Tag: ephesians

Humor is God’s Gift, Too

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Although it isn’t specified anywhere in the Bible that I can recall seeing, humor is a gift from God, just as much as teaching, prophecy, compassion, patience, etc. are all gifts from God. 

It just has to be! I mean, look at us- we are so incompetent and foolish we should be in a deep funk every moment of our lives, yet because we can laugh at ourselves our frustration of being who we are is less damaging to our emotions and psyche.

We are told about many people, from Abraham to Moses, to Isaiah, to John, Shaul (Paul) and others. These people were holy, and we read of their emotions often. Yet we don’t read about them laughing or telling jokes or just having a good time. Even when we read about Yeshua (Jesus) there is no specific reference to His having a good time, yet we know He attended weddings. So, while at a wedding (which in those days was a one week celebration with food, dance, song and drink), do you really think Jesus just sat in the corner, like a wallflower, spewing out parables while everyone else was having a good time? 

I don’t think so! 

I believe He was dancing and singing and laughing, and enjoying Himself along with everyone else. 

Again, there isn’t anything in the writings of the Apostles that specifically said Yeshua laughed, or sang, or danced. We are told that He cried (John 11:35) and that He showed frustration when He asked how long He would have to put up with people who just didn’t get the message (Matthew 17:17′ Mark 9:19), so if Yeshua was able to be sad and to be frustrated (somewhat), and we know that because He had taken on human form He was human, then it just makes sense that He must have also had all the other emotions that go with being human. Right?

A small caveat here, one that is my personal opinion: when we are dealing with God, we can’t trust the expression or thought that something must “make sense” because what is sensible to a human being has nothing at all to do with what is sensible to God. We are barely able to see past our noses, and God can see all the way to the end of eternity, so just because it makes “sense” that Yeshua had to have all the emotions humans do, we can’t say that is an absolute fact. 

Historically, He has been painted as somber and melancholy because (I think) we expect that being “holy” means being, well…boring. If I am holy, I don’t laugh (which sometimes indicates a lack of seriousness), and if I am holy I don’t have fun (which indicates I am just like everyone else), and if I am holy all I ever do is decry the sinfulness of the world and show people that they need to be a holy, boring, stick-in-the-mud wet blanket, like I am. 

I certainly hope not! 

I think that humor is one of the greatest gifts God has given us- it should be included in Ephesians 6 as part of the Armor of God. I believe, and have had it confirmed, that God has given me His gift of humor, and I try to use it to make people happy, or (at least) less sad.  I don’t always use this gift well, but I am now much more “appropriate” with it than I was before I was saved.

Humor can turn around anger, it can bring forth good feelings, it can bring light into a dark place, and it can also be used to make people realize how foolishly they are acting without making them mad.

When I was in Sales, I used humor as a sales tactic because I learned that people buy from people; if you can make someone laugh, they can’t help but like you. That bonding is what gave me an advantage when we had to close the sale.

There are basically two types of people: those who make jokes, and those who laugh at them. Each one has a sense of humor, and the funniest times I have ever seen are when two jokers get together because those who make jokes love to laugh at other’s jokes (and steal them, too.) Whether through telling a joke, or making a humorous statement, or providing a humorous narrative, use your God-given sense of humor to make people happy. If you are a missionary, use humor to bond with people and break down their resistance to hear about God; if you teach a congregation, use humor to help them remember the message; if you are counseling someone, use humor (carefully) to reduce their pain and help them see the funny side of their troubles.

Almost every great humorist that ever lived went through a lot of T’souris (troubles) in his or her life, which is where the humor comes from. 

Humor is an emotional balm that God has given us to help heal our painful existence in a fallen and cursed world, so when you are feeling down, take two jokes and throw a pie in someone’s face in the morning.  

Parashah Tetzaveh (thou shalt command) Exodus 28:20 – 30:10

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This reading deals with the consecration of the Priesthood. It goes into great detail about the manufacture of the robes, breastplate, and how to consecrate the clothing, the person and the altar, including the altar for incense, with the blood of the sacrifice. The priests are consecrated for 7 days, as are the other items dealing with the priesthood.

Chapter 29, verse 5 talks about how to dress Aaron, who at that time was the Cohen haGadol (High Priest), in the garments designated for that office so he can officiate as the High Priest. In the Chumash (commentary on the Torah) it states that the Talmud explains this verse as meaning, “When the priests are clothed in their garments, the priesthood is upon them; when they are not clothed in their garments, their priesthood is not upon them.”  The Chumash adds that this Rabbinic dictum is to indicate that the priests are no different than anyone else, and only while they were officiating in their garments, in the Sanctuary, were they then distinct from the rest of Israel.

