Tag: satan

Are you defragging your spiritual hard drive?

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I am that guy you call when you don’t know why your computer isn’t doing what you expect it to do. One of my personal peeves is that people work with their computers all day, and it’s almost impossible to find a job, other than manual labor, that doesn’t require you to have a modicum of skills when operating a computer. Yet, all I hear all day long is, “I just don’t know anything about computers.”

You know to check the oil, water and tire pressure in your car, you know to oil the iron cooking pan, to change the filters in your air conditioning system (you should know these things, you know!), but people don’t know how to care for their computers! Think about it: you can take a bus to work if you don’t care for your car and if your pots and pans are rusty and filthy you can order food in, but if your computer isn’t working you can’t do your job. And what happens to people who don’t do their jobs? Do you think it’s important to know enough to (at least) maintain the computer in fairly good working order?

One of the things that is important to keeping the computer running well (not so much with Windows 7 and newer operating systems) is defragging the hard drive. All this is, essentially, is removing all the space between the bits of data (all zero’s and one’s) so that all the little bits line up neatly. This saves space and makes searching for the data faster.

So, nu? What’s any of this got to do with my spiritual life?

We hear so much stuff every day; there is so much information in the world, and so much of it is so easily absorbed through web sites, ebooks, radio, cable TV news that is 24/7. Yet, out of all this information, there is so very little of it which you can trust. We get all types of fertilizer coming into our brains, and to sort it all out is nearly impossible. We hear televangelists telling us to touch the screen so they can heal us, our own Rabbi’s, Pastors, Ministers and Priests telling us what we should believe because this is what our religion teaches us, and then we have the everyday people, telling us that these laws were for health reasons, those don’t count because the world is changed (although they forget that God doesn’t change), and the worst part is the Discovery Channel. Although Discovery, History and TLC are some of my favorite channels, I never watch anything they do regarding the Bible or religious history. That’s because they are TV, the air waves are controlled by the Enemy (he is called the Prince of the Air, remember?) and their point, always, is to make God seems like a fantasy, explaining away His wonderful works and interventions and making science the real cause for celebrity.

All of these bits and bytes of data going into our brains, every day. And we can’t really stop it, unless we wear blindfolds and stuff our ears with wax. That would give us some peace, but it makes getting anything done really, really hard to do.

That’s why we need to defrag our spiritual hard drive. We need to clean out and delete the stuff that is wasteful, not-edifying and confusing. Then, after a good clean up of the temp files and deleted items folder, we need to re-arrange the data that we want to keep. We do this by getting back to basics (hmmmm…nice title for a book- check out the one I wrote) and re-establishing our relationship with God by simply sitting, in a quiet place, turning off all the data-streaming drek in the area, and letting God come in and clean up our spiritual hard drive. Let the Ruach take over- you can pray, think of heaven, concentrate on your favorite scripture, meditate on His word (King David did that often) or (one of my favorites) create a list of all the things you are grateful to God for giving you. Start with your birth and work your way forward.

We need to keep it simple (the KISS Rule) when we worship. No fancy-schmancy prayers; get real, people- we don’t live in the 17th Century so don’t pray like you are reading from the Kings James Bible. How can you be pouring your heart out to the Lord when you need to concentrate on getting all the fancy words right? God sees the heart, He knows what we want and (thank God) He gives us what we need, so just let Him do what He does best. Let His shalom fill your soul.

Be careful, also, what you download. The best way to keep a computer running well is to “feed” it correctly- no viruses, no malware, be careful what you buy, and watch where you “surf.” Always have a good anti-virus running that keeps up to date. This translates, spiritually, into reading the Bible every day. The best antivirus, in this case ‘anti-Satan software’, is the Word of God.  Read it every day to keep your spiritual hard-drive clean. Be careful of what you download means when you are watching the TV specials or reading extra-Biblical books and magazines about where the Ark is, who Jesus really was, and all the other apparently useful shows to help us understand the truth about God and the Bible, be very cautious and wary. Never take what they say as valid or truthful, and check it out against the Bible. If there is archaeological proof, or at least evidence, of a biblical event, that is fine, but listen carefully. I have rarely gotten more than 10 minutes into one of these shows before I start to hear the message between the lines of script. That message is (almost) always that there is some physiological reason for the event, that science can explain it and their “experts” are almost always agnostic in their approach. The one or two “religious” people that will give glory to God are made to seem like fools. By the end of the show miracles and Glory to God are reduced to seismic events and explainable anomalies.

Science thinks that because it can explain something and understand how it happens that means God didn’t have anything to do with it. That’s something we have to overcome- the thinking that says if it can be explained it isn’t a miracle or a divine intervention. God created everything, including science. So why can’t He use what He created to intervene? How many cancer patients die after undergoing every known treatment type? Yet, others go into remission and the cancer never returns. They’re both humans, they’re both treated the same way, yet it works in one and not in the other. And no one can explain that, but no one sees the cure as a miracle. It’s science, it’s modern medicine, it’s explainable so it can’t be divine. Oy!

