Study on Tassels (Question – Women too?)

STUDY ON TASSELS

Yep … we all hate sticking out like a sore thumb … “You want me to do what? Wear white and blue strings around my waist?” Talk about standing out! BUT, if it’s a command of God … there is no question, “Yes sir”.

(I am using NIV below)

The command: Numbers 15:38-40 … “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God.”

The command … again: Deuteronomy 22:11-13 … “Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together. Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear. If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her …”

• The passage found in Numbers 15:38-40 is right after the recording of the Sabbath-breaker being stoned. As if, DO THIS (wear these tassels) so that this does not happen again (as verse 40 states … “By wearing them … THEN you will remember to obey”. Remember the “tying a string around your finger to remember what you are to remember?” God uses tassels!)
• Also found are the words “throughout the generations” and the verb “TO MAKE”.
• Let me ask you, are these following commands still valid today?:
- Putting a parapet around your roof so that no one gets injured by falling?
- Not planting two kinds of seed in your vineyard?
- Not plowing with and ox and donkey yoked together?
- Leaving part of your field (the corners) for the poor and hungry?
- Rising up when the “gray-haired” enters a room (the elderly)?
- If we find our neighbor’s ox (animal) we are to take it in and care for it until they return?
- Not wearing clothes of wool and linen woven together?

• If yes … then the verse on the tassels is the very next statement of some of the above … not skipping a beat … “Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.” … (It then continues on marriage violations) as well as mixed in with the others above.

People may use excuses for not obeying certain commands, such as:

1.) It doesn’t say “forever” or “for all generations”, so it’s not for us today (Can’t use this excuse, it does say throughout the generations!) Did you know that the Ten Commandments do not say “forever” yet we know that it is to be. Hmmm …
2.) They (the Jews) had the tassels to remind them of God’s Law … we have the Spirit now (We are never to negate a command because we know the spiritual meaning … “You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” (Matthew 23:23) and “Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.” (1 John 2:7) This is how we KNOW that the Spirit is within a child of God … their flesh obeys the Law (For it is through the Spirit that it is done)!
3.) I have even heard that it was used as a similie … you know, describing something else. Let us examine that one for a moment:

Two similies come to mind … Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and another similar one in Exodus 13:7-9. A Similie is comparing two items using the words like or as. Below, in blue, are descriptive words or action words. The underlined are the similes. Note: wearing tassels is not used as NEVER used as a descriptive word for an action. Simply, by wearing them, you are reminded.

(I am using NASB below)

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 … “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you get up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Exodus 13:7-9 … “Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you, nor shall any leaven be seen among you in all your borders. You shall tell your son on that day, saying, “It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.” (BY observing this feast, and by doing so, it will be “as if” it were written on our hands and displayed on our foreheads.)

Can you see in the above passages that there is a difference between actually being asked to do something (in blue) VERSUS being told that doing something was “as if” it was like doing something else (a simile … see the underlined items)

For example:

1.) You just finished a beautiful vacation that was absolutely breathtaking. You come back to explain it to your friends … “It was as if I was in paradise” (Were you actually in paradise, or was it like you were?).
2.) Again, many people living out in the farm lands of the country often say, “Living in the country is as if you are living in heaven.” (Are you actually living in heaven, or is it “LIKE” living in heaven, “as if” you were?)

The same with the above passages … by doing one thing, it is “as if” you were doing another. As you can see, wearing tassels is never mentioned as a similie. It even explains what they will do when worn.

Let me ask you:

How do you exactly live out “Keeping the Sabbath”? I often look and see what my forefathers have done … I often institute my own precautions, as well. What if our Master (Yeshua / Jesus Himself) did or did not do something on the Sabbath … would that be a good enough test on what to do? Well … He wore His tassels! Matthew 9:20 … “Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak.” (Edge is strong’s # G2899 … specifically a fringe or tassel) Are we not to be imitating what HE does? (1 John 2:6).

Matthew 23:5 … “Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;” (We often say that the Master had many opportunities to address an issue such as nullifying the Sabbath, but He never did (He simply corrected the interpretation of how to obey it). Same with this passage, He had the opportunity to let us know that wearing the tassels is NOT a command. Instead, He corrects the way they were being worn. The leaders were making their tassels and prayer shawls longer and wider to show others that they were superior to the “common folk”)

4.) (Regarding excuses for not wearing tassels) “I don’t have a 4 corner garment, so I don’t have to wear them.” OR “you are not wearing them right, since you are not wearing a 4 corner garment” (some attach them on their belt loops around themselves).

Here’s a thought regarding how to wear tassels:

• I have been criticized about wearing them on the belt loops of my pants. (Yet, I do not hear criticism of those who hide them by tucking them in?). What is the proper way to wear them? Let me ask you, what if someone was wearing his tassels on the bottom of His pant-legs? To him I would say, “Ah, Great!” (I would then ask him how he came up with that, but great!) What are the four corners of your garments? If you use other Scriptural references to four corners which simply refers to being “around the entire object” … the object, in this case, is me. I have nothing against those who actually wear them on a 4 corner garment (that happened to be what they were wearing at that time in history).

“Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.” (Ezekiel 7:2) (Since Israel’s land is not a square … the combined meaning in Strong’s means “border”, “end”, or “uttermost part” … in word search it also describes it as “It took on the sense of the outer edges, corners, or extremities of something.”

“After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.” (Revelation 7:1) (Maybe this is where they got that whole “the world is flat” idea? Instead, I think that the writer meant that there was no escaping the four angels … they covered the earth, they had it surrounded!!))

“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth – ” (Revelation 20:7-8a) (Maybe this is why they believed the earth was flat?)

(I enjoyed this next one … most heads are not square, nor do they have edges / corners … except mine … it has a flat top! Get it? (Wow, tough crowd!))

(NIV) Leviticus 19:7 … “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shall thou mar the corners of thy beards.” (I don’t know if anyone told Moses, but God already rounded off the corners of my head … it’s now a ball-shape)
(NASB) Leviticus 19:17 … “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.”
(KJV) Leviticus 19:7 … “You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads, nor harm the edges of your beard.” (Question: Where would the side end and the top begin? That would be the next controversy, eh?)

Makes you think again … “Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.” (Deuteronomy 22:12) (How do I see it? You should be surrounded by God’s Word … these tassels shall be all around you. They are on the edge of my garment (the top of my pants) and my brothers can see them and remember to obey God’s Laws. What does “all around” mean to you? As long as we are practicing … that is what pleases God, I beleive.

But what about woman? Are they to wear them too?

Deuteronomy 22:12 simply states to do “this”: “Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.” To answer the question about who this command is to, let me ask you, who is Deuteronomy 22:11 to? (“Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.”). Obviously, this is for the woman to do, as much as for the men. I think about Adam and Eve. Adam (the man of the house) was given the command and HE was to pass it on to Eve. That is the job of the men or husband, to be spiritual heads of their household. ALL the commands were to the “Israelites” or “sons of Israel” (unless a certain command was for the woman or man, it then said “a man is not to …..” or “a woman is to do ….”) Below is the Strong’s definition of “Israelites” or “sons of Israel”:

H1121
bên
bane
From H1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like H1, H251, etc.):

Numbers 15:38-41 … “Speak to the Israelites (many translations have “sons of Israel”) and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of YHVH, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. I am YHVH your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am YHVH your God.’” Could this be to the men, like Adam, the builders of the family name, to tell the woman? Oh … you thought that I would have an answer? I don’t know. My wife has put them on her prayer shawl she covers herself with during her intimate prayer times. We are saved by faith as we try to figure out how to obey God.

New Commands?

“A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
(John 13:34)

12 / 06 / 08
(Comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine – NIV used)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

• I have always wondered why so many people think that Yahshua (Jesus) gave a new commandment to us that we must “love” … as if it had not existed prior to him. I have even been told that we no longer need to follow any of the Old Testament Laws today, but only need to follow Jesus’ command to love one another. Where did they get that, I wonder?
• Okay, okay … many of you may be thinking, “Kyle, just look at the verse you chose to open with”. Ohhhhhh … that is where they get it from … it is because Yahshua (Jesus) said it is a new command. But I thought that God commanded even in the Old Testament for us to love each other.…even before the Son of God appeared to us!

- “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am YHWH.” (Leviticus 19:18)
- “The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am YHWH your God. “ (Leviticus 19:34)
- “The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am YHWH your God.” (Deuteronomy 10:19)

• I don’t want to be disrespectful, but what is Yahshua (Jesus) talking about? How can this be a new commandment? Did He forget that He already commanded us to love each other back in our forefather’s time in the desert?
• HINT: Look at the last two verses regarding WHO they were commanded to love. The natural born Israelites were commanded to love the “Alien” that was living among them and to treat them as an equal. What was new when Yahshua was talking was that we Gentile believers were no longer “aliens” living among them, but equal to the natural born Hebrew believers. THAT is what Yahshua has accomplished! That was one of His purposes!

- Paul explains this to the Ephesians (non-Hebrews) in Ephesians 2:19 … “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.” Recall from above that they were told to love the aliens among them. So, the notion of a Gentile believer being equal among them is NEW.
- “For He Himself is our peace, who made the two (Hebrew and Gentile) one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility (there were actual walls in the Temple built to keep the Gentiles separated), by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations (These are the dogma laws, or man-made laws that made it hard for not only the Gentiles to come near to God, but the common Hebrew, as well). His purpose was to create in Himself ONE new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility.” (Ephesians 2:14-16) Did you catch that? “HIS PURPOSE” was to create in Himself ONE man out of the two (Jew and Gentile). THAT is the part that was new, and therefore we both are told … LOVE one another.
- “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) (The body is Israel … made up of many parts of which our Messiah is the head!)
- “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, THEN you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:28-29)
- “For there is NO difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him.” (Romans 10:12)
- Yet to ALL who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born NOT of natural descent, NOR of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:11-13)

THE ONLY THING THAT IS NEW IS “WHO OUR BROTHERS ARE”:

• Now, when we read passages about “loving your brother” we must not think about it being a new command, but that our thought of “who” our brother is to include the Hebrew believers, as well as the Hebrew believer must include us, Gentile believers as their thought of family. Together, we make up Israel.
• “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) I am to carry not only the Gentile believer’s burden, but the Hebrew believer’s, as well. You know what? We should probably STOP referring to each other according to our physical identification, as well … such as being a Jew, Greek, or Italian believer. Once someone is part of the family of Israel, there is no longer a PHYSICAL identification … but a Spiritual one. I am no longer a Gentile and a Hebrew is no longer a Hebrew. These things are of the world and not of God. For it is written about the children of God:

