Light In Torah

Good morning! Can you see/Re'eh? Of course we see, but do we really beehold/re'eh with our vision. Do we see beyond the natural, which only makes up about 3% of the visible realm? Do we realize that it is in the physical that God reveals the invisible (Rom. 1:20)? DO YOU SEE/RE'EH? For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Rom. 1:20) Within this week's Torah portion we will 'see/re'eh' from God's vantage point 8 specific areas of testing to see whether we will walk in His ways, the blessing, or if we will walk in our own ways, the curse; which cuts off the blessing by our own doing (Deut. 11:26-28) Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;. A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: and a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of th...

Good Morning! If you strip life down to its bare biology, we are just creatures who move, breathe, eat, digest, reproduce and die. Deep down, however, we know that’s not why we’re here. The body is a vessel. It’s not the destination. A purely physical life can be full, but never fulfilled in just the physical existence. The body needs food to live and the soul needs meaning to thrive. This is why the Torah, in yesterday's portion, says “And He humbled you and suffeed you to hunger and fed you with manna that you nor your fathers knew of, that He might make known to you that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God“”  (Deut. 8:3) The scripture says a human being does not live on bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Later, in the same chapter, "you shall eat till your full, feel satisfied and bless/give thanks to the Lord your God… Be aware that you do not forget the Lord your God.  (Deut. 8:10,11) I un...

Good morning! Have you ever wondered how God would use the 'broken past to become wealthy'? In last night's study of this week's Torah portion, Eikev, Moses recounts the dramatic tale of how, following the Revelation at Sinai, God carved out/pasal Two Tablets, engraved them with His finger, the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:28; Lk. 11:20), and presented them to Moses on Mt. Sinai. When Moses descended the mountain, however, he observed that the Israelites had created a Golden Calf as an idol. Moses seized the Tablets and smashed them before their eyes into little pieces/pesoles (Ex. 32). After his intercessory prayer, God instructs Moses to carve out/pasal a second pair of tablets, to replace the first broken ones. At that time, the Lord said to me, "Hew/pasal for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to Me onto the mountain and. make for yourself/lecha an ark/aron/coffin (Deut. 10:1) You may recall from our studies in Genesis that the term lecha/for y...

Good morning! We live in a time where personal opinion is fact. We live in a time where we forget that we only know in part. We cast blame at others when we are guilty of the very thing we are stating. In self-righteous positions we are actually creating division more so than unity. We are self-focused rather than body-focused. We are hungry for power and position rather than yielding to His glory. Yes, my friend, in our modern day religious systems of over thousands of different denominations, our church is the one that holds to the truth. We live in a land that is divided from its political system, geographical locations, and support of our athletic teams all the way down to individual families. This morning, on this beautiful preparation day, let's take a look at a statement that Yeshua made in Mark 3:25 and examine it a little more closely. “And if a house is divided/merizo against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” (Mark 3:25) This passage is often quoted when some...

Good morning! It’s not easy! Every time Yahweh wants to implement His plan the adversary has countermeasures. In the end the enemy will not succeed, but sometimes it doesn’t feel that way. Why does He even keep trying? He knows he is a defeated foe. Yet he still goes around as a roaring lion seeking whom he can turn into a ‘fruit smoothie’ (1 Pet. 5:8). One thing you can count on, as he goes before the throne of God to accuse the brethren (Rev. 12:10) he will always say the truth before the throne, but will always lie to you. He doesn’t have any problem pointing out your shortcomings before the throne…Look at ‘so-n-so’ God. Look what they are doing. Look at that rebellion to your ways. You can’t just sit there and let them get away with that you are a holy and just Elohim/God. When he ‘whispers’ in your ear it’s all lies (John 8:44). ‘You did it now!’ ‘God’s not going to forgive you on that one’! ‘Wait till the neighbors find out’’! ‘You know that those who do *&(*)^$*# things will...

Good morning! We are 1/2 way through counting towards the first fruit of the oil (Deut. 7:13), which means the fall feast season is approaching rapidly. Where will you be for the fall feasts? BTW, did you know that the council of Laodicea, ratified by the lukewarm church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-21), decreed 60 points that must be followed by all believers of their day that no one can keep the Sabbath (#29) or the feasts of the Lord (#37)...hence, our soon coming Redeemer and Messiah is asking to come in and sup with us (Rev. 3:20,21). Personally, I don't want to be 'lukewarm'.  During this season of the year we find our hearts  stirred to teshuvah/Repent and Return. Repentance is a very normal concept in our assemblies today. The $64,000 question is: What are we returning to? Yeshua told us that in the last days because iniquity/anomia/toralessness would abound, the love of many will grow cold (Matt. 24:12). Sadly, this is an obvious reality in our modern world. It’s obvious...

