Light In Torah

Good Morning! I had a full day of travel and now it's time to welcome in the fiscal New Year, 2025. Over the years I've emphasized to everyone within reach that there are five categories of life found in Scripture (spiritual, emotional, physical, relational and financial). It's that time of year where the majority of people are thinking about goals. You have read the books, you’ve attended the seminars, you’re putting in the work, but something keeps holding you back. And for most, they don't make the new year resolutions stick for more than two weeks. That’s something. Huh? How can that be? It’s not what you think. It’s your internal operating system, sabotaging your success. Right now 95% of your decisions are being made by programming. As we've talked on many occasions, we didn’t choose the programming installed into you before you were seven years old. Hence, we procrastinate on big opportunities. That’s why we stay stuck in the same pattern. That’s why another ...

Good morning! Yesterday, we looked at a verse in Obadiah. We spoke of the day of the Lord, His judgment and how that justice is carried out (Obad. 1:15). The question that crosses my mind during this Hanukkah season is, I suppose the first thing to ask about this verse is, 'how do I know who or what to trust'? I've been in Michigan for 9 weeks now. I've been to multiple churches and each one was filled with love, hospitality, similar terminology, and Jesus. With so many different denominations and flavors to Christianity, enquiring minds want to know: 'which one'? The Prophet Zechariah tells us that the nations/goyim will grab the garment of a Jew and ask them to lead them since they know where they are going (Zech.8:23). Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations/goyim will grasp the garment/kanaph of a Jew/yehudi, saying, “Let us go/yalak with you, for we have heard/shema that God is with you. When will the nations come to the Jew...

Good morning! Commercial: Shabbat morning zoom call: Ending the Masquerade: Joseph, the picture of the rejected-exalted Savior of the world, uses Spirit led wisdom to bring the family back together again. Do you feel the same process happening in your life? With the fiscal new year upon us, wars and rumors of wars, changes in the political landscape, Hanukkah like events happening all over the world, end times thoughts are crossing the minds of a lot of people in my circles. I'm not talking about hell-fire and brimstone language, Sodom and Gomorrah, the end of the world...I'm talking about something much more sobering. There is a day of the Lord for all the nations that is coming soon to a theater near you (Obad. 1:15). Again, I'm not talking about the end of the world. I'm talking about the day of the Lord/Yom Yahweh; aka the day of judgment. Contrary to popular opinion, it simply means the day that God brings Judgment upon a nation(s); and it can happen and does happe...

Good morning! In This week's Torah portion, Miketz/at the end, we have Pharaoh blown away by Joseph's interpretation of his dreams and vision for the next 14 years. Obviously, as a result, he states to his advisors emphatically, regarding the dream master,  "Can there be another person who has God's spirit in him as this man does (Gen. 41:38)?" And to Joseph he says,  "There is none as understanding and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and according to your word shall all my people be ruled; only by the throne will I outrank you  (Gen. 41:39-41)." Joseph is appointed Prime Minister of Egypt, the most powerful man in the ancient superpower, besides the king. Commercial: Last night's zoom call:  Wait Your Turn: Life lessons from Joseph.  Life lessons from Joseph on how to use two ears, one mouth, and be exalted in due time or hurry up and wait! He is with you and needs to get all the pieces of the puzzle in place. To the enquiring mind, one mig...

Good morning!  During this Hanukkah season, now the 3rd day, I'm keeping an 8 day focus on one of the great themes of this winter celebration of dedication: Light; a topic my mind is consumed with all year long (Psa. 27:1; 36:9; Isa. 9:2; 42:6; 49:6; 60:1, 19; Mic. 7:8; 2 Cor. 4:6; Jn. 1:5; 1 Jn. 1:5; Phil. 2:15; Matt. 5:14-16; etc.). I think we all want to be enlightened, yet without the Word of God entering into our simple eyes, simple ears and an open heart, life produces a whole lot of stumbling in the dark (Yesterday's study).  "the entrance/petah of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple/peti" (Psa. 119:130) As I look at this verse, I ask myself, 'what does it take to be simple and how does His Word enter? So many questions and all with a simple/peti answer. At times,however it sure doesn't feel simple (Heb. 5:12,13)!  When we stop to examine the text, grammar, culture, context, doctrines, idioms, and perspectives, it seems to make ...