I have the utmost respect for the Rabbinic wisdom often found in the Talmud, although I don’t always respect everything that the Talmud says. In this case, when I read this Talmudic explanation, my spirit screamed out to me,”The clothes don’t make the man!”

There are other requirements for the priests, beside what they wear, and these have to do with the priests family life and personal character (Leviticus 21); there are similar requirements for anyone in a position of authority within the community, whether spiritual or legal. It is true the clothes are representative of the office, but the person in the clothes must be the same person, with the same character and piety, and demonstrate that separation, or holiness, whether they are clothed or naked.

Of course, the high priest shouldn’t be streaking through the neighborhood, but you know what I mean.

As Believers, we should be demonstrating our anointing as priests by acting and speaking in ways that show we have the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit of God, indwelling and leading us. Whether we are dressed “to the Nine’s” for a special service, or lounging around in our “civvies”, our actions, words and thoughts should be as holy as if we were standing before the altar in the Sanctuary, dressed in our ephod, wearing the breastplate and leading worship. And all those who have accepted Messiah, who worship God and honor the Torah are adopted children of Abraham (Galatians 3:29), and (as such) members of the nation of priests that God separated from the rest of the world to lead all the Goyim (nations) to salvation (Genesis 22:18; Exodus 19:6.)

It is true that the clothes do not make the man (or the woman), but they can be indicators of who and what they are; in the case of a military uniform, it tells us what rank that person holds, indicating thereby his or her level of authority, just as the policeman’s or fireman’s uniform indicates their authority and function. However, our real “priestly” uniform is not visible- the indicator of our spiritual rank is not able to be seen by humans, but it is highly visible to the demons of the enemy: they can see the Mark of Messiah on our foreheads. They know who we are, but since humans can’t see that insignia, we need to demonstrate who and what we are through our actions, or as the bible would say, by our fruits.

How well are you showing the fruits of your spirit? Shaul (Paul) tells us what they are in Galatians 5:22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

I see today’s parashah lesson as this: there are clothes that indicate our level of authority within the community, whether it be the civil or spiritual community, but the person wearing those clothes should be the same person at all times. The official clothes should only be an outward statement of the inner being; we can wear albs and talitot (prayer shawls), collars and whatever “priestly” clothing that is expected of a person in a position of religious leadership, but what really matters is that people see our spiritual clothing, and that is shown in our deeds, our words and our lifestyles, how we treat our family and friends, and (maybe even more importantly) how we treat those who abuse and sin against us.

To use the same type of metaphor Shaul used in describing the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), each day put on a shirt of charity (which you would give to anyone in need), pants of humility (to show your willingness to serve others), shoes of justice (to guide your steps), wrap around your shoulders the talit of holiness (to show your observance of God’s authority in the world), and top it all off with the hat of  subservience (to show your total devotion to God.)

Now there’s a wardrobe that will never go out of style.

Without Tsouris we wouldn’t know joy

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As lousy a situation as it is, the absence of tsouris (troubles) in our lives results in the absence of joy.

Joy is what we feel when we are relieved of stress, there are no problems, no “issues” to overcome…complete relaxation, physical, mental and spiritual.

But if we didn’t know about stress, if we never had “issues” to worry about and overcome, and if we never were sad, downtrodden, upset or stressed-out, then how would we be able to feel joy? It wouldn’t be anything other than the same old, same old. And even joy can be boring and useless if that’s all there is.

When a woman gives birth, the pains are remarkable (so I’ve heard- not being able to tell you from experience, of course) and the total joy after, when the baby has come out, is just as overwhelming. Not just because of the birth of your child, but because there is no more pain. The cessation of pain is, in and of itself, a joyful feeling.

We go through the fire to remove the slag, and we must be melted down to our basic elements for that to happen. We must be destroyed, so that we can congeal into a more pure form of ourselves. This is what Tsouris is all about- getting rid of the dross so that the purity can be realized. We need to call on the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) during these times to help us die to self so that God can more completely live in us.

The problem is, despite how wonderful the result, going through the process sucks! It sucks in every way: painfully, emotionally, physically, spiritually- every bad “ly” you can think of happens to us when going through the tsouris of life. And there isn’t much to do about it- you can’t run away from it, you can’t avoid it, and you have to wait until it runs it’s course. You are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and calling out to God may not help because God may be behind it.

Not always. Remember, we live in a cursed world, and sometimes that means having to deal with it. God isn’t always to blame. In fact, my personal opinion from reading about God all these years, is that He isn’t so petty as to cause your car to break down if you sinned, or the ladder to fall if you are working on the Sabbath, or have you suffer through “Montezuma’s Revenge” because you ate a ham sandwich for lunch when you knew you shouldn’t have. Maybe, sometimes, little things will happen that (as we look back later) we can see led us to something that was a Godly blessing or prevented us from tsouris, and yes- maybe, just maybe, God did make sure that little thing happened to protect us. Maybe the car did break down so that we didn’t get stuck in that 10 car pile-up on Interstate 95 that we would have been in. But, then again, maybe it just happened.

