Category Archives: Righteousness / Serving God

Learning To Pray Effectively

Asking The Father In Yeshua’s Name

Yeshua tells His disciples that they can ask the Father for anything in His name. He specifically mentions that they can ask the Father directly and personally because they have loved Yeshua and have believed that He came forth from the Father.

Yeshua understood the disciples would be facing hard times as He prepared to depart. He wanted them to know they were not alone. We also see that the Father wants their joy to be made full.

John 16:23-33

Prayer Promises

     23“In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24“Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

      25“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. 26“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; 27for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. 28“I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.”

      29His disciples said, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech. 30“Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.” 31Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32“Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Some teach that this scripture promises that anyone who follows Yeshua can ask for anything in His name and be guaranteed it will happen. There is room for some good debate here on the exact context and language and how literally to apply it in our lives today. This would seem to be something we should test hard.

First, Yeshua is specifically addressing His disciples. It is another leap all together to say that this specific promise translates to everyone. Further, we can see Yeshua follows up clearly stating that these same disciples will have tribulation in the world… that means hard times! How could they have hard times if the Father was automatically going to give them everything and anything they want or ask for? Either they will have great discernment in what they ask for to ensure it is aligned with the Father’s will or the Father will ultimately judge what is best.

We can also observe around us even today that those of us who follow Christ do not get an automatic “yes” answer to everything we ask. In fact, we should be careful to assume that would even be good. Since when do we know more than the Father about what we need or what will make our joy full?

It could simply be that Yeshua is giving emphasis to encourage the disciples to come to the Father to ask no matter what their issue. He may be making a point with the language but not literally meaning whatever they ask for they will get.

To make the point, even Yeshua did not get a “yes” answer every time He went to the Father.  When He prayed in the garden of Gethsamene, the Father gave Him a “no” answer. His faith was certainly greater than ours.

Luke 22:41-42

41And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

It was not long after Yeshua asked this of the Father that He was arrested.

I believe we can reasonably conclude that we can approach the Father and ask, but we should also trust, Him as a wise and loving Father, to decide what is best for us. Sometimes He will tell us yes, sometimes no, and sometimes not yet.

Matthew 7:7-11

    7“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9“Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10“Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

He will give to us what is good, but that does not necessarily mean that He will literally give us everything and anything we ask for when we ask for it. I have personally experienced, however, wonderful answers to prayer in my life. Let us not overlook that what we ask for also matters. To the extent that we ask for things that are consistent with YHWH’s will, He will more likely give us that for which we are asking. But if we are asking for selfish things or sinful things or things which He knows are not best for us, then He will likely not give us exactly that which we are requesting. Do not be discouraged or turn from Him, but rather continue to turn to Him and trust Him.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Tribulation

We May Not Always Understand His Will, But We Can Always Trust Him

Yeshua was well aware that He faced death and resurrection. He was compassionate enough to give His disciples a look ahead, so that perhaps they would be encouraged after He died. However, at the time He spoke with them about it, they were confused and He knew it.

John 16:16-22

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Foretold

     16“A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.” 17Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” 18So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” 19Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20“Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. 21“Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. 22“Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

We can debate about why Yeshua allowed His disciples to be confused, but scripture does not say why in this passage. Sometimes in our own lives we may face similar situations. The Lord is guiding us and we don’t fully understand. Let us learn to trust Him as a child trusts a loving father. The child may want to know and may ask, but sometimes the child does not understand. They simply have to trust in their father, even when something seems bad.

We can be encouraged in knowing that our Father is with us always, no matter what situation we go through. We may not always understand His will, but we can always trust Him…  and infinitely more so than any earthly father.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Study the Word

What Does The Holy Spirit Do? And How?

Yeshua spoke to His disciples about His impending departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Clearly His disciples were going to miss Him, “sorrow has filled [their] heart”. Yeshua, however, encouraged them that He had to go for the Spirit to come and that would be an advantage to them as His disciples.

But what does the Holy Spirit do and how?

John 16:5-15

The Holy Spirit Promised

     5“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6“But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

      12“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14“He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15“All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

The Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. He guides into truth. He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears from Yeshua, that He will speak.

Some take this to mean we don’t need to study or obey the Bible or the  instructions of the Father anymore because once we accept Yeshua as Messiah the Spirit will guide us in all things. It should be fairly obvious that this is not happening by simply looking around us at the division within the church that all claim to follow Christ. Even if you separate out the false teachers who deliberately teach false or incomplete doctrine… there is still much division and lack of unity on many things amongst genuine believers. This would not be so if the Spirit was fully guiding all those who genuinely follow Christ. There is still a role for us to play!

