The Best Gift Ever

“Out of His fullness, we have all received grace on top of grace.” John 1:16

In speaking to a friend this morning, I was reminded of just how much we all need grace. To give it to others and to receive it ourselves.

Grace is often talked about in the context of forgiveness, but it is so much more than that. It really is the gift that keeps on giving. It is a gift we can never earn, nor is it a gift we can give for a price (then it wouldn’t be a gift, would it?).

Grace is the means by which we receive salvation, the forgiveness of our sins.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves—it is the gift of God. It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast. ” Ephesians 2:8-9

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We) are set right as a gift of His grace, through the redemption that is in Messiah Yeshua.” Romans 3:23-24 

But grace doesn’t stop there. It also teaches us how to live once we are saved.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, training us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live in a manner that is self-controlled and righteous and godly in the present age. We wait for the blessed hope and appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua. He gave Himself for us so that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and so that He might purify for Himself a chosen people, zealous for good deeds.” Titus 2:11-14

But wait! There’s more! Grace not only saves us, it also teaches us how to live as redeemed children of a holy God. And not only does grace teach us how to live, it gives us the strength to live the righteous life to which we have been called.

“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Messiah may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Grace saves us, it teaches us, and it strengthens us. None of this salvation process is dependent upon us. Not our merit, not our knowledge, and not our ability. Grace is wrapped up in the presence of a loving God who knows that our flesh is no match for the sin, pain, addiction, trauma, and fear of this world. A God who will go to any lengths to rescue us from all those things. It is a gift that when truly understood, elicits tremendous humility and gratitude, but also brings an awareness of the tremendous responsibility that comes with it.

God rarely gives us a gift that we are meant to keep to ourselves.

“As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of the many-sided grace of God.” 1 Peter 4:10

Sometimes it’s hard to know how to show grace to others. And even if you know how to, circumstances can make it difficult to want to.

Sometimes the grace we need to give comes in the form of forgiveness. When we realize the immense forgiveness we have been given by God, it makes us more willing to forgive others. This doesn’t mean it’s always easy. It just means that we understand that forgiveness is necessary not only for them, but for us to be able to heal from the offense. When we forgive someone, it may not change them, but it will always change us… and it’s always for the better.

Sometimes grace comes in the form of teaching – think parents, teachers, caregivers, or even friends when we need to speak truth into the lives of others. Correction and reprove, offering godly counsel, and studying the Bible together are all ways we can use grace to teach others.

Sometimes it comes in the form of serving. We serve when we do for others what they can’t do for themselves. We serve when we come alongside someone who is struggling. We serve when we see a need and fill it. We serve when we show compassion, love, or kindness to someone who needs it. When we serve others, we are giving them strength. We are using our strength (physically, emotionally, or through our resources) to give them something they needed or to do something they couldn’t do on their own.

Grace also helps us see beyond the moment, beyond the circumstance, beyond the behavior. Grace helps us see others, to see ourselves, through the eyes of the One from whom all grace flows. And that is when grace can truly have its perfect work.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves in tender compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience— bearing with one another and forgiving each other, if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord pardoned you, so also you must pardon others. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfect harmony. Let the shalom (peace) of Messiah rule in your hearts—to this shalom (peace) you were surely called in one body. Also be thankful. Let the word of Messiah dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Yeshua, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:12-17

“Be tenderly devoted to one another in brotherly love; outdo one another in giving honor. Do not be lagging in zeal; be fervent in spirit. Keep serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, enduring in distress, persisting in prayer, contributing to the needs of the believers, extending hospitality. Bless those who persecute you—bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Repay no one evil for evil; give thought to what is good in the eyes of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in shalom with all people.” Romans 12:10-18

“With this in mind, we pray for you constantly, that our God may consider you worthy of the calling and fulfill with power every good desire and work of faith, so the name of our Lord Yeshua may be glorified in you, and you in Him, in keeping with the grace of our God and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

 

Removing the Veil

“Whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” – 2 Corinthians 3:16

Seed:

Deuteronomy 30:9-16; Isaiah 25:6-8; John 6:63-69; Romans 8:2-8; 2 Corinthians 3:13-18

Plant:

Have you ever heard the saying, “Once you see something, you can’t unsee it”? I’ve heard and used this expression over the years, and it can be applied two ways. One is when you actually see something, either majestic or gruesome, and it stays with you. You see it replay in your mind over and over again. It elicits either a sense of longing or foreboding whenever its memory comes to mind. Whether by choice or by chance, its image is now etched in your mind, and you can’t unsee it.