- “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24)
- “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (1 Corinthians 15:50)

VERSES RELATED TO THOUGHT:

• “This is my command: Love each other.” (John 15:17) NOW we know that this is not replacing God’s Laws (as many think), but it is revealing that He (Yahshua / Jesus) commands both Jews and Gentiles within Israel to love each other as brothers (It is like a twin brother being taken at birth by mistake and being raised by someone else for 20 years. Then, one day, they meet and realize that they have been brothers all along. Now the brother who had been raised by their true parents has to share them with his new-found brother … who had been a brother all along.)
• “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” (1 John 3:10) Notice that we are to obey God’s Laws (do what is right … some translations say “do righteousness”) AND love our brothers.
• “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:20-21) Now that it is clear what our Savior actually is speaking of, we know that this is NOT eliminating the Laws as given through Moses, but that He is bringing the Jew and Gentile together … and then commands them to love one another.
• “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8) What Law? Ohhhhhh … the law that Jews and Gentiles must love each other as brothers!
• John seems to hint that it really is not new, but has sort of been hidden and spoken of before. They (The Hebrews) KNEW that they were to love the aliens that were ALWAYS welcomed into Israel. But they always thought that being an “Israelite” was their right alone (recall the twin brother example. The one brother thought that he alone was an heir.). So John is clear in 1 John 2:7-9 … it is actually not so new. Those living at the time of Yahshua (Jesus) simply had never heard it: “Dear friends, I am NOT writing you a new command but an OLD one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”
• “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2)
• “Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.” (1 Thessalonians 4:9)

LAST THOUGHTS:

• So … who are our brothers? Anyone who believes in Yahshua (Jesus) as their Savior.
• Is the command to love each other replacing obedience to God’s Laws as given through Moses? Of course not.
• We are told that there is no Jew, Gentile, slave, free, male, or female within Israel. It also makes sense that the priests, who are the brothers of the High Priest, Yahshua (Jesus), are from every tribe, language, peoples and nations. These are all who hold firm to the testimony of Yahshua (Jesus) and obey the Law and teach it.

WATH MIGHT THIS LOVE LOOK LIKE:

• Those of us who are attempting to obey God’s Laws as He gave them to His children MUST love those who have not come to that point in their walk with Him. We must show the same mercy that we received for so many years from the Lord.
• Those of us who are attempting to obey God’s Laws as He gave them to His children MUST love those who do the same, yet interpret and live out the commands differently from us, others, or the majority. (NOTE: We are all, most likely, incorrect in some points. Good thing we are not saved by our obedience!). Division comes when we do not love each other as He commanded and accuse each other for doing things differently.
• Yes … we must love one another … or it all means nothing.

It is often said that,
“The only law we have to obey today is Christ’s law.”

10 / 20 / 07
(NIV used)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

• Some questions we must ponder:
- Are we to obey the Son over the Father?
- If the Father gave us a command and then someone who said that he is His son, gave us a contradicting command … wouldn’t that son be acting in rebellion to His Father?
- Our Savior NEVER put Himself above or over the Father. Why then do so many today put the Son over the Father, as if the Son overrules the Father?

• When we say that we no longer have to obey God the Father’s Laws (as given through His servant Moses) because His Son gave us a new law, isn’t that what we are doing … putting the Son over the Father? This is a false doctrine. So let us examine what “Christ’s law” truly is.
• Our faith in the atoning sacrifice of the blood of the Son is what saves us. The Father sent His Son out of love for us. The Son willingly accepted the task at hand out of the same love. Let us NOT use the blood of the Son of God as an excuse to sin and disobey the Father. The Son obeyed His Father and IF we are truly disciples of the Son, we MUST do the same: “Whoever claims to live in Him MUST walk as Jesus did.” … 1 John 2:6!
• How can we truly say that Jesus taught a new command that is a contrary to the teaching of His Father’s Laws? “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19) Let us also not forget that it is the Father, not the Son, who is going to reward us for our obedience. “… Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:4) So the fact remains:
- The blood of the Son saves us.
- The Spirit of the Son sanctifies us (2 Thesalonians 2:13)… or in other words, helps us to obey the Father. It is the Spirit who is teaching us the Laws of the Father … THAT is sanctification. THAT is how HE (for it is HIS power within us) is taking our sins away (as He writes the Father’s Laws on our heart and we begin to obey).

• So what is the “Law of Christ”?

- Well, we can see that it is separate from His Father’s Laws (the Laws of Moses), for Paul plainly says that he is “… NOT free from God’s Law but am under Christ’s Law.” (1 Corinthians 9:21) So why are so many saying that they are free from the Law of Moses, when Paul says that he, himself, is not?
- We can also see that replacing His Father’s law is NOT what our Master taught, as well: “Do NOT think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have NOT come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will BY ANY MEANS disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18) He says “do NOT” think that the Law is done away with … so why are many thinking that way? Is everything accomplished? His death and resurrection are, but how about His return? Is there still a heaven and earth? So, we see that eliminating the Law of Moses and the Prophets is NOT what Christ taught.

• So what is this “Christ’s Law” that we are under?

• Christ’s Law is NOT (and never will be) in opposition to His Father’s Laws!! If it were, then we would have no moral code to live by. This is the relativism that our worldly society teaches us. This is NOT Biblical. IF anything, Christ enhances the Laws and brings clarification to them (Showing us the ultimate example of HOW to live them out which is the definition of fulfilling them) God’s Word makes this clear: “Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.” (1 John 2:7) The message we have heard? Friends, He was talking to those who had heard Moses and the Prophets! “Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.” (1 John 2:8-9) A new command to love your brother? Is this really a new command? No, wait, I mean yes, I mean … is it really new? Yes, to the people He was speaking to … it was. For the Gentiles coming in to the family of Israel through faith in HIM were NOW considered equal brothers with the Jews. To the Jews (the audience to whom He was speaking), THIS was new … but was it, I mean, it was … we find in the past, the Gentiles saved by faith were considered saved, but simply “aliens among them”.
• So, when we are told to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) we can see this being applied. Friends, God has always commanded us to carry each other’s burdens, but they, the Jews, were not doing so to those of “different nationalities”. We, the Gentiles are now their brothers … equals inside of Israel. By whose command? The Son’s!! For HE broke down those man-made walls of hostility (“For HE himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility.” – Ephesians 2:14-16). This is NOT talking about God’s Laws given through Moses being hostile! It was speaking of the dogma laws of man that kept the Gentiles and Jews separated; These man-made laws were “hostile” and NOT of God!

NOTE: Since the Jewish and the Gentile believers were now equal, They were being told to carry each other’s burdens and to love each other as brothers. To do so … they would be fulfilling Christ’s Law! If we say that by Christ “fulfilling” the Law of Moses, we no longer have to obey them … then if I carry someone’s burden (thus fulfilling the law of Christ), I don’t have to do that again, either. So we can plainly see that fulfilling something does NOT mean to eliminate it. We simply lived out that Law to the fullest meaning it was intended!! We must do it again, though, because of our faith!! Christ’s Law? That the Jewish and Gentile believers were now one man … a new man out of two separate people . We are to love each other and to carry each other’s burdens. Is this new? Not really, but even to us today … it is new, for we have been using it to disobey His Father. But is has always been there waiting for the right time to be revealed to those being saved.

• Just something to think about the next time we feel like saying, “We no longer have to obey God the Father’s Laws … for we now have Christ, His Son.” Is that what the Son would say?

Grafting

DEVOTION
12 / 24 / 04

(Comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine)

• You know me, I try to keep everyone on their toes and always guessing; always questioning the teachings of men; always trying to get people to put as much energy into their relationship with God as they do trying to excel in their occupation or job!! Oh, talk about investments, work or sports, and “WOW”, most people have all kinds of time … defend their faith and examine what they have been taught, you would think it’s a sin in itself. I am trying to get people out of a stupor, which so many seem to be in. Many are unknowingly putting their trust in faulty interpretations of God’s Word.
• I used to have a hard time with this subject … When is a person saved? If a person is saved, can they lose their salvation? I have even been taught by the preachers of God’s Word that God left His children, Israel (they meant the Jews), and now has a “new bride” (Sort of a “new” Israel, I guess). So I have always wondered, “Will He leave me, too, if I sin?”

Here are some verses that seem to show that we will never lose our Salvation, once we receive it:
- John 10:27-29
- John 17:12
- 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
- 2 Corinthians 5:5
- Ephesians 1:13-14

Ahhhh … after reading those verses, I am very content and secure knowing that I am saved! What??? What are these verses, though?
- Luke 8:13
- 2 Corinthians 13:5
- 1 Timothy 4:1

• Okay … put on your thinking caps (Yes, you DO have time!) We must not accept discrepancies in God’s Word!!! God’s Word is PERFECT and He is UNCHANGING, so if there seems to be a discrepancy, it is US who needs to search for the truth.
• I feel the secret is in verses about grafting. If a person is called by God, it is THEN that he or she has been grafted into the Messiah. Christ is the root / vine … WE (both the Jew and the Gentiles who have been called) are the branches. (John 15:1-2) I have become fascinated with grafting, now that someone has taken the time to explain it. I never knew that we can take a freshly cut branch of another tree and graft it, or attach it, to the live stump of another. (Obviously, there is more to it, but I never knew it was, in fact, possible). There are many verses that refer to Believers as being the branches and the Messiah as our support … the source from where the sap (Spirit) flows! So there must be something here, and we must dig for truth!!

• Branches are supported by the roots / stump:

- John 15:4
- Romans 11:16-21
- Matthew 3:10 (Notice … it is cut down at the root. Not including the root!)

• So let us look at grafting (knowing that it doesn’t ALWAYS work). It is up to the branch, NOT the Root if this process succeeds! Just like Salvation before one is saved … it is US who reject the Spirit by our refusal to obey and accept God’s sovereignty (believing in Him for who He actually is … the sin of unbelief is why we go to hell, NOT our daily sins.) So, how can we tell if a branch is accepting the sap from the root over time? (John 15:2 again)
• It is here, I feel, that lies the secret of Salvation. Who is the sap that is sent from the root to nourish the branches? (John 14:26) Here are the “players”:

- Root / Vine / Stump = Yeshua (Christ, the Messiah)
- Sap that comes from the Roots / Vines / Stump = His Spirit (neat, eh. The sap does not exist, unless there is a source, likewise, the Spirit comes from it’s source … the Messiah)
- Branches = Those who have been called. (NOT necessarily believers, yet.)