There is so much garbage, so many bits and bytes of data that we take in, without even knowing it is happening, and we need to defrag ourselves daily. Meditate, read the Word (best bet for success) and pray to God. Pray simply, pray honestly, and don’t try to be different than who you are when you pray. Just pray from your heart, do it without interruption, and get all those little zeros and ones in your spirit back in alignment.

Computers are binomial- it all boils down to a zero or a one. God is also binomial: it’s His way or the hell-way. Don’t let your spiritual hard drive become corrupted with the viruses and malware of the world; keep it defragged through prayer and keep it clean with a daily install and upgrade of God’s word. It’s the best anti-Satan software in the universe.

When poison tastes great

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One of the biggest “problems” I have had when dealing with people is that I am too straight-forward. I have a hard time being what some would call “tactful.” I call it “sugar-coating.”

Of course, it is easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar, and over the years I have learned to think more about what I say before I say it. Maybe this book I read all the time (you know it) that tells me to treat others as I would want to be treated (actually, that is part of the problem- I would rather people just tell me what they think), how the tongue controls the entire body and it is full of evil, a well can’t give forth fresh and salt water at the same time, etc. is influencing me to be more compassionate in my treatment and dealings with others. I kind of hope so, but on the other hand (I’m Jewish, so there is always an ‘other hand’) I don’t want to get so nice and make everything so palatable that people want to hear what I have to say because it makes them feel good, and the point I am trying to make is lost in all the “sweetness.”

We need to tell the truth to each other, even if it may mean that their feelings get hurt or that they may not like us.

I’m not sure how to explain this correctly. Obviously, if we just tell people how we feel without any consideration for their feelings we won’t edify or help them. We’ll just piss them off and, since most people are more prideful than humble, the point will be missed, the relationship will be damaged (making any further help less likely) and the whole thing will have been a waste.

I pray that each time one of us feels led to ‘rebuke’ someone we are being led by the Ruach. The Bible does tell us, right where it says to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19), to rebuke your neighbor. That seems to be an oxymoron, but I see the same message- don’t let them hurt themselves. God tells the prophets if they don’t warn the people to turn from their sins then the blood of the people will be on the head of the prophet! That’s a hard word to hear, and a heavy burden to bear. God says in Ezekiel that He is not happy with the death of a sinner; indeed, He wishes that every sinner would turn from his sin and live. Proverbs tells us that if we don’t discipline our children we condemn them to death, and Shaul talks about how a loving Father will always discipline his children and that is why God will discipline us. Throughout the Bible God, Himself, is telling each one of us that we must, for love’s sake, rebuke our neighbor when they are doing something that is harmful to themselves, physically or spiritually.

Just like many other things in the Bible, God tells us what we should do, but doesn’t always supply the instructions telling us how to do it. Like the animal sacrifice: He tells us which animals are acceptable, what condition they should be in, what to do with the blood and the body parts, but not how we should kill them. The Talmud is good for many things, and one of those is for filling in the blanks, so to speak. For instance, it describes the manner in which to kill the sacrificial animal (it’s called Shechita.) I am not a student of the Talmud so I am not sure if it goes into detail about how to rebuke people, but something tells me it does, somewhere.

For those of us who are not Talmudic Talmudim (students, or Disciples), we need to think about what we are saying so that the truth is made plain.If we ‘sugar-coat’ the truth so much that it is tasty to the person, the point will not be made. In other words, poison tastes bad as a warning, and if the words we tell to others are so sweet that they enjoy them, well, the warning is missed.

In nature God has very clear signs of warning with regards to poisons. Poison Ivy is very easy to recognize, it is always three leaves and one of the very few plants (botanists and horticulturists please be kind if I am off a little here) that is very waxy looking. Many bugs that are poisonous to animals are very brightly colored. Warnings that not only protect the bugs life, but by their very nature of being a warning, they protect the life of the predator, too.

We need to protect people’s life by rebuking them when they are doing wrong, and we need to make sure it is loving and compassionate, but still has the bad taste of poison so that they know this is serious stuff and they can recognize the deadliness of what they are doing.

My fear is that in today’s world we are more concerned about how we say something than what we are saying. I know that is how it is, and it frustrates me because I am not tactful, I am not always able to get through to someone who is more concerned about their precious little feelings than they are about their eternal soul. See? Don’t I sound frustrated? I can only imagine how Jeremiah, or Elijah must have felt. Of course, when you can call fire from heaven on people, it does tend to get their attention. All I seem to get is their dander up. I am not against talking to each other compassionately, but I wish that people who want to be talked to nicely would take some responsibility to listen as compassionately as they want to be talked to. It’s all about MY feelings, how you talk to ME, and what I feel. No one seems to listen with compassion enough to hear the “hurt” in the other person’s voice.