Keep in mind He is a helper. He does not force you to do everything right. There is still a battle with our flesh or sin nature. Further, Yeshua taught from scripture and referred to it often, as one pointing to the instructions of the Father. So, too, then the Spirit is not here to help us make up new instructions or stop studying the old ones, but to help us follow Yeshua, who followed the Father. There is not a change in the instructions, but rather the Spirit helps us better understand and live according to the instructions.

Nowhere do we find example that Yeshua or His disciples taught that the Spirit means we no longer need to study and understand the scriptures. In fact, the disciples continued going to temple and synagogue on sabbath (where Moses is taught) even after the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost. They were still devout Jews after Yeshua’s death, perhaps most notably observed by their gathering together at Pentecost according to the Jewish custom based on God’s instruction.

There is even a specific example where Paul and James discussed the importance of the teachings of Moses to the gentiles that are coming to Yeshua and did so after the resurrection of Christ. In this example, they felt it was ok to begin the Gentiles with some simple starting points to help them begin to come to faith in Yeshua rather than drop on them all at once all of the instructions and the law of Moses. They did so observing that the teaching of Moses is available every week and thus the Gentiles will learn more over time. There was no assumption that the Spirit would come and they would never need to study and learn the ways of YHWH as revealed to Moses. There was no assumption that the teaching of Moses was no longer relevant.

Acts 15:19-21

19“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. 21“For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

The Spirit helps us to understand as we study scripture and He helps us to remember what we learned as we live our daily life. He does not replace prayer, worship, study of scripture, or any of the instructions of YHWH given to us.

John 14:26

26“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Pray the Lord send His Spirit to help you and other followers of Yeshua everywhere to see and understand His word and how it should guide our steps daily. Study the scriptures to better understand what they say. Seek the help of the Holy Spirit. Do not rely simply on the written accounts of men, but test everything (yes, my teaching also) against what scripture actually says.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Am I on the path?, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Is the Old Testament Relevant Today?, Study the Word

Did Yeshua Tell His Disciples To Separate From The Teachings Of Moses?

Many Christians are taught that we should be separated from the teaching of Moses and the Hebrew roots of Christianity. There are new traditions made by men which have substituted for the instructions of YHWH, such as Sabbath on Sunday instead of Saturday and many, many others. Many Christians teach that the instructions of Moses are no longer relevant.

Did Yeshua tell His disciples to stop attending synagogue and stop following the instructions of Moses taught there? Did Yeshua tell His disciples to separate from the Hebrew roots of our faith and start a “new religion”? Let us explore scripture together.

Yeshua had just warned His disciples that the world would hate them and reject them, as it was rejecting Him (John 15). I am sure this was hard to hear. He knew it was. In fact, He had not told them previously because He was still with them, but now He was preparing them for His departure.

Yeshua warns His disciples that they will be considered outcasts form synagogue, but why?

John 16:1-4

Jesus’ Warning

     1“These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. 2“They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. 3“These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. 4“But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

A few key points which we should try not to overlook, which often get overlooked in reading a larger portion of scripture in one sitting.

  • Yeshua warned they would be made outcasts from synagogue. That means they were not outcasts at this time, or why would He bother to warn them about it. Yeshua and His disciples attended synagogue, with the other Jewish people. They had not started a “new religion” or separated from Judaism. They remained fully connected to their Hebrew roots and simply recognized that Messiah had come.
  • Making the disciples outcasts of the synagogue was not YHWH’s plan to start a new religion or new traditions or to remove the new followers of Christ from their Hebrew roots. It was done by man because they did not know the Father. In fact, they thought they were acting in service to the Father. They were wrong.

Prayerfully reflect on these points. Once again in scripture, we can see that YHWH did not intend for followers of Yeshua to break away from the teachings of Moses or our Hebrew roots. Rather it is the failure of men drove that. While some of this separation started with the disciples being made outcasts and persecuted by the Jews, even a quick study of history will show that the Romans did even more to separate those who followed Yeshua from their Hebrew roots over a period of several hundred years.

I acknowledge that this is difficult for most Christians to objectively test and study. However, I would encourage you to challenge the concept that Christians are to be separate from their Hebrew roots, as if a brand new “religion” has been established. Rather, Yeshua fulfilled the prophecy embedded within Hebrew teaching from YHWH that Messiah would come. Just because many Jewish people reject Yeshua as Messiah, does not mean we who follow Him should reject our Hebrew roots that were consistent with all that He taught and demonstrated.

To learn more:

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Faith / Trusting God, Fear / Reverence for God, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Let Us Remember The Glory Of What YHWH Has Done

In our world, there are many monuments made to remember the accomplishments of man. There are far fewer which are established to remember the glory of what YHWH has done. As we build monuments and tell tales to our children to remember what has happened in the past of significance, let our focus on the role and glory of YHWH rather than that of men “so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

Joshua 4

Memorial Stones from Jordan

      1Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 2“Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’” 4So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 6“Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

      8Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and put them down there. 9Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day. 10For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed; 11and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed before the people. 12The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them; 13about 40,000 equipped for war, crossed for battle before the LORD to the desert plains of Jericho.