• How would God’s Spirit remind us of what is spoken in God’s Word? (Hebrews 8:10) You see, once grafted, the sap (His Spirit) attempts to bring life to the grafted-in branch (us). Without the Root we are dead! The Spirit is attempting to write the Law on our hearts (bringing life … Psalm 19:7) … (Revealing the covenant relationship (first devotion on 10/03/04) … revealing who He and that His entire Law / commands are for His children (second devotion on 10/10/04 … and revealing who we are in the Kingdom, Israel (third devotion on 10/17/04)). As His Spirit reveals these truths, or attempts to write them on our heart, we either take in this nourishing sap, or refuse to eat of it (our refusal is usually a hardened heart condition … hard soil).
• I, myself, am finding that the world hates me more and more each and every time I live another truth that has been reveled by His Spirit. I am holding firm to the teachings of God and now understand Matthew 10:34-37.
• Let us walk a little further with grafting. How about if, as the Spirit (or Sap sent FROM the Root) reveals truth, the branch refuses to accept this sap? What if there is NOT fruit produced, or found on the grafted in branch? (Luke 13:7-9) Now obedience IS the fruit … Matthew 3:8. God is patient … God is merciful … The Man who takes care of the vineyard, is pleading and praying as He tends to the stubborn branch … “Bear fruit, my child. Bear fruit” … “Accept the sap!!” … But if we refuse, we refuse. This is why “Many are invited (grafted), but few are chosen (accepting / believing who God TRULY is) (Matthew 2:14). Read the excuses given by those who did NOT accept the sap, the invitation in Luke 14:16-23 and see if some of these excuses don’t sound familiar to you:

- “I am too busy taking care of my investments / money.” (verse 18)
- “I just purchased some ‘big boy’ toys, so after I get some time on my own, I will come and join the feast.” (verse 19)
- “My family needs me too much. I just never have the time for such events.” (verse 20)
• Alas … verses 21-24 reveal who actually ended up coming to the banquet and ended up being at the supper table. Is life that important? To be called by The Creator of all things; Grafted into His Son, yet so many are concerned with what MAN (family and friends) think, that they refuse the Spirit’s prompting? (God is NOT a Catholic, Lutheran, or Baptist. God is NOT a religion or denomination (Yes … even those “non-denominational” churches are a denomination.) God is not to be put in a box … that is what the Pharisees and teachers of the Law did. Nothing seemed to have changed from when the Messiah came among His own people, the Jews. They, too, loved what was handed down by their teachers / preachers of God’s Word. Is it that we just love looking like those around us? Do we love the teachings and traditions of man that much, that we have let go of God’s teachings / commands? (Mark 7:6-9)
• Okay, okay … back to grafting. The Sap from the Root is always trying to penetrate into the veins of the branch grafted in. Over time, the branch either becomes part of the Root (looks, acts and talks just like the Root which it is now one with, as if it was always there) OR it rejected the Sap (It falls off, or is cut off and thrown into the fire in the end). The branch stands without excuse, for it has tasted the goodness at the grafting point; It’s been enlightened about God’s Word. One can even say, it shared in the Sap, yet the branch would not let it in for growth. What do you think would happen to such a branch? (Hebrews 6:4-6)
• Is this what Philippians 2:12 brings to life … at time of the grafting process that one actually is working out his salvation … acceptance of God’s Spirit, the life giving Sap?
• The branch MUST become like the Root. It must let go of who it is and accept who it will become … based upon the ROOT it is grafted into. If the branch that is grafted, is part of the same family of trees that the root is … it will be easier for THOSE branches to accept. WOW … I love how God’s Word is complete now. (Romans 11:24b)
• Again, let us not forget the job of the Sap (the Spirit of God). His job is to sanctify us … to convict us of our sins!! (What better way to do this than to actually write the Law on our hearts and minds!! Before, it was given to them on stone!!). The more Sap the branch allows in, the more obedient the branch becomes (the more it will look like the Root … who lived in total obedience!). If one lives IN Him, grafted INTO the Root, then 1 John 2:6 and Romans 8:29 are the PROOF that the grafting has been successful! The sap is flowing freely into the veins of the branch. Let me use my relationship with my wife again. I say, “I love you honey” yet how does one know that this is true? My actions over time will prove if this is a true profession. Does the way I treat her and respect her make me love her? Or are these items that I do for her the result of loving her?
• So … how do we show God that we believe? That we love Him? Is our obedience the result or the cause of our salvation?
• What are some other types of fruit? We must understand that from the outside no one can tell if the Sap is flowing on the inside, right? (Except by the presence of fruit!) In the same way, we cannot tell if one is saved or not … except by their obedience. (For without the Sap, the branch remains a WILD branch … hostile to the Root (Romans 8:7)) What is the indication that one is saved, or accepting the Sap inside the veins of the branch? (By their fruit … their obedience to God’s commands; Their love for others; Not conforming to the world). God even told us what loving Him will look like in the branches that accepted the Sap (1 John 5:2-3).
• The sacrifices Israel did just covered their sins … week in and week out … year after year (did you know that? They did NOT save them … the sanctified them. Who sanctifies US now? (Romans 15:16b)). The sacrifices were an EXTERNAL cleansing of their sins. But NOW, He takes the sins away, as they are revealed and repented of!! (Hebrews 9:13-14) We are now free to SERVE the living God! The child of God is continually being sanctified. God’s Spirit takes that dirty and filthy rag of a person and cleanses him … making him pure and white for the marriage day! Can you see the believer, as he repents of his or her sins that are revealed, BECOMING whiter! BECOMING holier! Being MADE into the likeness of His Son! (Hebrews 10:14-17). This is ALL the cause of BEING saved … NOT to be saved. This is ALL the cause of accepting who you are grafted in to, not so we will be grafted.
• Please understand, there are some branches who do not accept the life saving Sap immediately. Yet over time and hard work from the Gardener, the rebel branches will either end up submitting their will to His … or they will not. (Luke 13:8-9 again)
• Some of these branches may even cry out, “I was ignorant. Have mercy on me!”. Was there a time when God overlooked such a cry of ignorance? (Acts 17:30) Why would He overlook ignorance in the past and not now? Did He change? Or did He give us something to help us and overcome ignorance? (Hint … it’s in the Sap! It is either flowing in your veins or it is not.) Back then, they had the external sacrifices for such ignorance! (Ezekiel 45:20) Now that the Son of God has been sacrificed, we stand without excuse! What do these verses mean to you about being ignorant and not conforming?

- Hebrews 10:26
- Ephesians 4:17-19
- Acts 3:17-23
- 1 Timothy 1:13

• Do not misunderstand true worship of God. Do you think that there are many who study and study God’s Word, yet never retain, or understand what it says? Is it possible for a person to attend church, give to the poor, visit the homeless and widows, and study His Word, yet remain unsaved? (John 5:39-47)
• God’s Spirit is the mirror of God Himself. His Spirit reveals the one who sent Him! (These past three devotions were just PART of that mirror). Many do not like what they see when they look into the mirror! Many do not accept God’s calling and are never even grafted. Those who accept God’s calling, are grafted in. Many end up not liking the family they see and remove their name from the wedding list. Many end up not accepting God’s Law as their own, thus refusing the Spirit’s job of sanctification. Let us not forget what we look like in the mirror! Let us stop saying cliché’s about God’s Law and who His family is, and truly accept them … (James 1:21-25)

ENDING THOUGHTS:

• Are you willing to let go of all you have in this life to know God personally? What is the cost you are willing to spend? Do you desire to do God’s will over yours? Are you willing to conform to the Messiah. Or do you hang on to the traditions of man that so easily entangles us, refusing to accept God’s perfect Word? The answers may indicate how much Sap you desire to share in! Can you, or would you, let go of friends and family if that is what it takes to follow God and know Him more personally? (Matthew 10:34-38 again)
• “Walk in the Light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7) … It is a good cliché isn’t it? But what does it mean? What does light do? It exposes darkness … that is why the world will hate those who obey and live according to God’s Will. (John 3:19-21)
Light = righteousness (obedience) and truth
Darkness = Unrighteousness (sin) and lies (opposite of what light is!)
• The more Sap one receives from the Root, the more Light he or she will have. Today, if you taste the Sap, SWALLOW IT! Don’t be like my kids who are trying out a new salad dressing … they touch it with the tip of their tongue to see if they like it or not. Today, if you hear His voice, obey it! (Hebrews 3:7-10)
• Grafting. An amazing science of life, isn’t it? Let us not be satisfied with bearing a single leaf on our branch! For who knows how much the Gardener is looking for … is it just leafs that He wants or is it FRUIT … obedience? (John 15:8-10)

1st Page verses:

• John 10:27-29 … “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”
• John 17:12 … “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.”
• 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 … “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:5 … “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
• Ephesians 1:13-14 … “You also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory.”

• Luke 8:13 … “Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.”
• 2 Corinthians 13:5 … “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you–unless, of course, you fail the test?”
• 1 Timothy 4:1 … “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”

• John 15:1-2 … “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

2nd page verses:

• John 15:4 … “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
• Romans 11:16-21 … “If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.”
• Matthew 3:10 … “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

• John 15:2 … “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
• John 14:26 … “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
• Hebrews 8:10 … “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
• Psalm 19:7 … “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.”
• Matthew 10:34-37 … “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
• Luke 13:7-9 … “So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
• Matthew 3:8 … “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
• Matthew 22:14 … “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
• Luke 14:16-23 … “Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.”

3rd page verses:

• Mark 7:6-9 … “He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!”
• Hebrews 6:4-6 … “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”
• Philippians 2:12 … “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
• Romans 11:24b … “How much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!”
• 1 John 2:6 … “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”
• Romans 8:29 … “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
• Romans 8:7 … “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”
• 1 John 5:2-3 … “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”
• Romans 15:16b … “So that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
• Hebrews 9:13-14 … “The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”
• Hebrews 10:14-17 … “Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.””
• Luke 13:8-9 … “’Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

4th page verses:

• Acts 17:30 … “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”
• Ezekiel 45:20 … “You are to do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance; so you are to make atonement for the temple.”

• Hebrews 10:26 … “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.”
• Ephesians 4:17-19 … “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.”
• Acts 3:17-23 … “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you–even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.”
• 1 Timothy 1:13 … “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.”

• John 5:39-47 … “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. “I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God ? “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?””
• James 1:21-25 … “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does.”
• 1 John 1:7 … “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
• John 3:19-21 … “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.””
• Hebrews 3:7-10 … “ So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’”
• John 15:8-10 … “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love.”

DEVOTION
09 / 23 / 05
(Comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

• There I was reading God’s Word, praying and meditating on what I had just read … then I heard:

“Look up my child” (almost as if it were an audible voice)
So I looked up and saw a large tree … full of life and fullness.
“What do you see?”, seemed to be asked by this voice within.
I see a beautiful tree, I responded.
“Look at the tree more closely”, He replied.

