Praise and Worship in ALL form

[the only way]

 

[tiobanned]

We all have the important responsibility of helping those who deviate from God’s instruction. We are told not to associate with them to expose their sins. The tendency can be for believers to treat those who acts foolishly as enemies. Mistakes can be made by everyone, even ourselves. When we identify a believer’s deviation from the way, we are not to treat them like enemies but like brethren in need of an adjustment to find the path again. The best way is to approach them with the Bible as a guide and not simply our human advice.

 

[tiobanned]

Abraham's Torah​

TOLDOT

If Abraham's righteousness was obtained only through faith, and not obedience, why does the Bible say that God blessed him because he obeyed the Torah?

The LORD appeared to Isaac just as He had appeared to Abraham. He told him, "I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham" (Genesis 26:3). He restated the promise to multiply his descendants, to give them the land and to bless all nations through them "because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws" (Genesis 26:5). Isaac was inheriting the Abrahamic blessing because Abraham had merited God's favour.

How did Abraham keep God's charge, commandments, statutes and laws? The commandments of God's Torah—His divine law—had not been given yet. Did Abraham know all the laws of the Torah given through Moses at Mount Sinai? If not, how could he be said to have kept them?

Rashi claims that this means Abraham kept the entire Torah and the oral traditional law of Judaism. That seems like a stretch, but what does it really mean? What laws did Abraham keep?

Some say that Abraham knew the laws of God because they had been handed on to him through the line of Noah. Other sources imagine that perhaps he had a book written by Enoch that contained the laws that would be given at Sinai. Still others say that God communicated all the laws to him in advance of giving the Torah at Sinai.

Another opinion has it that he kept all the laws he knew, such as the basic laws of morality and stipulations God had revealed, like circumcision.

Whatever the case may have been, it is important to note that Abraham's righteousness was not a matter of faith without obedience. Anyone who teaches that observing God's laws is contrary to the life of faith should consider this verse. The Bible says that God passed the blessings and promises to Isaac because Abraham obeyed God's laws. This is in keeping with what the Apostle Paul teaches when he says, "Is the Torah then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be!" (Galatians 3:21). James, the brother of Yeshua, shows that the life of faith results in obedience to God's laws:

You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected. (James 2:22)

Keeping God's commandments is an important part of practicing the faith of Abraham: "Yeshua said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham'" (John 8:39).

 

[tiobanned]

 

[tiobanned]

Paul was a religious Jew who tried his hardest to keep the Mosaic Law, that is until he met His Messiah. He is very clear about the inability of the Law to justify anybody. It showed sin and the need for a redeemer, but it never saved and never will. The Law is beautiful as it reflects the perfect character of God, but for those Jewish people who are freed from the bondage of the 613 commandments by Yeshua's blood, it is no longer operative. It remains a personal choice based on a personal conviction and not unto salvation, but it certainly shouldn't be divisive

 

[tiobanned]

Red, Red Stuff​

TOLDOT
Jacob has a bad reputation for cheating Esau out of his birth right. Preachers scold Jacob as a deceiving trickster, but is that really the Torah's point? Let's examine this story more carefully.

Jacob made a stew. Esau returns from hunting, exhausted and famished. When he sees the stew he exclaims, "Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished!" The Hebrew is even more comical. He uses a verb more appropriate to describe "slopping the pigs." In his desperation, he cannot quite formulate the word for soup, so he stammers around calling it, "red, red stuff." "Quick, slop me some of that red, red stuff!" he begs.

Jacob, on the other hand, replies calmly and deliberately and in clear legal terms, "Sell me as this day (from this day on) your birth right." There are no hidden terms, no fine print, and no deceitful bait-and-switch. It is a straightforward and honest offer.

Esau should have refused. He should have been insulted that Jacob would suggest such a sacrilege. Jacob asked him to forfeit everything that Abraham and Isaac had cherished—the entire covenant, the land of Canaan, the blessings and the promises, the future destiny of the nation, all for the price of a bowl of soup.

Instead of refusing the offer, Esau briefly considered it and accepted the terms. He said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birth right to me?” This was hyperbole. His life was not in danger; he was not about to die. He let his appetite dictate his will. His desire for red, red stuff, at the moment, outweighed the value of being Isaac’s firstborn.