I don’t drive myself crazy (which, in my case, is a very short ride) with thinking about these things. God is very busy running the Universe, and although I know He happily makes time to hear my prayers, He is multi-tasking all the time. And I just don’t see Him going out of His way to cause something small to happen to me as a punishment for a sin. If that was true, at the rate I sin, He would have a full-time job.

Tsouris sucks- there’s no doubt about it. The only way to get through it is to understand it. By that I mean we need to remember we live in a cursed world, that we are separated from it, that the enemy does make time to do many, small annoying things to get us to curse the world and to curse God, and the enemy runs the world. He wasn’t thrown down to hell, but to the Earth, and he is the Prince of the Air (Ephesians 2:2.) What goes through the air? TV, radio, advertising, cell phone usage, Internet-all of these are controlled by the enemy, by definition of his kingdom, and we are bombarded by it constantly, day after day, year after year, until we think that, just like Mick Jagger says in that famous song, “He can’t be a man ’cause he doesn’t smoke the same cigarette as me!”  We compare ourselves to others instead of to what God says we should be. And often it seems, just like the song says, we can’t get no satisfaction.

But you can get satisfaction! The satisfaction of knowing that the tsouris is temporary and the joy tsouris allows us to feel will be eternal! I wrote a blog about SWISH– So What, I‘m Saved, Halleluyah! We need to remember not just that tsouris happens, but that it makes us better and that it is part of being alive. And more than that, we need to remember that the pain we feel now will allow us to feel the total and pure joy of salvation when that time comes.

Shaul tells us in Philippians 3:14:

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have laid hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Messiah Yeshua.”

We need to keep our gaze focused not on what is behind, or even what is here now, but on what is coming. That is how we get through tsouris- not concerning ourselves with what is happening as much as looking forward to when it is over. Things always seem so far away when we wait for them, and when we look back it all seems to have happened so quickly. Keep focused on the future, remind yourself that this is going to be over and think about the joy you will have when that happens.

We need to make our own time machine, but one that only works in one direction- the future. When in the midst of tsouris, get into your time machine and travel to the future; don’t look back, just wait there. Before you know it, the present will be with you in the future and the tsouris will be over.

When the tsouris of life is over, your joy in salvation will be complete! That is a promise from God.

Keep that in mind when you feel down and you will be uplifted.

Signs of the times

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He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

So said Yeshua (Mattitiyu 16:2-3) when chiding the people and the Pharisees for being able to see the signs of the weather but not recognize Yeshua for who He is.

Are you reading the signs of these times?  I have written before about the way the enemy of God is making himself acceptable- Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a cult movie but now we accept there are good and bad vampires, there are  “good” demons in other TV shows, and now I see that they have a new show coming out, Lucifer, where the trailers indicate that the devil , himself, isn’t really such a bad guy.

Today in the paper I read a story about how the Oscar’s will be boycotted by Spike Lee because of the racial “snubbing” of the Academy towards films that are more African-American centered than Anglo-American (is that stated in a politically correct manner?). That is such a laugh. Not that there is racism, that is not acceptable or funny, but it is the hypocrisy of it all (just as Yeshua pointed out): here is an industry that is rife with homosexuality, drug-abuse, infidelity, and which has (historically) made a mockery of what a marriage is supposed to be, being accused of committing a sin! No! Really?

We live in a time where sin is the “new” good, where TV shows and movies are graphic (both in cruelty and sexuality), where Satan is actually not such a bad guy, where God has been removed from schools and government, and the history channel commentaries on the bible demonstrate that it is all just a story, nothing more than myth and legend.

But there is good stuff, too- I am proud to say I am friends with people who are deeply involved in organizations such as Jacob’s Hope, Bridges for Peace, and Ezra International. These are Christian-Jewish organizations whose goal is to help the Jewish people throughout the world (especially in the European theatre and Africa) to make Aliyah (return to Israel)  and to provide them food, medical supplies and housing. These organizations are helping to make prophecy come true, and we see large numbers of Jews being regathered to Israel. Since it’s inception as a state in 1948, there have been over 3 Million Jews that have immigrated to Israel. According to Wikipedia, in 2014 there were approx. 14.2 Million Jewish people in the world. The Jewish population over the centuries, despite what the enemy has tried to do, has remained fairly constant. So, in the last 70 years or so, nearly 20% of the entire world Jewish population has gone back to Israel. I would call that a good start!