• It was then that I saw a branch, a very large branch high up in the tree. It was without any life at all and full of death.
• This is where I will begin. The walk through God’s Word after this was like a walk on a deserted beach with a friend. One verse, after the other, the waves kept flowing to show. He seemed to talk to me as clear as a sunny day.

• The branch in the tree was like a soul … a human being who was a part of that tree for quite some time. I kept asking my Friend, “What caused that single branch, a branch surrounded with so much life … to just die? Did the tree suddenly cease to supply sap?” He replied, “The branch encountered a disease that ultimately brought about its death?”

• Remember the devotion I did some time ago about the Spirit and grafting? The summary was that once one starts to receive the sap (the Spirit) flowing through the vein … he or she is there permanently. I feel that God corrected me that day as He spoke to my heart about that dead branch in the tree. Now, this is not “Thus says the Lord!” … It is just a walk and what I found. I used to think (and was taught), that:
o Once the Spirit is given, we cannot lose our Salvation.
o It was after the “time of testing” that one would receive Him as the guarantee (This is where I was before this walk).

• Can a branch (people) ever be grafted into the Root (Yeshua, or Jesus) without accepting Sap (His Spirit)? Of course not; that branch would die. When one is grafted in to the Root … that appears to be the justification done by God (Since this can only be done by God. He is the one who calls and He is the one who justifies! (“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him …” … John 6:44a)) Obviously we cannot graft ourselves, either … that would be doing something to gain salvation. Although some try by saying mere words, yet that is not the case, but only a misinterpretation of what “profess” means (Isaiah 29:13 and Matthew 15:8). It is only by faith, and still, it is only a gift from God!! (Ephesians 2:8-9)

• So, back to the branch (I know I ramble) … what caused it to dry up and die? Why did it stop receiving the life-giving sap?
• Who are the “players”:
o (Sin) = this could be a disease or even bugs that may have invaded the branch at one time. The branch did NOT just die one day. It slowly stopped accepting the sap. Can that happen with us?
o (Children of God) = these are the branches that are part of the Tree
o (Our Savior) = Root / Trunk
o (His Spirit) = Sap / Life-giving Nutrition

BELOW ARE SOME VERSES THAT SEEM TO SAY (at first glance) … “ONCE TRULY SAVED … ALWAYS SAVED”:

• 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 … “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit on in hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (After reading the other verses, though, this guarantee seems to be good as long as we continue receiving the life-giving Sap sent from the Root. This started to make sense to me, then.)
• 2 Corinthians 5:5 … “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (The Spirit of God seems to be a deposit given freely to us. What IF we choose NOT to accept the deposit at any time? We simply give back the deposit … deal’s off. The rightful owner has His deposit (Spirit) back. BUT, if we keep His deposit, we are guaranteed what is to come!! This is the line of thinking that I seem to be seeing.)
• “Lord, what are you saying”, I asked. He kept pointing back to that branch and reality … “Look at that branch again. If it continued accepting the sap of the tree, would it have died?” I responded, no.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE IS “FRESHLY” GRAFTED IN? WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

• A newly grafted-in branch (or even a green sprout of a natural branch) is a mere infant. At this stage of life, we know nothing. About His Word or even who is feeding us. Let me ask you, does a newborn baby know His parents? How about the rules of the house and what to obey? Of course, not. But that baby is just as much part of the family as the older children. Salvation does NOT depend upon what one knows OR does … life has been given to the branch by the Sap sent by the Root! Read the next verse … It appears that these mere infants in Christ seem to be worldly and just starting to share in the nourishing sap. Just receiving knowledge … “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2) Worldly people are generally not in obedience to God’s Law … but they may still be part of the family. (Hint: Time will tell if it is truly part of the entire Tree) If the baby no longer gets food … death will result. So these infants need nourishment, or they too may die spiritually (and possibly never know it until judgment day). But for now … they are part of the family … saved and receiving the life-giving Sap from the Root.
• Just like a real young branch, it is at this stage that baby believers will easily accept lies, false doctrines and deceptions about the truth. (Just like a young sprout / branch that is still green on the outside … it is more acceptable to disease and death) Babies in Christ accept what ever they are taught because they do not know God and His Word fully, yet … they are still babies, mere infants … “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:14)
• So, can people lose their salvation at this point? I now believe they can. This stage of life is critical! It is at this infancy that they will usually accept anything they hear about God. It is usually at this stage that they fall away, or during times of extreme testing:
o “Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.” (Luke 8:13)
o “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.” (Matthew 13:20-21)

DURING THE COURSE OF LIFE, THOUGH, CAN ONE LOSE HIS SALVATION (Or die because of rejecting the nourishing Sap)?

• Just like the branch that the Lord showed me … it did not die all at once. Something began to kill it and caused it to hardened its veins. It could have been a bug at first, or a disease that came around … but the death is usually a slow process. Sometimes, even storms blow down a dying branch only to find bugs INSIDE, that were not evident from the outside. We can only tell that death is looming by this branch lacking in producing fruit (leaves, etc… ) Spiritually, this represents sin. Sin is a disease that can eventually harden our hearts. Remember, we were justified by God and His work. But one may die because they chose to stop accepting the sanctifying work of His Spirit.
• “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION with fear and trembling, for it is God who works IN YOU to will and to act according to His good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13) (You see, during our entire life, we are supposed to be producing fruit for God. Fruit that is according to HIS purpose. We are to be GROWING as the Tree grows (Remember, the Root was only a seed at one time). It is when we fear and tremble before God, that we remain close to Him and attached to the Tree system … the Root and its Sap. This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to put guards up to protect ourselves. We need to be held accountable by others who will let us know when we may be in a sin (have a disease that may start to kill us if we allow it to grow). (1 Corinthians 8:13 and Galatians 6:1)
• “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a FEARFUL EXPECTATION of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” (Hebrews 10:26-27) (It did NOT say that we die if we deliberately sin … it did say that if deliberately KEEP ON sinning … we would be on the road to death. This is a warning … get the bugs off you … get to the Doctor so that He can cure you. WE would be the ones who are rejecting the sanctifying work of His Spirit (Who is attempting to write the Law on His children’s heart). The raging fire is NOT a guaranteed fate here … but the writer seems to be revealing that there are signs that may be the proof that the branch is starting to die … REJECTING the Sap’s sanctifying work. This is only a warning sign! It’s time to “spray for bugs” and “give special care to this branch”. This branch should start fearing, though!)
• “But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” (Hebrews 10:38-39) (Can we shrink back? Of course, we all do … we all back slide. Is God pleased when this happens? It appears not. The writer even goes on to the point of saying that those who shrink back are destroyed. So when we slip, it is critical to repent and turn from our wicked ways. This is where we count on His mercy and compassion. Shrinking back hinders and quenches the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19 … “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.”) In other words, do not hinder the flow of Sap into your veins.)

Rejecting the sanctifying work of the Spirit will eventually stop the life of the Spirit from flowing into the branch … that branch will die … apart from God):

• Read the verses below carefully. This is no longer about infants … these are the older branches that the Gardener EXPECTS to produce fruit. These branches have been part of the Tree for some time and are mature. Attached securely to the Tree system. These are who the Gardener expects to see fruit from. What fruit does He expect? “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:8)). We must accept that God, in His love, gave us His Laws to live by. Remember, sin is being without the Law … 1 John 3:4 … “Everyone who sins BREAKS the Law; in fact, sin IS LawLESSness.”) What happens if we grow along with the tree, but are barren, without fruit? What happens if we accept being justified, yet refuse to accept the sanctifying work of His Spirit … producing fruit (Obeying)? Let us read:

• “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:10)
• “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that WILL produce its fruit.” (Matthew 21:43) (So WE are to be producing fruit. But man has been taught that there is no Law to obey!! Do you believe that? We all sin … God knows that. Is it intentional (we know and understand a rule of God’s, yet refuse to obey), or is it unintentional (because we do not know the Law yet, even though His Spirit may be TRYING to write it on our heart?))
• “He cuts off EVERY branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:2)
• “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:19)

LAST THOUGHTS:

• My friends … nowhere in the Bible does it say that we must reach a certain stage in our faith in order to be saved. We need not know anything to be part of the family, but have faith. Nether does lip service get you grafted in … it is the will of God and Him calling us. It is a process, like a real tree. Salvation is a gift (It is HE that justifies), but it seems that it is US who has the “free will” to reject the Spirit’s life-giving nourishment. In other words, God is trying to conform us to the IMAGE of the Tree we are attached to (That is the proof … some may be attached to the wrong tree. We can tell by the fruit they produce …. Matthew 7:16-20) A true child of God MUST be growing and producing fruit in accordance with, and in line to God’s Law (for it is THAT Law that the Spirit is writing on our hearts.) 2 Peter 1:5-9 even states that we MUST be adding to our faith; We must possess certain qualities in INCREASING measures (Remember … this is the proof that one is still alive in Christ … is still receiving His Spirit, the Sap.) Many have forgotten that we are to be CLEANSED from our sins … it is HE that cleanses us as He writes the Law on our hearts.

• Here are some verses that seem to reveal the disease (sin) that may cause one to eventually die:

o “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast (sin) works through the whole batch of dough.”” (Galatians 5:7-9) (Let us NOT let a sin control us. We must conform to the image of our Creator / Savior!)
o “Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.” (2 Peter 3:17) (All of us must stop and think … what is God’s truth and what is based upon tradition and man’s interpretation. God DOES care! He is patient and is waiting for many to repent and obey. (Romans 2:5 … “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are STORING up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed.”) Just because the entire world or everyone around us is doing something, does NOT mean that it is right before God.)

• What does our Savior seem to be saying in the next verse?

“REMAIN in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can to do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”” (John 15:4-6)

• Yeshua (Jesus Christ) is telling us … IF we remain in Him … He promises to remain in us. If we continue to remain in Him, He guarantees what is to come!! If we do not remain in Him … we will die! That seems to be a guarantee, as well. (Just like the branch I saw). That branch did NOT remain in the tree. It was because of outside influences that the branch eventually died. It may have been a disease, or a simple hardening of its veins … The branch did not guard itself. That is how careful we must be to protect our faith, obey God out of love and live! We WILL be sanctified IF we are justified. The proof and the Gardener’s expectation is fruit (obedience). Those who claim to be justified are grafted into the Root of Jesse … Isaiah 11:10 and Romans 15:12. If we truly believe that … we will shudder and fall to our knees and obey (producing “fruit in keeping with repentance.”).
• Here’s another frightening verse for those who do not want to obey God (show fruit) … how long will it be until one is removed and discarded from the Tree? “So He (The owner … God) said to the man (Our Savior) who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” (Luke 13:7-9)

Who is the Law For?