Whenever we allow our appetites to rule us, we follow in the footsteps of Esau. A disciple of Yeshua should not let his desire for “red, red stuff” dictate his decisions. Opportunities to honour or despise his birth right in the kingdom pass before him on a daily basis. He is constantly placed in positions where he must decide between what he craves and what is right. A man controlled by his appetites is a godless man. All forms of materialism and greed fall into the same category. Some people desire power, control, and prestige. Others will find that physical addictions and substance abuse dictate their decisions in life. For many men and women, sexual temptation is the “red, red stuff” for which they are willing to compromise their spiritual birth right. All of these are signs of the spirit of Esau. The writer of the book of Hebrews warns us:

Let there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birth right for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. (Hebrews 12:16-17)

Disciples of Yeshua are children of Jacob, not children of Esau. Our animal nature does not rule us. We belong, not to our appetites, but to the Master. Our heads must rule our hearts: “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13).

Esau accepted Jacob’s offer. The Hebrew of the Torah artfully describes Esau’s cavalier exit with a succinct series of one-word verbs: “He ate; he drank; he rose; he left, and he despised his birth right.”

 

[tiobanned]

It's a strange phenomenon - Some of the best loved Christmas music in the world was written by Jewish people! White Christmas, Silver Bells, The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting), Hark the Herald Angels, O Holy Night... and more... were all written by Jewish people! It seems so strange... and yet what could be more natural than the birth of the Jewish
Messiah observed by the Jewish people. Christmas is a Jewish phenomenon.

That there even exist songs of Christmas is a testimony to the birth of a Jewish rabbi. On this count alone, Jesus, Yeshua, must be the long prophesied Jewish Messiah. For it was foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures that in the Jewish Messiah the Gentiles would take refuge (Isaiah 11). And there's only one Jewish man in all of Jewish history who has fulfilled it. And every Christmas, that fact is confirmed.

So when you see those manger scenes and hear those Christmas songs, remember to pray for the Josephs and Marys, His family, the Jewish people, who brought you the blessings of Messiah and have yet to discover that the Light of the Gentiles just happens to also be, the Glory of Israel !

 

[tiobanned]

Paul was bold with the Gospel wherever he went. He was one stubborn man who fought God and His followers until He met God. He would spend much time in synagogues defending the faith and inviting people to believe. In Paul’s days, he would spend months coming back to the same people until there was no interest in the audience. God’s truth hits people differently, so sharing the Gospel might require repetition, but it also needs to be done in a sensitive way, letting the Spirit lead, so that bold witness doesn’t turn into obnoxious propaganda

 

[tiobanned]

Abraham's Wells​

TOLDOT

The journey into Messianic Judaism is much like Isaac’s journey back to the wells of his father Abraham. These original sources have been filled in and concealed by time and hostile Philistines.

Isaac returned to his semi-nomadic mode of life and brought his flocks into the valley of Gerar on the edge of the Negev. As he went, he reopened the wells of his father Abraham. The Philistines had filled in Abraham’s wells as an exercise of their sovereignty, perhaps to discourage semi-nomadic shepherds and herdsman like Isaac from grazing on their territory.

Isaac reopened the wells. The Torah uses four short etiologies to describe how Isaac named four wells. He named one well “Contention” because after he dug it, the herdsmen of Gerar came out and contended with his shepherds. They said, “The water is ours!” He dug a second well and named it “Hostility” because of a dispute with the same herdsmen. He moved further into the Negev, away from Gerar, and dug a third well. He named it “Broad Places” because he had finally escaped the Philistines and had ample space.

It seems as if Isaac named the wells without any thought as to what they had been called in his father’s day, but the Torah says, “He gave them the same names which his father had given them.” This becomes clear in the story about the well of Shibah (Beersheba). He camped at Beersheba (Well of the Oath); he swore a covenantal oath (shevu’ah, שבעה) with the Philistine King. That same day his servants reported a well they had dug. He named it Beersheba, Well of the Oath—the same name Abraham had given it a generation earlier when he made a treaty with the previous Abimelech and Phicol.

The story of Isaac reopening Abraham’s wells indicates that Isaac is the legitimate heir to the Abrahamic legacy. Like Abraham, Isaac sojourned as a stranger in a strange land, without land and water rights.