Good morning! The past couple of days we've focused on 'imitating'. To imitate is to learn how something is done and then do it. Thanks, Mr. Obvious :-) On the flipside of imitating is the negative statement of what we should not learn: you shall not learn/lo tilmad to do /la'asot the abominations of those nations you are going to dispose of (Deut. 18:9).  At first blush, we might say to ourselves, "self, I feel so good about myself because I don't do those abominable practices such as witchcraft, sorcery, barbarism, cannibalism or murder...you know the big bad stuff.  I don't worship idols. I don't sacrifice my children.  I'm not practicing astral projections. I don't...(you can fill in the blank :-). Yeppers, I'm feeling good about myself!  And this list is to be commended. Congratulations! But imitating, learning and doing, what the abominable practices of the nations goes a step further. When my education is focused on the values of the ...

Good morning! In yesterday's study we focused on living a Torah based lifestyle that would cause the nations to marvel at your wisdom and understanding while recognizing what an Yahsome God we have that would give us such commandments, statutes and judgments to live by (Deut. 4:4-9). Yeshua exhorted us into this same lifestyle when He told us, "let  your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and glorify our Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). In this day and age it's tough to find anyone who would boldly proclaim, "imitate my life, as I imitate Messiah" (1 Cor. 11:1; 4:16 3:7; Heb. 6:12; etc.). "Be an imitator/mimeomia of me, even as I am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1) Therefore I urge you, imitate me. (1 Cor. 4:16) Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who walk, as you have us for a pattern. (Phil. 3:7) that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Heb. 6:12) I want...

Good morning! What happens when your actions drown out your words? We’ve all seen it – people preaching passionately, yet living in a way that contradicts their message.  And when that happens, the world stops listening. I have resembled that too many times in the past :-(  In this weekend's Torah  portion, va'etchanan, Moses says that when God's people live out the Commandments, the nations will recognize their wisdom and praise God  (Deut. 4:6). Yeshua echoes this:  “let your light shine before men so that they may see your good Works and glorify your father who is in heaven“ (Matt. 5:16)  if our deeds don’t match our confession, our witness goes silent.  When people think of the law of  Moses (Acts 28:23 Josh. 8:32), they don’t get warm fuzzies. But God’s people should be the exception. We should have the Torah deep in our circumcised hearts (Deut. 10:16; Eze. 18:31; Rom. 2:28,29 etc.,).  Through Moses, God told Israel that when they live ...

Good morning! The Fall Feasts of the Lord are approaching rapidly! Harvest time is near. And in our Torah portion today, Va'etchanan/and I pleaded, this is a time of fresh insights/chokmah and binah/understanding how those insights fit into the big picture, followed by making the decision to internalize those insights to become a part of us/etzah. You would recognize these as being the first 3 Spirits of the 7 Spirits (Isa. 11:2,3). They also correlate perfectly with the first 3 moedim, which are interrelated to the last three that are coming soon.  This morning I want to be divisive to help you cleave. Huh? In this week's Torah portion it's all about separating from the nations and clinging to the Lord's ways. (Deut. 5;29) Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always so that it may be well with them and with their children forever. (Deut. 5:29) And by cleaving from the world's mindset, we now are in a position ...

Good morning! Throughout this week, we've emphasized "destiny, covenant and oneness". In Monday night's zoom call we highlighted some truths on "destiny" (Deut.. 3:23-4:49). This morning, I want to take you down memory lane; back in the book of Exodus 18 to build on what we learned yesterday about diligently adding into your faith to achieve your calling and election (2 Pet. 1:5-12). Let me reintroduce us to an old character: Yitro/Jethro, Moses’ father in law. Yitro has heard that the Lord/Yahweh took Israel out of Egypt…big news travels fast (Ex. 18:1)! So he brings Moses’ wife and children to meet Moses in the desert and reunite the family (Ex. 18:2-6). When Yitro arrives, Moses tells him everything that Yahweh did for Israel, and Yitro is really moved by it all - he praises Yahweh and brings sacrifices  to honor Him for His amazing goodness (Ex. 18:7-12). It’s a nice story, but why are we hearing about it now? Prior to this event with Moses Father-in-law...

Good morning! I keep mulling over in my head the three words that I think summarize God's entire mindset towards us in this week's Torah portion, Va'etchanan/and I pleaded: Destiny, Covenant, and Oneness (Deut. 4-6). If you're like me, we’ve heard our entire life in Messiah that we need to love in everything we do. And as I get older, I couldn’t agree more. Without love, even the greatest prophetic word, the most awesome understanding of mysteries, the acquisition of all knowledge, faith to move mountains, speaking eloquently like an angel, or sacrificing our own lives is like the first day of 6th grade band practice...not very pretty and not too productive (1 Cor. 13:1-4). The topic of love has so many challenges. As we draw near to the Fall Feast Season the theme of  individual and corporate accountability, separating from pagan practices, living in resurrection power, patiently waiting for The Spirit’s empowerment from on high, andliving love, reign supreme. We are g...