Witnessing to Non-Believers-Is Keeping Torah Even Possible–Is Tithing a Burden–Does Prayer Purify Forbidden Foods–STAR-91

Thoughts and Reflections Part 1: Closing Thoughts on the Issue of Controlling Our Emotions

I just want to put forth some closing thoughts on emotions and the problems that emotions can cause us in walking and living out this walk.

Episodes 87 through 90, I reflected heavily upon how churchianity and religion and traditions play upon and influence our emotions and the likely result of this is a blurring of the Truth; a refocus on self as opposed to Yahuah our Elohim; a painting a bad witness of us before the world; and of course, taking us off course and distracting us from the work of the Gospel.

I spent a great amount of time in those episodes reflecting on the negative aspects of emotions and I just wanted to tie things up and make things clear as to where I truly stand on this issue of emotions and the effect emotions can have on our walk with Messiah.

I truly believe that our God-given set of emotions should serve to glorify our Father in heaven and not hinder our work and walk in the Faith. I believe that our Faith in general is not nor should it be influenced by our emotions: with one exception! Love! Love (assuming you include love as an emotion in your repertoire of emotions) is the one emotion that Father and our Master Yeshua encourages us to exercise beyond and more than any other. It’s about love for Him (Deuteronomy 6:5) and for one another (Leviticus 19:18) as stipulated and expounded upon in Torah, the Gospels and the Epistles. As a desired emotion, love is mentioned in one form or another some 310-times in the King James Version of the Bible.

And how does one love Abba? By keeping His Torah and following His instructions. The Complete Jewish Bible translation defines love for our Creator as this:

CJB 1 John 5:3 For loving God means obeying his commands. Moreover, his commands are not burdensome, (1Jo 5:3 CJB)

And if there is a question as to whether loving Father is demonstrated in our keeping His Torah, we simply must go to Exodus 20:6 and Deuteronomy 7:9:

Exo 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

ASV Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that Jehovah thy God, he is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations, (Deu 7:9 ASV)

How do we love one another? By following the provisions for living with one another as outlined in Father’s Torah. The earthly brother of our Master, James, writes:

NAU James 2:8 If, however, you aare fulfilling the 1royal law according to the Scripture, “bYOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,” you are doing well; which is a New Testament reference to Leviticus 19:18, which reads: ASV Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Jehovah.

If we are disciplined in our keeping of Torah and that discipline is based upon a deep, abiding heartfelt desire to please Father (not please ourselves and strive for some level of self-righteousness as found in most religions of the world) and to be of service to Abba and one another, then we will be successful in showing forth the love of Yahovah to a lost and dying world.

Thoughts and Reflections Part 2—Witnessing our Faith to Non-Hebrew Roots Believers

Witnessing to non-Hebrew Roots believers in the traditional and fundamental sectors of Christianity is not the same as traditional and fundamental Christians witnessing to non-Christians.

The average, John and Jane in western society, has some knowledge of the Christian Faith. These same individuals have absolutely no understanding or knowledge of the Hebrew Roots of the Christian Faith.

For that matter, the average fundamental and traditional Christian has an understanding of Judaism, the Bible and Bible history, the characters of the Bible, something called the Law and of course Jesus Christ. However, these individuals in most cases have been conditioned and trained to reject the essential elements of our Hebrew Roots Faith.

For that matter, the average Catholic has been trained that if it ain’t sanctioned by the Vatican, it ain’t going to be listened to nor will any such talk on our part regarding our Faith will be given much in the way of thought or discussion. For the most part, the average Catholic knows about as much of their Bible as their archdiocese has invested in their individual training. Otherwise, the authority of the papacy, Catholic traditions and religion (i.e., the masses; the hail Marys; the rosaries; the signs of the cross; the confessions; the communions; they all supersede even the written elements of the Catholic Bible.

And then there’s Judaism: the average orthodox or reformed Jew has been conditioned and trained to reject Yeshua or Jesus as the Messiah and to practice the tenets of Rabbinic Law—not Yah’s Torah—but manmade laws.

We cannot debate these individuals for they based their arguments on the teachings and doctrines of their denomination and or religion, while we attempt to argue against their traditions and beliefs and teachings using the unfiltered Word of Yahuah. The two—denominationalism versus Hebrew Roots–cannot co-exist and there’s seldom common ground upon which to build fair and honest discourse.

This has always challenged me as a Torah Observant Believer in Yeshua Messiah who loves his Faith with all his heart and mind and soul and wants to share it with this lost and dying world. Yet almost every effort to share this Faith with the uninitiated ends in utter and total failure for the previous stated reasons.