On another level, the story illustrates the value of returning to the original sources. Isaac could have dug new wells. Instead he chose to restore Abraham’s wells. He could have chosen new names. Instead he chose to use the same names that Abraham had given them.

In a similar way, the biblical path of faith is not one of innovation and novelty. Instead, we find our spirits satisfied drinking from the wells of faith from which our fathers drank. When the Master offered the woman at the well the living water of salvation, he spoke not of literal water, but of salvation—yet He offered that living water to her at Jacob’s well.

The journey into Messianic Judaism is much like Isaac’s journey back to the wells of his father Abraham. These original sources have been filled in and concealed by time and hostile Philistines. The Sabbath has been lost. The holy days have been forgotten. The Torah itself has been, as it were, filled in with earth. We need not dig new wells or create new names. If we will only make the effort to open these original wells up again, we will find that they are as deep and filled with living water as when our fathers first drank from them.

 

[tiobanned]

Solomon was commissioned to build the Temple, and he did so on Mount Moriah which to this day is identified in Jerusalem as the Temple Mount. Geography, history and archaeology are the three timeless witnesses of the true character of the Bible record. It doesn’t matter if some people try to call the Temple by a Muslim name, the house of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob stood on Mount Moriah as the Bible tells us and as geography, history and archaeology keep reminding us. What God has decreed, man cannot change!

 

[tiobanned]

Philistine Apologies​

The godly person accepts the half-hearted apology without demanding more than a person's dignity will allow.

The LORD prospered Isaac while he dwelt in the Philistine territory, but that prosperity incited the jealousy of the Philistines who drove him out. Isaac returned to the arid soil of the Negev, where his father, Abraham, had dwelt. There he found that his father's wells had been filled in by the Philistines. Isaac reopened the wells, but each time he did, the Philistines came, claiming the well as their own. Rather than fight with the Philistines, each time it happened, Isaac moved on and attempted to open a new well.

Who then among you is noble-minded? Who is compassionate? Who is full of love? Let him declare, "If sedition and disagreement and schisms have arisen because of me, I will depart, I will go wherever you want, and I will do whatever the majority commands; only let the flock of Messiah live peacefully with the elders set over it." He that acts in this way will acquire for himself great glory in the Lord; and every place will welcome him. For "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof." This is the way that those who live a godly life ... have done and always will do things. (1 Clement 54)

When we are pushed by others, our tendency is to push back and demand our rights. Rarely do we see someone turn the other cheek. Even among disciples of Yeshua, it is rare to see someone back down from a slight or injury.

Isaac and his servants were busy opening another well when Abimelech and his men showed up. Here we go again, Isaac must have thought. To his astonishment, though, the Philistines did not claim his well this time. Instead they announced a reversal of policy and asked for a covenant-truce with Isaac.

Why the sudden change in attitude? The Philistines explained, "We see plainly that the LORD has been with you" (Genesis 26:28). The testimony of Isaac's life had an impact on them. They saw that God was with him. Perhaps they noticed that he conducted himself in a godly manner, and they felt ashamed.

Things would probably have been different if Isaac had quarrelled and fought for his wells. His testimony of peace would have been compromised. He might have been able to keep his wells, but he would have earned lifelong enemies.

The Philistines claimed, "We have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace" (Genesis 26:29). They asked Isaac for a covenant of peace on that basis. Isaac must have had to bite his tongue. Nothing but good? Sent me away in peace? Weren't these the same Philistines who had driven him out their territory? Weren't they the same Philistines who had pursued him into the Negev and took away his wells? How could they say they had done nothing but good?

Actually, this was how the Philistines apologized for the evil they had done to him and for sending him away in strife. Some people cannot apologize properly. Their ego prevents them from ever admitting any wrong on their own part. Deep inside, such a person knows that he is at fault and that he needs to make some sort of conciliatory effort, but an apology is not even a remote possibility. His pride forbids him.

Isaac was willing to overlook the foolish pride of the Philistines in order to make peace with them. So too we should accept even half-hearted attempts at reconciliation. We should not demand a formal apology. Instead we should be willing to take whatever modicum of peace our adversary offers.

