Light on the Rock Blogs

In this recent Christmas season, there was a lot of talk of “baby Jesus”.  Some even use that as an expression.  Many speak of “sweet Jesus”.  Certainly, he was a baby. Certainly, he is kind.

Some of the most often cited scriptures in the entire Bible are His words about being our Shepherd, a good one at that.  And that His Father so loved all of us that he sent his one and only son – Yeshua – to die for us so that any who believe in him would be saved, and not perish.  You know many more verses about him being the Way, the truth and the life. He was the perfect son of God. He is our Lord. He’s great, he’s love, he’s terrific, he’s kind and he’s forgiving.  All that is absolutely true.   

But how often does your pastor ever preach these other verses that are also words spoken by the son of God?  Paul and Peter and others certainly did. Paul spoke of the “severity of God”, as well as his goodness. God is love.  But God is also just. Sometimes his justice frankly can be severe, especially at people who don’t believe or won’t obey.  And faith/belief and obedience go hand in hand, frankly. 

Paul didn’t mince his words. In talking to the Romans – and you can go back and get the entire context about the Olive tree analogy – look what Apostle Paul says:

Romans 11:21-22

For if God did not spare the natural branches [the Jews], He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness AND severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, IF you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.”

Ministers love the gentle verses about forgiveness, patience, grace, and God’s patience and so on.  And so do I.  I love to preach of God’s grace and his imputed righteousness we receive by faith, as so many scriptures teach.  But I also want to be sure to give you, what Paul calls “the WHOLE counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).  So this blog – which could develop into an even more exhaustive sermon on the topic – will do just that:  talk about other words of Yeshua that are just as true and pertinent as the ones which are often quoted. 

Again, how often do you ever hear these scriptures used in church or on the radio?  Brace yourself. You may be surprised these words came from Yeshua.  But remember: he is a loving king and Savior to those who seek Him and submit to him as Lord of lords, king of kings.  But to those who carelessly believe they don’t need to change, don’t need to overcome, don't need to be prepared and ready for his coming, and don’t need to seek him with all their might – they WILL be in for a big surprise.  So here we go; remember these are Yeshua’s OWN words!  Check them out! 

Luke 12:45-48 -- “But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.  47 And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.  48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”

Have I made my point?  “Jesus said that?”   I can hear people thinking that already. Yes he did.  Yeshua spoke of beating ineffective servants with stripes?  Yes.   Click on “continue reading” to read a few more tough sayings of our King.   This should help you understand that our king is not just a “baby Jesus” or always a “sweet Jesus”.  If we don’t obey him or prepare for him, his coming will be a very, very sharp wake-up call for many – including many who call themselves his followers, as you shall see.

If you had the opportunity right now to be in front of your Saviour, and you were promised a definite and audible answer directly from him for any three questions you have, what would they be?  What would be the most pressing questions on your mind? 

Pause reading this for a minute and just ask yourself that question, and what do you instantly come up with?  Write down your instant answers before continuing.

I don’t know that there is a “right” or “wrong” answer to this.  You’ll find there are questions that just immediately pop up. But the more you let this marinate in your mind, you’ll find other questions, deeper questions, start to surface. 

Many would express the perennial questions like “Why did you have to create – mosquitoes?”  (Or other annoyances – fire ants, poisonous snakes, any biting insects, etc).  

But then far more serious questions you’d like to ask would also bubble up – like “Why did you let my little baby die?”  and variations on that theme: 

**  “Why didn’t you heal so-and-so when so many were praying for healing?” 

**   “Why don’t you intervene more in wars that hurt and kill so many innocent people?”

**   “Why do you let horrible and evil dictators and drug lords continue in their deadly ways?”

Click on “continue reading” to examine other concepts you’ll want to be considering as you ponder this topic today.  It’s an important question – “What would you ask Yeshua (Jesus) if you had that opportunity to see him and receive his clear and audible answers today?” 

We read the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 and perhaps wonder why would someone just bury his talent?  But then I believe many believers are doing the same thing: burying their talent.

A “talent” in the Parable of Matthew 25 was actually a sum of money or possibly a weight, as in “a talent of gold” or “a talent of silver”.  It does not mean what our English word “talent” means.  A talent of either gold or silver would be worth millions today. We can assume the ruler or master who bestowed these “talents” for growth and development was a powerful and wealthy man – picturing Yeshua, the coming King of kings, actually.

In any case, our Master bestowed money – or talents – to various ones. Since our God is the King of the Universe, and owns all things ultimately, everything you and I have been given, or have access to, is ultimately something that came from our Creator. Besides money and abilities (as in the English word “talent”), our very lives, our families, our home, our opportunities, our abilities, and of course receiving the very spirit of God – and much more – are all “talents” we’ve been given. 

Luke 16:10 says “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.”  There are many scriptures that say we all will have to stand and give account of what we did with what we’ve been given. We’ve each been given a lot. Each of us will also have to account for a lot then as well.

Frankly at times I fear for times in my life when I wasn’t protecting, developing, investing and growing the opportunities and stewardship I had been given. I hope through Christ in me, I hope I’m doing better now. But that got me thinking:  are we like the one servant who just buried his talent?

There comes a day of reckoning when we each must stand before our Maker and explain what we did with what he gave us.  See Romans 14:10-12 and Hebrews 4:13.

So each of the servants in Matthew 25 gave account.  Those who doubled what they were given were commended and invited to enter the joy of Lord and were given more responsibilities.  But then he came to the final servant who claimed he was afraid to use – and maybe lose – the sum of money he had been given, so he buried it “for safe keeping”.  That man’s talent was given to someone else, because Yeshua makes it clear that those who use and grow what they’ve been given, will be given more.  And those who do not will have what they had been given, taken away.

How’s it looking for you?  Are YOU and I burying the talents, opportunities, gifts of God’s spirit and all the things we have been given?  Or are we putting them to work and growing our opportunities? 

I dare say most of us are doing a mix:  profitably using and growing some of what we’ve been given, and disregarding the rest.

