in accordance with how God said it should be done. There are 5 different types of sacrifice, and only one of those is the sin sacrifice that was the one made by Yeshua. His sacrificial death will cleanse us of our sins when we ask for forgiveness in His name.  Just because Yeshua died so we can have forgiveness doesn’t mean it is automatic. You can’t go out and live like you want to, sinning left and right, and think that you are right with God because “Jesus died for you.”

What Jesus/Yeshua taught was that God sees our heart and knows our motivation (which is what the prophets had been saying for centuries) and therefore the spirit of the law has to be observed as well as the letter of the law. Maybe that’s why before Yeshua the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) would fall on people, but always be lifted up again? It didn’t stay and indwell because the teaching that Yeshua gave hadn’t been taught yet. Once Yeshua told us, and showed us, how to be living temples of God’s spirit; after His resurrection when we could accept the grace of God through that sacrificial death; after demonstrating our faithfulness by asking for forgiveness in Yeshua’s name; and after we truly do T’Shuvah (turn from sin in our hearts), only then are we able to accept and have the Ruach HaKodesh indwell. It falls on us, and stays with us, for the rest of our life- so long as we hold on to it.

Salvation is a free gift from God, and it is irrevocable, which means God will not take it back. But… we can throw it away. The Spirit will stay with us only as long as we ask it to remain.

God did not create Christianity- people did. God gave His rules and commandments to us all in the Torah. The Jewish people were chosen to be custodians of the Torah, teachers of the Torah, and a nation of priests to the world so that all who have sinned can be saved. Where we can’t do what we should according to Torah, we are saved by Yeshua’s sacrifice. Yeshua’s sacrifice doesn’t overrule Torah- it supplements it!

You can verify what I am saying through research, but the best way (especially if you are Jewish and don’t believe in Yeshua at all) is to simply read the Gospels. Read Matthew for a start, and only Matthew- that is most “Jewish” of the Gospels. Read it and realize that Yeshua taught from the Torah only- there is nothing “new” in the New Covenant writings. Nothing new, nothing different from traditional Judaism (which has also been perverted over the millennia by people) and nothing at all against the Torah.

If you are a faithful Christian, a good Catholic, an observant Episcopalian, a pure Protestant- whichever Christian religion you practice, if you are being taught that Jesus is the creator of Christianity and that the Torah is just for the Jews, then you are being led down a path that doesn’t lead to salvation. At least, not the one Jesus taught.

Wake up! Arise, for your light has come! (Isaiah 60:1)  Isaiah knew what he was talking about- do you?

You need to read and know the Old Covenant before you can even start to understand the New Covenant. Here is a hard truth to accept: if your religious leaders don’t acknowledge the validity of the Torah, then they are not teaching what Yeshua taught: they are teaching what people created out of their own desires and needs.

God has told us what He wants from us- you can find it in Micah 6:8.

God Would be a lousy psychiatrist

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Have you ever been to therapy? Not physical therapy, but emotional/mental therapy? I did when I was a kid, for about 6 months, and also when going through my divorce, for almost a year.

It did some good, but I have found that a loving partner, or even a good friend, can be just as helpful.

I respect the science of how the brain works, but I am not very happy with my experiences.

God is loving and compassionate, and he understands us better than any human could, right? I wouldn’t really expect anyone to disagree with that statement, and yet God doesn’t ask, “Why do feel that way?” He asks, “Why should you feel that way?” He doesn’t ask you to explain your feelings, He asks you to justify them.

Here are some questions that God has asked:

Where are you? Who told you that you were naked? What is this you have done? (Genesis 3)

Where is your brother Abel? What have you done? (Genesis 4)

Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? (2 Samuel 12)

Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? (Luke 22)

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? (Acts 9)

These are questions that are straightforward and don’t ask about how the person feels about what they have done, but asks the person to justify what they have done. God doesn’t want us to “work it out”, He wants us to do what is right. There is no, “I’m OK, you’re OK” ideology, there is no concern for how we feel about ourselves or what our parents did to us, or how society has changed us. It’s not about us, it’s about Him. When God is asking the questions we need to give Him answers, not excuses (Job 38:3), and we need to stand forth and “suck it up” when we do.

We are a world of victims, and it’s always the other one’s fault that I am the way I am or do the things I do. The system of political correctness and worrying about everyone’s feelings has destroyed truth. Really, it has- we can’t simply tell someone they have done a lousy job. If we do, we are accused of being discompassionate. Does God worry about that? Doesn’t God come right out and challenge us, in Ezekiel 18:25 , to face up to the fact that it is our way, the way of people, that is really unfair, and not God’s way which is unfair?  God has rules, He doesn’t want to hear our lame excuses. He knows we are weak and unable to do all that He commands of us, at least, not all at once and always. I think that we are all capable of doing everything that God wants of us, but not all the time and not all at once. We do right, we fall, we get up and do more right, we stumble, etc.

