Category Archives: Trinity

Faithful, Father / Yahweh, Loving / Kind, Provider

YHWH Is Not A Distant, Uninvolved Being, But Rather A Loving Father

Our Father is not a distant and uninvolved being who created this earth and now puts His attention elsewhere while we live on it. He is engaged in the lives of His people. He cares about His people. He wants to be involved in our lives. He desires for us to submit to Him fully, with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We can trust Him to lead us and provide for us… but we must obey Him, including when He sets boundaries for us.

In Numbers 34 we see our Lord involved in providing the Promised land to His people and giving clear, detailed instructions for them to follow in where they draw the boundaries and how they divide it. He is indeed a loving and engaged Father for those who seek Him.

Numbers 34

Instruction for Apportioning Canaan

     1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders. 3‘Your southern sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall extend from the end of the Salt Sea eastward. 4‘Then your border shall turn direction from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and continue to Zin, and its termination shall be to the south of Kadesh-barnea; and it shall reach Hazaraddar and continue to Azmon. 5‘The border shall turn direction from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the sea.

      6‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its coastline; this shall be your west border.

      7‘And this shall be your north border: you shall draw your border line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor. 8‘You shall draw a line from Mount Hor to the Lebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad; 9and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your north border.

      10‘For your eastern border you shall also draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham, 11and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down and reach to the slope on the east side of the Sea of Chinnereth. 12‘And the border shall go down to the Jordan and its termination shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders all around.’”

      13So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you are to apportion by lot among you as a possession, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes. 14“For the tribe of the sons of Reuben have received theirs according to their fathers’ households, and the tribe of the sons of Gad according to their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their possession. 15“The two and a half tribes have received their possession across the Jordan opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrising.”

      16Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17“These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18“You shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion the land for inheritance. 19“These are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20“Of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud. 21“Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22“Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23“Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24“Of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25“Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26“Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27“Of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28“Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29These are those whom the LORD commanded to apportion the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Compassionate, Healer, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Help / Serve Others, Jesus (hearing from God), Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Kindness / Gentleness, Love, Loving / Kind, Merciful, Miracles, Miracles, Purposeful / Intentional

The Sabbath Was Made For Man, And Not Man For The Sabbath

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YHWH has directed His people to obey the Sabbath and keep it holy. You shall not work in it. He set the example during creation when He rested on the 7th day. He did not need rest. He rested to set the example and pattern He intended for us.

Exodus 20:8-11

    8“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

Many act as if YHWH has changed His mind regarding Sabbath because our culture has changed and moved away from His instruction such that it is now considered normal and acceptable to work and have businesses open 7 days a week. YHWH has not changed His mind. His instruction to keep the Sabbath is still relevant today.

Another trap we should be careful to avoid is one that the Pharisees fell into. They made a list of rules and expectations in a legalistic way to define what was and was not work and could or could not be done on the Sabbath. They also took Sabbath so legally as to disregard other commands YHWH provided. Some excerpts from scripture below document some important teaching that Yeshua went out of His way to demonstrate about healing on the Sabbath and about times when there are more important concerns such as David’s men who needed to eat and ate the consecrated bread that was only for the priests.

We can not simply put a strict legal formula around obeying our Father, whether regarding Sabbath or other instructions. Sometimes instructions conflict in certain circumstances or there are competing priorities that both may honor the Father, as in resting on Sabbath or helping/healing someone in need.

In the example of healing on the Sabbath, Yeshua points out the hypocrisy that all would stop and help an animal out of a ditch on Sabbath, so why would you not heal someone on the Sabbath… to the glory of YHWH?

Mark 2:23-28

      23And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. 24The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; 26how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” 27Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28“So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Luke 14:1-6

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

     1It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely. 2And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. 5And He said to them, “Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” 6And they could make no reply to this.