DEVOTION
08 / 19 / 05
(Comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine)

“He has revealed His word to Jacob, His laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for NO OTHER nation; they (The other nations) do not know His laws. Praise the Lord.”

Psalm 147:19-20

FIRST THOUGHTS:

• Because of a conversation I had last week (mostly one-sided …mostly the other person telling me how wrong I was, in living according to God’s Torah by obeying the Sabbath, celebrating God’s Holidays, eating according to God’s dietary laws, etc… (Basically how wrong my family is by living according to God’s “Old rules”).
• “Why Lord?” Why are so many people determined not to live according to the way your Son did? (1 John 2:6)
• My wife and I have been doing an ongoing study about God’s Law. This devotion, sparked by that conversation I had, is in line with our study. So allow me to share with you at this time, some of our search.
• REMINDER: This is NOT a conclusion, but merely what we have been studying. We are open (WIDE open) to hear comments (out of love) and discuss with anyone about our love … God and His Words.
• Keep your mind open and your heart moldable. Flee from “phrases” and “interpretations” that seem to contradict God’s entire Word.

QUESTION: Is God’s Law for ALL people, or just given to His children?

• I had a discussion about this topic with one of the men that I hold in high esteem as a “man of God”, “one who has godly wisdom”, and who holds me accountable. Because of that conversation, I am going to approach this topic a little differently.
• Keep in mind the question and concerns:
o Is God’s Law for ALL people, or just His children?
o Why are so many determined not to obey God’s Law? Is it really a burden and done away with?
• A phrase that I feel is used way too flippantly is … “God’s gift of salvation is for ALL men.” Although there is some truth to this, in actuality, NOT all men are saved. So God’s gift, which is free, is AVAILABLE to ALL men … they simply have to have faith in the Messiah as Lord. Now God desires all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), but not all men are saved. (Read carefully what that says). Salvation is basically ONLY for the children of God, but available for ALL men who call on the Lord.
• Okay … now let’s take that SAME idea and apply it to God’s Law. (REMEMBER … “Torah” actually means instruction, even though our English bibles translate it “Law”). I am going to give you some verses that prompted this thought, but first, we must remember:
o God’s picture of salvation, as He used physical Israel as His example, shows that they received the Law (God’s instruction for righteous living) AFTER they were redeemed from Egypt. The Israelites (and the aliens conjoining themselves to God) who lived by faith, were God’s children BEFORE they received this Law … keep that in mind.
o ANYTHING that God SAYS is Truth and is to be obeyed. Adam sinned and that was before the Law was given … or was it? I mean, God gave him a command and he disobeyed it … therefore, he sinned.

VERSES THAT PROMPTED OUR STUDY:

• 2 Timothy 3:16-17 … “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for … so that the MAN OF GOD may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (An un-believer is NOT a man of God. So, Scripture is NOT useful for the un-believer in the ways it is for the believer … although it COULD be and it IS available for him. Yet an un-believer chooses to live according to HIS ways, not God’s)
• Romans 5:13a … “for BEFORE the law was given, sin was in the world.” (Again, sin is disobeying God’s commands. There is more to the “Law” than a bunch of rules … it is the very voice of God and who HE is. It is God’s heart revealed. It is God’s justice and mercy woven together and given to His children as a gift!! To obey God is to UNDERSTAND who HE is!! To obey God is to love Him (John 14:15, 14:23-24, and 1 John 5:3))
• (This one is awesome and was the clincher to our thought. And to think that the mainstream church is teaching their parishioners NOT to obey God’s Law as found in the “Torah” … what are we really showing the world around us? By observing God’s Laws we are showing the world around us that we understand and have wisdom!!) Deuteronomy 4:6-8 … “Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to Him? And what other nation is so great as to have such RIGHTEOUS decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?” (WOW … that is awesome! By obeying God’s entire Word the way our Savior did … in complete obedience … we show the unsaved how awesome our God is!! Now … these very Laws are available for THEM, as well. They simply must believe and become a child of God!! Then God’s Spirit will start writing them on THEIR hearts, as well!)

LAST THOUGHTS:

• Can you see how it seems that God’s children (who are to look differently from the world around them!), have rules to live by? Those rules are God’s Torah (the first five books of Moses and AFFIRMED by our Savior as He lived them out perfectly, giving us an example! (1 Corinthians 11:1 1 and Peter 2:21-22)).
• Example: My children have rules to live by (we will call them “Dad’s law”). If they want to please me and have Dad’s favor upon them, they had better live according to “Dad’s law”. Now I know that the younger ones cannot obey them as well as the older ones. I do not hold the younger children to the same standards as the older ones (although the older ones may grumble at this and say this is not fair … it is) I am ALWAYS showing my children mercy when they mess up (I know when they obey out of love for me, and when they try to get away with things, as well), but they remain my children. When we go out, I want them to show the world around them that they belong to a Dad that loves them so much, that I protect them with rules. I teach them how to truly live by giving them guidelines, and so forth. Now, someone else’s child does NOT have to obey “Dad’s law”!!! Why? They are not my children!!! Although, I DESIRE that ALL families would adhere to training their children according to “Dad’s law”. MY rules are only for MY children. But if a child comes to me and wants to be part of my family (this is an example, okay) because that child saw how much I love my children. How I talk with them and listen to them, not wavering in my rules, caring enough for my children as to set boundaries by not letting them go off freely, and this “alien” child wants to be part of my family … “Come, I say … enjoy life. Enjoy the same love.” Upon attaching himself to my family, that new child of mine does not know my rules. Obeying them is NOT why he is welcomed in. He desires to live as my child, because he believes in my plan. Eventually, over time and in love, I will guide him or her (as a loving father does) … (This is a picture of our loving Father and how any of us can become part of Israel … His family)
• Let us stop the aversion to God’s Law. They are NOT like the world’s traditions and frail imitations (but do you really expect them to be?). You will no longer look like the world around you (but, again, did you expect a child of God to?).
• Here is a thought … Romans 7:9-10 … “Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was INTENDED to bring life actually brought death.” (Which side of the law are you on? The side that brings death (by obeying or NOT obeying it to gain salvation)? Or the side that brings you closer to God? When one obeys the law, or eliminates the Law, in order to try and gain salvation, it brings death. When they find life in the Messiah, this same law is now righteousness for this child of God. Remember … sin is “Law-LESS-ness” … or … sin is “without law”. So what have many churches done because they could not obey the Law? They say there is no law to obey. But YOU know that the Messiah came to take away our sins … by putting the law on our hearts and minds, so that we CAN obey them (When one knows and obeys the law, he obviously is not sinning against that law! God took the sin away!). Obedience is a delight for those who allow God’s Spirit to do His job … (Hebrews 8:8-11)

SHOULD WE BE AFRAID OF OUR FATHER’S GIFT … HIS LAW?

• If you are trying to obey it (OR ignore it) to save yourself, yes. Look at the Law as a double edged sword (Hmmmm … isn’t that our Messiah?). The Law can either condemn you (before you are saved) or is your righteousness (after you are saved).
• BECAUSE we are His children, the Law is for US. Listen to God’s Word as it is penned by the Apostle Paul, and the way that he describes it (we obey BECAUSE we believe … “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? NOT AT ALL! Rather, we uphold the law.” Romans 3:31)
• The world does not understand this foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18a … “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”). God’s power is the one transforming us from the inside out … that is ONLY through what Christ accomplished on the cross. The world does not want a law to live by. But of course, we are told that in Romans 8:6-7 … “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is HOSTILE to God. It does NOT submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.” By saying we are free from God’s perfect Law and that HE must understand our disobedience … we seem to be telling a loving Father, “We don’t like the rules of the house”. Even though our words SAY we love His Son, by our very action, we are denying Him, for HE is the very Word of His Law made flesh!! He is the movie of the book … or the example for us how to live out God’s Word!!
• Let us embrace God’s entire Word and instruction Book. Will it make those around us feel good? Of course not!! Our obedience will be revealing their sin. They are under the Law (controlled by the Law that SAYS that what they are doing is a sin). Not us!! WE are under the control of His Spirit. His Spirit supervises us … no longer the written words on stone, but on our hearts!! We now have the power to overcome our sinful nature and obey God’s Holy and perfect Law (As each Law is revealed to us and the truth of the knowledge is known).
• My children desire to please me … they want to obey me … why? They love me and that is how they show their love for me.

DEVOTION
11 / 25 / 05
(comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine)

FIRST THOUGHTS:
• What is the truth about the Laws of God?
• It is apparent that when our Savior came, that the Jews obeyed them to be saved.
• The church interprets God’s Word as if to say all, but a choice few, of the Laws no longer valid.
• I have even heard that the Law is mandatory for everyone, regardless of whether or not they are a child of God.
• So, is there still a Law? If so, who is it for?
• After careful reading and study, it seems to me that God’s Laws are only for the family of God (Oh, they are AVAILABLE for all men, just like salvation. But, just like salvation, only those who believe become part of His family, and therefore, receive the gift of His Laws!).
• Think about it … those who say that they are children of God show what this means by the way they live out their lives. Through our words and deeds we show the world who OUR God is! How did His Son reveal Him? Through obedience (love of God) and laying down His life (love of neighbor)!