Another use is when you either notice or someone else points out the similarity between one thing and another. For example, there is an abstract picture my mother painted hanging in our home. I always thought it looked like mountains with the sun setting behind and a stream wandering across the field below them. One day, I realized how similar the texture in this picture is to the lava fields we explored in Hawai’i. Now I can’t unsee it. Whenever I look at the picture, the peaceful mountainous landscape I once saw now wrestles in my mind with the memory of the harsh, rocky landscape left behind by Mauna Loa’s fierce eruptions.

Years ago, I had a “can’t unsee it” experience with God’s Word. Once God opened my heart to His Torah, I can’t unsee it. It has become the thing through which I not only view scripture, but how I see myself and the world around me. 2 Corinthians 3:14-18 sums this experience up perfectly. If you’re anything like me, sometimes it takes a few different ways of receiving information for your brain to fully wrap around it, so here it is in two different translations just to give us all a more vivid picture:

“But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” – ESV 

“What is more, their minds were made stonelike; for to this day the same veil remains over them when they read the Old Covenant; it has not been unveiled, because only by the Messiah is the veil taken away. Yes, till today, whenever Moshe is read, a veil lies over their heart. “But,” says the Torah, “whenever someone turns to Adonai, the veil is taken away. Now, “Adonai” in this text means the Spirit. And where the Spirit of Adonai is, there is freedom. So all of us, with faces unveiled, see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord; and we are being changed into his very image, from one degree of glory to the next, by Adonai the Spirit.” – CJB

During Old Testament times, before Messiah came, people read scripture with a veil over their faces, without the full understanding of who Messiah was to be. Not just in the flesh, but as an emissary of freedom. Our freedom. Freedom from the bondage to sin. Freedom from the penalty of our sin. Freedom from the inability to resist sin and live for righteousness. Freedom from the compulsion to satisfy our fleshly desires. Freedom to overcome all that separates us from our Heavenly Father.

We are told that in Messiah we are given the ability (freedom) to flee from evil and pursue that which is good, but how will we know which is which without something to guides us? Yeshua (Jesus) said that He didn’t come to abolish the Law (Torah), but to fulfill it. He came to show us how to live according to Torah the way God intended so that we might learn to do likewise. Torah is the light that exposes sin and illuminates righteousness. (Rom. 3:20,31) The law is not a heavy burden as many believe, but a joy, a blessing, and life. (Deut. 30:19-20, Psa. 119:92-93; Rom. 7:22; 1 John 5:3… and so many more.)

It is only through Messiah that we see Torah for what it is… our freedom.

Years ago, I gave God permission to rewrite my faith. To take anything that I believed about Him that wasn’t true and get rid of it, and to strengthen what was true so that my faith might be genuine and pure. I began to read the Bible and let Him speak to me Himself instead of listening to what someone else had to say about Him. It was then that He began to open my eyes to the beauty of His Word… all of it. I began to see Torah, His law, through the lens of Messiah. And now, I can’t unsee it.

Everything makes so much more sense. Things that didn’t fit together before have now become seamless threads in a beautiful tapestry. Seeming contradictions now come together into a single truth. In our turning to the LORD through faith in Messiah, the veil truly is lifted, and we begin to see Him as He really is. Yeshua (Jesus) walked according to Torah, and we are called to walk as He walked. To imitate Him. To follow Him. And when we do, that is when we begin the transformation into His likeness, from one degree of glory to another. And the freedom that comes from Torah, from faith, from the power of His Holy Spirit in us, becomes a reality in our lives.

Just as the pharisees presented to Israel a legalistic view of the Law through works and manmade decrees, we have been presented with a false messiah who did away with the Law altogether. Neither of these views are correct. Both of them are veiled displays of the truth, keeping us from seeing and experiencing the freedom Messiah offers to us all. And hindering us from being changed into His image. If we can’t see what He looks like, how can we become like Him?

We are told that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Word made flesh. (John 1:14) We are also told that Torah is the Word. Torah was the written Word; Messiah is the living Word. They are one in the same. Yeshua is the Word of God, the living, incarnate righteousness of the God of all creation. It is in this realization that the veil is lifted from our face, and we can see clearly the glory of God. And once you see His glory, it becomes something you can’t… something you never want to unsee.

