Did You Know?

 

Years ago Yah showed me that I had some things wrong. I had the wrong understanding on some things, which affected my understanding of other things. Some of the skewed notions I had came from teachers who also misunderstood, some came from me not doing the research, some came from traditions handed down to me.  I'll share with you and maybe I can give some insight, or prompt someone to do the research themselves.  

Did you know that Judaism is not taught from the Old Testament? Jews do not lean upon the Holy Scriptures: Genesis thru Malachi. They learn from books called the Talmud which contains Gemara and the Mishnah. These are books containing what is referred to as the Oral Traditions/law. The practice of holding Talmud over OT Scriptures began around 200 years before Yahusha/ Jesus was born after the Maccabean Revolt. The priests who were installed into Temple after the Maccabean war were not of the Levitical line of Zadok as commanded by Yahuah. (Numbers 20:24-28, Ezekiel 44:15-31) The new priesthood began the tradition of the Oral Law. 

What is the Oral Law? Well these folks believe that while on the Mountain, Yahua gave Moses a written law aka Torah and an Oral law that was not written down till the 2nd century CE. The Talmud is defined as "the comprehensive written version of the Jewish Oral law and subsequent commentaries on it." So whatever the Rabbis interpreted from the OT Scriptures and the traditions is included and taught as Scripture.  In doing this many laws were added to what is viewed by those who practice Judiasm as the Law of Yahuah( also called The Law of Moses). Ok, so we can glean from this information that when Yahusha/Jesus was at odds with the religious authorities it was because of those extra laws they were imposing on the people. ( Matt 15:1-20, Mark 7:1-4, Luke 6:6-11, Luke 14:1-6 just a few examples)

The writings of Paul used to confuse me, it seemed like he was talking about more than one law. Well, he was.  He was telling us that we are to keep the instructions in the Torah (OT writings and prophets) and not the Oral Traditions that had been lifted up as equal to the words of Yahuah.  If we are not aware of the fact that Paul was speaking of two different laws, we can be confused.  Which is exactly what Peter warned us about in 2 Peter 3:15-17. Peter was concerned that we would be confused and turn from Yahuah's written instructions for life and become lawless or Torahless. 

I hope this will lead someone, anyone who cares to seek it out, to a deeper, fuller understanding of their walk in the Way of Yahusha/ Jesus. 

A Good Work in Progress 

Teresa

Integrity

 

“Again, you heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to יהוה.’But I say to you, do not swear [vainly] at all, neither by the heaven, because it is Elohim’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool nor by Yerushalayim, for it is the city of the great Sovereign; nor swear by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black. “But let your word ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ And what goes beyond these is from the wicked one. (Matt 5:33-37)

Integrity in our speech.

Have you ever paid close attention to the speech of yourself and others looking for the ways we emphasize, exaggerate, and highlight what is being said? So many times we are adding an element of dishonesty to the conversation when we employ these tactics to express the ideas we are communicating.  Years ago Yah showed this to me.  I do try to be honest and not exaggerate when conveying a message, but it's something we are bombarded with daily when consuming the news. The cleverly worded headlines seldom reflect the story. I keep in mind that I am accountable for every word I speak (Matt 12:36), someone is keeping track. 

Integrity in our actions

Galatians 6:7 Do not be led astray: Elohim is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap.

Hebrews 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all are naked and laid bare before the eyes of Him with whom is our account.

1 John 3:19-21 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall set our hearts at rest before Him, that if our heart condemns us, Elohim is greater than our heart, and knows all. Beloved ones, if our heart does not condemn us, we have boldness toward Elohim.

Someone is keeping track of our actions/works/deeds as well as our words. People are capable of horrendous things if they think no one will know.  But all will be made known and laid bare. We will give an account for all things done in secret. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking,  yet Yah is always looking.  

Integrity with ourselves 

It is self defeating to be dishonest with ourselves.  How can you repent of sins of which we've given ourselves excuses? How can we lose that extra five pounds if we ignore the 500 calories in that milk shake? And on the other hand,  how easily we can be judged by another person's standard if we are not holding ourselves to Yah's standard? Lying to ourselves only postpones the inevitable pain of being held responsible.  We have to face those sins, confess and repent to propel our spiritual growth.  We gotta give up the milk shakes or limit them in order to lose that five pounds. If we are striving for Yah's standard, then other's standards are dim in comparison, and we won't care about false accusations, walking with our heads held high.  

I didn't make it to the Baptism event,  but did manage a 48 hour fast.  It always makes my body feel awesome, sometimes I forget that.  

A work in progress 

Teresa 

Reverent Fear and Humility

 

Two things required to grow in faith are reverent fear and humility. What is reverent fear? It is a deep respect and awe of The Most High Elohim. Not to be equated with being terrified of something evil, but more like a dread of displeasing or disappointing Yah. Ok, now,  what is humility? Humility is being humble in your view of yourself.  Not thinking too highly of yourself,  not being prideful or arrogant.  To understand that you are the created, not the Creator. 

Job was a humble man but he also received a lesson in humility. In Job 38, Yah responds to Job's queries regarding the trials Job had endured. Job didn't understand why he had gone thru so much loss when he viewed himself as one who walked the narrow path and wasn't deserving of the difficulties and losses in which he had experienced.  

Iyoḇ (Job) 38:2 TS2009

[2] “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Iyoḇ (Job) 38:4 TS2009

[4] Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.