In a recent sermon or teaching, I spoke on the topic of “Are you doing your part in the Body of Christ”.  We each have a part or role to play.  We’re called parts of His body, and therefore also we’re part of each other.  In a human body, if one part is not doing its role, the body can get sick and even die. If one part gets hurt, the rest of the body feels the pain. Other parts come to its aid – to stop the bleeding and pain or to fight germs or anything bad that has entered our body. We are parts of one another. Are you doing your part – or burying your talent? 

But my point is this: every part of the body has a part to play to keep the body “happy” and healthy. Some believers seem to feel their only part is to come to church, sit and listen, participate in the hymn singing, and then go home. Oh – and they’ll pray for those on the prayer list.  All of that is great, but is it enough?  I say we have been given so much, and much will be expected of us. 

One example: the Bible itself. I have many, many Bibles plus many more on my smart phone and more yet on my computer. I have access to Greek and Hebrew lexicons, concordances, word studies plus various translations by the dozen.  In the apostles’ day, one had to be wealthy to be able to afford to have even just one scroll of one book of the Bible!  Many were illiterate back then. But today we can read and we can carry dozens of Bibles and Bible tools in our smart phones. To whom much is given, much will be expected.  Do you even read the Bible every day?  Do you?

How are we using our time, our money or our health?

Paul tells us that one reason we work is to earn money to help the needy (Ephesians 4:28).  Do you do that?  To whom much is given, much will be required.

So I hope you hear the full sermon on doing our part. So many in the Body don’t seem to even know they have a part in the body, or know what their part is. And yet it’s very clearly stated in the scriptures –as you’ll hear in the sermon – that we each have been given gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Developing the Body of Christ is not just the function of ordained ministers. It includes you. Every single one of you.  If you’re not burying your talents, it’s because you’re finding ways to use them. You’ll be using your time better so we get more accomplished. This will mean less TV, less Facebook and less Instagram and more efficient use of our time so we can glorify God in all we do.

If you can read – perhaps you can ask God for the talent to research and study – and then share what you’ve learned with those who preach and write.  Perhaps they won’t accept your first efforts. Don’t get discouraged. If you can write – use it. Write blogs. Ask website hosts if they’d be willing to review your blog and perhaps even use it.  I could use some help for blogs. I still work for a living 50 hours a week and then do this website in my “spare” time. 

I’m seeking to post more and more from other writers. I’ve had 2-3 write 1-2 blogs each, but please – this is your website too, and I want to use more writers. If 12 of you wrote just ONE blog that we can use, that would be one new blog from each of you in a year. Anyone want to take me up on that offer?  I just ask for ONE blog from some of you.  Just ONE. 

Some of you may wish to just submit ideas you think could be interesting blogs or sermons.  Submit them! Let me review them and some of your ideas may soon be on this website.  I’m always looking for sermon ideas too. Send in your thoughts!  Let’s work together on this.  If any of you will take me up on this, I will send you a sheet of “things to keep in mind” about writing for this website.

I’d ESPECIALLY like to hear from those of you outside the USA. And of course, I’d love blogs from those IN the USA as well.  I’d love to have articles, blogs, sermon ideas and more from Kenya, China, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, UK, Israel, Poland, Russia, Moldova, Philippines – from everywhere.  Think how RICH our content, our blogs and our sermons could be if you out there would believe what I’m saying and help be a part of this website, your website!  And then do the same at your local congregation.

So don’t ever tell Christ that you had no opportunity to write. I’m asking for you to write.

Don’t be discouraged if your initial efforts are not accepted. Thomas Edison, after all, had his well-known 10,000 experiments before he could get his electric lightbulb to work. Think of all those failures – but he just saw those as opportunities to learn even more and get it right “the next time”.  So he eventually found the solution. Imagine where we’d all be today if he had given up so soon. So don’t remain discouraged if it takes longer than you thought to develop your talent.

Some of you have been gifted with wonderful singing voices.  Are you using it to glorify God? We’re told “in everything you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Someday I’d like to have these sermons and blogs written in other languages – like German, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Italian and more.  Any ideas? 

Romans 5:5 says God’s love has been poured out on all of us by his spirit. ALL of us have that gift. And guess what?  The greatest of all gifts is love (1 Cor 13 is all about this, and see 1 Cor. 13:13 and 12:31).  We need to invest this love, develop it, grow it, ask for more of it – and let it flow in kindness, in joy, in patience and in all the things that 1 Cor. 13 says about it.

Having God’s love poured out into your heart is such a huge, huge gift.  Don’t bury it.

SO FIND OUT what you’ve been gifted with – what your equivalent of the “talent’ is for you.  You can find out in different ways:

--- ask God to reveal it to you (and he might do that in many different ways).  PRAY for him to open your eyes what is right there in front of you and inside you.

---ask a believer who knows you well what he/she feels are your gifts. Don’t be surprised if you don’t believe them.  I’ve told people “you have such a great gift of …” – but it often fell on deaf ears. Maybe people were trying to act humble. Just say “thank you”, then thank God for showing you through your friend – and then…

---step out in faith and start developing those talents and gifts. To whom much is given, much will be required.

But whatever you do, don’t just let your gift and talent lay idle and please don’t bury them.  USE them! You probably have more than just 1-2-3 talents and gifts.

Wouldn’t it be nice to hear the words that Yeshua wants to say to you and me when we stand before him?

Matthew 25:21

'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'  

I first posted this blog in December 2012 but felt it warranted being posted again.

Hanukkah is here. What is it? Why are more and more Christians, even Sabbath keepers, recognizing and keeping Hanukkah?  Some feel it is merely a Jewish counterbalance to Christmas. Others believe it is a Jewish festivity not mentioned in Scripture. What’s true? Should you and I – believers in Yeshua - -keep Hanukkah?  What did Jesus do about Hanukkah? Yes, we’re actually told in Scripture! 

Read the rest of this blog to learn what Hanukkah is about, what Yeshua did during Hanukkah, whether or not believers can participate in some way and what lessons we can learn from this holiday.

I was listening to some young people talking the other day and someone was describing a great and fun and wonderful time they had had at such-and-such a place.  “Aw man, it was wicked.  It was so much fun.” 

I don’t think the young man speaking meant “It was evil” – but that it was great, it was fun in his eyes. Later on, I heard someone else say, “Ohh…you’re bad! But that’s what I like about you”.  He didn’t mean the guy was really bad, as in evil, but that he was good.