Harvest:

• In what ways has my view of Messiah and Torah been distorted?
• Am I willing to let God rewrite my faith into one that is based on the truth of who He is?
• Read the whole of Psalm 119 this week and ask God to help you see His Torah the way David, a man after God’s own heart, did.

Father, thank You for sending Messiah that I might be free. I ask you right now to cause Your freedom to be a reality in my life. Show me anywhere that I am in bondage, anywhere that sin has a hold in my life. Send Your Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth. Father, You are truth, and it is Your truth that will set me free. I thank You and praise You in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen

She Believed God

Seed:

Genesis 15:1-6; Romans 4:1-25; Galatians 3:1-9; Hebrews 11:1-40; James 2:14-26; 1 John 5:1-12

Plant:

Last week, I posed a question on social media. I asked: If you could only be remembered for one thing, what would you want it to be? The number one answer was to be remembered as a kind person. Several wanted to be remembered as one who followed God faithfully and stood for His truth above all else. There were others answers as well, but every one was a good one. Unless it is somehow for evil, I’m not sure there is a wrong way to answer this question.

This question, as are most questions I pose to others, was prompted by the fact that I was asking myself the very same thing. While washing dishes a few days earlier, I began talking with God over my kitchen sink, and a verse came to mind. “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’” (Romans 4:3)

Abraham believed God… What a beautiful way to be remembered.

Believed. What does it really mean to believe? To trust? To have faith? Does scripture give us a clear definition of what belief is or is it some vague concept of accepting as true the words or promises of another, specifically God? Thankfully, God is pretty good at giving us answers to questions like this. Sometimes we just have to dig a little bit to find it. In 1 John we are given a very clear and specific answer to what it means to believe.

“Everyone who believes that Yeshua is the Messiah has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Yeshua is the Son of God?” – 1 John 5:1-5

The Greek word for believe in the above scripture is pisteuō. According to Strong’s Concordance, it means to have confidence, faith, to be persuaded, commit, entrust (especially one’s wellbeing to Messiah).  Let’s take this a step further. The word entrust, according to Dictionary.com, means 1) to charge or invest with a trust or responsibility; charge with a specific office or duty involving Trust: “We entrusted him with our lives.” 2) to commit (something) in trust to; confide, as for care, use, or performance; to entrust a secret, money, powers, or work to another.

There are so many directions I could go from here. This concept of belief, especially in context of 1 John 5, is packed with foundational scriptural insight. But we’re only going to build on the foundation of our foundation today.

Our belief is rooted in the knowledge that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah. The only atoning sacrifice for our sin. The only source of payment acceptable and worthy to release us from our debt. And it goes beyond that knowledge into a full entrusting of our very lives to the charge of His care. To entrust Messiah with our lives means to give Him full authority over our money, work, abilities, health, purpose, thoughts, desires, even our very existence. To give Messiah permission to use these new lives we now have in Him however He sees fit. That is what it means to believe.

Abraham believed. His belief was built upon the same foundation ours is – Messiah. He believed God would send the Messiah He promised through Abraham’s seed. We believe in a Missiah who came, he believed in a Messiah to come. The same God. The same Messiah. The same promise. The same way of Salvation. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

A trustee is the person responsible for the handlings of any of the assets in a trust. He is the one who makes sure the terms of the trust are carried out. When Abraham believed, he handed over the responsibility for his care to the One who was to come. Messiah became the trustee of Abraham’s life. God’s instructions to Abraham concerning righteousness and justice were the terms of that trust. And by living according to those terms, Abraham was able to receive what the LORD had promised him.

“For I have made myself known to him so that he will command his sons and his household after him to keep the way of Adonai by doing righteousness and justice, so that Adonai may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”  – Genesis 18:19

Faith has always been the way to salvation. Works of righteousness have never saved a single person. But once we believe (have faith, trust, confidence), those works of righteousness become the terms by which we live our lives. Messiah was charged with making sure those terms are clearly known to everyone who believes in Him. When He came in the flesh, He taught His disciples how to live. He didn’t just teach them with words. He showed them. He modeled for them, and us, how to walk according to the terms of the trust of our belief. He lived according to the instructions of God – Torah.

When we violate those terms (sin), we violate that trust and forfeit the promise that comes with it. We cannot live our lives however we want and expect God to bless us. Living how we want instead of how God instructs shows that we don’t truly believe.