Yah reminds Job that Job is the created and Yah is Creator. The created doesn't question the Creator. His ways are not our ways,  and there's much we don't and won't understand till all is revealed to us in the Kingdom. Life is full of trials, difficulties and losses. We need to rest in the knowledge that Yah is in control. All things work together for the good for those who love YHWH and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). And He has a plan to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11). 

Reverent fear: those words bring to mind the rebellion of Korah (Numbers 16:1-33) and Ananias and Sephria ( Acts 5:1-11). Korah challenged Moses's authority and the ground opened up and swallowed Korah, his tent, his belongings and his family. Who are we to complain or have an opinion about the way Yah does things? Ananias and his wife Sephria were dishonest to Peter  which was equated to lying to the Holy Spirit  and died instantly when confronted by Peter. Integrity could have saved this couple. These two stories put a reverent fear in my heart.  All of these people were in the camp of Yah, yet they were weighed and found wanting. Never lose sight of the fact that Yah is Elohim and we are not.  

A work in progress 

Teresa

Heart Prep

 

The Fall Holy Feasts are coming up soon. I'm super excited for the Feast of Tabernacles aka Sukkot. We have our reservations for Lebanon Missouri, I'm planning our menu,  making blackout curtains for my Sukkah(travel trailer) and looking inward to the condition of my heart.  Before we get to the blessed celebration of Sukkot we must go thru Feast of Trumpets, Ten Days of Awe, and Yom Kippur(Day of Atonement). These Feasts are to purify us, weed out the tares, bring about great repentance and lead us into the Bridal Feast of the Lamb (Sukkot). 

This has been a crazy year so far,  and I have no doubt it will get crazier before the election and after.  As I mull over my heart,  what wounds and conflicts my heart has encountered, I want to see into the nooks and crannies. Gotta make sure the Light reaches every area.  No holding onto grudges, no self pitty or self preservation, no worry and doubt, no darkness. To be clean and free from all that baggage,  just to walk with Yahusha's saturating Light and forgiveness.  We're going to get baptized again this weekend. Seems like a good place to start.  

Create a clean heart in me oh Yahuah. Show me my sins,  lead me into repentance. Let there be no unclean thing in me.  Show me your ways,  and teach me to walk in them that I may have life,  life abundant. Let me not turn to the left or to the right, keeping my eyes on you. Abba, I ask you for our children and grandchildren, draw them near to you,  let not one of them be lost to the evil one.  Make our sons like Yitzak and Ya'akov strong leaders in The Way. Make our daughters like Rivka and Rachel, Proverbs 31 women. In the name of Yahusha,  amen

Anticipating the Return of Yahusha 

Teresa

What is Sin?

Sin, such a vague word. If you ask 20 people "what is sin?", you may get 20 different answers. In church we are taught DO NOT SIN. But seldom do we get a definition for sin, even though the New Testament Scriptures give a finite definition: 1 John 3:4 KJV[4] Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Doesn't seem so vague there. Let's look deeper.  

If it looks like Greek, it is. That word for sin is #266. Let's see what that means.  

https://biblehub.com/thayers/266.htm

We can see from a deep search that sin is: missing the mark, an error. The mark being the law. Ok now what constitutes "the law" here? 

The word for lawlessness here is #458 anomia, from #459 anomos.

https://biblehub.com/strongs/greek/459.htm

Do you see it? Without law, particularly the "Jewish" law? You are lawless when you transgress the "Jewish" law...the Torah given by Yahuah.  

At this point you will hear from Bible scholars that the laws (instructions) fall into different categories: moral, ceremonial, and judicial.  This is a man made concept you cannot find in the Bible.  What you can find is that there are certain laws for certain people or situations and not every law applies to every person.  Some laws cannot be applied at this point because there's no temple or Levitical priesthood.  

My personal conclusion is that I want to keep every Torah law or instruction that applies to me the best that I can to be in obedience to my El. Yahusha warned that many will come to him astonished that they were left out of the kingdom only to hear from Him that they practiced anomia/lawlessness/Torahlessness. I want to hear "well done good and faithful servant".

https://youtu.be/uWXlfY12iis?si=LJH_C2_IPxIFyyo0

https://youtu.be/WMDgup8rjME?si=f-KGf8L6eFDVvtSG

Still a work in progress

Teresa

Yah is Good All the Time

 

I love when I see the Hand of Yah. What does that mean? When I look around and clearly see how Yah has orchestrated the situation.  How He answers prayers, many times before I even know I need His help.  This leaves me with a heart filled with gratitude.  All I can say is,  "thank you ".

Now to continue that heart of gratitude when I cannot clearly see the Hand of Yah. To know He is still working even when I can't see Him.  To hold to a sense of expectation, eagerly watching and waiting for His Hand to move.  Giving thanks in the storm, and for the storm. The trials of life, the thrashing of the storm,  can sure divert our focus away from the Truth of Yah's plan for our lives. "All things work together for the good for those who love YHWH and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). I just gotta love Yah and abide in walking out this faith. Then everything will work for my good. That's the promise,  that's what I hold on to.  

All of Yah's promises are yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20) He is faithful even when we are not.  (2 Timothy 2:13, Romans 3:3-4)

Recently I was able to spend some quality time with a person for whom I've been praying. During this time together,  he said something that quickened my heart.  Those words were a confirmation that a seed I had planted was growing and being watered by Yah. I saw the Hand of Yah. Now to continue in prayer and watch what Yah will do.  Yah is Good all the time!

Teresa, a work in progress