WAS THE LAW GIVEN TO THE WORLD, OR JUST TO GOD’S CHILDREN? READ FOR YOURSELVES:

• “Do not eat anything you find already dead.” (Yes, this is a Law for God’s children. Obviously, not a hard one to obey, I might add. The verse continues, as if we are asking God, “But Lord, then what are we to do with this dead carcass?” To me, God’s answer is hilarious. Now we, God’s children, cannot eat it, but He says that …) “You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But YOU are a people holy to the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 14:21a)
• “He has revealed His word to Jacob, His laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for NO OTHER nation; they (The other nations) do not know His laws. Praise the Lord.” (Psalm 147:19-20)
• (Even when it comes to lending to a brother in need, or loaning to a foreigner, it is the foreigner that we are not to hold to the same Law as a fellow citizen of God!) “You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.” (Deuteronomy 15:3)
• (Okay, our forefathers are about to enter a foreign land by dispossessing of it. God is revealing to His children that this foreign nation does things that He does not permit them to do. Why? Because God is holy, we, His children are to be holy and we are a separated people unto HIM!) “The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for YOU, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.” (Deuteronomy 18:14) (I ask you, can we, now that the Messiah has come, break any of these laws, now? Of course not! But WE are to uphold them!!! (Romans 3:30 … “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the Law.”) We cannot pick and chose which laws to obey just because of the traditions passed down through generations, even centuries, to us. Do not fear persecution of man, but of God who gave us this precious gift … His laws!)
• (Many Christians no longer believe the Laws given through Moses are for them, so the world is no longer envious of us! Let me ask you, how does your child show you that he understands what you told him to do? By DOING it correctly. THAT is showing that he understands!) “Observe them (the laws) carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations (those not part of the family), who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” … “And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:6 and
• (These laws of God, given to us, are actually a way to have a closer relationship with God, through His Son. They are even a possession that we can pass on, or give to our children. (They are better than any pearls or keep-sakes!)) “Moses charged us with a law, a POSSESSION for the assembly of Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 33:4) (Yes, we are that assembly. Along with all those who believed and lived by faith before us!!)
• (The law is not for the un-believers to obey! It is ours and is the very Law that the Spirit is writing on our hearts today (Hebrews 8:8-11). The Spirit does NOT write these precious laws on the hearts of someone who is NOT a child of God!) “He teaches your precepts to Jacob and your law to Israel.” (Deuteronomy 33:10a) (Again, we find God revealing later in Romans 9:6-8 WHO Israel really is … those who believe and live by faith.)
• (Finally, remember when Paul was sent to the Gentiles? The Gentiles did NOT have the Law, since it was never given to them! Paul makes it clear, as he witness to the un-believers, that he was NOT free from God’s law, but by witnessing to them, he was actually adhering to the law of Christ!) “To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am NOT free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law (Let us NOT forget, that it was the Gentiles obedience to the Law, in fact, that proved that the Spirit of God was in them too! “For it is not those who hear the Law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the Law who will be declared righteous.” (Romans 2:13). We are NOT justified by obeying the Law!! But the obedience to the Law shows that we have been justified (it is revealing the sanctifying work of the Spirit within us).

LAST THOUGHTS:
• I humbly introduce to those who want a closer relationship with their Lord, Jesus Christ, to allow His Spirit to have access to their hearts to write His law. Do not fear man’s rebuke (most comes from inside the church), but fear God. He gave us the right food to eat, the right Sabbath to obey, the correct festivals to celebrate (they ALL of which point to the work of His Son!!). His Laws even show us how to treat our neighbors as ourselves; How to give until we have nothing more to give, but need to receive back; How to lay down our life for another human being; How to pray for our enemies (not curse them) … By obeying God’s eternal Law, we teach our children who God is … unchanging and trustworthy!! Yes, OUR God is the same today as He was yesterday!!
• So how do you show God that you understand Him and love Him? (“THIS is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are NOT burdensome…” (1 John 5:3)
• So let us enjoy the gift God gives freely to His children, and sing as King David did in Psalm119:33 and 97 … “Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.” and “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (Remember, it is Christ who is the Word lived out … perfectly! In turn, by rejecting the Law … are they not rejecting who Christ is?)

God Is Not a Daddy Warbucks

06 / 24 / 06
(Comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

We have all seen them before: Children who act like they love their parents only when they want something. (Some of us may even have a child like this). We all know what they look like. The parent’s first thought is, “Okay, what do you want, now.”

I don’t know about you, but I would simply hate to have this kind of a relationship that is based upon what the child receives. But we see it all over!! Many think that they are actually building a relationship when they give and give to their children … they are not. Just like our pets, our children know who “feeds” them. They know which parent is the “Daddy Warbucks”. These children know how much they can get away with and they know who has the money and how to get it! This is NOT true love. Actually, many of us may even have friends like this, as well!! The only reason they may be a friend is for THEIR own gain (what they can get out of the relationship)?

Can you imagine how God feels? Many say, “I love you”, but in actuality they believe that they are gaining eternal life by saying so. Some say, “I love you, Lord”, but actually they are being taught that they will gain wealth in saying such words or by a certain style of worship.

Spoiled children.

Yes, these people cannot hide behind their curtain of fake godliness. Can you talk about God with them? If it’s not during their scheduled weekly hour (at church) … forget it. That kind of stuff takes up way too much time. Do they want to learn something new about God? That, too, is impossible for they are content with where they are at and what their pastor is preaching. They may even feel that their relationship with God is perfect, for their life is going great … in their eyes. (You know … why “rock the boat” … Why spoil a “good thing”)

VERSES THAT TOUCH ON THE THOUGHT:

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by me.” (Matthew 15:8-9)

(Mark expands on it, in Mark 7:8-9) “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” And He said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!”

LAST THOUGHTS:

1-800-CALL-GOD

When they are in trouble is the only time many will call upon God. That seems to be their emergency number. Until then, this number is kept in the phone book. Just like those children who give lip service … there is no real relationship. They just keep their parents close enough for support.

God knows the heart of these “want-a-be” children. He is not being fooled, in the least. When His righteous judgment is reveled is when they will find out that “that number has been disconnected!

Yep, spoiled is what they are.

God cannot be mocked. Many think that they are fooling God with their traditions and man-made days … but they are not fooling God. This is where Satan’s deception comes in: Since life is good and problems are few and money is flowing … “God must be pleased” (Funny, it is when all these things are taken away and they are in need, that they finally truly search for God’s face)

Just something to think about

God Gets Upset with His Disobedient Children

06 / 02 / 07
(NIV used)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

• I have to be honest with you, I truly anticipated doing a study on a subject people tell me they want to hear about. You know, God’s love, God’s forgiveness, God’s blessings (never curses), wealth, health, prosperity … ahhhhhhh. These topics make us feel good about ourselves and life. Don’t get me wrong, we all need these types of studies, also. However, the Lord seems to be calling me to preach a different message (I guess He feels we enough of those). Many of you don’t know that I really don’t like preaching about repentance and obedience to God (especially since I know that I, myself, am utterly ruined before God in my sinful flesh. Praise His name for His forgiveness!)
• WE ARE COMMANDED TO OBEY THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE!!
• Okay, I feel a little better after that outburst.

• Before I began to write about an “easy hearing” subject, I wanted to spend some time in God’s Word. He took me to Jeremiah 8 and 9. Jeremiah was explaining the reason God withdrew His presence at that time and sent His children into exile, scattering them throughout the nations. So, why was God was so upset?
• Now, if this doesn’t wake us up, I don’t know what will!! (Remember, God does not change!)
• Read these passages very carefully. And to think that we, today, count on the “wisdom” of men like they did the scribes and teachers of the Law back then. Again, the people trusted and admired their leaders (just like we do). However, they were leading God’s people astray.

ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU SOME OF WHAT I READ OUT OF JEREMIAH 8 and 9:

• “At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves … they will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground. Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the Lord Almighty.”(8:1 and 2b-3) Don’t you just want to know what these people (God’s children) did that upset the Lord of hosts so much? I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to repeat their mistake!! As you will see, they were and are NO different from us today. They believed their “scribes” like many do today.
• “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: When men fall down, do they not get up? When a man turns away, does he not return? I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle.’” (8:4 and 6) Okay, it sounds like they were sinning without any remorse. It sounds like there was no repentance or turning back to God. Sinning … forsaking God’s Laws. They were kind of doing what many today do, playing “follow the leader”. What ever pleased themselves was their attitude, as well. Whatever the leaders said, well, must be right … right?
• “But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.” (8:7b) Have you ever wondered why many times God will separate those who teach from those who are taught? In the end BOTH will be held accountable for what they believed and lived out. But here, God is saying that His people do not know His Laws! He was upset about this (Don’t we get upset when our children do not listen?). BUT HOLD ON! Continue reading … Who is to blame? Please understand that this was approximately 800 years after Moses had received God’s eternal Laws. I am not going to be quiet about this fact, but it has been 2,000 years since our Messiah attempted to set them straight about these Laws. However, MANY Pastors and leaders are repeating the mistakes of the past.
• “How can you say, “We are wise,fro we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, wheat kind of wisdom do they have?” (8:8-9) Yes, the Lord of hosts is saying that the leaders were wrong. Even today, many leaders have rejected the Word of God (Rejecting His Laws and ordinances regarding how to live as children of the King).
• “They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.” (9:3) (Did you see that God relates obedience to knowing / acknowledging Him? Wow!! You have heard it before, truly believing in God should MAKE us obey whatever He asks of us. Truly understanding should cause us to want to obey like His Son did (Isn’t that how we become like Him?) Wow, this sure sounds like Matthew 7:22-23 …. “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” These people, in the end, thought that they knew God. They did many things for God, but never knew Him and what He desrires for their lives … “Observe them carefully, for THIS will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations.” (Deuteronomy 4:6a) Today, Many of His children are not even trying to obey His Laws. Many have listened to the “scribes” of our day and discarded His Laws! Question: How can someone claim that God’s eternal laws are done away with? Better yet, how can someone believe this when God’s Word clearly says, “All your Words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.”? (Psalm 119:160)

LAST THOUGHTS (We MUST learn from the past):

• I will close with the following words from Jeremiah (given to Him by God). Again, WHY was God so upset? Let us read VERY carefully (for THIS is the revelation of the heart of God!):

- “The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken My Law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my Law..” (9:13)

• Now, wait a minute. We often hear that “they” had to obey God, but we don’t (I could not find this in the Bible, so if someone could show me where it says that, I would be quite amazed!). Many say that “they” had the Law, but we have grace … really? Continue reading to see just how false this cliché is and how much grace and mercy “they” truly had: “This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.” (9:23-24) and again in 31:34b … “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” That’s odd. So there WAS mercy and grace back then, too! A child who loves his parent, obeys his parents. What was Adam and Eve’s fall? It was sin … they did NOT obey God. Whose children are we … Adam’s or the Messiah’s? Let us be honest, God has ALWAYS been merciful and gracious … Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt (sin) – you have rebelled against the Lord your God, … and have not obeyed me,’” declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 3:12-13 … p.s. … in verse 14, God even calls Himself HER husband. So either He is talking to us and His Word is eternal for all generations, or it is not. If it is, then we must acknowledge our sins, repent, and obey Him again (No matter what any leader says otherwise)!

- “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24)
- “So you MUST obey them (The words of Moses) and do everything he (original word is singular) tells you. But do NOT do what they do (Speaking about the leaders of that time), for they do NOT practice what they preach.” (Matthew 23:3) (Those words in red are not mine, but are words from our Savior!! He is commanding us to do what Moses said, NOT what their leaders were saying! We did it again … we trusted in men!! Oops.)
- “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, BUT whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:19)

• So how do we show God that we believe in Him? How do we show God that we love Him and have given Him authority over our lives? How DO WE look like His Son (our example)?