      14On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; so that they revered him, just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life.

      15Now the LORD said to Joshua, 16“Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan.” 17So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” 18It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before.

      19Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. 20Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 21He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23“For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; 24that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

Many today take exception to “fearing” YHWH. But we should be careful to take heed to the written word. The Hebrew root word for fear used here refers to fear, to respect, to reverence. This is used often in referring to YHWH. One such well known usage is in Proverbs 1.

Proverbs 1:7.

 7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

We need not fear Him as some unpredictable dictator, but rather as in a strong Father and leader, who will discipline those whom He loves and those who rebel against Him, for the benefit of His people. A healthy and appropriate fear of YHWH helps us to believe and live morally, according to His instruction rather than the ways of man.

I can well imagine today, if this miracle of crossing the Jordan had been accomplished people may well make a monument to Joshua, but not to YHWH. Let us not remember history only from the perspective of what man has done, but rather let us remember history from the perspective of what YHWH has done and is doing!

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Guide, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Love, Loving / Kind, Persecution / Glorifying God

How Should We Relate To One Another? To The World?

How should we expect to relate to one another as disciples of Christ? How should we expect to relate to the world? These remain important questions. When people mix up the two, they often end up compromising truth in search of approval by men. To often we try to be loved by the world and are willing to create division amongst followers of Christ to try to achieve this goal. We often get it backwards.

Yeshua answered these questions for us. As disciples, or “learners”, of Christ we should love one another as He has loved us. This is significant. He laid down His life for us.

How we expect to relate to the world is quite different. If we are with Christ, we should expect to be rejected and hated by the world, because we are not of the world. Too often today churches and Christians try to change their beliefs or doctrine to suit society and culture around them so they are more acceptable to others outside the church or so they can face less conflict. This is a trap. We are to be a light, that contrasts with darkness. Those who live in darkness hate the light (John 3:19-21). We are to testify about Him in the face of conflict with the world. Do not expect to follow Christ and be loved or accepted by the world.

John 15:12-17

Disciples’ Relation to Each Other

     12“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14“You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 17“This I command you, that you love one another.

Disciples’ Relation to the World

     18“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 20“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. 22“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23“He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24“If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. 25“But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’

      26“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

To summarize, we are to love one another as disciples of Christ and be prepared to face conflict with the world as we testify to Christ. Let us not lose track of that reality and try to please the world, for if we do, we will lose Christ in the process.

We should also be thoughtful about what “love one another” means. It is not to accept everyone in their sin. We don’t get to define what love means. The Father already has defined it. We need to understand His definition of love.

Matthew 22:36-40

36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38“This is the great and foremost commandment. 39“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Yeshua points out very directly that loving YHWH and loving one another is the basis of the whole Law and the Prophets. If we are to love one another (fellow disciples of Christ), then we must seek to understand the Law and the Prophets that are recorded in scripture in the Tanakh, or what we more commonly refer to as the Old Testament. This is not my opinion, but the direction of Christ Himself.

I believe that the New Testament is also helpful in studying what love is, but we must take care not to create new meaning that is inconsistent with the Old Testament, lest we untether ourselves from truth and begin to drift. I do find 1 Corinthians 13 helpful.

1 Corinthians 13

The Excellence of Love

      1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

      4Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

      8Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, Father / Yahweh, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Parables, Righteousness / Serving God, Sin, Worldliness

Yeshua Is The Vine And We Are The Branches

John 15 documents a great visual that Yeshua provided to help us as His followers. Read the scripture and then we can review some key points afterwards.

John 15:1-11

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

     1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Let’s review a few key points that jump out to me. You may find others as well.

  • Yeshua is the vine. He is essential to supply the branches.
  • The Father is the vinedresser. He is in control.
  • Disciples of Yeshua are the branches. Our purpose is to bear His fruit. We must stay connected to Him to remain healthy and effective. We can not “go it alone”.
  • The Father will remove branches that bear no fruit. They will be cast aside and burned. This should get our attention as a stern warning.  Arguably He is talking about those who claim to follow Him or did follow Him at one time follow Him. Those who never knew Him would not be branches connected on the vine to Yeshua. We must not grow complacent! Challenge ourselves to keep knowing, loving, and serving our Father… bearing His fruit rather than our own.
  • Even those branches that bear fruit, shall be pruned by the Father so that we will bear even more fruit. Pruning is sometimes a difficult process for the branch, but it helps!
  • Yeshua also, as is common in scripture, ties together our obedience to God’s commandments with our love for Him.
  • He wants us to be joyful! It is His joy in us, not joy we achieve on our own apart from Him.