These times are very different than any other time in history: not just because of the regathering of Jews to Israel, not just because of the satanic forces gaining power and (even worse) acceptance, and not just because of the overall rejection of God and the increasing terrorism and hatred against Israel and Judaism, but because this is all happening worldwide faster and more efficiently than ever before. More people can see and read lies because of the Internet: whatever anyone may think can be transmitted worldwide, and people are stupid, people are gullible, and people are like sheep, easily led astray. If you say something often enough, and to enough people, it will be considered fact. Look at the Theory of Evolution: even though “theory” is part of it’s name, how many people do you know that believe it is scientific fact?

I think the hypocrisy Yeshua was talking about was that the Pharisees did know who He was, they did understand what He was talking about and they rejected Him because they didn’t want to lose their power and authority. That’s why people reject God- they want to believe the lie the enemy tells them is the truth: that they are in control of their lives and they are the best ones to determine how they should live.

I will ask you again: can you read the signs of the times? No one knows when Yeshua will return, and He told His Talmudim (students / Disciples) that when they see these signs it will only be the beginning. Well, I think it has begun. I see the spiritual battle in full force.

When I get dressed in the morning I go into my closet and pick out the pants, shirt, belt, and shoes that are the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-16).

To paraphrase a popular commercial saying, “What’s in your closet?”

What kind of seed are you?

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In Matthew, Chapter 13 Yeshua tells the parable about the sower of seeds. Remember it? The seeds are sown along the path, some falling on rocks, some in shallow soil, some eaten right away, some growing with weeds and some on good soil that turn out a great harvest.

Ever think about what kind of seed you are?

I suspect that if you are the seed that never took root, you probably aren’t reading this blog, so there isn’t much to say to you except IF you are reading this, and you don’t really believe in God or care, please consider that you might be wrong. Actually, you are, but you probably don’t care that I am telling you that. After all, how many 3-pack a day smokers care what a reformed smoker tells them?

If you are one who believes in God but you don’t really believe in everything that is in the bible, or that a lot of it doesn’t matter anymore, that would make you one of the seeds that is in shallow soil. I suspect that you usually don’t pray for help when you run into hard times, but you may not have too many bad things happen. After all, you are not really a threat to the enemy of God because your roots aren’t deep enough to turn out any harvest. A couple of good hits, knock the wind out of you once or twice, and you’re done as someone who cares about God.  I would hope you take this to heart- get your head back on your shoulders! If you even think you believe in God, then you need to believe in the bible, that it is all true and that you cannot shape God into what you want Him to be: He is that which He is. Stop being half-donkey about it and start to work on your faithful obedience and trust that God does exist and the bible is the manual. Heck- there are things that everyone doesn’t like about the bible, things we are supposed to do, ways we are supposed to treat each other. For instance: we know that we are supposed to treat others as we would want them to treat us, but human nature is more focused on being treated than treating. The difference between those who really believe in God and want to do what pleases him and those who don’t care is that the ones who don’t care aren’t strong enough to overcome their humanity. Not only is their flesh weak, but their spirit is almost non-existent. If you’re a seed in shallow ground, the time is running out faster than you realize. PLEASE! uproot yourself and move to good soil.

The main character for today’s drash is the seed in soil that gets choked by the weeds. The weeds, as you recall from the parable, are (essentially) the things of the world. The message of the Good News has been accepted, many of these “seeds” are Born Again Believers, but they become trapped by the worldly things they don’t want to give up. They believe in God, they do what is right, but not because they want to please God.

I know people who are moral, upright, honest and trustworthy. They believe in God, many are Born Again and they want to do what is right. But not to please God- they do what is right in order to please people. They do what is right because in their hearts they don’t want to be a “bad person.” They want to be liked by others, they want to please other people, they want to be what they have been told is a “good person” by their parents, their religious leaders, teachers….they are doing what they do to please the world and not to please God.

And I honestly believe that they have no idea that pleasing the world is their true motivation. They are choked by weeds of human standards for behaviour, which (for the most part) are correct biblically, but when it comes down to it, they are not focused on God. When they are attacked by the enemy, and these seeds will be attacked because they are doing things that are correct and right in God’s eyes, they could easily fall and falter and eventually be choked to death, literally. The weeds will choke them until they fall subject to the second death that is the final judgement. They will be like the ones in the story Yeshua tells in Matthew 25:44 who thought they were doing well but find out, when it is too late, that they never really served the Lord.

These are the sad ones, the ones who are trying to walk in God’s ways but are walking a path somewhat parallel to the true path but not leading to salvation. They are choosing a path that most walk, even though they have been told the path to salvation is the road less taken, the door less used. They are the 80%, but the elect are the 10%. Oh, but they are so close!

As we say in the Marine Corps, close only counts in two games: horseshoes and hand grenades.