• By obeying His Laws (These Laws tell us “HOW” to love God and our neighbor.)

• Just something to think about as we attempt to be like Him … obedient to the Father (In ALL ways, not just what the leaders pick and choose as relevant and applicable for us today).

When Did the Son of God Die?

We are always to be searching for God’s face. This is just part of it … Is God “close enough” or is He “exact”? The God I serve hits it on the head of the nail every time.

SO … WHEN DID OUR SAVIOR DIE?
(Good Friday? It is more like Good Thursday.)

There are a few different opinions regarding when Yeshua (Jesus) was crucified and when He rose. God’s Word does not contradict itself … so we will take each opinion and test it against His Perfect Word. Does it fit?

- One thing that we MUST remember is that the evening (after sundown) belongs to the next day. In other words, a day starts on the evening of the day before. This is based upon creation and God’s timing … not man-made … so evening (sundown) to evening (sundown) is a day to God.
For example: If a verse says … “The first day of the week” … this could be “our” Saturday night.
- Another misunderstanding in our Greek culture, are not knowing the Feast days of God. It is very important to understand these days that God has put aside for us to celebrate.

1.) First view of our Savior’s death:

“Jesus died and was buried on Friday and rose on Sunday”

Fri-day Fri-night Sat-day Sat-night Sun-day

Died 3:00

day one night one day two night two (He was risen by a.m. … no day three)
(partial)

Passage that seems to contradict this view:

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40)

Hole in this view: There are not three days or three nights. (And God’s Word is true)
How was this view developed? Verses such as Mark 15:41 which recounts when the Savior was buried. “It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,” (then we read about Joseph of Arimathea going to Pilate for the body). When we don’t view the “New Testament” in light of the “Old Testament” … we will miss many points God is trying to tell us. In other words, we will be in error more often than not. The fact is, the Feast of Passover is immediately followed by the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread … this day is a Special Sabbath. So when our Savior was crucified … they had to remove His body and bury it before the Sabbath … the first day of Unleavened Bread’s Sabbath.
What might be a response to these facts? “Oh, it’s close enough.” (And then they smile, as if we were cute to ask such a silly question). Well … for God’s children … close enough is not good enough. So let us examine it further.

2.) Second view:

Yeshua (Jesus) died and then was buried on Wednesday at evening (based upon the above passage in Matthew 12:40…. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And on Leviticus 23:5 … “The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.”) We know that the crucifixion was at 3:00. This view states that He was taken off the cross and then was buried at the fading of one day (Passover) and the entering in of the next day (Unleavened Bread) … thus twilight … the time between). This view assumes that the Jonah passage means He was in the tomb three full 24 hour periods and three complete nights. Then, He rose on Saturday evening just after sundown which is actually Sunday.

Wed-evening Wed-night Thur-day Thur-night Fri-day Fri-night Sat-day
(Sabbath) (Not a Sabbath) (Sabbath)

(died 3:00) night one day one night two day two night three day three (buried in evening) (Risen at the
end of day)

Passages that seem to contradict this view:

“They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” (Matt. 17:23) Also, Matt. 20:19, Mark 9:31, Mark 10:34, Luke 9:22, and Luke 18:33 which all state that He would rise on the third day.
If He was in the tomb for three full 24 hour periods, then He would not have risen on the third day, but actually on the fourth day. This is further clarified in the following passage:

“The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.” (Luke 24:20-21) Now from Luke 24:13, we know that this conversation took place on the same day the women went to the tomb which was the first day of the week very early in the morning according to Luke 24:1. Then, later that same day, we are told it is the third day since his crucifixion. If this second view was true, and He was crucified on Wednesday, then this would be the fourth day. God’s word never contradicts itself and is never wrong.

Hole in this view: The Jonah passage says that He will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. This is referring to the fact that He was no longer in this body on the surface of the earth. Thus, the three days and nights begin to be counted at the 3:00 death of our Master … The time that His Spirit was given up. Thus, by 3:00 pm on Saturday, we have already hit three 24 hour periods and at 3:01p.m. we enter the fourth day. Even if we count from the moment He was put in the tomb, we know from Luke 23:54 that He was placed in the tomb on Preparation Day which means the sun had not yet set, so it was still the day He was crucified. If this view is true, then He rose, in fact, on the fourth day which contradicts the whole list of Scriptures above. This cannot be.
Possible other hole: If He was crucified on Wednesday, this would mean that Friday was not a Sabbath. Therefore, the woman were anxiously waiting for the Sabbath to be over to anoint the body of the Son of God … they would have had time to do this on Friday before the weekly Sabbath began.

3.) Third view:

Yeshua (Jesus) died and was buried on Thursday (Again, based upon Leviticus 23:5 … “The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.”) The crucifixion was at 3:00 … but He was taken off the cross and then was buried before the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread began. Using the verse “Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes . But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” (Luke 23:56) this shows that these woman had time to prepare spices BEFORE the Sabbath … just not time to go to the tomb.

Thur-day Thur-night Fri-day Fri-night Sat-day Sat-night Sun-day
Died 3:00 (Sabbath) (Sabbath)

Day one night one day two night two day three night three
(parital) (risen by a.m.)

Passages that seem to contradict this view:

None that we can come up with. The Spirit of God departed Him at 3:00 … this is where we start counting (even if one does not agree with this … the body was buried before the sun set and the next day started). 3:00 p.m. on Thursday to 3:00 on Saturday is two FULL days and nights … The third day would begin after this 3:00 p.m. mark on Saturday, as well. Saturday night gives us our third night, and He rose before sunrise on Sunday. This is rising on the third day. This view makes both the three days and three nights passage true and the 3rd day rising passages true. The three days were not three full 24 hour periods, but partial Thursday before sunset + partial Saturday after sunset until rising just before sunrise, Friday, and Saturday.

Hole in this view: There does not appear to be any.

How was this view developed? By trying to make sure our interpretations of Scripture match up with all the rest of Scripture so that there are no contradictions. By doing so … is searching for God’s Truth.

Just think about it. This is what us Gentile believers are missing when we let go of God’s Feasts … His truth. Good Friday? I suppose every day is good if we wake up breathing … but Friday is not when our Savior died. Thursday seems to fit Scripture the most.

The Jobs of a Priest Are like Being on the First String Team

“Does not the Potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some
pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?”

(Romans 9:21)

02 / 09 / 08
(NIV used)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

Within the body of Christ, we are ALL on the same team, but only the “Priests” are on the first string.

The coach: the Potter (Or God)
The team: the lump of clay (All Israel … God’s chosen ones by faith)
The first string: clay for noble purposes (The Priests)
The second string: clay for common use (They help the Priests, just like the second string assists the first string team)

I have played on many sports teams in my life. On some teams I was a starter, which is often called being a first stringer. On other teams I was a second stringer. Here, we simply relieved the first string players when they were tired. Yet on some other teams I was, well, a “bench warmer”. But when the team did well, we ALL got praised and we ALL won. When the team did poorly, we ALL got punished and had to do extra laps. The purpose of this devotion is to remind us of the commitment and dedication it takes to be on the first string of God’s team. We are all saved by faith! However, everyone must answer these questions:

1.) Are you satisfied by simply being on the team? You know, enjoying the win that others have achieved?
2.) Are you satisfied with simply relieving those players who have sacrificed everything to be the best and are, therefore, on the first string? (If we dare to admit it, this is probably most of us. “Hey, let me know when you guys get tired. We’ll come in for ya … but only for a short time.” This way, if we win, we can say that we played.)
3.) Or have you given up your life to practice night and day to be best player you can be: a first string player?

Let us look at the original starting lineup:

The first stringers (chosen by the Coach): (Numbers 18:1 and 7) “YHVH said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your father’s family are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood.” and “But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”

The second stringers (chose by the Coach to relieve the starters when they are tired): (Numbers 18:2 and 6) “Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the Tent of the Testimony.” and “ I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites (the rest of the team) as a gift to you, dedicated to YHVH to do the work at the Tent of Meeting.”

SINCE WE SHOULD OBVIOUSLY ALL BE STRIVING TO BE ON THE STARTING LINEUP, LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT THAT ENTAILS:

The first stringers are to teach righteousness (obedience):
- “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven (the rest of the team), but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (the starters) (Matthew 5:19)
- “I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:15-16) Recall the job description of the priests (first stringers) and the Levites (the second stringers) from the book of Numbers. It was their “… responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary…” They had to make sure that the offerings were acceptable to God. Paul is describing his “priestly duty” to make sure that the “rest of the team” (The Gentiles) are an “acceptable offering” to God.
- Do you remember the “greats” of the past … Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, even Michael Jordan? God’s team also has its “greats”. Just scan through Hebrews, Chapter 11, for a glimpse into the “hall of fame” (I mean “hall of faith”). Let’s look at 2 Peter 2:5 for another example, “… when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others. (The rest of Noah’s team)”
- “First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” (Acts 26:20) What was the message? That they should all be first stringers by repenting and proving it by striving to obey (Turning from sins).

They are to forgo their own desires for His. They give up this world and its passions to achieve their goal. They accept the rigorous training it takes to be a starter (the best):

- “I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession.” (Ezekiel 44:28) God knew that if His first team got distracted, the whole team would suffer. So, the Coach had to make sure He kept the first stringers focused! I have been on sports teams that kept us from the rest of the school crowd so that we would stay focused on the “big game”!
- Occasionally, though, the Coach still has to remind the team: “Hey, the big game is coming, stay alert!” “For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:16-17) and “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans (The other team) run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (The win), and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:31-34)

They are held to a higher standard. The Coach knows that if the leaders are bad examples, the rest of the team will follow. The leaders MUST know the Laws (God’s play book) and MUST know how to teach others with compassion and love:

- “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1)
- “This sin of the young men (priests who did not take their job seriously) was very great in YHVH’s sight, for they were treating YHVH’s offering with contempt.” (1 Samuel 2:17) Not every season was a winning season! These priests were wicked, therefore, so was the rest of the team.
- “In all that has happened to us (the team), you (the Coach) have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong. Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers did not follow your law (the play book); they did not pay attention to your commands or the warning you gave them (the extra laps and longer practices).” (Nehemiah 9:33-34)

Every team has a team captain, or the team leader! This player is the ultimate player and example. He is the one who pumps up the team and gets them to play their hardest. The whole team looks to the Captain!