In Isaiah 5:20 the Everliving One warns us:   “WOE to those who call evil good, and good evil…”

So please don’t think of these as harmless expressions.  Our Creator specifically tells us to have no part in using expressions or language that perverts a word’s meaning! 

It’s happening so clearly in our society today. It’s literally happening.  What is truly righteous is being called evil hate speech or something equivalent. And what is truly pure evil is being called good. 

Click on “Continue reading” for more language twists we’re hearing today that we should be fully aware of – and not letting them in any way become a part of us.

We call it a “smart phone” but in many ways, if we don’t control the use of it and who can have one– it can be one of the dumbest things we’re involved with. I mean this blog to be an alert and I might even develop this into a full sermon on this site. Should children and teens have “smart phones”?

Sure, it’s great having a little phone that is so great that most people have now cancelled their land line phones. These “Smart phone” we each have is:

*** Also is a portable powerful computer with computing power that used to take a room full of big machinery and spinning reels. Good news:  it allows us quick access to so many things.  Bad news:  it allows quick access to so many things – even for your children and teens when they use their smart phone.

***Sure it’s great that these phones that even children now have are also high quality cameras and movie cameras.

***It’s a flashlight. It’s a compass.  It can show us details of someone’s street anywhere in the world. It’s capable of games and videos. We can learn how to play chess better (as I learned when my grandson beat me for the first – and then a second time.  HE’S been practicing.)  We can look at the night sky and find and identify planets, stars and constellations. We can learn to cook, learn to paint, learn to – just about anything.  We can view just about anything as well.  We can access any song ever written and hear it blare out or blare into our ear pieces, and some play it so loudly into their ears that we now know many will go prematurely deaf or suffer tinnitus later.

***And we can communicate as never before – and send e-mails with it. And of course now we also get a lot of JUNK email, just like the old fashioned post office junk mail.  We can text people around the world with it. We can go on Facebook and see what our family and friends are up to and enjoy their latest photos. We can instantly export pictures of anything and anyone we want all over the world in a split second.  Stock trading and investment planning is easy with a smart phone. You can learn new languages more easily with it.  You all know I could go on for pages on what the Smart phone has done for us.   Young people today wonder how we ever survived without it! Wow, you had to put money into a “pay phone” to call someone? 

            So there’s a lot to like about smart phones, so don’t get me wrong. 

            But it also can ruin your present and future life.

So WHY would I call this piece of absolute marvel – a DUMB and even dangerous phone?

Please click on “Continue reading” to see the answer and I hope it will make us all think about the dangerous consequences of the smart phone too, if we don’t curtail how we use it.  I’m talking about dangers so great it can affect our future, our reward in the kingdom and much more. 

OK, so how can the smart phone be such a dumb phone?

It’s ironic. It allows us to interact with far more people, instantly, than ever before, and yet so many are feeling more alone than ever before. Why?  I’m concerned with the younger generation (anyone younger than I am).

Do we know how to converse – in voice – anymore, speaking to and listening to one another, in front of each other, with facial expressions and vocal tones? 

I was watching a group of school teens walking home – and I could find NO ONE talking to anyone beside them. NO ONE.  They all were transfixed with their cell phone messages, Facebook, Instagram pictures, emails and what not – and nobody was talking. 

We’re losing the ability to just TALK and just LISTEN to one another.  I’ve had many grandparents complain that their grandkids never CALL anymore. They text – and in short 2-5 word clips.  They don’t seem to understand the need for their grandparents and older people – to just let them hear their voices.

It’s a DUMB phone when not controlled because it’s depersonalizing us. 

Young people are forgetting the beauty of – QUIET.  Can someone (again, especially the young) just go for a walk in silence anymore – without their cell phone, or weed their garden in silence and just meditate, just let the moment envelope them?

Smart phones are being used to bully teens and children – en masse – in large groups, instantly.  Photos are added. Information is given. Within seconds the vilest things said and depicted can be sent to thousands – about your child or about you. Some recent stories on the news reveal some bullied children even ended their lives – because, ultimately, of smart phones being used for very evil purposes.

Within seconds, children with these kinds of phones can access the most detailed and graphic pornography – going way beyond mere nudity, to actual sex acts, including hetero and homosexual sex acts, and even bestiality and worse.  On Laura Ingraham’s TV news show, she recently had two psychiatrists who said much of their practice is working now with children as young as 10 and 12, boys and girls, addicted to porn.  Some older teens 18 and over – are serving jail time because of what they’ve said and sent to minors, perhaps to a girl friend who was only 14 or 15, just a few years younger.  But they were accused and convicted of sending porn to a minor. 

So should you be letting your children and teens have these phones?  You can still find old “flip phones” that are not “smart phones” if you want them to have the ability to call out in emergencies and what not.

Access to computers also gives children and adults access to many video games, many of which are very explicit sexually and many get you involved in graphic violence. I believe these desensitize those who indulge in them so it means nothing to blow someone’s head off with their high powered e-gear, or to rip someone’s heart out or to rape or do other horrible acts – as these often can be part of the “game”.   In fact, the trend is to get into virtual sex as well, so you don’t need a real flesh and blood partner anymore.  I don’t understand this last part – but it’s apparently out there or coming soon.

PEOPLE are LOSING INHIBITIONS and right to privacy – as apps request your permission to access your phone’s pictures and photos, data, contacts and who know what else – and BILLIONS of people around the world, yes billions, are giving up all of that to the unknown robots that now can peer into your very personal life.  What do they do with that?  They share it with marketers around the world. So if you do a Search on a particular city, or search for cruises –you’re soon bombarded with ads about cruise lines and things to do in a certain city. How did they all know so quickly? 

The “cookies” and other things they have – often with your permission -- are sold to marketers, so now the whole world knows where you are or where you’re going, or that you’re away from home, or what you like, how old you are, your shopping habits, where you went to school, where you live, what your children look like, and who you’re with, etc., etc. 

So personally, I don’t give permission for various apps to have access to my data, photos, contacts and the many things they want from me, so I can use their app.  I don’t think that’s worth the risk to me.  Have YOU thought that through? 