Maybe the best thing is to show by example. I always tell people to just let me know what they are saying, or what I did. I hate, hate, HATE it when I am told, third-party, that something I said was inappropriate or hurtful to someone. Then when I ask to know what I said, and to whom, so I can apologize (that is definitely the Ruach in me, and not me, myself, wanting to apologize) I am told that I can’t be allowed to know who it is or what I said (because then I might guess who it was) because the person is afraid or doesn’t want to have a ‘confrontation’ with me. Well, if I have done something wrong, and I am not told what it was, and I am not given the chance to make it better, then why tell me? Telling me I did something wrong doesn’t help if I don’t know what I did wrong! It doesn’t edify me to know I hurt someone then not be allowed to rectify the situation; it just makes me frustrated and frightened because now I don’t know who I offended and now I am afraid to talk to anyone. This is not helpful or in any way bringing people together. It is not working towards communication, it is creating division.  And here’s the real kicker!: I see this all the time from Human Resources people. The very ones whose job it is to repair and inspire communication within the working environment, and what they are really doing in order to “protect” people is to foster division and discomfort between the employees. It’s come down to the first one to complain is the winner.

Hmmm…seems I am a little off topic. Obviously, I have some personal ‘issues’ with certain parts of the modern corporate environment, and I digress.

The Enemy loves it when people are more concerned about how others talk to them then with what they are saying. I am absolutely convinced that he is overjoyed at our current means of communicating to each other. Why? Because it is our obsession with how we talk and not what we say that gives him the opportunity to sweet-talk us all into apostasy and sin. He is a smooth talker, no doubt about that! As my wife would say, “He’s got the gift of the Blarney about him, he does, he does.” Actually, she’s Irish but doesn’t talk with a Brogue. I like to involve her now and then in these discussions because she does read them (Hello, Sweetheart!)

Back to Satan…if a rebuke is so sugar-coated that people actually like the taste, the message “You are taking poison and you need to stop taking it or it will kill you” is lost. A rebuke should sting, it should taste bad, and it should warn with the warnings poison has. The deadliest poison is the one you don’t know you’re taking, isn’t it? The one without odor or taste can be consumed over and over, and you won’t know you’ve been poisoned until you are dead. That’s what too much sweetness when rebuking will do- it will cover the bad taste of the poison so much that you don’t know you are killing yourself.

What are we left with? I hope you agree that there is a problem with how we communicate to each other today, that there is need to rebuke people that are killing themselves through sinfulness, and that we need to allow the Ruach to lead us in how we talk to each other when rebuking. If we are all on the same page here, I am sorry to confess that I don’t know what to tell you beyond that. I am the “don’t do as I do” type, not the “do as I do” kind. Shaul was able to tell many of the Messianic Congregations he helped to form that they should do as he does, because he did what we should be doing. I can’t say that because I am not doing what we should do.  I guess we all need to look to the Ruach to help us to save the eternal souls of those we deal with that need a good rebuke. Each one of us will have to do this in our own way, and each situation is unique.

I, myself, will do what I can as best as I can to help those that need to be saved from themselves. I will try to let the Ruach lead me in knowing when to rebuke, and when it isn’t necessary; sometimes you just need to move on and let it go. Sometimes you need to stop it dead in it’s tracks. I believe that only with trusting faithfulness, knowing what God wants of us, and asking the Ruach to take charge can I be able to rebuke correctly so that the poison is recognized, the feelings not hurt, and the love that I must have to care enough for someone to risk my relationship with them just to save their soul, will be appreciated.

Whew! I’m asking for a lot, ain’t I? Well, with God all things are possible, even to the point of me being nice to people.

Holy Day or Holiday?

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I would like to start this Drash with an excerpt from the chapter in my book (see link at bottom right of page) dealing with this topic:

“Two men talking…,”…so I came to the conclusion that I’m agnostic, but when I realized they don’t have any holidays I thought it best to just stick with my reform synagogue.”

    Why is it important to know the difference between a holiday and a Holy Day? After all, don’t they both mean the same thing? Probably so, to most people. But I think there is a difference between the two, and I also think it is important to know what that difference is. And, since it’s my book, I get to write about what I want to.

   Seriously, it is important to know the difference, and in that light I will ask you to accept (for the purposes of this book) the following definitions: a Holy Day is a celebration, or festival, which God has commanded to be observed. A holiday is a celebration, or festival, which has been created by humans and is a traditional, not biblical, observance. 

   Please understand that I have absolutely nothing against man-made celebrations. I also have nothing against traditions, EXCEPT when a tradition is given more importance than the actual word of God. Traditions are fine, but He comes first.”