We can’t give Him some of our lives. This part but not that. If we truly believe, we are submitting the whole of who we are to the fullness of who He is. This doesn’t mean we won’t mess up occasionally. Abraham did. David did. The disciples did. We will, too. This is where grace comes in. Grace is the force that picks us up, brushes us off, and strengthens our resolve to continue to uphold the terms of our trust. But sinful behavior should not be something we choose, justify, or embrace.

If I could only choose one thing, that’s what I want people to remember about me… She believed God.

My mind is going in so many directions right now. I’m not sure I would be able to make sense of it all enough to relate it to you in this blog. This is one of those sit on the couch together for hours as we talk excitedly about all the connections and colors and beauty hidden and bursting forth in the Word of God. So, I’ll leave you today with this last verse and pray that we will both see all the things our Father wants us to see as we learn what it means to truly believe.

“After you heard the message of truth—the Good News of your salvation—and when you put your trust in Him, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the guarantee of our inheritance, until the redemption of His possession—to His glorious praise! Therefore, ever since I heard of your trust in the Lord Yeshua and of your love for all the saints, I never stop giving thanks for you as I mention you in my prayers— that the God of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, our glorious Father, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in knowing Him.” – Ephesians 1:13-17

Harvest:

• Does my belief line up with the Biblical definition of belief?
• Are there any areas of my life which I have not yet entrusted to Messiah?
• If I could only choose one thing, how would I hope to be remembered?

Escorting the Bride

Photo by Jeremy Wong on Pexels.com

Husbands, love your wives just as Messiah also loved His community and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, having cleansed her by immersion in the word.

Ephesians 5:25-26

Seed:

Ephesians 5:24-28; Psalm 119:1-7; 2 Peter 3:14-18; Revelation 19:6-8

Plant:

I learned something last week. It was something that connected another piece in the ever-expanding puzzle I call my faith. I was reading a book someone loaned to me called Rosh HaShanah and the Messianic Kingdom to Come, by Joseph Good. If you haven’t read it, you definitely need to put it on your 2024 list of books to read. Here’s what he said that not only got my attention, but also brought tears to my eyes:

“Each Jewish wedding requires two witnesses. These two are often the same as the friends of the bridegroom, one assigned to the bride while the other is assigned to the groom. Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist) who is of the spirit of Elijah, called himself a friend of the bridegroom.”

“You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,’ but rather, ‘I am sent before Him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the best man rejoices when he stands and hears the bridegroom’s voice. So now my joy is complete!” – John 3:28-29

Good went on to say, “According to Jewish tradition, the other friend of the bridegroom is Moses. He is understood to be the one assigned to the bride. A function of this friend of the bridegroom is to escort the bride to her groom. The rabbis saw Moses in this role as he escorted Israel to Mount Sinai to meet with G-d for the betrothal.”

“Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the lowest part of the mountain.” – Genesis 19:17

In scripture, Elijah represents the prophets. They were the friend assigned to the bridegroom. It is through the prophets that God revealed the coming Messiah to His people. John came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way of the LORD. He was the one who would announce the coming of the bridegroom (Messiah) to His bride (the children of Israel, both native born and grafted in). (See Matt. 3:1-3 and 17:12-13)

Moses represents the Law, or Torah. Torah is the friend who escorts the bride to the wedding. What is the job of the one who escorts the bride? Ephesians 5:25-27 explains:

“Husbands, love your wives just as Messiah also loved His community and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, having cleansed her by immersion in the word. Messiah did this so that He might present to Himself His glorious community—not having stain or wrinkle or any such thing, but in order that she might be holy and blameless.” 

I hope you’re starting to feel the glow of a little lightbulb over your head right now, but in case you’re not, let me see if I can connect these puzzle pieces together for us. In Jewish tradition and throughout scripture, Torah (God’s instruction in righteousness found in the first five books of the Bible) is called the Word. We also see in John 1:1-14, that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Word. Yeshua didn’t just embody or live out Torah. He WAS Torah. He was the Word made flesh. He was the living, breathing righteousness of God.