I could go on and on.  I just want my readers to give thought to how you use these marvelous tools of technology and don’t forget to be human and to remember what counts most: your relationships.  Talk to them – live, by voice. Experience one another – for real.  GUARD the doors to your mind and refuse to use the phone for violent and sexual games, pornography and anything ungodly. And watch the TIME you’re putting into these phones.

Life is made up of time and how we use that time. Though these phones can save an enormous amount of time when rightly used, they can also use up your life, your time, and distract you from what you should be focused on right now. I’d like to see a study showing how much time people use daily on their phones – texting, reading emails, doing Facebook and Instagram etc , even while at work.   I often don’t even have my cell phone with me – on purpose – so I can really focus on what I’m doing right now.  You can be video recording an event so much that you miss the fuller experience of just putting the phone/camera down and relishing the full experience.

And no, I would NOT want my teens and children have a full-fledged smart phone yet. I’d give them a phone, but not one with computer abilities.  It’s just too dangerous and can ruin someone’s life for the rest of their lives. That’s not worth it. 

So USE your smart phone carefully.  And realize marketers and industry want all your data you’ll give them – before they spread it to anyone willing to pay for it. Don’t.  Don’t regret later what you give up today.

And don’t let your smart phone become your dumb phone – or allow it to ruin your life or the lives of the young ones in your family.

One of my favorite traditions is the family get-together for Thanksgiving Day.

I know some will tie it to ancient pagan rituals, but the history of this day in the USA at least, is not one tied to pagans.  Not at all. It is a day when we remember how thankful the early Pilgrims to America were just to be alive, to have food, to have native America Indians show them how to plant corn and helped them survive in a new land.  And they certainly did express and show their deep thankfulness to God in heaven.

And – in that vein – it’s a day when we, as individuals and as a country pause as one, together, and look up to the Almighty and thank him for the wondrous blessings he’s poured out on us and on our country. 

I’m afraid much of the country no longer remembers to focus this day on thanking the great God we have above. Some don’t even call it “Thanksgiving Day” anymore.  They take away from expressions of thankfulness by calling it “Turkey Day”.  Many spend the day in shopping sprees.  I do commend the stores that close on this day and let their employees have a day with family.

So my family keeps this day and this tradition. We often start by everyone around the table discussing something, even any little thing, for which they are thankful. Even the three year olds and young children participate. We don’t just start eating when the meal is ready. Absolutely not. We thank our Father and Creator for providing us with food and a good land and for all his many blessings – then we can eat.

I hope you’ll remember Thanksgiving this year is a day of Thanksgiving. Don’t just make it a day of watching football and forgetting its real purpose.  Watch all the football you want – but first, praise and thank our dear Abba, YHVH the Great Almighty God we have.

And please – PEL-LEASE –PLEASE; don’t cheapen this beautiful tradition this year by just calling it “Turkey Day”.  Please don’t.  It’s so much richer and deeper in meaning than that.  I think we are taking away from the expression of great gratitude to Almighty God when we call it “Turkey Day”.

Are you and I limiting what the Great God of the universe could be doing in your life and mine?  I think the evidence is a resounding “Yes!”.  So what can we do about it?

In a recent sermon I gave, titled “One Voice” – within it is a quote from John 14 in the words of our Messiah. I’ve thought and thought: We surely must be limiting our Creator from what he can do and wants to do, because I sure don’t see happening today the things we read about in the book of Acts.

After Christ’s resurrection, we have several of the apostles raising the dead.  Peter’s shadow passing over someone was enough to heal that person (Acts 5:14-15).  Imagine that – without the person even asking Peter to lay hands on him and anoint him. Lots of people were brought to the apostles, and “they were all healed” (Acts 5:16).  Demons were cast out by Philip in Samaria in Acts 8.  Lame people – who were begging for money and not for healing – were leaping to their feet with a mere statement from Peter and John (Acts 3).  People had visions of angels and of the Lord himself.  Deadly snakes bit Paul, but he just shook them off.  Paul was left for dead after a vicious stoning, but rose again to continue preaching (Acts 14:19-20).

Now I realize that not everyone’s prayer was always answered with a healing or the response desired. Paul was left with his “thorn in the side” issue. Timothy had an issue of “frequent infirmities”.  Many early disciples were severely beaten, tortured, imprisoned and killed. So don’t think I’m saying nothing “bad” will ever happen to us if we apply the message in this blog.

But still – where are these powerful signs and wonders and works being seen today. I realize, we shouldn’t be personally seeking for a sign, per Yeshua’s own words  (Matthew 12:39), and yet Yeshua himself promised that if we believe, “these signs shall surely follow”, and then he enumerates healings and more.  See Mark 16:17-18 – including casting out demons, speak new tongues, not be hurt by deadly serpents or poison, and after laying hands on the sick, they will recover.

Click on “Continue reading” to finish this blog and to see more intervention by God in your life.

By R. Herbert

Sometimes, as Christians, we need to remind ourselves that it is human to doubt.  When we occasionally wonder if we are sure about some point of our faith – or even in extreme cases, about our faith itself – we may get caught up in concern about our doubts as much as in the doubt itself and effectively double our problems!

God’s word has something to say about this.  It is clear that “untreated” doubts can erode our relationship with God, but a doubt is essentially no different from any other human weakness to be faced and worked on.  We need to remind ourselves that the disciples often doubted (Luke 24:38) –  even after Jesus’ resurrection: “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted” (Matthew 28:17).   The interesting thing is that in all these cases Christ gently asked his doubting disciples “Why do you doubt?”  but never condemned them for it. Rather he encouraged them to overcome their doubts.  

The fact is, we all have doubts about many things in life and do not usually feel badly about that – only when our doubts come within the realm of our faith do we tend to feel that we are failing because of them.  In his classic book Know Doubt John Ortberg  shows that doubt is actually a necessary part of growth. Our doubts are often based on lack of information and can prompt us to search for truth –  in the long run actually strengthening our convictions.