I have nothing to say about the seeds that are turning out a harvest other than… keep it up! Good work, well done good and faithful servant: you will be welcomed into your Lord’s happiness.

But keep a weather eye out for trouble because those who do God’s work are the enemy of the enemy of God, and he will attack you. Maintain your faith, maintain your strength, wear that armor Shaul tells us about in Ephesians (which he quoted from Isaiah 59:17) and be an example to the world, especially the seeds that are being choked.

I pray that this blog, my book and my work where I worship is yielding a harvest for God. Also my everyday activities, just trying to be a light in a dark and dreary world. I am still bogged down by my humanity (and when I use the term “humanity” I am referring to the worst parts of it, not the best) and I am most certainly NOT in a weed-free environment, believe me! There are plenty of weeds in my little garden, I assure you. I keep asking the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to help me weed out the weeds in my life. So long as we are human, we will have some weeds.

The parable of the man who planted good grain but the enemy planted tares among the grain- remember that one? It’s in the same chapter- Matthew 13, verses 24-30.  This parable tells us that even the seeds in good soil, the ones bringing a harvest, will have tares among them. So when we look at both of these, we see that the seeds are sown everywhere, in all types of soil, and the seed itself is always good. The soil it falls on will either turn out a harvest or not, and even the harvest will have tares and weeds among it. At the end, though, the tares will be separated from the wheat, and the tares will be tied up and thrown into the fire while the wheat will be stored in the masters barn.

It’s remarkable when you think about a plant uprooting itself and walking to a place where the soil is rich, then planting itself there. But that is exactly what we are to do. We are seeds with feet that will allow us to plant ourselves in good soil so we turn out a harvest 10, 20 or 100 times what we were given.

So, nu? Have you checked out your roots lately?

Why It’s So hard to remain faithful: Part 1 of 2

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What makes faith so difficult to have? It’s probably because you have to believe in something that isn’t really there- you can’t touch it, you can’t see it, you can know it’s presence and you can see it’s effect on the world around you, but still- it’s not like you can grab it and hold it up for all to see.

And once you have faith, after you have forced yourself to accept the truth that what you see and feel is indicative of something else, you then need to strengthen your faith. That will also be hard to do, maybe even harder than getting faith, because the world doesn’t have faith and doesn’t want you to have it, either. Misery loves company, right?

Not to mention that the closer you get to God, the more of a threat you become to the enemy of God, so while you are of the world he will not only leave you alone, he will probably make things happen well for you. The enemy wants you to remain in, and of, the world. As you get closer to God, he will attack you.

But as far as why it is hard to keep faithful, although the enemy’s attacks are definitely a concern, that’s not what I  am talking about today.

How many paper towels do you go through in a week? If you have young children still in diapers, are they cloth or Luv’s? Do you use paper plates? When was the last time you bought soda in a glass bottle?

Getting my drift yet? We live in a disposable world- use it than lose it. And that’s OK if we are talking about utensils and things (so long as you properly recycle), but the sad thing is that this apathetic attitude towards things that we use, maybe abuse, then just toss away isn’t just represented by what’s in our kitchen cabinets or linen closets: it has also infiltrated and polluted our interpersonal relationships.

People used to stay married because that’s what you did- now it’s pretty much the opposite. You having troubles? Talk to a lawyer. And at the workplace: it used to be you would get a job and work your way up the ladder. Pension plans used to be based on not even being eligible until after the first year, and usually you had to be at the company for (at least) 11 years after the first year before you were 100% vested. That was done away with way back in the 70’s when the Keogh Plan (HR10) first started, which is (today) the 401-K. In fact, whatever vestment is left is 100% within 5 years. That’s because people don’t keep their jobs much longer than that anymore.

In the 1980″s I was on Wall Street, and I had 4 jobs within 8 years, but I went from a $10K clerk to a $50K Department Manager/ Bank Officer. When I was in Sales I had so many different jobs over a 10 year period I can’t remember them all now. That’s because when the leads ran dry, I ran somewhere else.

And when I was first married, in my “previous life”, I realized it was a mistake somewhere around year 3. I lasted until year 9, and the suffering I endured for those years was nothing compared to the estrangement, suffering, and belittling I have endured since. Resulting in both my children being turned against me so that now I am dead to them.

I tell you this because I want you to know I can talk about having a disposable lifestyle because I lived it for many years. And, consequently, faith came to me late in life, and has been difficult to maintain. But thanks to God and good friends, I have maintained it and now, some 18 years later, I no longer worry about it. I have had enough experience with God to see Him, not with my eyes, but in everything there is. In my life, in my jobs, in my second marriage (which is the one I will have forever because we both got this one right), in everything around me. I am comfortable in my faith and secure in my belief. Still, I work at it because it is too easy to be fooled.

