Are You Truly Born Again?

Within Christendom the doctrine of "being Born Again" is a new doctrine that came through Yahushua in John chapter 3.  You remember the dialogue Yahushua had with Nicodemus a Teacher of Israel..."except a man be born again he can not see the Kingdom of GOD".  Nicodemus replied "how can these things be".

It is the reply of Yahushua in John 3:10 that is so, so powerful.  HE said " art thou a Teacher of Israel and you don't know these things"!  To put it another way, " you are a teacher of Torah and you should know these things (the Born Again doctrine).  But how could Nicodemus have known this if Christendom teaches us that it is a New Testament doctrine which first appears in John 3?  Ecclesiastes 1:9c says "there is no new thing under the sun".  In essence what has been will be.  It is there if we look for it.

Se'lah

Born Again is akin to having a circumcised heart.  A heart that has submitted to following YHVH and HIS instructions (Torah) and accepting the Messiah Yahushua (our Living Torah).  It calls for a transformation from a heart of stone (stubborn and contrary to GOD's Laws) to a heart of flesh (pulsating with trusting faithfulness in HIS love and Living Torah).

Deuteronomy 10:16 says "circumcise the foreskin of your heart and don't be stiff-necked no longer".  What is to be circumcised? The heart!  Also within this text stiff-necked is akin to unbelief; which is a lack of trusting faith in GOD. 

In essence Yahushua was saying to Nicodemus...as a teacher of Torah you should know the doctrine of being Born Again because it is the Torah doctrine of circumcision of the heart"!

Colossians 2:11 says "you have been circumcised with a circumcision made without hands"

School of Thoughts Question:  Have you been circumcised in the heart from having a heart of stone (stubborn and contrary to GOD's Laws) to a heart of flesh (pulsating with trusting faithfulness in HIS love and Living Torah)?


Se'lah

A pseudo Gospel and a pseudo Ecclesia

What is a pseudo gospel?

It is a mimic gospel which is a distortion of what the Messiah, the early prophets and the apostles preached.  It is a falsehood, a concealment of what our founding father Abraham believed and practiced; and a replacement of the true GOD given word which came through Moses.

What did Yahushua preach?  He preached the Kingdom’s message which exalts him as KING; which causes people to live in HIM and be govern by HIM according to the kingdom’s principles. 

You see - The Gospel is a Kingdom message!  It says that Yahushua is the Messiah and we as disciples should walk in restoration, healing, deliverance, recovering of sight, reigning and jubilee!  This is exactly what HE preached and commissioned the Apostles to preach.  To the patriarchs that came out of Egypt, the promise land was a typology of the Kingdom Rest.  And our forefathers lineage that accepted the Kingdoms offer was Joshua and Caleb's generation.  And those that rejected it - died and did not enter in.  See Hebrews 4:1-11.

References: Matthew 4:23 Matthew 9:35 Matthew 11:5 Matthew 24:14 Matthew 26:13 Mark 1:1 Mark 1:14-15 Luke 4:18-19, 7:22, 9:6, 20:1   

Are we a pseudo ecclesia?  

A mimic and distorted congregation based on misapplied truths that functions with fragrances of UN-Biblical practices.  

Being that the biblical patriarchs and the founding fathers of our faith spoke and wrote Hebrew, and some Aramaic; we can rest assure that the scriptures were written accordingly.  With that said, many words, metaphors and phrases within the scriptures were not translated into proper English equivalent words.  Therefore some true meanings of these words were lost.  And what were also lost is how we should function as a congregation.

So how should the Ecclesia function today? It should function similar to the 1^st century believers - congregational.  Notice that most Epistles were written to congregations on how they should operate, function, believe and judge, and not to a so called Pastor. 

Congregational epistles evidence are Romans 1:7; 1^st Corinthians 1:2; 2^nd Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:2; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2; 1^st Thessalonians 1:1; 2^nd Thessalonians 1:1; 1^st Peter 1:1; 2^nd Peter 2:1; Jude 1:1; Revelation 1:4. Specific and personal letters are Acts, 1^st and 2^nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, 2^nd and 3^rd John. 
Here are further references that alludes to the Body of Believers being congregational and not hierarchical: Ephesians 5:23,24; Matthew 18:15-20; Romans 16:5; 1^st Corinthians 16:19; Acts 21:8; 1^st Corinthians 5:1-6:20.

You see - The purpose of Yahushua releasing the set-apart spirit on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 was to establish all believers as part of the priesthood whereby each believer is responsible for walking in Torah truth in spirit and to know how to function.   

School of Thoughts Questions:
Who chooses deacons according to Acts 6:1-3? 

