Employee Handbook for Sheepherders

 

                

Glossary of Terms

Chief/Good Shepherd – YHWH the Creator who loves His sheep and only wants good things for them.

Shepherd – One who helps tend or keep YHWH’s sheep.  Every man is the shepherd of his home.

Hireling – Not a shepherd in heart, but a hired worker who watches the sheep for a payment exchange.

Sheep – Those who follow the Shepherd put over them as their Shepherd follows the Chief/Good Shepherd.  Every sheep has a shepherd.

Path – The trail worn by those sheep, who have went before us, that lead the sheep in the right direction.  There for the sheep’s sake as well as the Shepherd’s.

Fence – The barrier placed in love by the Good Shepherd.  The fence serves a two fold purpose and must be maintained.

Goats – Those who stay close to the sheep, but are not sheep. 

Wolves – Those who prey upon the sheep to devour and destroy the weak and young.

Food – The Words of the Good Shepherd are food to the sheep.  The sheep must be led to these Words.

Water – The second most essential ingredient for the sheep.  Without shelter and Water the sheep quickly perish.  Water is the Truth of the Good Shepherd. 

 

Rules and Guidelines.

1. The Chief / Good Shepherd watches and cares for His Sheep and only wants tov (good) things for His Sheep.

(YHWH) who satisfies your desire with good things,so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
(Psalms 103:5  NHEBME )

“If you then, being wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father (YHWH) who is in the heavens give what is good to those who ask Him!
(Matthew 7:11 The Scriptures 1998+)

And we know that all matters work together for good to those who love Elohim, to those who are called according to His purpose.
(Romans 8:28 The Scriptures 1998+)

 

2. The Good Shepherd has a Path / Way that He leads His Sheep on.

 

Thou (YHWH) wilt show me the Orach Chayyim (the path of life); in Thy presence is fulness of joy, at Thy right hand there are pleasures netzach (for evermore).
(Psalms 16:11 OJB)

Teach me Thy Derech (Path), YHWH, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
(Psalms 27:11 OJB)

Teach me, YHWH, the derech (Path) of Thy chukkot; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Thy torah; yes, I shall be shomer (guard) over it with my kol lev (whole heart). Make me to go in the path of Thy mitzvot; for therein do I delight.
(Psalms 119:33-35 OJB)

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
(Psalms 119:105 The Scriptures 1998+)

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
(Proverbs 4:18 The Scriptures 1998+)

He (YHWH) restores my soul.He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
(Psalms 23:3  NHEBME )

The Path speaks of a cyclical route that the Sheep follow on a regular basis.  This repetitious route creates memory check points that assures the Sheep that they have not strayed from the Path.

 

Uphold my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps stumble not.
(Psalms 17:5 OJB)

Show me Your ways, O YHWH Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the Elohim of my deliverance; On You I wait all the day.
(Psalms 25:4-5 The Scriptures 1998+)

Trust in YHWH with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
(Proverbs 3:5-6 IAV)

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of YHWH, to the house of the Elohim of Yaakov; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Tziyon shall go forth the Torah, and the word of YHWH from Yerushalayim.
(Isaiah 2:3 IAV)

3.  The Sheep know the Voice of their Shepherd and listen when He calls.

 

"I (Yahshua)am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me, "just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. "And I have other sheep, which are not out of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd.
(John 10:14-16 MRC)

(Yahshua speaking) "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
(John 10:27 MRC)

Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that YHWH he is Elohim; there is none else beside him. Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
(Deuteronomy 4:35-36 IAV)

For He is our Elohim, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice:
(Psalms 95:7 The Scriptures 1998+)

4. The Torah, YHWH’s Commandments, is the fence.  The fence does two (2) things:  Keeps the bad out and protects the good inside.

And He said, “If you diligently obey the voice of YHWH your Elohim and do what is right in His eyes, and shall listen to His commands and shall guard all His laws, I shall bring on you none of the diseases I brought on the Mitsrites, for I am YHWH who heals you.”
(Exodus 15:26 The Scriptures 1998+)

The Commandments are a line of distinction between the disease and the healed.  By shomer (hear and do) we are protected from the outside diseases.

 

(YHWH speaking) but showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands.
(Exodus 20:6 The Scriptures 1998+)

 

But the kindness of YHWH Is from everlasting to everlasting Upon those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To those who guard His covenant, And to those who remember His orders to do them.
(Psalms 103:17-18 The Scriptures 1998+)

The kindness (chesed – beauty or favor) of YHWH is inside the fence.

 

‘If you walk in My laws and guard My commands, and shall do them, then I shall give you rain in its season, and the land shall yield its crops, and the trees of the field yield their fruit. ‘And your threshing shall last till the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last till the time of sowing. And you shall eat your bread until you have enough, and shall dwell in your land safely. ‘And I shall give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and no one make you afraid. And I shall clear the land of evil beasts, and not let the sword go through your land. ‘And you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.
(Leviticus 26:3-7 The Scriptures 1998+)

Inside the fence there is rain, plenty of crops, bountiful harvest, bread (food), safety, shalom, no evil beasts and no enemies.