 

[the only way]

Luke 16:19-31.

 

[tiobanned]

I Just Saw Jesus Doing THIS About the Election

 

[tiobanned]

 

[tiobanned]

When Paul spoke against those who built and sold idols, the whole place almost got into an uncontrollable riot. The people claimed that he was disrespecting their goddess Artemis, but in reality, he was doing damage to their lucrative business. Idol worshipping and marketing still exist today in many different ways, as it is very hard for people to let go of their sources of revenue. It is understandable coming from people who do not know Yeshua, but when believers have idols and profit from them, their priorities are wrong. Let us take a moment today to see if anything comes before Yeshua in our lives

 

[tiobanned]

As Solomon dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem, he had a long prayer to the Almighty on behalf of the people of Israel. It was a prayer of supplication to the Lord, but it was also an intercessory prayer. Today, God is blessed when we pray for the benefit of others, because it shows our humility and compassion. We can always selfishly pray for ourselves, but it is not natural to lift other people up. Intercessory prayer is a perfect example of true unity in the Body as it moves the focus from us to others. Who can you pray for today?

 

[tiobanned]

 

[tiobanned]

In its infancy, the Church was still figuring out its allegiance. Some early believers were following their leaders in a more committed way than they were following the Lord Himself. Paul had to remind them that there is only ONE LORD worthy to be followed, obeyed and served. Today, we still see people acting like groupies around a pastor or teacher and losing their necessary focus on Yeshua. Some lead, some teach and some encourage, but all of us are in this body together. We are to respect the leaders in our Christian community, not worship them.

 

[tiobanned]

The Heels of Messiah​

Is this last generation before the coming of the Messiah? When things seem darkest, we should listen for the footsteps of Messiah.

The name Ya’akov (Jacob, יעקב) sounds like the Hebrew word for “heel (akev, עקב).” That’s the wordplay behind the verse that says, “Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob” (Genesis 25:26). From a Messianic perspective, the name also hints back to the warning in Genesis 3:15 where the LORD said that the seed of the serpent will bruise the “heel” of the seed of the woman. The “seed of the woman” can be understood as a prophetic title for the Messiah. The Bible mentions the “heels of Messiah” in the Psalms:

Your enemies have reproached, O LORD, they have reproached the heels of Your Messiah. (Psalm 89:52[51])

The rabbis understood these references to “the heels of the Messiah” symbolically to indicate the final generation that will see the coming of the Messiah. Rabbinic sources refer to the generation of the final redemption as the “heels of Messiah (Ikveta deMeshicha, עקבתא דמשיחא)," or to translate it another way, “the footsteps of Messiah.” When things seem darkest, we should listen for the footsteps of Messiah.

The Mishnah predicts what it will it be like in the generation of “the footsteps of Messiah.”

With the footsteps of Messiah, impertinence increases and famine increases. The vine gives its fruit and wine is expensive. The government turns to heresy and there is no reproof. The house of assembly will be for prostitutes, and Galilee will be laid waste and the [Golan] made desolate. The border inhabitants will go from town to town, receiving no hospitality, and no one will take pity on them. The wisdom of the scribes will sour, and those who fear sin will be rejected. Truth will be sealed away, children will shame elders, and elders will rise before children, as it says [in Micah 7:6], “For son treats father contemptuously, daughter rises up against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own household.” The face of the [last] generation will be like the face of a dog. A son will not feel any shame before his father. Upon whom shall we depend? Upon our Father in heaven. (m.Sotah 9:15)

Yeshua predicts a time of calamity before the coming of the Son of Man when "the love of most will grow cold" and "a man's enemies will be the members his household" (Matthew 10:30). This was the case with Jacob and Esau. Jacob’s life, his struggle with Esau, and his many travails allude to the difficult days of trial and tribulation that will come upon the world and upon the people of Israel before the coming of Messiah. Even the meaning of Jacob's name hints toward that interpretation. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of the coming judgment on his people as the time of Jacob’s trouble: “Alas! for that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it” (Jeremiah 30:7). Although the seed of the serpent may bruise the heel of Messiah, the Messiah will crush the serpents head beneath his heel.

 

[tiobanned]

Abu Dhabi’s airline advertise israel and guess what? The second temple did exist in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount after all !