I still use too many paper towels, and we are actually working on that. I try to reuse things, and like every other “real” man, I have clothes that date back to when Yeshua was just a Corporal (that’s a Marine Corps saying.)

Today’s world is made up of disposable things, from diapers to plates to butane lighters, even to our cars which we trade off or sell usually before the warranty is up. About the only thing people keep is their computers: those should be upgraded every 3-5 years but some people just won’t let go.

If only we were as unwilling to give up our faith as we are with our favorite pair of pants or favorite coffee cup. 

The parable about the sower of the seeds, where some fall on poor soil and others fall on good soil, is a demonstration of the disposable attitude we still have, today. The seed that was eaten by the birds, blown away by the winds and choked by the weeds, these represent the enemy and the world (same thing, really) making getting rid of the new faith easier than keeping it. And that’s the root of the evil of a disposable mindset- it is easier to get rid of something than to keep it. Quitting is preferable to maintaining.

If you have overcome the disposable nature towards faithfulness, seek out those that are new Believers to help them maintain their battle to have faith. It is a battle- that’s why Shaul (Saul) tells us about the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:11-18. We need to run the good race, not fall out and say the ‘stitch’ in our side was too much to bear. When I was running cross-country in High School, we learned that the first mile always hurts- you can never get past it if you let the pain in your side overcome you. Once you run it out, then you get your “second wind” which can carry you further than you ever thought possible.

The world wants you to throw away faith because there are so many other things to replace it with, and they are easy to get and easy to get rid of. I think we all have heard the adages, “You get what you pay for”, and “If it’s worth having, it’s worth working for.” Well, God is worth working for, and salvation is definitely worth having. Just because salvation is available for free doesn’t mean it won’t take hard work to maintain it, and it may be free to have but it costs to keep. Oh, yes- it costs! You will pay with lost friendships, lost jobs, lost family, and the pain of watching those you love and care for literally throwing themselves into the pit of fire. And laughing at you for believing they are going to be condemned. There is a heavy payment for having and maintaining faith.

Even Yeshua tells us that we must pick up our execution stake every day to follow Him (Matthew 16:24), so we have been told from the very start faithfulness would not be easy. Much of Christianity teaches that salvation is not a disposable item, it can never be lost, but that is not true: your salvation can be lost if you throw it away. God will never take away the promise, but you can’t be saved if you are sinning on purpose and continually ignoring God’s commands in the Torah. God isn’t stupid, and salvation is not a joke. If you know someone who constantly sins, and says, “God is a forgiving God and will forgive me because I asked Him to”, do you really think that God will accept that person into His kingdom? We are all sinners, and we will all always sin, but the difference is whether we do it by our own will or against our will. Shaul said he was a wretch because he did what he didn’t want to and didn’t do that which he wanted to (Romans 7:15.) Each of us sins, but the one who does it constantly with no desire or intention of stopping because the bible says ‘all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved’ so he or she thinks all they have to do is ask for forgiveness, well, he or she has a big, unhappy surprise coming.

There are so many things in our world that are disposable, but the only really important thing we should dispose of is our sin. God can take that from you, the stain of sin is removable by Yeshua’s blood, but you have to want to dispose of it, all of it, and you have to constantly work at getting rid of it. That’s because the faith we need so desperately is just as disposable as a paper plate. We need to hold on to our faith in a world that says just chuck it and get something easier to keep. It’s easy to get rid of something when there’s always something else to get that’s better.

I am here to tell you there is nothing better than God, nothing more important to hold onto and never let go than your faith, and nothing else that can replace the salvation God has promised us through Messiah Yeshua.

Faith is hard to get, and harder to keep, but there is nothing more important to maintain.

Who Really Said That?

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I was reading the “Today in History” section of the paper the other day and it said that in 1858 Abraham Lincoln, during his run for the Senate, said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

What got me was that I am absolutely convinced that there are many, many people reading that who think Honest Abe coined that phrase, himself. They have no idea that Yeshua said it, or that it is from the Bible.

That made me think (yes, it hurt, but sometimes I can) about how many other statements or sayings that are biblical, but which people do not know came from the bible, or (even worse) how many things do people think are biblical that are not?

How many times do we hear people say, “The bible says….” and then say something that isn’t in the bible? For instance, “God helps those that help themselves.” I hate that saying because it leads people to the wrong conclusion- it leads them to think that God wants us, first and foremost, to look to our own power for resolving our problems. And, if we do, then He will step in and help us.

WRONG!!!!  We need to look to God first: first, foremost, only and always before we do anything on our own. God is the one to count on, and God is the only one who can overcome. Yeshua said that for man it is impossible, but with God anything is possible. If what we need is possible only with God, then why even start on our own?