Matthew 12:8-14

      8“For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

      9Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. 10And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. 11And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12“How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

We do well to respect and honor the instructions of the Lord regarding Sabbath. Take care so as not to always come up with “good excuses” to be busy on Sabbath, even if doing good. Most of that can be planned for other days if we try. However, if the opportunity to do good and glorify our Father comes before us, such as healing or helping others, and it happens to be Sabbath… avoid being too legalistic. We should reflect in our lives His compassion and lovingkindness in our response to those in need around us.

Remember that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It is for our benefit to rest on the 7th day and keep it holy, not for YHWH’s benefit.

As a quick sidebar… Sabbath is the seventh day, which is Saturday, not Sunday. Man made that change to move away from God’s instruction. because man changed the calendar, it is even more confusing now because God created the days to be marked by sundown rather than an arbitrary numerical indication we are now so familiar with. Sabbath starts on what is now our Friday night at sundown and continues through Saturday night at sundown. This makes for an interesting study of the “Hebrew calendar” you can make. Consider Psalm119 Ministries for reference.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Discerning / Judging, Faith / Trusting God, Holy Spirit (hearing from God), Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Miracles, Money / Finances / Wealth, Obeying God, Through Prophets

Financial Obedience And Joyful Gifts To Our Father

The Lord provided great victory for the Israelites over the Midianites. Verse 49 seems to indicate they did not lose a single man in the battle.  They knew this victory could only be from the Lord. They were victorious because they obeyed the Lord. In victory, they similarly obeyed the Lord in dividing the booty according to His instruction rather than their own.

We do well to learn to obey the Lord and seek His specific instruction for our lives. He does provide specific instructions to His people for their lives. He is more than just His written word, which helps us to know Him and understand how He relates to His people. He spoke to the people about this specific event and how they should handle it. He offers us this relationship today as His children. He provides the Spirit to dwell within believers and guide us. We need to take time to be still and quiet and focused in His presence to continue building our relationship with him so that we better understand His voice when He speaks to us.

Numbers 31:25-54

Division of the Booty

     25Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 26“You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation take a count of the booty that was captured, both of man and of animal; 27and divide the booty between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28“Levy a tax for the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the sheep; 29take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, as an offering to the LORD. 30“From the sons of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys and of the sheep, from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.” 31Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

      32Now the booty that remained from the spoil which the men of war had plundered was 675,000 sheep, 33and 72,000 cattle, 34and 61,000 donkeys, 35and of human beings, of the women who had not known man intimately, all the persons were 32,000.

      36The half, the portion of those who went out to war, was as follows: the number of sheep was 337,500, 37and the LORD’S levy of the sheep was 675; 38and the cattle were 36,000, from which the LORD’S levy was 72; 39and the donkeys were 30,500, from which the LORD’S levy was 61; 40and the human beings were 16,000, from whom the LORD’S levy was 32 persons. 41Moses gave the levy which was the LORD’S offering to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

      42As for the sons of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who had gone to war— 43now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, 44and 36,000 cattle, 45and 30,500 donkeys, 46and the human beings were 16,000— 47and from the sons of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

      48Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, approached Moses, 49and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a census of men of war who are in our charge, and no man of us is missing. 50“So we have brought as an offering to the LORD what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.” 51Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of wrought articles. 52All the gold of the offering which they offered up to the LORD, from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels. 53The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself. 54So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it to the tent of meeting as a memorial for the sons of Israel before the LORD.

I appreciate in particular what is recorded in verses 48-54. They had already brought to the priests what YHWH required. Still the soldiers recognized that the victory was from the Lord. There was no man missing. They were thankful and brought an additional voluntary gift to the Lord… and it was significant.

We should ask ourselves… even if we obey with giving to the Father what He asks from us, how often do we bring extra gifts just out of a joyful and thankful heart? It may be money, it may be time, it may be our talents… but how often to we give back to Him more than He asks? Truly He provides all we have. Let us be joyful and thankful.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Curse, Fear / Reverence for God, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Self Control, Selfishness, Wickedness / Evil

Shall We Choose Wickedness or Righteousness?