We are just about at the end of the High Holy Days in Judaism. Tomorrow is Simchat Torah (that means the Joy of Torah) when we read the last part of Deuteronomy and then, while we sing and dance, roll back the scrolls to the very beginning and read the first few lines in Genesis. Often this holiday (note: holiday, not holy day) is also celebrated by parading the Torah through the streets (And the Word shall go out from Yerushalayim…) with Shofar blowing and joyous singing. It is truly a wonderful thing to start reading the Torah all over again. Ya gotta love the Bible!

But it is not a festival that God told us to celebrate. It is a holiday– a man-made event that is a traditional celebration, just like the netilat yadayim (hand washing) ceremony that we read about in Mark. Just like promising a Korban (again, see Mark) or any of the many, many other Rabbinic traditions and ceremonies that are Talmudic but not Biblical. And if you really want pomp and ceremony, check out some of the Gentile holidays and traditions. You’d think they would have learned from the Jews, but it was not to be.

Why care about the difference? Maybe it doesn’t matter. I guess you could make an argument that every religious holiday (I am not talking about anything in Leviticus 23) is meant to honor God, and how can that be wrong? I think that would be a good argument, and I wouldn’t have a problem with that, except that today most of these holidays do not honor God: they only create more retail sales. They honor the economy more than they honor God.

I mean, it’s not even Halloween (clearly, no one can think that Halloween honors the Lord!) and already I see Christmas commercials on TV, stores are putting up Christmas decorations, and I haven’t even partaken of my November tryptophan yet!  Oy! If we keep going at this rate, we will “lap” Christmas and by April of 2016 they will be running Christmas 2017 sales!

The traditions of our people (Jews and Gentiles, alike) are not bad, in and of themselves. Traditions help create solidarity, a common foundation, and can often help one to get closer to God, so long as they do not interfere or overrule what God has commanded of us. This was the point that Yeshua was making during His ministry. He didn’t have an issue with the traditions, He had an issue with the Pharisees forcing the people to perform traditions at the expense of what God said they should do. There are plenty of examples of this throughout the Good News books.

We need to be careful about this, i.e., knowing the difference between what God has told us to do and what our religious leaders tell us we should do. And we need to know the difference, especially now, as we see prophecy coming to fruition all around us.

I believe the Enemy will make Himself known slowly, and we will not know what he is doing to us until it is already done, unless we keep our spiritual eyes open and trust no one. Not the Rabbi, not the Priest, not the Minister or Chaplin…not no one, not no how, not no way.

What we need to do is trust in the Word of God. You need to read it and thereby learn the difference between what is man-made and what is God-commanded. Like I said, I believe the Enemy will take charge slowly, and the best way to do that is through what we are all comfortable with. He isn’t going to jump out of a cake and say, “Hiya!! I’m the Son of Perdition and I am here to destroy you. Line up and take the mark- be the first on your block to suffer in hell for  all Eternity. Order your very own mark now…operators are standing by.”

Uh-uh…not going to happen that way. He will appear, at first, to be somewhat powerless. A nobody that came up with a popular notion or fad. Then the fad will become a tradition, just like the other traditions we all find comfortable and easily follow (like sheep) and practice. Eventually, once we are suckered into the traditional practices, the tradition will become a regular part of our life, and he will introduce activities that are God-less and satanic, but it will be so subtle, it will fit so easily into what we are doing already, that before we know it we will be lining up for the mark and not even realize what we are doing.

OK, maybe I am getting a little too apocalyptic, thinking that celebrating Simchat Torah will lead me to satanic worship. Honestly, I don’t think that’s a concern. But human stupidity, ignorance and pride is a concern, and it is as much a part of us as breathing and eating. If we aren’t watching with spiritual eyes, and discerning using the Ruach, we are doomed. The Enemy is much more devious than we are, and he knows how to get in our brains, in our daily lives, and how easily we can be led (or misled, for that matter.) And he has no fear of God. He knows he’s lost, he just doesn’t want to admit it to himself, so he is going to take as many down with him as he can. Remember this: in Revelations it says that “most” will be apostatised. Not a few, not a lot, but most- that means a lot more than just half . That means more like 70-80% of all Believers will reject God and throw away their salvation.

Worship God as He said to worship Him- celebrate the Holy Days that God has commanded we should celebrate. And I mean everyone- these are not “Jewish” holy days, these are the festivals that God (your God and mine) said that those who worship Him are to celebrate. Everyone! Start there, and slowly, carefully review and scrutinize every non-Biblical holiday you have ever enjoyed. If it seems “correct” according to the Manual, celebrate it as it should be celebrated- in a way that honors God. Leave K-Mart, Target, Amazon, et.al. out of it.

As the old saying goes, “Keep the Christ in Christmas.” And be careful to celebrate only those celebrations, and only in those ways, that give glory to God.