Here’s where the tears came for me. I knew Torah was for our good, to keep us set apart for the LORD that we might be holy as He is holy and useful for His good purpose. They were instructions from a loving Father to His children, and keeping Torah is not a way of salvation, but is a result of our salvation and love for God. A loving father sets boundaries for his children, and loving children honor their father by staying within those boundaries. But I’d never seen Torah as the protective detail assigned to keep watch over His bride. Oh, what love He lavishes upon us! What care He gives to His beloved.

God gave us His Torah so that we could be found without spot or blemish when our Bridegroom (Messiah) comes for us, His bride. Since the beginning of time, God’s Word has been twisted, and our hearts have been hardened, and spots and blemishes have appeared all over His bride. So, God sent our Messiah. He showed us by the example of His Word made flesh what it really means to follow God, to live lives that are holy and set apart for our Heavenly Father, without spot or blemish. Not only did He show us how to live, but He died in our place so that all our spots and blemishes could be washed away. Then, not only did He promise the Holy Spirit as our Helper to walk as He walked (Torah observant), but He commissioned husbands to carry that torch as the head of their households. What an extraordinary responsibility to bear.

In the garden, Adam was given the instruction not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God didn’t give this instruction to Eve, just Adam. And He expected Adam to lead his wife. But Adam didn’t. He was standing silent by Eve’s side watching as she interacted with the serpent. Not only did he not stop Eve, but he indulged in the sin with her. And the silence of Adam continues. The role of men has been diminished and twisted and despised. And so, too, has the role of Torah in the lives of believers.

Men, we need you. We need you to be the protective escorts God has commissioned you to be. We need you to be examples of faithful followers of God’s instruction. I know this is a big job, a high calling. It is a HOLY calling. But we need you to lead like David, who’s heart longed so deeply for God and His Torah that he penned these words:

Turn me away from the deceitful way, and be gracious to me with Your Torah. 
I have chosen the way of faithfulness. I have set my heart on Your judgments. 
I cling to Your testimonies. Adonai, do not put me to shame! 
I run the course of Your mitzvot, for You open wide my heart. 
Teach me the way of Your decrees, Adonai, and I will follow them to the end. 
Give me understanding, that I may keep Your Torah and observe it with all my heart.

– Psalm 119:29-34

And again, he said:

If Your Torah had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. 
I will never forget Your precepts. For with them You have kept me alive. 
I am Yours, save me! For I have sought out Your precepts. 
The wicked wait for me to destroy me. But I will study Your testimonies. 
I have seen a limit to all perfection, yet Your commandment is boundless. 
O how I love Your Torah! It is my meditation all day.

– Psalm 119:92-97

Women, we are not exempt if we do not have a godly husband or father in our life. We, too, are called to be holy as He is holy. To be examples of righteousness and faithfulness. As the men in our lives are out slaying the dragons (as my husband would say) we need to be lifting them up in prayer. We need to be managing our households and raising our children and working at our jobs, all the while doing everything as unto the LORD. (Col. 3:17) If we have an unbelieving husband, it may be by our example that they come to faith in the One True God. (1 Cor. 7:16, this same principle applies to husbands, too.) And we, too, need the prayers of our husbands and fathers and brothers, that we might be found faithful in our calling as daughters of the King of kings. It may be our husbands who are to be the example of how to lead like Messiah, but it is us who are called to be the example of how to submit to Messiah. An equally extraordinary responsibility to bear.

Our love of and commitment to Torah, God’s instruction, His protective escort for His bride (that’s all of us, men and women alike), is the key to living a life pleasing to our Bridegroom. It’s not a burden. It’s not just for the Jews. It wasn’t done away with when Yeshua died and rose again. All Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for restoration, and for training in righteousness, so that the person belonging to God may be capable, fully equipped for every good deed. (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

That’s how much God loves us. That’s how much He want us to be with Him. That’s how fiercely protective He is over His beloved (that’s you and me, by the way).

Do these things because they will keep you safe on your way to Me….

Don’t do these things because they will not only stain your wedding gown, but they may even keep you from our wedding…

Harvest:

• Is this revelation of Torah new to you? If so, how can you begin to embrace the idea of Torah as your escort on your way to the Wedding of the Lamb?
• How can you be praying for the men in your life to be godly leaders of not only their homes, but also in their workplace, church, and community, showing what it means to lay down their life, pick up their cross, and follow God? How can you support and encourage them in this role?
• How can you be praying for the women in your life to be godly examples of what it means to submit to the will of our Heavenly Father, saying, “Not my will, but Yours be done,”? How can you support them in this role?