Yeshua pulls no punches. He can be very straight and direct. The time of His earthly ministry was unlike any other in history… God Himself in human form walking amongst us and revealing Himself to us. For those who reject Him face to face and deny Him when He shows up right before them… even others who rejected Him will condemn them for they had the greatest sign of all. They had Jesus in the flesh and then his death and resurrection, the sign of Jonah.

Luke 11:29-32

The Sign of Jonah

     29As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30“For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31“The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32“The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

We have the earthly ministry of Yeshua recorded and available practically at our fingertips through the written word and now online access as well. We can carry a Bible(s) with us on our phones everywhere we go. Generally speaking we have amazing time on our hands with which to seek Him, pray, worship, study the word. We can say we are busy, and we can allow ourselves to be busy… but by and large we are not desperately seeking our next meal to survive. We fill our time with games and videos and all manner of trivial distractions. But do we fill our time with building relationship with the Lord?

We have time and access to our Lord and a record of His works and who He is. We have clearly documented history of the sign of His death and resurrection. If we are to reject Him still, than we truly are a wicked generation as was the generation which rejected Him during His earthly ministry.

Put God first. Seek Him first. Do not wait for Him to have the leftover time you don’t fill with other busyness.  Seek first the kingdom of God and everything else shall be given to you. This is the way to experience His blessings in abundance.

 Matthew 6:33

33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Each of us has an opportunity to decide for ourselves… shall we choose righteousness and blessings? or wickedness and selfishness and the curse that goes with it?

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, Father / Yahweh, Fear / Reverence for God, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Obeying God, Offering Sacrifices, Purposeful / Intentional, Speaking, Through Prophets, Traditions / Holidays

Jehovah Cares How We Worship Him

Jehovah’s people were at a point of great transition. A generation had died in the wilderness (due to disobedience to enter the promised land the first time) and a new generation was being prepared to take the promised land. Jehovah was transitioning their leadership from Moses to Joshua. At this point, our Father saw fit to remind His people about His laws for offerings, about how they were to worship Him. It was important to Him that the people worship Him the way He decides, and not the way the pagans worship their gods or the way the people decide for themselves to worship Him. He has very specific instructions in many cases. They should not be ignored.

Numbers 28

Laws for Offerings

     1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to present My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time.’ 3“You shall say to them, ‘This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs one year old without defect as a continual burnt offering every day. 4‘You shall offer the one lamb in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 5also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil. 6‘It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai as a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD. 7‘Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD. 8‘The other lamb you shall offer at twilight; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the LORD.

      9‘Then on the sabbath day two male lambs one year old without defect, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering: 10‘This is the burnt offering of every sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

      11‘Then at the beginning of each of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect; 12and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for the one ram; 13and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering for each lamb, for a burnt offering of a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD. 14‘Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull and a third of a hin for the ram and a fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. 15‘And one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.

      16‘Then on the fourteenth day of the first month shall be the LORD’S Passover. 17‘On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast, unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. 18‘On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. 19‘You shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls and one ram and seven male lambs one year old, having them without defect. 20‘For their grain offering, you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for a bull and two-tenths for the ram. 21‘A tenth of an ephah you shall offer for each of the seven lambs; 22and one male goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you. 23‘You shall present these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. 24‘After this manner you shall present daily, for seven days, the food of the offering by fire, of a soothing aroma to the LORD; it shall be presented with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering. 25‘On the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.

      26‘Also on the day of the first fruits, when you present a new grain offering to the LORD in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. 27‘You shall offer a burnt offering for a soothing aroma to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old; 28and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 29a tenth for each of the seven lambs; 30also one male goat to make atonement for you. 31‘Besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall present them with their drink offerings. They shall be without defect.