There is one time that you can say, to a degree, we need to start on our own- that would be regarding faith. When it comes to having faith, I believe that is something we need to show before we can have it fully justified. If we have faith only after some miraculous event, then we are reacting instead of acting. Faith is, to me, more than a word, more than a noun- it is an action verb! We say to “have faith” but it really should be (if you ask me) to “show faith.”

God will be faithful to support our faithfulness. We need to step out in faith, then He will walk beside us and guide us.

But when it comes to anything else, pray first, go to God first, and after you have first asked Him to guide and help you, then walk out in strength; fearlessly, faithfully knowing that God is with you.

We all need to know the bible- what it really says, and just as importantly, what it doesn’t say. We need to be able to right the wrong that people say which can only lead them to Sheol, and not to salvation.

How often do you read the bible? There are calendars that have a bible verse for each day of the week, there are tracts galore, there are online reminders, and every sort of biblical “reading” and daily devotional that you can find. These are not what I recommend, mainly because they are out of context and can be misleading. I believe, and I preach, go to the source. God can show you what He wants you to see, give you spiritual sight that will allow you to receive whatever message He has for you no matter what biblical reading source you use, but why go anywhere other than where He wrote it, in the way He wrote it. See what happened before the verse, and see what happens after it.

Too many of these sayings from or referring to the bible are misleading because they are out of context. The bible is not in true, chronological order, and the Christian order of books in the Tanakh is different from the Jewish order, but at least you get the history, the stories and the events in the way that Moshe wrote them (for the Torah) and in the way that people have learned them for millennia.

If you were given a book to read- history, mystery, self-help, whatever- would you read it haphazardly? I mean, would you read the first chapter, then the middle, go to the third from the end, then the second, and bounce all around like that? I hope not, but the Christian world does that. Pretty much every Christian service I have gone to preaches a sermon that takes from the bible, but the sermons have no biblical order. Now, in all fairness, maybe I am just a little too used to the Jewish system of reading the Torah portions (called Parashot) every Shabbat , in order, so that every synagogue throughout the world is reading the same message at the same time, and we all turn the Torah back to the beginning every Simchat Torah (Joy of Torah) on the eighth day of Sukkot.  There is also the haftorah, or additional reading from the other parts of the Tanakh, which emphasize the Torah portion reading.

I am not saying it is bad to use daily devotionals- any time you are reading from the bible is better than not reading from it, at all. But I hear too many people that do not know the bible, and think that there are things they hear that are from the bible. This is the path to destruction because the enemy knows the word of God as well, if not better, than almost anyone else. And he will use that to destroy your soul.

Let’s finish with this- gun control. Yes, gun control. If you own a gun, and don’t know how to use it, you are much more likely to have it used against you or to hurt yourself with it than to get any benefit from it. The word of God is like that- even Shaul tells us, in Ephesians, about how the word of God is both armor and weapon (from shield to sword.) The enemy will try to use the word of God against you, just as he tried to use it against Yeshua during the forty days He was in the desert, so if you don’t know it, and know it well, you may find the very weapons God has provided for you to protect yourself from the fiery arrows of the enemy, being used against you.

You can, and will, be defeated by the very weapons God has given you to defend yourself if you don’t know how to use them! And the way to know how to use them is ….to use them. Read His word, in order, from start to end, then go back and read it again. And make that as much a part of your daily routine as eating, drinking, and brushing your teeth (I certainly hope that is a daily thing!)

And always, always, always pray to God for the Ruach to guide your reading so that all He has for you to see in that book is made available to you.

We are living in prophetic times- the battle is coming. Quickly. If you don’t know how to use your armor and the weapons God has given you, you will be lost. Don’t think that just because you are saved now you can’t be fooled into giving up your salvation. In Revelations it tells us that many will be turned and apostatized. “Many” is a lot of people; in some translations I have seen , it says “most”- meaning more than 50% of the Believers will be fooled into taking the mark of the enemy. I believe those will be among the ones who don’t know the word of God as well as they need to.

Know your bible, know how to use the armor of God, and know your enemy.

He certainly knows you.

(hashtag) Enough Already!!

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When was the last time you saw some kids playing Hide and Go Seek in your neighborhood at night? Can your teenager really talk without having to do so into a phone or I-Pad? When did they replace “Spin the Bottle” with “Text me?”

I grew up in the Fifties- it was an age of innocence, the government didn’t lie to us and we were all worried about the Red Scare (Communism) taking over our country. And let’s not forget “The Bomb” destroying us all in a flash. When you see the old movies with the little children at school duck and cover under their desks or along the walls under a window, and you laugh at how silly that is, I was doing that. I remember it.