So I considered what the disciples did in order to get the True Gospel message out to the world in the first century. Well, the inner circle of disciples turned apostles sought out and witnessed to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, while Paul sought out the Goyim (i.e., the Gentiles) initially by hitting the various regional Jewish synagogues and establishing a foothold in the Jewish community. The apostles were able to exploit the common-ground of the Tanakh to reason with potential converts. From there, any Gentiles who would consider a Hebrew lifestyle could easily transition in from their prior pagan-based life. Paul was uniquely qualified to bridge the gap between Jew and Gentile because of his Pharisaic background and his Roman citizenship.

Add to this formula the powerful workings of the Holy Spirit that led to powerful, supernatural manifestations throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East regions at the time, the harvest was indeed plentiful and the Church grew exponentially.

Today, things are a bit more complex and opportunities for effective Hebrew Roots witnessing are few and far between, again, for the previous stated reasons. Add to this conundrum the lack of the Ruach Kodesh (i.e., the Holy Spirit) operating within and without the Hebrew Roots community (my opinion), there are no powerful manifestations that we can point to get potential converts’ attention.

Where are the healings, the prophecies, the great Spirit-charged words that pierce at the very heart of would be converts to our beloved Faith? I’ll tell you where they are: they are no where to be found in most cases. We as a community have in general rejected the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our Faith Community. And without that essential piece tool in our spiritual tool belt (speaking of the workings of the Holy Spirit), we are left with showing forth the love of Yahovah through our uncompromising Torah living; prayer; fasting; and being ready to give every man an answer who desires to know the reason why we do what we do and believe what we believe.

I guess it wouldn’t hurt to seek the workings of the Ruach Kodesh (i.e., Holy Spirit) in our lives and in our witnessing opportunities. This is how it was done back in the day and it would stand to reason this is how it can and maybe should be done today.

But the 8th and 12th chapters of Zechariah speak to a time—likely after or near the time when the nation of Israel will be attached by the nations of the world—and there will come a time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming upon the whole House of Israel. And it appears that maybe it will be at that time when the peoples of the world see the great wonders of deliverance and a fresh, complete makeover of the people of our God such that the nations of this world will seek out a Hebrew and befriend him/her so that they may learn the ways of this Faith that we currently practice.

I certainly won’t presume to predict when and how all this will transpire, but I have a trusting faith that it is going to happen. Maybe it won’t be until such a time as outlined and predicted by Zechariah that the True Gospel will be widely heard and embraced by a great many peoples of the earth and Israel. Right now, there seems to be just a remnant of us who are commissioned to carry on the True Faith once delivered to the first century saints. Sort of caretakers of the True Faith once delivered. Until such a time when Abba deems it time to pour out His Ruach (i.e., His Spirit) upon all flesh and bring both houses of Israel back together again, we just might have to be content with doing the best we can and witness to this evil and dying world through a life of Torah-Yeshua-style and telling people about the true Gospel.

What a glorious future awaits us.

Thoughts and Reflections Part-3—That Keeping the Law Thing is Just Too Hard

Last first day of the week, I happened upon a sermon delivered by a Baptist minister, who preached about Christian obedience. And let me just say here that it was not my idea to go to this Baptist Church to hear a Baptist minister deliver a Baptist message. It just so happened that that was the way things worked out for me on that day. But what else it new.

Needless to say, despite my dismay over being in a Baptist Church service, my ears perked up when this minister got up in the pulpit to deliver her message and announced the subject of her sermon; that of being an obedient…I guess, Baptist?

Any how, she started off her message seemingly on the right track, where she decried the need for every believer to be obedient to God/Jesus Christ and His Word.

It wasn’t too much further along in the message that the wheels on the bus came off and the bus we were riding started to careen off course, heading for certain doom.

Soon the classic talking points of churchianity were tossed out to the congregation like trinkets down in New Orleans during Mardi Gras:

• Obedience to “The Law” is legalism.
• No one can possibly keep “The Law.”
• Keeping of the Law signals one’s fall from “grace.”
• The only commandment we are bound to keep is to love God and each other.

She then threw out a new one that I’d not heard before: the commandments delivered to us by Jesus Christ during the Sermon on the Mount are too numerous to keep track of and to live.

As she brought the sermon home to a much welcomed end (at least as far as I was concerned), the solution to the conundrum of being obedient to God and His Word without falling from grace, avoiding legalism, and being incapable of keeping the Law in the first place, is simple: have a proper attitude toward God and His Word. In other words, according to this minister, if you have a loving, good attitude toward God, that fulfills any need or thought of being obedient to Him and His Word.