Who decides on matters within the congregation according to Matthew 18:15-20 and 1st Corinthians 5:1-6:20? 

Selah'

Are You Caught By 666?

Many of us have read and or heard of the term “Mark of the Beast” (reference Revelation 13), for it has been around since the 1^st or 2^nd century.  And many have accused individuals, Presidents, Kings and various entities as being an operative or having the mark itself or being the Beast himself.  However, these beliefs are based solely on ones political affiliation, western thought, Christian media and or wrong interpretation of scripture.  Nonetheless, I want to share from another angle the by-product of  the “Mark of the Beast” who many believers have unknowingly been Caught By 666.   

When looking at the world as a whole and how people live and interact with each other; and comparing this to scripture; there’s three (3) common areas where one can easily be ensnared.  These three (3) areas are created and managed by man (humankind) year in and year out.  They are being used to control your thoughts, actions and beliefs and many of us don’t know it.  

Revelation 13:18 reads…. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.  The word “understanding” in this text in Greek is “nus or nous” which means …having the intellectual faculty to perceive and judge or recognition.  

Now “nus”(understand) this people as I list the three (3) areas created and managed by man (humankind) which all have the by-product of  the “Mark of the Beast”

6= Political System… used by man to control your devotion to a group, a people, a region or a country so that humankind’s plan can be implemented which causes you to focus on that agenda instead of the Kingdom of YHVH

6= Economic System…used by man to control the market, food, monetary distribution, population growth which causes you to focus on mammon instead of YHVH as our provider

6= Religious System…used by man causing you to be more devoted to religion than a daily walk with YHVH

Remember Saints -    

Psalms 18:2  "ADONAI is my Rock, my fortress and deliverer, my Elohim, my Rock, in whom I find shelter, my shield, the power that saves me, my stronghold.

For it is by HIM and through HIM you live and have your being. 

Don’t be caught by 666!

Selah

The misunderstanding and misapplication of Easy Access has destroyed the Reverence

Ephesians 2:18 - For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

When reading this text my mind reflects on a particular software that many companies uses to manage their business processes.  After signing on to the system a user is directed to what is called the “Easy Access” menu.  A menu where all transactions are listed enabling the user to gain access to virtually all assigned processes.

However with that access to the “Easy Access” menu comes the security that if a user misuse a field within their assigned process that user will get a warning or error.  When a user gets the warning or error it is to remind the user that only certain data should go in that field…… not just anything.   

In many of today’s congregation, the reverence for Elohim has been discarded. The Reverence, the awe and the wonder have been replaced with emotionally charged entertainment style services and worship. Assembling together has become a casual affair, more akin to a social event than an encounter with our Father. What is perceived as easy access to HIM through Yahushua HaMashiach (in church language Jesus Christ) has diminished the holiness of YHVH in our own eyes. This should not be! This was and is not the purpose of Yahushua HaMashiach giving us access to the Father.  What we actually doing is bypassing the warnings or error signs and offering up anything to YHVH because of the misapplication of Easy Access

I’m a Father and a Daddy.  But being Daddy to my sons does not release them to disrespect who I am as a Father.  There’s still a way to approach me; there’s still a way to behave in my presence.  Shouldn’t we even the more behave accordingly in the presence of YHVH?

You see dear friends, there was a wall of enmity between Gentiles who came to faith in YHVH and our Jewish brothers as to what should be revealed or allowed by new converts (this was also displayed in where gentiles sat while attended the synagogue during the 1^st Century).  Therefore, not having access to Holy things caused the gentiles to disrespect through misunderstanding and misapplication what should be HOLY. 

Gentile Services has become talent events and social gatherings with music and excitements with no relationships with YHVH according to knowledge.  How can I say that?  Erroneous teachings, no lifestyle change and the prevalence of outward sin!  These are the exact problems addressed in all of the letters of Apostle Paul wrote to predominant gentile congregations who misunderstood Easy Access .

School of Thoughts:  Why would the book of Leviticus be a primary learning book for anyone coming into faith during the Temple days?

Because Leviticus teaches the sacredness of the Temple and how to conduct and navigate oneself within the Temple and how to live a set apart life!  Therefore it is easy for a believer to walk in holiness (set apartness) inwardly and outwardly!

What has occurred within the gentile believing community is a belief system that “Yahushua paid it all” therefore I don’t have to do anything but believe; and the only thing a congregation has to do is assemble.