 

“And you shall guard His laws and His commands which I command you today, so that it is well with you and with your children after you, and so that you prolong your days on the soil which YHWH your Elohim is giving you for all time.”
(Deuteronomy 4:40 The Scriptures 1998+)

 

My son, do not forget my Torah, And let your heart watch over my commands; For length of days and long life And peace they add to you.
(Proverbs 3:1-2 The Scriptures 1998+)

Length of life and completeness (shalom) is inside the fence.

 

(Yahshua speaking) If ye love me, keep my commandments.
(John 14:15 IAV)

(Yahshua speaking) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
(John 15:10 IAV)

Love for the Shepherd is inside the fence.

 

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
(1 John 2:3-4 IAV)

Intimate knowledge of the Shepherd is inside the fence.

 

and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
(1 John 3:22 HNV)

Unlimited provision is inside the fence.

 

5. The Sheep need a Shepherd.

 

“Let YHWH the Elohim of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who goes out before them and comes in before them, who leads them out and brings them in, so that the congregation of YHWH be not like sheep without a shepherd.”
(Numbers 27:16-17 The Scriptures 1998+)

 

So he said, “I saw all Yisra’el scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And YHWH said, ‘These have no master. Let everyone return to his house in peace.’ ”
(1 Kings 22:17 The Scriptures 1998+)

He (YHWH) feeds His flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs with His arm, and carries them in His bosom, gently leading those who are with young.
(Isaiah 40:11 The Scriptures 1998+)

“Hear the word of YHWH, O gentiles, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Yisra’el gathers him, and shall guard him as a shepherd his flock.’
(Jeremiah 31:10 The Scriptures 1998+)

“And they were scattered because there was no shepherd. And they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. “My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill. And My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.”
(Ezekiel 34:5-6 The Scriptures 1998+)

And having seen the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, as sheep having no shepherd.
(Matthew 9:36 The Scriptures 1998+)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
(John 10:11 The Scriptures 1998+)

For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your lives.
(1 Peter 2:25 The Scriptures 1998+)

We all, like sheep, went astray, each one of us has turned to his own way. And YHWH has laid on Him the crookedness of us all.
(Isaiah 53:6 The Scriptures 1998+)

6.  The goats live among the sheep.  They are not sheep but blend in and cannot be told apart from a distance.  The goats (also known as tares) will be separated from the sheep (also known as wheat).

“And all the nations shall be gathered before Him, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. “And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
(Matthew 25:32-33 The Scriptures 1998+)

‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I shall say to the reapers, “First gather the darnel and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my granary.” ’ ”
(Matthew 13:30 The Scriptures 1998+)

The goats live among the sheep, but do not like the fence.  Goats typically spend a lot of time gazing at the other side of the fence.  They often attempt to escape the confines of the pasture and many times get hung up in the fence.

6.  The shepherd loves the sheep and will die for the life of the sheep.

 

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
(John 10:11 The Scriptures 1998+)

The hireling works for money and doesn’t have the sheep’s life as his main concern.

“But the hireling, and not being a shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. “Now the hireling flees because he is a hireling and is not concerned about the sheep.
(John 10:12-13 The Scriptures 1998+)

The hireling doesn’t really care about the sheep, the fence or the shepherd.  What matters most is the paycheck.  If trouble comes, the hireling turns and runs. 

How does the hireling end up in charge of the sheep?  Who hires the hireling?  The shepherds have handed the sheep over to hirelings.  This is NOT the will of the Good Shepherd.

 

For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of YHWH: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.
(Jeremiah 10:21  NHEBME )

 

Woe be unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith YHWH. Therefore thus saith YHWH Elohim of Yisrael against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith YHWH. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith YHWH.
(Jeremiah 23:1-4 IAV)

As the shepherds of our homes, we as men have turned our families (sheep) over to the hirelings.  The hirelings (who sometimes do a good job, without the threat of adversity and pay in hand) should not leading our homes!  It’s time we rise up and become the shepherds of our homes, following the Good Shepherd and loving the sheep.

 You should sit down with the defined terms in mind and re-read Psalms 23. 

What Facebook has Taught Me

 

I have had a Facebook page now for a few years and there are some things that I have learned.  I initially joined because I had grown tired of the junk on myspace and decided to try a new social network that didn’t have all of the garbage.  After joining I soon discovered that I could reconnect with old friends and distant relatives and I was hooked.  Not everything on Facebook has been pleasant and it has been a learning experience for sure.  Here are some things I have learned:

 

1.  I am getting old.

I have days that I feel my age, but generally I feel much younger than my actual age.  Facebook has helped me realize I am getting older, and it’s you guys that allowed me to see it.  You see since I don’t feel 45 and usually don’t act my age it wasn’t until I started seeing your pictures that I noticed how old I was looking.  I normally look in the mirror and see a young man, but some of you look…whew OLD!!  If we were friends when we were young and we are about the same age, I must be getting old.