When it comes to the Believer in Yeshua Messiah being able to keep Torah, there is no evidence whatsoever in the Bible to suggest that it is impossible to keep it. To the contrary: Abba in His very own Torah informs us that Torah is very doable and we are not to think otherwise. I love this passage of Torah which states:

7ADONAI your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hated and persecuted you;

8 but you will return and pay attention to what ADONAI says and obey all his mitzvot which I am giving you today.

9 Then ADONAI your God will give you more than enough in everything you set out to do – the fruit of your body, the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your land will all do well; for ADONAI will once again rejoice to see you do well, just as he rejoiced in your ancestors.

10 “However, all this will happen only if you pay attention to what ADONAI your God says, so that you obey his mitzvot and regulations which are written in this book of the Torah, if you turn to ADONAI your God with all your heart and all your being.

11 For this mitzvah which I am giving you today is not too hard for you, it is not beyond your reach.

12 It isn’t in the sky, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will go up into the sky for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’

13 Likewise, it isn’t beyond the sea, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’

14 On the contrary, the word is very close to you – in your mouth, even in your heart; therefore, you can do it!

(Deu 30:7-14 CJB)

So who gave the Church the right to call my God a liar? My Father says right here that His instructions are not too hard for us.

Michael Rood brilliantly teaches that it can be kept perfectly and for that matter, it is not difficult to keep at all: don’t murder anyone; don’t steal; don’t change the boundaries of you neighbors’ property to benefit you; don’t violate the food laws and the sabbath; keep the feast days; don’t adulterate or fornicate; love Abba with our whole being; don’t covet; etc. What’s so darn hard about any of this?

It sickens me to hear such blatantly false teachings from churchianity, and of course, the masses are happily eating these teachings up. Of course they are: because the Church is by default giving them express permission to live outside of the church grounds anyway the member damn well pleases, just as long as they: oh, I forgot to include this tidbit—just as long as the member obeys the pastor and the ministers and the leadership of the church and of course gives up the money.

The trick, as we in Hebrew Roots understand it, is to not fall prey to a rote mechanical keeping of Torah, which Churchianity understands as legalism and keeping “The Law.” That aspect of keeping Torah is actually quite easy. There are examples throughout the whole of scripture where Hebrews lived Torah blamelessly. This clearly suggests to me that Torah is not impossible to keep.

The challenging aspect, however, to Torah keeping and living is the spiritual aspect of Torah-keeping and living. Such Torah-keeping and living is involves the heart and soul and mind. Its keeping Torah the exact way Yeshua our Master lived and taught it to us.

We may find it quite easy to not commit adultery,but do we (us fellows) ogle woman and lust after women that are not our wives. In the Kingdom, ogling and lusting after women is an equal sin to actually going out and committing the actual acts of fornication and adultery. Same thing of course applies to the sisters.

Are we held in bondage to pornography? Do we watch questionable movies and view racy entertainment? We may not physically go out and steal something belonging to a brother or sister, but we may lust or covet after that thing and that, according to Master, is the same thing as stealing.

Indeed, we could go on and on about the spiritual aspects of Torah-keeping and living and living Torah the way Master taught; that is indeed a challenge and churchianity is somewhat spot on as it relates to the difficulty, if not impossibility of us being capable of keeping the Law. Indeed, for us to live Torah as Master taught, we must tap the power and authority of the Ruach Kodesh (i.e., the Holy Spirit) and let it operate completely in our lives. In so doing, it then becomes quite possible to keep and live Torah at Yeshua’s established level.

Oh, Rabbinic Law if also difficult to keep, but it can be done with proper training. This is the trap that so many new converts to this Faith of ours find themselves in: Rabbinic-based, Messianic Judaism. This sect of our Faith, although they accept Yeshua as their Messiah, their focus is almost entirely upon rote obedience to Rabbinic Laws and traditions.

The Church has it only partially correct: keeping Torah at the level established by Master is certainly a challenge, but it most certainly can be done with the help of the Ruach Kodesh (i.e, the Holy Spirit). It then behooves us to not let such a thing come out of our mouths—that being the impossibility of keeping Torah. Instead, let the joy of keeping Torah the way Master taught and modeled be all the rave in our hearts, minds, souls and in our fellowships. Obedience to the Creator is not an attitude dear Baptist minister. On the contrary, it is outright obedience—it’s hearing and doing (Deuteronomy 6:4,5)—to the commandments of our Master and our Heavenly Father. Stop the lying and stop leading so many folks down a path towards destruction.

Thoughts and Reflections-Part-4—When Did Tithing Become Such a Burden?

I recently entered into a conversation the other day with a dear soul who expressed her frustrations with individuals who rushed to file their income taxes each January for purposes of taking their charitable deductions and gaining a refund. I was sort of taken aback by the intensity of the concern she expressed. This individual’s reason for having such frustrations with anyone who chose take the deduction on their income taxes on their giving to Faith-based organizations charitable organizations was: “Where is the people sacrifice?”