Good morning! This time of year has a major visible theme of lights. Trees decorated with lights. Houses lit up. Spotlights on manger scenes. Holiday candles. Stars in the night. Store monicers flashing. Every type of light vying for our attention. But, most of all the light that focuses on the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiah. Commercial: Last night's zoom call: Happy conception day! When was Yeshua conceived? When was He born? At what time did the Light of the World come to  give us light? Yeshua said in John 8:12 I am the light of the world. The one following me will in no way/ou mewalk in the darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12 Put a big exclamation point behind these words! Yeshua's statement could not be stronger. If you are following Him, there is absolutely no way/ou me you will walk in darkness. He guarantees it! And He’s the reality of God manifest in the flesh (Col. 1:13-18; Jn. 1:1-13), which if I'm diligently adding into my fai...

Good morning! Happy Hanukkah! Over the past week we've been talking about the conflict between the Greek culture and the culture of God's people and how the Hellenistic assimilation brought about the abomination within God's Temple (1 Cor. 15:46). On this traditional day one of Hanukkah let me take you back to the seed of Hanukkah...all the way back to the post flood prophecy of Genesis 9:27; the Hanukkah that could have been. Huh? "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of  Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant" I know this doesn't sound 'hanukkah'ish to our trained eyes, but let's stop a minute, and talk about beauty/yafa and its relationship to the interaction between Greek culture on the one hand and Jewish culture on the other. Now it's an oblique verse and at first blush it's hard to understand.  What does it mean? Enquiring minds want to know. Look at who the children of these people are: Japheth/yafeth gives birt...

Good Morning! Miketz/at the end is a prophetic section of Scripture that gives us a glimpse of the 'end times' and the revelation of the Messiah to the Gentile world and His natural born brethren (Gen. 40:1-43:17).  Hanukkah has a similar reality also. I think everyone loves a story that has a happy ending; where the underdog wins, where the good guy comes out on top and the bad guy is defeated. The story of Joseph and Hanukkah are similar in both cases. Unfortunately, it takes less than one generation in both cases where the victory is short lived. For Joseph's family, they get stuck in Egypt, enjoying the pleasures of the good life and with the Jews in the Maccabees story, they become assimilated into Greek culture; both from hero to zero in one generation. At risk of offending some of you with a movie clip, I want to jar us into a reality for the majority of believers in this world. The drama, from the movie "the newsroom", begins when you, the viewer, are in...

Good morning! Hanukkah/the feast of dedication, as with many other topics, is like a multifaceted diamond. One 'diamond' with multiple facets. Like life, we can become consumed with a myopic perspective on just about any topic (spiritually, emotionally, relationally, politically, financially, etc). Hence, because of this myopic phenomenon of restricted vision, in the religious realm there are at least 42,000 different denominations all claiming the same God and all claiming to be correct. Over the past week we have taken a biblical and historical look at John 10, Haggai 2, Exodus 29, Psalm 30, etc...all dealing with the Feast of Dedication/Hanukkah, which corresponds with distinction with Christmas (Dec. 25). Scripture is full of Hanukkah/dedication! 7 are worthy of mentioning to help us gain a larger grasp on this topic. The first mention of the word hanukkah, meaning dedication, is found in Numbers 7, when the Tabernacle altar was dedicated in the wilderness and celebrated by...

Good morning! The story of Hanukkah has many layers to it and many details revealed to us that possibly have not been considered...e.g. as we asked yesterday, "where did the stones come from on Solomon's Portico/the Court of the Gentiles (1 Maccabees 4; John 10)"? The revelation of the stones in chapter 4 is preceded by chapters 1-3...Yes, thank you master of the obvious :-). When we look at the text carefully we find that it's a repeat of history from the Exodus and a story from Saul's coronation and battle with the Philistines. Three stories linked together as one. Commercial: Shabbat morning zoom call on Vayeshev/and he dwelt (Gen.37-40:23). Illusions! We love them. We pay to see "magicians" do them. We love to be fooled. So many illusions in this week's Torah portion. From the sale of Joseph to the episode with Tamar to Joseph and Mrs. Potiphar and the circumstances of Joseph's life in prison...every narrative is filled with life lessons on w...