With the sacrifice of Yeshua for our sins… His death was sufficient for all time and we no longer need carry out these sacrifices. However, let us not be too quick to throw out all the instructions the Lord provided. Those celebrations and worship such as Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread and Feast of Weeks are still worth celebrating in order to honor the Lord and remember who He is and that He reigns and He has done (and still does) mighty miracles amongst His people. These festivals with associated feasts and Sabbaths can be a great way to focus our worship on Him and build our relationship with Him as well as teach our children about the history of God with His people.

Jehovah cares how we worship Him. He does not want us to just make up our own way of worshipping Him or worshipping Him the way the pagans worship their false gods. Let us honor Him in obedience as we worship.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Father / Yahweh, Fear / Reverence for God, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Help / Serve Others, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Kindness / Gentleness, Love, Loving / Kind, Obeying God, Seeking God, Teachable

What Shall I Do To Inherit Eternal Life?

What shall I do to inherit eternal life? This question figures prominently in the lives of many throughout the world and throughout time. You may hear many different answers, but only one is correct. Let’s explore how Yeshua answered this question.

Luke 10:25-37

      25And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 28And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.” 29But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

The Good Samaritan

     30Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31“And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32“Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33“But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35“On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ 36“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

The good Samaritan provides an excellent example of who our neighbor is and how we may help one another. However, just “helping” people is not the full answer. Loving God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind goes much deeper than just helping other people. Even loving people goes much further than just helping them. Helping people is a symptom of loving them but could also just be a willful choice absent of love.

If we truly love God, we must submit to God fully all aspects of our lives. This is not just a check list of going to church, helping people, being nice, etc. This means developing a meaningful relationship with Him through prayer and study of the Bible. It is inviting the Holy Spirit who dwells within us to guide us and fill us more fully. It is being still and seeking the Lord. It is all these things and more for a lifetime, not just an hour a week or once or twice a year.

Most of us intuitively know that our marriages and relationships fail if we do not invest time seeking to really know one another. Imagine a marriage relationship in which a husband or wife only talks to a spouse and never listens. What if they always tell the spouse what they want and then walk away until the next time they tell the spouse what they want again? What if they only spent an hour a week on Sundays with their spouse and ignored them the rest of the time? What if they continued to do things that hurt their spouse because they never bothered to learn about their spouse. Does this sound like a healthy relationship? Nope.

Then let us not treat our relationship with God this way. Instead let us rejoice in spending time seeking Him, praying, studying His word, being still and listening. Let it be every day and throughout the day.  Let us obey His word and what directions the Holy Spirit provides us. Let us be willing to change our lives for our Father, dramatically if necessary. His will be done rather than our own.

When we do this, then we will be on the path to loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then, through His Spirit within us, we will also be more ready to truly love our neighbor. Then the act of helping is driven by love and “want to” rather than “should” or “have to” or “feel guilty not to”. This is when we are truly loving our neighbor.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, Father / Yahweh, Free Will, Guide, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Justice / Judgment, Obeying God, Purposeful / Intentional, Speaking, Through Prophets

Do Things God’s Way Rather Than Your Own

No matter who we are, when we choose to do things our way instead of God’s way… there are consequences.

Moses was a faithful and amazing leader and had a very close relationship with our heavenly Father. However, the Lord knew that Moses understood and consciously choose to do things his way by hitting the rock instead of speaking to it. That is called rebellion against God, no matter who you are and what you have done before according to His will. There are consequences. After an incredible journey side by side with the Lord, Moses never got to enter the promised land.

Numbers 20:8-13

The Water of Meribah

     8“Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”

      9So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; 10and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” 11Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. 12But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13Those were the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel contended with the LORD, and He proved Himself holy among them.

Numbers 27:12-14

     12Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go up to this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel. 13“When you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was; 14for in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to treat Me as holy before their eyes at the water.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

We can have a debate about why Moses made this choice after such a close relationship with the Lord, but that is a matter for another time. Let us take heed that the closer our relationship with the Lord, the more clearly we understand His instruction, the more He expects us to obey and may hold us accountable if we choose to rebel and do things our own way.