In Ephesians 2:19 Paul says we are “fellow citizens with the saints”.  Therefore as a fellow citizen I must behave and carry myself according to my new citizenship.  It is because of this citizenship that I can be bold.  Not bold to live any kind of life; but bold to be in HIS presence; and claim my rights. The first thing a person has as a citizen is rights.  But with those rights comes responsibility !  Selah

We have been grafted in not grafted out!

As gentiles we were grafted into the Olive Tree. Why were we gentiles grafted in?  Should not they (the Jews) be grafted in to us (the Gentiles)?  In studying grafting you need two basic things; a stock (a tree or plant which has roots (i.e. Jews), and a scion (a branch or stem from another tree or plant – i.e. Gentiles).  This grafting had to take place in order for Yahushua to make a new man according to Ephesians 2:15. 

It is because of this grafting we now can produce fruit.  Could not Yahushua done this without the grafting process? No; it would have been against the law of nature and the spirit. 

Romans 11:16 says “and if the root be holy, so are the branches”.

1 Peter 1:15-16 - But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (behavior, lifestyle); Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy (set apart).

Note:  Holiness and Reverence are intertwined so don’t be fooled by the Easy Access gifted to us by Yahushua.

Selah

Read Right and Right Read

As a child I use to hear my father say " learn to read right and right read".  I often wondered as a child what was he saying?  And even now I am not 100% sure if he understood what he was saying himself..  However, after 27 years in ministry I now understand in my life the application of "read right and right read"!

Did you know that how you read the Torah or the scriptures in general determines the revelation or understanding you receive? 

You see, many read the scriptures fast, some slow, some with a closed mind, or through the lens of ones denominational upbringings.  Some even read the scriptures for the purpose of a sermon.  When this occurs it becomes very easy to miss the revelation of the text.

Proverbs 4:7 says "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding".  The whole thought process of reading scripture is to get an understanding and not to get a sermon.  Understanding in the quoted text above comes from the Hebrew word "biynah" which has a root word "biyn" which means "discernment".  That's the whole purpose when one read the scriptures.

Unfortunately, when we do not "biyn" the scriptures we tend to miss what YHVH has planned for our lives, the scope of life, or the purpose of the text or the purpose of the body of believers.

I tell people everywhere I go "truth misapplied is error".  .Another thing I share with them when they quote a scripture out of context is "Q.R.A.W".  An acronym for Quoted Right Applied Wrong!

It is so easy to quote a text and misapply the meaning of that text.

So " learn to read right and right read".    "biyn" the scriptures

Selah'

Yeshua, Two into One

In Acts 1:6 the disciples ask Yeshua was this the time that HE would restore Israel as a political power/land/it’s own Kingdom?  Why would they ask this?

Because it was a common belief among some Rabbinical layers that when Messiah comes HE will come as a Priest (an Aaron or Melchisedec type) and a Political Ruler (a Davidic type King to set up a Kingdom). 

School of Thoughts: Could this be why in Matthew 12:23 it was said…Is not this the Son of David ...in other words (the Messiah as King)?  

Some even believed in two separate Messiahs, one to come as a Priest and another one to come as a King.

The unbelievers who rejected Yeshua didn’t know that Yeshua had to first fulfill prophecy, and then secondly he had to bring a clearer understanding of YHVH and HIS word/Torah.... see in John 4:25 the woman at the well knew this for she said " I know when Messiah comes HE shall teach or he will tell us all things");    thirdly by Yeshua ascending into Heaven it places him in the position of a Heavenly Priest (see the entire book of Hebrews); fourthly when HE returns HE will be KING of Kings setting up HIS earthly Kingdom (see the entire book of Revelation and Ezekiel); thus Yeshua fulfilled and is fulfilling what is believed about the Messiah. 

School of Thoughts:   Could this be why Yeshua chose men of both backgrounds to be his disciples – those influenced by the idea of a Priestly Aaron or Melchisedec type Messiah and those (zealots/zelotes) influenced by the idea of a Political Ruler a Davidic type Messiah; thus making two into one?  Se’lah 

Next, Judas being associated with the zelotes group was disappointed that Yeshua didn’t try to overthrow the Roman government during his time, so Judas chose to sell out Yeshua because he thought Yeshua would be the Political Ruler right now.  By grace and conviction, at least the other zelotes (Simon the Canaanite) stayed true.

School of Thoughts:  Also, could this be why Joseph of Arimathea wanted to honor Yeshua by burying him in his  tomb?  According to Luke 23:51 Joseph of Arimathea waited for the earthly manifestation of the King and HIS Kingdom, and not only him, but all believers of that day as well!   

Yeshua, our Messiah has made two into one fulfilling both schools of thoughts and beliefs.  HE is the One! 

Se’lah