Because God is loving, compassionate and forgiving we continue to receive His help, His guidance and His patience. But we are still doing wrong, we are still responsible, and God will not accept excuses.  If we do not want to really stop sinning, God will know, and whether or not we “call on the name of the Lord”, if we don’t really care about doing T’Shuvah, we will not be accepted into His kingdom.

God is not a good psychiatrist because He doesn’t really care about how we feel, He just wants us to do what is right in His eyes. That is not to make Him feel better, it is so that we will live eternally. God has our best interests at His heart, and that is why He will not accept our excuses or care whether or not we feel a certain way about it. He will not guide us roundabout the truth or allow us to compromise His rules for our emotional satisfaction. God will simply say, “Not gonna happen your way. Here is the way it is done, here is how you are to act, don’t moan to me about it. Go tell yo mamma about your hurt feelings, and in the meantime- get with the program!”

I don’t mean to be disrespectful to anyone who is a therapist or counsellor or psychiatric professional- I am not really satisfied with what I have experienced and seen, but I am sure many, many people have been helped to lead a better life through proper therapy. This really isn’t about “dissing” the science or the practice- it is that when we come before God we must tell the truth about why we do what we do. We can’t blame anyone else, we can’t expect that having a “reason” for not doing what God says we should do will hold any water with Him, and we certainly shouldn’t accuse Him of having commandments and regulations  that aren’t valid anymore. And whatever you do, please don’t try to use that old, worn-out lie from the pit of Sheol that the Torah is only for Jews and you don’t have to obey it because you are saved by the blood of Jesus. News flash! Jesus didn’t die so you could keep sinning!

We need to stand up, be bold, not be afraid, and accept the consequences of what we do and say (or don’t do and don’t say.) God will ask questions and judge us, and He won’t care about our feelings.

We need to be as God tells us to be, in the Torah, through the Prophets, and through the teachings of Yeshua and His disciples (which are, for the record, completely in line with and do not in any way overrule the Torah.)  There are no excuses- yes, it is true we are incapable of being all God tells us to be all the time, but we can become better. We can be less of what we shouldn’t be and more of what we should be, and we can do that without excuses.

Stand up for the truth, and if you are concerned that the system of the world will not allow you to speak God’s truth, then speak God’s truth, anyway. Screw the world system- it’s done for, already. The world system is in a downward spiral, and it will not last; God’s system will last forever: it is all that there is, all there will be and all that matters, forever and ever, Amen!

Be (totally) truthful with yourself, be (compassionately) truthful with people, and be (absolutely) truthful with God. Yeshua told us that “The truth will set you free.” He was talking about the truth regarding God’s kingdom, but the truth of the matter is that truth, wherever and whenever it is told, will always set you free.

We Need to Forgive Everyone, but We Need Forgiveness Only From God

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When was the last time you visited Psalm 51? That’s what David wrote after being convicted by Natan the Prophet of the sins he committed against Uriah and Bat Sheba. Yet David knew who he really sinned against- God, first and foremost; David said that against God, and God alone, did he sin.

That doesn’t mean David didn’t realize the effect of his actions against these people, but God is the one who gave us the commandments and when we violate even the simplest of these laws, regulations and ordinances, we have sinned against God directly. Even if the actions are directed to another person, it is against God that we have sinned.

So, we ask forgiveness of God, and we should ask forgiveness of the person we have sinned against, too. If that person decides to forgive us, that is good for them.

No, I didn’t get that wrong: when someone forgives us it is good for them because God doesn’t tell us to be forgiven by others, He tells us to be forgiving of others. When we forgive we are doing what is right in God’s eyes. No person can forgive someone their sin- only God can do that. Your act of forgiveness is actually between you and God; likewise, the sin itself is between that person and God. Your forgiveness of others helps you, not them. They have to deal with God for forgiveness on their own.

The one who has sinned needs forgiveness from God- the sin is between the sinner and God. God is the ultimate judge, He is the one who will decide if we get to sit under our own fig tree and enjoy our wine, or if we spend eternity out of His presence, in misery and darkness gnashing our teeth.

Forgiveness is a wonderful remedy for the pain of being sinned against. Truth is, the only way to make the pain go away is to forgive the person who caused it. That isn’t easy to do, but it is the only remedy. Maybe that’s why God commands us to be forgiving? He wants us to be happy and, therefore, He tells us to forgive (so that we can be happy.)

Maybe that’s also why God is so willing to forgive us? It makes Him happy, too, and helps Him to remove the pain of being ignored and rejected by the ones He loves so much (He is much better at it than we are. Thank God for that, right?)

Yeshua tells us to “…seek ye first the kingdom of God,…” when He is talking to the crowds during the Sermon on the Mount. Within the context of this speech He has been talking about our relationships with each other, about leaving our gift at the altar to make reparations with those we have sinned against, about forgiving each other as God forgives us, and that’s when He tells us to not seek things of the world but things of God. The world seeks vengeance, God seeks forgiveness and reconciliation.