We can still trust despite our doubts, and God wants us to learn to trust him even when we may doubt the details. The Bible shows clearly that God can often continue to work with us despite our doubts. He did it with Peter  (Matthew 14:22-33) and He can do it with us.  God’s word expressly tells us to “Have mercy on those who doubt” (Jude 1:22), and He does not deal with us any differently.

So how do we deal with the doubts that we get?  First, we ask God to help us in that specific area. One of the best examples of this is the way  in which the doubting father pleaded for help with his doubts and was rewarded by Christ.  The father’s cry of “Help my unbelief” can be ours, and we can ask for help in exactly the same way.   In times of doubt it’s easy to make things more complicated for ourselves, however. We can tell ourselves that the doubting father was unconverted and did not fully know the truth – that we who know more should do better.  Perhaps the best answer to this comes from the Bible itself, in the account of John the Baptist.

While John was imprisoned and facing execution, he sent to Jesus to ask him if he really was the promised Messiah  (Matthew 11).  Rather than chastise John for his doubt, Jesus pointed to the miracles and signs that he was doing and thus to the answer to John’s doubt.  But the important part of this story that we must not miss is that it was at that exact point in time – just as John had admitted his doubt – that Jesus told his disciples: “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11).  It was at precisely the moment of John’s greatest doubt that Jesus called him the greatest among men. Clearly, God knows it is human to doubt and is willing and desirous to point us to the answers to our doubts.  But like John, we must ask Him.

R. Herbert (a pen name), writes for a number of Christian venues as well as for his websites at LivingWithFaith.org and TacticalChristianity.org where you can also find his free e-books.  

Most of you who come to this website do not keep Halloween, I’m pretty sure.But others are new and are not sure if they should or not, or if there’s any harm in it.  It’s to you that I address this blog
.

I’ve spoken and written about Halloween several times. Just write in the Search bar of this website – Halloween-- and you’ll see the other sermons and blogs on it.  This also applies to “All Saints Day” that many countries observe on Nov. 1.

We’re in the season now when most of the movies being shown on TV are of demons, vampires, chain saw massacres everything ungodly. To watch these, to participate in any way, is honoring Satan.  No thank you.  I hope you understand; there can be no ambiguity in this. I strongly urge you NOT to involve yourself in any Halloween decorating. Do not put up images of ghosts, demons, scary people or anything to do with this evil time.

Even adults now have Halloween parties, and usually dress up in ungodly and often immoral garb. God’s children have no part in this. Don’t do it. God’s children do not participate in the world’s pagan-originated holidays. We just don’t.

God’s TRUE children will have no part of HALLOWEEN (All Hallow’s Eve). 

Click on “Continue reading” for the rest of this very short, but to the point, blog and what God himself tells us.

Throughout scripture we see how our Maker employs physical objects and animals to point to something spiritual. So we have different animals that were suitable for animal sacrifice – and each one pictured something different about the Messiah. The bull, goat, sheep and dove all represent different virtues. Our Creator didn’t just pick one animal – but different ones to more completely teach us about our Savior. 

On the Day of Atonement, we tend to think of the two perfect goats – without spot or broken bones or any blemish – that served different purposes on this solemn day of Coverings.  “Yom Kippur” means day of covering, and there were actually several coverings, so it’s often called Yom Kippurim by some. But besides the two goats, there was a bull, a ram, 7 sheep and so on. See Numbers 29:7-11.  Were you aware of that? We hardly talk about them.  Most sermons I’ve heard on Atonement don’t even say much about the goat which was killed and whose blood was sprinkled in the Holy of Holies. It seems all the attention goes to the azazel – the goat of removal. 

So the controversial sacrifices were the two goats. It’s been taught in some circles for decades that the 2 goats were critical to the day. One goat, we were told, pictures Christ, and one goat pictures Satan. That’s right, on the day of ATONEMENT of all days – somehow Satan worms his way in there! Over the years, the entire sermon about the Day of Atonement was often all about the goat of removal – from the Hebrew word “azazel”. And azazel was capitalized, like this – Azazel - like it was a name of someone important, rather than keep it as a simple word meaning “removal”.  The word “azazel” is a function, not a name.  

Why were there 2 goats? And is there an example in scripture of 2 other identical animals that were part of a ceremony to show what God was doing?

Click on “Continue reading” to hear the rest of this teaching.

As you recount perilous times in your life that you went through, how do you describe it to others?

Assuming we can look back and see times where we had such a “close call” – and can see God’s intervention, do we give God the glory He deserves for answering prayer – or do we say things like, “Boy, were we ever LUCKY!” Or, “We sure dodged a bullet on that one”. I

In 2016, we had Hurricane Matthew – a Cat 3 that hugged the east coast of FL – when suddenly and unexpectedly, after much prayer, it hopped off eastward into the Atlantic 50 miles. Suddenly in the early morning hours. God spared Orange County/Orlando and millions of people. It was supposed to have 95-135 mph SUSTAINED winds for 12-14 hours and gusts higher than that. Our roofs and trees would not have survived. It was one of the most dramatic answers to prayer I’ve ever witnessed.

But after it was over, people were saying, “Boy, were we lucky!” I couldn’t help but jump in with a comment like “Luck had nothing to do with it. We had some powerful answer to earnest prayers going up. God saved us.” I was gratified to see a few signs up in front of people’s homes which said, “Thank you, God, for saving us.”

Then again, we just went through Irma. I can’t stand it when I hear people speak of being lucky. It wasn’t luck! People were beseeching our great God in heaven for days before. And we all watched as the forecasts and paths Irma was supposed to take, didn’t happen. God degraded Irma from what could have been a Cat 5 hurricane to hit FL – down to mostly Cat 2 for most of the state. I realize, many suffered through a Cat 3 and 4, but even then, a Cat 3 hurricane doesn’t begin to pack the wallop of a Cat 5 like the islanders went through.

God was with us. Those who have studied it carefully see how often this monster changed course and changed predictions. It could have been 50x worse in damages or more, if our great God hadn’t intervened. And THANK YOU to the thousands of you who prayed for us. YOUR PRAYERS WERE HEARD.

Click on “Continue reading” for important scriptures and points on this topic

My brother Loren sent me this today: He mentioned a teacher who had said about our daily activities and decisions we make: “God has a part and you have a part. We cannot do God's part and God will NOT do our part. But God will help us do our part."