Now I’ve heard this concern expressed by some in the past and I initially I understood their position, although I typically had all of our charitable giving deducted. Although I understood these individuals’ position on this issue, my question in return was: How does not deducting one’s charitable gifts from one’s income taxes make for a sacrifice?

Well, prior to this event, I really never gave the issue much in the way of gray matter. However, this go round, I decided to inquire what a true sacrifice would be in terms of giving tithes and offerings.

Another popular anecdotal expression that came to mind in the midst of toying with this concept of sacrificing is the concept of a “sacrifice of praise.” And whenever I heard this expression in a fellowship or church service setting, my mind automatically would conjure up images of hardship and difficulties associated with praising our Elohim. Why would there be a hardship or difficulty associated with praising our God?

The western concept of sacrifice denotes a loss or that of a major inconvenience. Thus, filtering the concept of sacrificing and giving an offering or tithes or not deducting those offerings and tithes from our income taxes, I soon began toying with the concept of hardship being associated with the process of giving. Again, that’s the mistake that we all make when discussing the issues and topics associated with our Faith Community. Should we view the giving of tithes and offerings and even the offering up of praises to Father as an imposition; a hardship; a loss?

When the bible was made available to the lay folk back in the days of the reformation, that gifting if you will, came with a cost: because now the unlearned was left to fend for themselves in terms of gaining a true understanding of what the scriptures were actually saying to us about many things contained therein. So naturally, not having a firm understanding of the Hebrew foundations of Christianity, the Church defaulted to westernizing the scriptures for purposes of making it relevant to the masses.

For whatever reason, the church triumphant has completely stripped the understanding away a true understanding of the concept of what it means to offer a sacrifice. She has applied to this and virtually every other biblical concept a westernized/Greek bend that has her members, in the case of “sacrifices,” experiencing some kind of loss or great imposition whenever they give offerings or their tithes to the Church. Giving that which Father explicitly declared belonged to Him, now tithes and offerings have become horrendous burdens and losses to her members, and we instead of turning our hearts and minds and joy toward Him in our giving, we turn the focus over onto us with an attitude that we are somehow choosing to endure hardship in our giving. Woe is me. Woe is me. I guess little Chuck won’t get that $200 pair of Nike’s this month that he wanted. I guess Suzie won’t get that iPhone 7 that she’s been pestering me about. No, we gotta show God that we mean business by doing without and showing Him how much it hurts us. Isn’t that a show of self-induced piety and ascetism? Talk about legalism.

But what does the Bible truly mean when it talks about sacrifices and sacrificing? Instead of looking at this from a western perspective, maybe it’s time to look at this thing from a Hebrew perspective.

A sacrifice in terms of giving is plain and simply “an offering.” There are no emotions attached to it. It is a joyous obligation that everyone of us who chooses to give does so without any thought of any hardship that will come out of not having that money to spend on whatever.

According to Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, sacrifice (zebach in Hb.) since the Temple ceased to exist, its use has been greatly reduced in modern times. It is used 162-times in the Hebrew OT and in all periods. The animals to be offered were given over to the attending priest who then offered it to God on the members’ behalf. The purpose was to create communion between God and man and to perpetuate within the members’ souls the understanding that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22). Each sacrifice was offered in accordance with Levitical expectations and standards.

In terms of Biblical sacrifices, the Torah described the following:

• Passover sacrifice (Exodus 12:27)

• Sacrifice of Peace (Leviticus 3:1)

• Sacrifice of Thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:12)

• Sacrifice of the Priests’ officering (qarban; Leviticus 7:16)

So when we talk about sacrificing in our giving and in our praise, it should be remembered that a true sacrifice is simply an offering. Those offerings of praise and giving for whatever purposes, is now supposed to be a joyous occasion that places the focus upon Father, and away from us. There must not be any imposition or difficulty implied in our giving. If we can’t get past such things when giving, then maybe we should not give at all. Just a thought.

The zebach was not a burnt offering (‘olah), nor sin offering (chatta’t)

Closing Thoughts and Reflections

My trust and prayer that you got something out of this fellowship moment. It was not my intent to teach or preach or create doctrine, but to simply make mention of the things and issues and topics that I have been blessed to have observed and lived through. As the title suggests, these are simply my thoughts and reflections.

May they glorify Abba in heaven and urge you to continue on in your walk with Messiah; that you continue to seek out higher heights; deeper depths. That you and your families and fellowships will be immensely blessed as you walk out this journey with Master and with other Spirit Filled Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua our Messiah.

May you have a blessed and productive week in Yeshua Messiah.

Until next time, Shavuatov. Take care.