- “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

Here is just one of the pre-game “pep talks” for the big game coming up:

- “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us … Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.” (1 peter 2:9-12 and 16) Did you catch the Captain’s charge?:

o We are to be “aliens and strangers in the world” and to “abstain from sinful desires” In other words, if you want to be a starter don’t worry about making it big here on earth, but focus on the win (eternity and its wealth). The good players are the ones who take the play book home to study and walk through it in their heads. They go over it and practice continually. “Practice makes perfect” is their standard and rule.
o “Live such good lives among the (other teams) that, though they accuse you of (cheating), they will see your (obedience and righteousness) and glorify (the Coach) on the day He visits us.”
o “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil (sin).” This is a huge one for the starters. Yeshua (Jesus) is our example – NOT our excuse to sin! Since we are free from death, we are NOT to use that freedom as a cover-up for evil! “Thanks for the pointer, Captain!”

- We all know that the Captain can do ONLY what the Coach tells Him to do. Although He is the best player on the team, the Captain does NOT make the plays! The coach gives the plays! “… I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the son also does.” (John 5:19) Why do you think He was chosen to be Captain? He executed the plays perfectly and adhered to every wish that the coach desired! The Captain is always encouraging His teammates to imitate Him so that they will become the best … “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:5-6) “You too can be a starter”, He says, “If you do what I say.”

The big game has finally come! The bleachers are full with spectators. In the crowd are past players that have been your idols and that you have set as your role-models. In other words, you “… are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us thrown off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1).

There you are, though, sitting on the bench … again (been there and done that). You are cheering on those who are in the game. Cheering on those who practiced endlessly, while you fooled around or were watching the cheerleaders during practice. You watch and cheer, satisfied with your position on the bench. As you are cheering: “GO team … GO!” Something happens! “Oh no! Johnny is injured really bad! He is being taken out of the game!” Your head turns to the coach, then back to the field, then back to the coach. Is this your chance? Is this the opportunity you have been waiting for?

“Then I heard the voice of the (Coach) saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

“Yes!” You think. “I know the plays (Laws of God)! I know how to lead with compassion!” You stand up and scream back to the Coach:

“…. Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)

What Does Light Have to Do With Darkness

“… What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?”

2 Corinthians 6:15b

11 / 18 / 06

(NIV used)

FIRST THOUGHT:

“So, How ya been?”

“Fine.”

“How’s the family?”

“Oh, good, thank you.”

“How about that game yesterday, huh? I can’t believe they won.”

“Yea, it was great.”

(Long pause … as they both reach for other things to talk about)

You can sure tell when there is little, if anything, in common between two people. How shallow and worldly the conversation! We’ve all been there. There is NO difference between someone who loves working on cars talking to someone who has not idea of how cars run and a believer speaking with an unbeliever. Both try to force a conversation, but have nothing in common. (Yes, even trying to force a conversation with someone who says that they are a believer, yet they do not want to talk about God). There is just nothing in common. Without God as a base, what is there to talk about? It’s like: What do we have in common without the Lord? I don’t love what you love, I don’t live to gain what you are striving to gain. What do we have in common with unbelievers? Yet there are many among us who seem to love both God and the things of this world … it just doesn’t make sense! “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate, says YHVH. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17)

LIGHT is the work of God and His true children … obedience, what is good, truth.
DARKNESS is the work of Satan and his followers … disobedience, what is evil, lies.

Let us start from the beginning … and when some believe Satan and His followers fell from grace: “God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:4) Even during creation, God separated good and evil, light from the darkness, the work of His Son from the work of Satan!

My friends, you can NOT love both the world and God. If the world loves you, most likely, you look like the world! If those in the world love you, most likely you are not looking like the light. If you live in obedience to God’s commandments, the darkness will hate you … period. For you will be exposing their darkness by simply being a light among them! “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you OUT OF THE WORLD. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19) and again “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) Can you see? These are NOT my words, but our Master’s. How can you love God and also the things He is against? How can you love evil (disobedience) people and righteousness (obedience) at the same time? They have nothing in common with each other. I am not talking about hating the people, we are to have a passion to save the lost, but hate the life they lead!

BEFORE WE GO THROUGH THE VERSES, KEEP IN MIND …

LIGHT is the work of God and His true children … obedience, what is good, truth.
DARKNESS is the work of Satan and his followers … disobedience, what is evil, lies.

“Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.” (Luke 11:36)

Those who are walking in obedience to the light have come to realize the frustration of those walking in disobedience. They just don’t seem to understand why we obey God! On the other hand, we cannot forget either that neither did we understand before we simply obeyed out of faith!

- “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (John 1:5)
- “He was in the world and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.” (John 1:10) (Remember … He is the ultimate light and we get our illumination from Him!)

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil (disobeys God) hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (Light … obedience … exposes the darkness … disobedience) But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:19-21) (It is ONLY through the sanctifying work of the Spirit that we can now shed sin, obey God out of a pure heart, thus being a light to the world!)

“When Yeshua (Jesus) spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) (Can you see the sanctifying work of the New Covenant? If we walk in HIM, we are able to shed sin. We will never walk in the darkness (disobedience), for we are now able to obey the commands of God (not perfectly, but hopefully, we will not be sinning intentionally!).

“Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness (sinners), but now you are light in the Lord. (He is able to take away our sins … so:) Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:7-14)

“… to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:18)

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua (Jesus), his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7) (There is NO sin, or darkness, in God … Are you one of His children? Then you will be like Him … 1 John 3:9 … Go ahead, look it up!)

LAST THOUGHT … (This is nothing new! Hasn’t it always been this way? )

Isaiah 2:5 … “Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of YHVH.”

2 Samuel 22:29 … “You are my lamp, O YHVH; YHVH turns my darkness into light.”

Isaiah 5:20 … “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Woe to those who call God’s Laws evil and their disobedience as though it were ordained by God!! Woe to those who call the obedient children evil for obeying the truth as commanded by God!)

Let us just think about it? What do we enjoy? Who are our friends (are they saved or are we “trying to witness to them” while we enjoy their companionship? Just like our words show what is in our hearts, those we enjoy show what we truly believe!

Yeshua (Jesus) Was Never Unclean … He Makes Things Clean

Was Yeshua (Jesus) ever unclean from touching that which was unclean?

“Or if he touches human uncleanness – anything that would make him unclean –
even though he is unaware of it, when he learns of it he will be guilty.”

Leviticus 5:3

11 / 18 / 06
(NIV used)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

Was our Master and Savior ever “unclean”? We know that being unclean is NOT a sin, but keeps one from temple worship. Still, our Savior touched the lepers, was touched by a woman bleeding, and touched the dead. According to the Law, was He, therefore, unclean?

IF He was, then why don’t we EVER see Him, like He commanded the lepers, present himself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded?

Verses which could lead us to believe that He became unclean by that which contacted Him:

- (He touched the lepers … ) “Yeshua (Jesus) reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. Then Yeshua (Jesus) said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matthew 8:3-4)
- (He was touched by a woman that was bleeding … ) “And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.” (Luke 8:43-44)
- (He touched the dead … ) “He said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at Him. After the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.” (Matthew 9:24-25)

It appears that the Son of God, at first glance, became unclean. Making such statements about God can be very dangerous, though. I am in agreement that it is not a sin, but I differ with those who claim that our Savior was unclean even for temple worship. Below is the support for my claim.

Let us turn to the one who wrote about Him: “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:45b) and “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” (John 5:46). Moses wrote about Him, so I believe it is the writings of Moses that holds the answer to this puzzle.

VERSES REVEALING OUR SAVIOR (Look carefully, and see how it all compliments each other!):

(Keep in mind that our Savior is our sin offering and guilt offering. Look at what Moses foretold / talked about the Son of God.) “Like the sin offering and the guilt offering, it is MOST HOLY … WHATEVER TOUCHES them will become holy.” (Fragments of Leviticus 6:17-18)

“Say to Aaron and his sons: ‘These are the regulations for the sin offering: The sin offering is to be slaughtered before YHVH in the place the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is MOST HOLY. … WHATEVER TOUCHES any of the flesh will BECOME HOLY.” (Leviticus 6:25-27)

(Oh, I love this one. Who is the Spring of living water? Who is the cistern used to collect water? Our Messiah is the living water! Check this one out regarding a dead carcass.) “Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water REMAINS clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean.” (Leviticus 11:35-37) (Can you see that our Savior REMAINED clean?)

(Who is OUR anointing oil? Isn’t God’s Spirit the “Oil” that makes us holy?) “Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointed oil. Then use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. You shall consecrate them so they will be MOST HOLY, and WHATEVER TOUCHES them will BE HOLY.” (Exodus 30:25-29) Whatever touched Yeshua (Jesus) will be holy (set apart). Unlike this world (when dirt touches a clean item, it is the clean item that becomes dirty with the dirt), Yeshua (Jesus) makes things clean and holy!

(In fact, it appears that whatever touches that which is most holy … becomes clean!) “Do for Aaron and his sons everything I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them. Sacrifice a bull each day as a SIN OFFERING to make atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it. For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. THEN the altar will be most holy, and WHATEVER TOUCHES it will be holy.” (Exodus 29:35-37)

LAST THOUGHTS:

Can you see how our Savior, being MOST HOLY, remained clean each time He came in contact with the unclean. In fact, this is why they (those who were unclean) became clean (they touched what was most holy). I believe, based upon the laws for sacrifices, that our Savior (even though being unclean was not a sin) was never unclean Himself.

- HE is the sin offering, (Romans 8:3 and others)
- HE is the spring of living water (John 4:14 and others)
- HIS Spirit is the anointing oil (1 John2:27 and others)

Yeshua (Jesus) and His Spirit (both of YHVH) is most holy and whatever He touches; whatever touches Him; even whatever falls on Him … becomes clean.

OKAY … ANOTHER LAST THOUGHT:

Can you see why it is awfully confusing when many claim to be in Yeshua (Jesus), yet continue to blatantly sin against God’s Laws? I mean, His Spirit is MOST HOLY and is within the believer writing the Laws of God on their hearts to obey. Read these verses and realize the beauty in being touched by the Holiness of God. We should be becoming holy and righteous:

- “If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.” (Romans 11:16) (IF you are part of the dough or part of the root, you should be imitating that which supports you. Our Savior obeyed His Father … then so should we.)
- “Because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are BEING MADE holy.” (Hebrews 10:14)
- “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16) (Are you being touched by that which is most holy? Then be holy in all you do!)
- (Are you realizing the holiness of God’s Laws yet? Are you being touched by them? They are holy, as well) “So then, the Law is Holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” (Romans 7:12)

Let us act like we have been touched by the Most Holy God. For God said, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (Acts 11:9) Whatever HE touches becomes clean … has He touched you?