Then he added:

 Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."  Loren added, “This does NOT mean He gives us what we want. It means He will align us to HIS will. He waits for us as He guides us until we are ready to yield ourselves to Him. Then His ways and thoughts eventually become ours in every matter as our desires become aligned with His desires for us. (See also Rom 8:28 - called for HIS purpose)

“He will align us to HIS will”. That’s a very deep statement, folks.  It’s full of meaning and rich in nuances to see what He is all about, and what our lives are truly all about.

I agree.  Click on “Continue reading” to finish this short blog.

I assume most of you who read my blogs pray frequently.  Or maybe I shouldn’t assume that? A primary focus of this website is to help us all develop closeness with our Maker and to come to know Him, as Paul said also in Philippians 3.  I have a recent sermon on the power of even short, but frequent prayers. Plus another one on praying fervently. You see, we are the temple of the God’s Holy Spirit and the temple was called “the House of God” and the “House of Prayer for all nations”.  In “the old days”, people went to the temple to pray if they could. So if we’re the temple of the Spirit, our lives should be a living dwelling place for God via his spirit.  We should be His House of Prayer as well.

The temple was also where the Urim and the Thummin were, one method God used to communicate to his servants. Plus it was in the temple – or the Tabernacle before that – where God talked to Moses as a man does to his friend, or where God’s will was revealed.

What are your prayers like? The concept I want to convey in this article is this: Prayer is an interactive conversation with your Maker and Savior.  It’s not to be a recital of words someone else wrote a thousand or more years ago.  Nor should it be a monologue of words coming only from you as you monotonously run down your “Prayer List”. In my experience, conversations where one person does all the talking are not conversations at all -- but monologues – and frankly, these are often boring to the other party present.  The “other party present” in this case is your God, your King and your Maker.

So – this blog is about learning to let God speak to you as well, even as you have this conversation called “prayer” with YHVH.  This article is about learning to LISTEN when you pray. If you learn this well, your prayer life will be renewed and become so exciting as you start to “hear God’s voice”.  I’m convinced God wants to speak to his children, yes – to you – and does speak – but we are not tuned in to his “frequency” or even realize He is speaking, and so we miss his words to us.  How tragic. 

Please click on “Continue reading” to learn more about this vital tool in effective praying:

Jesus began the model prayer he gave his disciples (Matthew 6:9–13), with the words “Our Father…” and some Christians feel this is a clear teaching that we should pray only to God the Father.  This understanding does not doubt the divinity of Christ as the Son of God, but sees him as our intermediary or authority for prayer (Ephesians 2:18) which, it is presumed, should be addressed only to the Father himself. But the New Testament does not contain any prohibition against prayer to Jesus, and we should look carefully at what it does show.

The Teaching of Jesus

First, we should remember that the Lord’s Prayer is doubtless primarily a guide to prayer and not a prayer to be followed verbatim. For example, there is no thanksgiving mentioned within the prayer outline, though we know that giving thanks is an important part of prayer often stressed in the Bible (Ps. 100:4),  by Jesus (Matthew 11:25) and by his apostles (1 Thessalonians 5:17–18). In the same way, the Lord’s Prayer does not include the words “in Jesus’ Name,” though we know from other scriptures they are right and proper to include in prayer. So the prayer outline need not be seen as limiting or exclusive. It was natural that Jesus himself prayed to the Father, and taught his disciples to do so, but that fact does not tell us whether prayer to Jesus is, or is not, acceptable.

We must also remember that Jesus received and accepted divine prerogatives such as worship and prayer during his lifetime (Matthew 2:11, 8:2, 14:33, 28:9, etc.).  He specifically said we should honor him as we honor the Father (John 5:23), and he instructed his disciples not only to petition the Father in his name (John 15:16), but also said: “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

The Example of Stephen

There are numerous apparent examples of prayers to Jesus in the words and writings of the apostles (Acts 1:24, James 1: 5-7,  etc.), and one of the clearest examples of such prayer is found in the words of  Stephen at his martyrdom. The Book of Acts tells us that “While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:59-60).  This verse not only records the prayer Stephen made to Jesus, but makes it explicit that it was a prayer and not a “statement” or any other form of speech, as is sometimes claimed.  Stephen’s prayer is certainly not criticized by Luke – his direct prayer to Jesus as Lord is recorded as the final righteous act of a righteous servant of God.

The Writings of Paul

In writing to the church at Corinth the apostle Paul spoke of  “… those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:1–2), indicating that at least on occasion these Christians prayed directly to Christ.

Paul also gives us an example of his own prayers to Jesus in saying he “besought the Lord” to remove his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:8). Not only does the title “Lord” usually signify Jesus in Paul’s writings, but also he specifically tells us that it was Jesus who replied to this prayer: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In some of his epistles Paul offers prayers for those to whom he is writing which specifically ask the blessing of both the Father and the Son on his readers (1 Thessalonians 3:11–14, 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17, etc.), and we find other glimpses of this same approach of addressing Jesus as well as the Father.   To the Ephesians Paul wrote that believers should speak “… to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). It would surely be futile to suggest that we can sing praises to Jesus, but are not to address him in other ways. 

In 1 Corinthians 16:22 Paul ends the verse with two Aramaic words that are almost certainly a simple prayer to Jesus: “Come Lord.”  This is the wording followed by virtually all modern translations (NIV, ESV, HCSB, NKJ, NRSV, NAB, etc.).

We’re all familiar with the story of the resurrection of Lazarus in John 11. But have you given thought to the fact that before Yeshua says, “Lazarus, come forth”… Yeshua first gives another command?

Understanding this simple but profound lesson and its implications from our Master – can change the number of stunning miracles we get to personally experience. In fact, there are several dramatic lessons our Redeemer teaches us in this resurrection story.

What command did Yeshua issue prior to calling Lazarus back to life? Do you remember? 

Click on “continue reading” to finish the rest of the story and learn a profound lesson that can change your life.

I gave a recent sermon about your weekly sabbath “date” with your Maker.  Imagine that? A personal, worshipful, refreshing, restful weekly appointment with your Creator.  In that sermon I give specific ideas of how to make that sacred time of the Sabbath – MORE.  More what?  More productive, more holy, more effective, more worshipful and happier –more of a great delight.