When it comes to things of God, forgiveness is definitely near the top of the A-List. Forgiveness is a natural result of loving each other and since Yeshua said the two greatest commandments are to love God and love each other, forgiveness (in my book) comes in at a very close third.

Shaul tells us to run the good race. If we are to run the race well, we need to understand and remember that to love God, love each other, and forgive each other is the Win:Place:Show of the most important race we will ever be part of.

We must forgive others and we should ask for forgiveness from those we have sinned against, but always ask forgiveness from God first and foremost because that is the most important forgiveness there is, and the only forgiveness you need.

Can You Take as Well as You Give?

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We are told it is better to give than to receive, and that is true. However, it is often harder for us to receive with as much compassion and joy as it is to give.

Why is that? I’m not sure, but I am willing to bet it’s because giving can be a power trip and an ego boost: the person giving is in a position of authority and strength greater than the one receiving. The one receiving, therefore, feels obligated to reciprocate at some point in the future.

It’s like the opening scene in The Godfather, when Don Corleone gets back at the men who attacked the Mortician’s daughter- then, when Sonny needed “repair” work after being shot to pieces, the Don called back this favor. The Mortician had no choice but to comply.

I have taught myself to accept gifts as graciously as I want to give them. I remind myself that I like to share the blessings God has given me, and the bible also says that God loves a cheerful giver (I think that really refers to giving to God, although Yeshua said what we do to the least of these, His brethren, we do to Him, so giving cheerfully to others is always good.) Remembering this fact helps me to be as gracious a receiver as it does a giver, allowing me to let the giver be cheerful and fully enjoy his or her ability to give.

What if the other person is really only giving to be on an ego trip? What if they expect something back? Then what do you do?

You do the same thing- you let them give you what they want to, accept it cheerfully and gratefully, and don’t worry or even think about why they are giving it to you. It doesn’t matter, in the least. Yeshua also said that if someone asks for a shirt, give him a cloak, too. If you are asked to carry a soldiers pack for a mile, carry it for two. We give not to receive, and we accept to let others give with the same godly purpose. If their purpose is not godly, then by receiving their gift without a sense of obligation, in a way, we give them the opportunity to know what it is like to give correctly.

We who are Believers do what we do to please God, not people. When we give, we give without expectation of reward or reciprocation. If you can’t do that, then it is better you don’t give at all. And when we receive, we should receive with the same sense of gratitude to God for providing the blessings we get, whether or not it comes from a human or is delivered by a dove flying in our window. If everything belongs to God, then it stands to reason that everything we receive is from God. Right? So, we accept gratefully and graciously, without guilt or need to reciprocate.

If someone gives something to you and expects to get something back, that’s their problem. If they get angry or tell you you owe them something back, if you can return what they gave you, do so. If it is not possible to return it, tell them you gave them back your appreciation and blessings for their generosity. Then it would be best not to accept anything else from them, if for no other reason than to not do anything to cause them to stumble into sin.

Sometimes I feel that people don’t accept God’s grace for the same reason they don’t want to take anything from people- they feel obligated to give something back. The truth is, we are expected to do something in exchange for the gift of salvation- we are expected to stop sinning. Salvation is available to everyone, but it isn’t really “free”: it costs us nothing to accept it but it does cost something to keep it. It costs us our sin because we need to change our way of living to remain saved. We need to do T’Shuvah and turn from our sin once we have accepted God’s Grace. We are expected to give back to God the obedience He asks of us in exchange for the salvation He offers us.

Salvation is not unconditional, and it is not free. And it is irrevocable; that means only that God will not ask for it back, but we can throw it away!

Salvation is not free. It cost Yeshua His divinity, and later His life. When we take on salvation, we are expected to give back to God the obedience He requires and to give up our sinful ways. There is a cost to us, and it is going to come from our worldly existence: friends, family, maybe even jobs, promotions, whatever the world sees as valuable we will probably not have the same opportunities to receive when we choose to live a godly life. In the End Days, accepting salvation and keeping it may cost us our very lives, just as it did Yeshua.

But when you think about what we will ultimately receive, we are still way ahead in this deal. In fact, life itself is just a mist: grass in the field that is alive today and dried out and dead tomorrow. Yet eternity is forever and ever and ever. Eternity has no end, so we receive eternal joy and peace and what we are expected to give back is, comparatively, really nothing.

In the long run, even though being a godly person in a sinful world is costly in many ways, salvation is so much more than anything the world can offer, it is still a gift.

It’s like when someone gives you a kitten or a puppy, you have an obligation to care for it and it will cost you to do so, but you get back so much more that it will always feel like a gift.

That’s what salvation is like, and that’s why we should accept everything we get as coming from God; as such, accept it graciously, gratefully, without guilt and always give without expectation of return.

The greater your cheerful giving (and receiving) on Earth, the greater will be your reward in heaven.