Prayerfully reflect on this visualization for our relationship with our Father and ask Him to show you areas in your life where you may be able to apply the word. Reflect on whether or not you bear fruit, and if so, if it is the Father’s fruit. When you may be going through difficult situations, consider perhaps that He may be pruning you to bear even more fruit in the future. Seek to understand His commandments so that you may obey them to demonstrate your love for Him. Pray for Him to help you experience His joy in you!

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, His Timing Not Ours, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Humility, Obeying God, Provider

His Mission, His Way, His Timing… His Glory

It is not supposed to be about us. We are servants of the Lord most high. When we obey the Lord to do His mission, and we do it His way, in His timing, the mission will be accomplished and He will receive glory. Joshua took this approach, even though he faced a seemingly difficult path ahead at the direction of the Lord. He put YHWH first, even literally in leading the people to cross the Jordan. He told the people to consecrate themselves, or make themselves holy and prepared for YHWH’s use. We could probably study how to do this today, but for simplicity I would start with prayer and getting my heart and mind right with serving YHWH for His glory, not my own. Ask for His help in accomplishing this task. In some cases you may consider fasting.

Joshua 3

Israel Crosses the Jordan

      1Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed. 2At the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp; 3and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4“However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”

      5Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” 6And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

      7Now the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. 8“You shall, moreover, command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 9Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God.” 10Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. 11“Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. 12“Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. 13“It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap.”

      14So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, 15and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), 16the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

Ask yourself, are you really pursuing His mission for you? or your own? Do you focus on your own mission instead of His? or your way or your timing instead of His? Are you seeking His glory? or your own?

I have found that often what He calls me to do is not what I think I should do. Often what He calls me to do may appear more humble than what I envision, but more and more I learn to trust Him. For others, perhaps, like Joshua, Moses and Gideon, He may call them to do things far broader and more ambitious than they would envision for themselves. Let us put our trust in YHWH either way and be content or even joyful with His mission for us.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Father / Yahweh, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Love, Obeying God, Trinity

The Father Has Sent Us A Helper, But How Does He Help?

As Yeshua was preparing to leave His disciples, He spoke to them about another Helper whom the Father would send. He says the world cannot receive this Helper because it does not see Him or know Him, but Yeshua’s disciples would receive Him.

He gives encouraging words to them about Him being one with the Father and the disciples will see Him again, even while the world can not. I am sure they may have struggled to understand exactly what this means, but how encouraging that though Yeshua would depart, they would not be alone. He encourages them to be peaceful and not fearful.

Read through the scripture and reflect on what the Helper is there to help them with as you read and we can meet again on the other side of the scripture.

John 14:16-31

Role of the Spirit

      16“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

      18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19“After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. 20“In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” 22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” 23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

      25“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. 27“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. 28“You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29“Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. 30“I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; 31but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.

As I read this scripture, it seems to me the Helper is there to help them live according to the teaching and instruction of Yeshua, which is totally consistent with the law and the prophets provided by the Father previously. The Helper is to help them understand scripture so they can live it out according to YHWH’s commands. He does not, as some seem to believe, make us do everything right without the need to study scripture anymore. Nowhere will you find Yeshua say that the Helper has replaced the need for God’s law or our obedience to it. Rather He helps us understand it and helps us to live it more than we could do on our own.  He brings teaching back to our minds to help us.

      25“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

21“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,  and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

In fact, Yeshua sets the example and holds Himself to it. He shows His love for the Father through obedience as well.

31but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.

How we view the Holy Spirit is important. We can rejoice in this Helper, but let us take care not to fall into the trap of believing that we can go on auto pilot and no longer study or live according to the instructions of the Father. We must still study and seek the Lord and try to live for Him His way. The Spirit is a wonderful gift, but He is only a Helper. He will not prevent us from doing wrong if we are bound and determined to ignore God’s written instruction and do things our own way or the way of the world around us.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Father / Yahweh, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Love, Obeying God, Trinity

Who Has Seen Yeshua, Has Seen The Father

For any who continue to say that Yeshua was a good teacher or prophet, but not God (yes, people actually claim this, such as Muslims)… you have to really be creative to redefine this scripture (and many others). Yeshua claims to be one with the Father, that He is in the Father. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, Jesus is either a madman, a liar, or God as He said. I am convinced He is God. That is where the evidence leads.

John 14:7-15

Oneness with the Father

      7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

      8Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. 12“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. 13“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14“If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

      15“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Also, let us not lose verse 15 in this context. In the context of a discussion where Yeshua is making a point about being one with God, He then says that those who love Him will obey His commandments. This is not a new set of commandments. He is referring to the same commandments that so many Christians dismiss today… the law of God as taught by Moses.

For more information, read:

Understanding The Law – What Does It Mean Today? 

Is God’s Law A Burden?

Focused Ministries – Understanding Hebrew Roots

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.