How about having a family or group discussion –or a “pow-wow” as we say here in America -- wherever you live on how you can make that sabbath date with your Maker more productive, more holy, more uplifting and more worthy of His name? 

On each 7^th day Sabbath, we remember and memorialize who the Creator of everything in the universe really is.  This is especially important as we and our children are constantly bombarded with the false god of evolution. We are supposed to believe that all the intricate and sophisticated life we see around us all just evolved.  NONSENSE!   And professing to be wise, these professors who espouse this have become fools.  But not all. Albert Einstein, even as liberal as he was, when asked if he believed in God, said when he looked at the universe, it was just beyond believability that it could have all just happened without a Creator. 

So on sabbath day, on the right and only weekly sabbath day, we bow to and delight in the Creator, Life Giver, Universe Designer and Law Giver who brought this all into existence.  Worshiping the Creator and remembering HIM as the creator of all things is the sabbath’s original purpose.  Remember: We are to remember the sabbath – the day YHVH RESTED and STOPPED all his work and made the 7^th day of each week HIS holy time. 

Frankly, I think many sabbath keepers – including me – have especially in recent  times become lax in keeping the sabbath holy, restful, worshipful and delightful --and to bring glory to our Maker. It has become to many more of a social club where we go to sabbath services more to meet up with people we haven’t seen for a week instead of focusing more on our Maker. 

The weekly sabbath is the appointment your Maker set with YOU and your family for his children to come and worship and be refreshed together.  It’s your “date” with your Beloved Messiah.  This appointment that HE set (Leviticus 23:3) and calls HIS feast day (moed – divine appointment) begins at sundown the end of the 6^th day of the week and goes through sundown the 7^th day.  Are you ready for your appointment, or are you still shopping somewhere, still have a long drive home after sundown, or are not ready to meet your Maker yet?  Remember the Sabbath – shabbat in Hebrew – means “rest”.  It’s our weekly stop sign.

Our God said that sabbath should also result in us feeling refreshed. 

Exodus 23:12  “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall REST, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.”

We know our Creator doesn’t need to rest, but he DID – perhaps as much as an example for us as well as the spiritual reminder that we must take time to rest from our work(s) and find refreshment in him.  I say again, be sure to read and hear the sermon posted recently about our weekly sabbath “date” with our Maker.  

Many teach the sabbath was given just to the Israelites or Jews.  But the first sabbath was given to Adam and Eve – ancestors of all mankind, at least 2000 years before Judah was even born! Yeshua himself said he made sabbath for MAN – all mankind – and not just the Jews.  Also remember in the new covenant we are all of Israel spiritually anyway. We who have His holy spirit are the “Israel of God” – a phrase especially applied to mostly-Gentile Galatians! 

In my sabbath series of sermons we’ve posted, I show numerous examples of Gentiles also being expected to keep the sabbath. BE sure to check those out. Strangers “within your gates”, residents of Israel – foreign or Israelite alike – were to keep the sabbath.

Sabbath was also to be one of the signs identifying the people of God.

Exodus 31:16-17  “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days YHVH made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'"  (See also Genesis 2:1-3).

But back to my main point:  If you, your spouse or your children are not feeling refreshed and rejuvenated by the end of each sabbath day, something is terribly wrong in the way you’re keeping sabbath. 

Frankly the way sabbath ends up, many remark how tired they feel.  It’s been a long day. Especially those who don’t get to sleep in and have to attend morning services.  And if they have a long drive – it’s even harder to be rested and refreshed.  I recommend afternoon services where possible, to allow people to sleep a bit longer, to rest and be refreshed and even have time for family and for prayer.  And even then, many would admit that going to services ends up being a mad rush to avoid being late. 

I’m just saying and asking: what must be done in your household to start having sabbath day be enlightening, refreshing, restful, worshipful, holy and wonderful? 

Click on continue reading to for tips and ideas that can change your sabbath experience and make it more of a delight for you and your Maker.  Some of these ideas can help make the Sabbath a day you can’t wait for! 

 In a most recent new sermon I recorded about overcoming worry and fear and even disappointment with God we sometimes feel – I talked about how we so often wish we could sit down with YHVH our God and just ask, “WHY?”  

We want to ask why He didn’t intervene and stop a terrible event. Why did He allow your son or daughter to die – and why did he allow the suffering to go on for so long? “Father, why can’t I find a job? Why aren’t you healing my cancer” or “why was I born deaf, or blind, or mute, why?” … fill in the blank.  So many “why” questions.  I hope you will carefully read this blog. It can change your life, I promise.

In this blog I just want to say a couple more things and explain why dwelling on the “Why, God?” question and frame of mind can be devastating to our faith and joy.  I will also explain about what we should do instead. 

The “Why” question is certainly commonly found even in the Psalms and it’s stated or implied throughout the Bible. So it’s “common to man” to ask this question. 

We certainly see this in Psalms 22:1 – My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me?”  and in verse 2 the psalmist implies “why” by asking why his God wasn’t hearing his pleas for help.   And as we continue in the Psalms, we read over and over implied statements of David feeling unheard.  Psalm 4:1 – he pleads with Almighty God to “hear my prayer”.  David at least gets it right when he has these questions – he usually later in that psalm of wondering where God is, states he has confidence God will hear his cry. 

Psalm 27 is another psalm where David strongly implies frustration with not hearing more directly from his Maker. “Do not hide your face from me …do not leave me or forsake me, O God of my salvation” (verse 9).  But throughout he goes back and forth between questioning and reassuring himself with God’s promises.

Watch for these as you read through David’s psalms and prayers. In Psalm 39:12 he says “Hear my prayer, Yehovah, …do not be silent at my tears; I’m a stranger with you…”  So we feel David’s frustration at times, and perhaps this is why so many people relate to the Psalms.  It’s as if David is expressing our own thoughts.

But focusing on the “Why, God?” question can also be fraught with danger. 

Click here on “Continue reading” to learn why I feel dwelling on this question is not productive – and potentially very dangerous. 