The really sad and ironic thing is that while we were all certain that Communism would destroy our American way of life, it was TV that silently and slowly infiltrated the nuclear family. In the long run, it wasn’t “the bomb” or Communism that destroyed our family, it was technology. It was TV. The TV we watched during dinner, so no one talked about their day during the meal. We even kept quiet to hear the commercials. Now it is I-Pads, Tablets and Smartphones that cause our kids to stay in their little cocoons and think they are communicating.

To be fair, communication is a dynamic environment, changing constantly in the way we use words, gestures and even the means of communication. We have gone from yelling, to smoke signals, to sending letters, to calling, to emailing, to texting, twitter, facebook and snapchat. Just to mention a few. And as we find newer and faster ways to communicate, the words we use change. OMG, I wonder if this is TMI for you, my BFF? HUH?

God communicated very simply- He spoke to us through the prophets and on occasion, directly through visions and dreams and, at least once, as a voracious fire on a mountaintop. The words are fairly simple to understand and the commandments straight forward. There are some of the ordinances and regulations that many call “Ceremonial Laws”; in Hebrew they are called “Hukkim”, and these are regulations that are not so clear as to why God gave them to us. But, He did give them to us to obey, and we should. The whole idea of ceremonial verse moral is just a form of compartmentalizing God’s commands in order to justify disobeying them. And when you watch TV to learn about who Jesus was, what the Bible “really” is about, you will find that the word of God is treated (usually) as something to debunk. And you know that they would never lie on TV, right?

What am I leading up to here? I am concerned for our children and our future because the way we deal with each other is one of the two greatest commandments, isn’t it? To love God and love each other? Leviticus 19:18? How can we truly show compassion towards and care for each other if we aren’t even face-to-face? Our children don’t know how to talk to each other, or anyone else, for that matter. Some research indicates (I just read this in the paper this morning) that youth are spending nearly 16 hours a week just on their computers or phones. When you figure that’s probably between 1500 and 2100 (that’s 3:00PM and 9:00PM to you civilian types), add to that all the TV they watch, there is almost no time for interactions like play, catch, tag, whatever. When I was a kid I would be playing outside with my friends until I got called in to the house, way after dark. Summertime was playtime when I could stay out late. Now the only thing that prevents kids from playing is when their battery runs low.

The family that is centered on God should be more centered on each other- the parents should make sure they talk with their kids (even though kids don’t feel that way) and they should watch out for too much technology. I am a systems engineer; as such, my career is dependant upon computers and networks. But I am afraid that technology is how the Enemy’s will enter into our lives and how he will infiltrate our family and take over those who are innocent and unaware.

The way we communicate today is almost exclusively through the airwaves, is it not? And what is the term that Shaul (Paul) gave to the enemy? In Ephesians he calls Satan the “Prince of the power of the air.” Think about that for a moment:  we communicate through the air and the Enemy controls the air.

We who are Believers should do whatever we can to make sure that we do not let technology become a snare for ourselves and our children. I am not saying to go live in the wilderness, or throw the computers and cell phones into the garbage- the unfortunate truth is that we cannot do without them because they are a global phenomenon and, as such, we have to deal with it. But that doesn’t mean we have to let it run our lives, or (more correctly) ruin our lives.

Technology can do wonderful things: it can perform life-saving surgery, it can help us see our loved ones across the country or across the world, and when used correctly it can help bring us together. But, on the other hand, it can (and already has) separated and cocooned us; it is cold and unfeeling and it may be controlled by the Enemy in a way that will divide us as a family, a people, and (ultimately) place a wedge between us and God. Technology is like fire- it can warm and protect us or it can turn on us and destroy us with an unquenchable hunger.

It’s up to us to maintain face-to-face, “real” relationships. Get off Facebook or Twitter now and then, and call someone. Talk to them using your voice instead of your fingers, and meet with people, get your kids out onto the lawn and play with them. Have a catch, roll around in the grass, or just walk around the neighborhood. Go to the country for an outing, invite the neighbor’s kids to go along, encourage meeting with each other at your place of worship.

We need to be with each other, physically; we need to see each other’s faces, touch, interact closely; we need to get back to being sociable instead of just socializing.

And we need to be alert for “the sign” being pushed on us: I believe it will have something to do with technology. There has already been, for a long time, talk about a computer chip in the hand or forehead that will replace the debit and credit cards. It will seem correct, it will be the “latest thing” and when we fall for the hype we will find ourselves with the mark of the Enemy before we even realize it. That’s what I am afraid of: technology is a tool which can be used for good or for evil- it is up to us to use the tool correctly and be aware of it’s inherent dangers.

When I was in the Marine Corps I was a Combat Engineer, which means I dealt with demolitions. Things that go BOOM, in a big way. We used to say you only get one mistake with a land mine.

The same holds true with technology- one mistake, one moment that we let our guard down, and BOOM!