Pray for the Spirit to help us hear and obey the Lord and do things His way rather than our own. Let us not make excuses for not doing things His way but trust Him and do as He instructs.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Compassionate, Faith / Trusting God, Healer, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Loving / Kind, Miracles, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Teachable

Amazed At The Greatness Of God

I enjoy studying the book of Luke. There is so much detail and it is so well organized in the historical record. Imagine yourself walking along with Yeshua and His disciples. We pick up literally the day after the transfiguration and they are back to a busy schedule amongst crowds of people.

The people so hungered for the ministry of Yeshua, that after only one night on the mountain, they were pressing in and waiting in large numbers for His return. It appears that the disciples who had not gone with Him to the mountain, instead had stayed behind to minister to the crowds as best they could. They encountered a boy possessed by a demon they could not cast out. We can plainly see that Yeshua is frustrated with them in verse 41.

Luke 9:37-43

      37On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. 38And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only boy, 39and a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. 40“I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” 41And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” 42While he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

We can be comforted that though we may fail in the execution of God’s work, He never will. We should, of course, not be content to fail, but seek to grow in our relationship and in our faith so that we become conduits for Him to minister to the world. What a wonder it is to see the crowds hungry for Yeshua and to see Him at work healing and casting out demons. People respond in dramatic fashion when they see the work of the Lord and not just those things which we, as His followers, can accomplish on our own.

Let us be open to any rebukes we receive from our Lord. Rather than get defensive, let us pray for the Spirit to enlighten us and help us grow to become even better servants of the master.  I suppose we can also take a little consolation recognizing that Yeshua also was frustrated and disappointed from time to time. He was indeed fully human but sinless none the less.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Who Do You Say That Jesus Is?

It is a critical and decisive question we all answer in our hearts, even if we do not acknowledge it consciously. We all must come to a decision about who we say that Jesus is.

Is He a fictional character? No. There is way too much historical evidence that He is real and not just in the Biblical text. The evidence is broad, including historical accounts outside the Bible and archaeological evidence.

Is He just a good teacher or a prophet? No. He claimed to be the Son of God, the Messiah. That means He is either a liar, a madman, or the Son of God.

Luke 9:18-22

     18And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” 19They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” 20And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” 21But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, 22saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”

Matthew 16:13-17

      13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

It is God Himself who reveals to each of us who follow Christ the truth that He is Messiah. Let us never be so arrogant as to look down on others who reject Him and think too highly of ourselves. Instead let us pray for them and give thanks to the Lord for revealing Himself to us. God initiates the relationship. We choose how to respond.

Whether or not we accept Jesus as Messiah should then influence the entirety of our lives. If He is Messiah, then we should follow Him and submit to Him all areas of our lives. He should not be a once a week, one hour lecture but a way of life. We should seek out a personal relationship with him and study His word. He should be our first priority and His teaching should guide us in all we do.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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The Character of Christ

Scripture is so deep and rich with meaning. I find myself pouring over the same section of scripture three days in a row now… for 11 verses. There are different themes worth highlighting and prayerfully reflecting on. This morning I am focused on verses 10-11. We see on full display the character of Christ. He is selfless and concerned for others. He is loving and kind. He puts the needs of others above His own.

Luke 9:1-11

Ministry of the Twelve

     1And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. 2And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. 3And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. 4“Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. 5“And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

      7Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, 8and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again. 9Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see Him.

      10When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida. 11But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.

Jesus sent the apostles out on a mission and they accomplished it. They had such an impact that they gained the attention of Herod. When they returned and debriefed Him on all that happened, He withdrew with them to Bethsaida. The apostles were likely tired from their evangelical efforts and Jesus I am sure was impacted by the death of John the Baptist. It was a good idea to withdraw for some rest and regroup time.

However, the crowds followed. What a true reflection of Christ’s character… rather than turning them away, He welcomes them, speaks to them about the kingdom of God and cures those in need of healing. He is totally unselfish and focused on our needs. We should pray for His help to follow in His example by the grace of God.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.