On the day after the weekly sabbath that falls during the days of Unleavened Bread, after the Passover, is a SPECIAL day. It’s always on the 1^st day of the week –commonly called “Sunday”.  This year, and sometimes other years, it happens to coincide with Easter.  But we do not keep Easter, but the days our Creator specified in Leviticus 23. We know the New Covenant brethren after the resurrection of Messiah also kept these days.  In fact, the new covenant church of believers was founded on a festival holy day – the day of Pentecost, when they received God’s Holy Spirit – and the spiritual harvest of souls got underway.

The Wavesheaf Day was not a holyday, but the harvest of the barley could not begin until a ceremony was first performed. The High Priest would raise a specified amount of fine barley flour to be accepted by God “in behalf of the rest of the harvest.”  I HOPE you will spend a few minutes on it.  I hope pastors everywhere gave a sermon on the sabbath about the Wavesheaf Day.

For full details on this day, I recommend you hear the re-posting of my sermon on the Wavesheaf, originally given in 2014. Be sure to listen carefully especially to the last 40 minutes of that message.

The first barley Wavesheaf represented our Savior, Yeshua of Nazareth, son of God, son of man, our beloved Master. He is the ultimate firstfruit and once our Father in heaven accepted him in heaven, the rest of the spiritual harvest of human lives could begin.  Remember he told Mary of Magdala that she had to let him go as he had to go to “my father and your father, to my God and your God” (John 20:17). That was the Wavesheaf he was fulfilling! 

The rest of the barley harvest resembled the first fruit that was waved up high. We too, must be in Him, copy him, live like him, let him be in us, and let his mind be our mind. We must come to him daily and eat of him – take him inside us, consciously – and ask him to live obediently in us the way he lived the first time on earth. He will.  And with every passing day, every passing year, we are to look more and more like Jesus (Yeshua). 

Yeshua gave one sign that he was the genuine Messiah.  He said he would be 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb and then be resurrected (Matthew 12:39-40).  Our Messiah was placed in to the earth – in a tomb – just before sundown of Passover day (John 19:41-42).  Remember the “next day” always began at sundown. That next day was a “high day” – a holy day, an annual sabbath (John 19:31).  Exactly 3 days and 3 nights later, to the minute they had put him in the tomb, his Father in heaven resurrected him.  So by the next morning, even before sunrise, the tomb was already empty. He had risen! 

But he did not go up to heaven to be accepted for our behalf until the actual ceremony by the high priest, which I believe was at 9 a.m.  After that ceremony, the rest of the harvest (a work day) could proceed.

So it’s not a rest day. It’s not a sabbath or holy day. But indeed, as I cover in depth in my sermon on it – it’s a very, very special day. Let’s not forget it.

My wife and I at 9 am on Wavesheaf day will say a thankful prayer for all that the son of GOD did for us and you – and we will thank our Father  for letting him live again. Without his resurrection, we would have no future (1 Cor. 15:13-17). 

Don’t miss Wavesheaf day.  It’s a wondrous day. This year it’s April 16, 2017.  In it, the victory over sin and Satan is complete. And Father accepted Yeshua’s perfect life for all of us who believe in him. 

Be sure to hear the latest sermon posted – the one about the Wavesheaf.  Some good reading this time of year – perhaps even as you thank him in prayer on Wavesheaf day – would be:

            1 Cor. 15:13-17

            Hebrews 9:22-28

            Hebrews 10: 4-12

            1 Peter 1:3, 21

Praise you Abba.  Praise you Yeshua.  What a perfect life you lived, and a perfect job you did, that we might all also live.  Thank you Father. Thank you – Son of God. 

(Note:  pass the word. Tell others about this day and how we glorify our God and Yeshua in this website). 

As I write this, we’re coming near the end of the 7 days of Unleavened Bread. In a previous blog, I asked “what’s your focus” as you deleaven? I hope you’ll read that one too. It’s amazing how many things have leaven in them – even Grape nuts cereal, and some flat breads that LOOK unleavened, often are not.  So often sins in our lives don’t seem all that bad, but are!

But our focus should not be so much on the leaven as much as on what we’re replacing it with represents – Yeshua!  Focus on his life, his sinless life, his perfection as we eat unleavened bread, as we eat of him these 7 days.

In this blog, I ask “How are you doing with not eating leaven” during these 7 days?  Probably most of you who keep it (few do any more it seems) have faithfully avoided breads, pastas, crackers, cakes, muffins and the like.  But again, let’s focus MORE on HIM. As we eat UNLEAVENED bread, remember Christ is the one who washed away all our sins (pictured by leaven) in his blood.  I can’t really deleaven my own life.  I can’t.  I need HIM to, and that’s why we are eating unleavened bread.  And now we eat of him, as John 6 says. Be sure to study that chapter if you haven’t in a while.  Remember that John 6 was spoken just before Passover (John 6:4). 

The only way we can have a 100% sinless “deleavened” life is by faith in his washing away of our sins. We cannot – I repeat, cannot – get all the leaven out of our lives ourselves.  Even physically -- in the end, there’s leaven somewhere that we’ve missed -- perhaps deep inside a couch, or behind the back car seats, or in our air ducts or even in the sink drain’s “elbow”! Leaven spores are even in the air. In the end, though we fight sin, in the end we have to trust Christ’s life over us and in us and for us – as the unleavened, sinless life we must have. 

Have you noticed also how leaven can sometimes be staring you in the face and somehow you’ve missed it?  Oh no, you forgot to replace and throw out the vacuum cleaner bag, or to clean the toaster.  So obvious, but sometimes we miss it.  As we live in a deleavened home these 7 days, remember there may be some huge sins we’re allowing in our lives.  

Some focus SO much on the physical leaven they forget the very POINT of this feast:  Don’t focus on the sin, but on the One who removes our sin!  Christ is our unleavened bread, HE is the one who deleavened us by washing away ALL our sins in his blood, and HE is the one who should be living obediently in us now, if we have surrendered to God and accepted Yeshua as our LORD and MASTER. 

So just as leaven can sometimes be staring us in the face – but it remains in our freezer or cupboard, so can obvious sin be lurking in our lives.

Click on “Continue reading” to find ways we may be allowing  obvious sins in our lives.