I told my 11 year old son the other day; “When you’re young you live in the future.  Always day dreaming and imagining things, never really thinking about the present and having no real past.  When you are middle aged you live in the present.  Not wanting to think of the past and ignoring the future.  Life becomes about everyday survival and getting the family raised.  Then one day you wake up and realize you are old and all you want to do is dwell in the past.”

Some of ya’ll are living everyday in the past.  Now I didn’t think I was personally doing this until I saw ya’ll doing it, then I realized that maybe I have started doing it myself.

Thank you Facebook for this lesson.

 

2.  There were a lot of things I stressed over years ago that I should have just let them go.

When I was younger (preteen up to mid-twenties) I did and said some things that I immediately regretted and after losing contact with some of ya’ll spent hours wondering if I had offended or hurt you.

Then I discovered Facebook and I found ya’ll too.  That’s when upon closer observation those things that I thought had damaged you, in fact don’t really seem to have had an effect on ya’ll at all.  Now granted, most of ya’ll don’t seem to be normal, but I don’t see a connection to your issues and my comments or actions.  In fact, I might should have done and said more, this might have prevented ya’ll from doing some of the stupid things that messed your heads up.  The mental scars that ya’ll have accrued are so vast, there is no way I could have done this damage.  I often wonder how many of ya’ll are actually mental institution escapees?  Regardless, I still love ya’ll, I just worry about your lifestyle choices.  So…

Facebook has taught me not to sweat the small stuff.

 

3.  We all get fat and ugly.

When I started rediscovering ya’ll, I was worried that you would reject me ‘cause I was not the slim and attractive young man I used to be.  Then through the wonderful “Photo” section on ya’lls Facebook pages, I discovered the current you.  And well, let’s just be honest; ya’ll have let yourselves go.  Come on people we are only in our mid to late forties.  We aren’t old enough to start spending the rest of our lives trying to eat ourselves to death.  There are lots of workout programs on DVD for geriatrics available.  We all should agree to try and get back to our high school weight or better, just so we can quit laughing at each others photos thus possibly causing one of you hefties to have a heart attack.

Facebook has taught me that getting older doesn’t mean you have to give up.

 

4.  How in the world did ya’ll end up there?

I know some of you read my posts on Facebook and think I have gone bananas.  I am fine with that.  Why?  I read your posts too.  I wonder how many of you have come down with Mad Cow’s Disease?  I understand most of you think I am weird and not even close to the same guy you used to know.  But when I read some of your posts, I think aliens have slithered into your ears and now posses your brains. 

If nothing else, no matter how far in left field I go, some of ya’ll will always make me feel normal.

Facebook has taught me that brain erosion is no respecter of persons.

 

5.  Decisions are very important and think them through before settling on one.

I know we all make snap decisions sometimes and live to regret our choices.  But what were some of you thinking?  Let’s make some things very clear; tattoos are basically permanent,  marrying a lifelong convict seldom works out, if you don’t plan on changing your eating habits reconsider liposuction, sharing your most intimate moments on your “wall” cannot be undone. 

Ya’ll need to think harder before making decisions.  Therapists do need work and it is mighty noble of ya’’ll to continue to pile up sessions topics like Lindsey Lohan piling up drug busts; but at some point ya’ll need to consider my #1 point above.

Now having gotten these things off my chest and having aired out my laundry, let me say that I am thankful that the creator of Facebook was kind enough to create this outlet to teach me these life lessons.

In closing, I love ya’ll and will “like” your Facebook post forever, or until they take away my internet here in my padded room.

Priests of Our Homes

We are told in two different passages from the book of Revelation that we have been made kings and priests.

and has made us sovereigns and priests to His Elohim and Father, to Him be esteem and rule forever and ever. Amĕn.

(Rev 1:6)

and made us sovereigns and priests to our Elohim, and we shall reign upon the earth.”

(Rev 5:10)

This is also alluded to in the book of Daniel.

So if we as men are going to be serving as kings and priests, how is this applicable to the life we are living now and our function within the home? Are there particulars concerning the job of priest that we need to understand and emulate?

I am going to use the references Rico Cortes has in is teaching concerning the role of the priest and see how we can apply these in our lives today.

The first thing that stands out to me concerning the priest is the level of sanctification that is necessary to be able to fulfill his duties. The hands and feet must be washed to make them pure. The hands come in contact on a daily basis with all kinds of impure things. It is almost impossible as someone who deals with the world during the work week, to not be touching unclean things or people. As the priest of my home, it is my responsibility to make sure that before I come home and be in contact with my family; being the intermediate between them and YHWH, that I do my part and clean my hands. We must even before dealing with our family, shake free all of the filthiness and unrighteousness of the world so that we may be able to deliver to them the righteousness of YHWH. We also must sanctify our feet, because we are forced to walk where the unclean things of this world are. So before bringing these things into the home, we make ourselves clean. But not just our hands and feet, we must be immersed into the pure water and come out clean, because the righteousness of YHWH cannot coexist with the filthiness of this world. To be the emissary of the Presence of YHWH for the home, we must be clean.

By what are we washed? I am not talking about taking a bath or shower on our natural bodies. Although I almost always feel this compelling desire to get physically clean also, I am talking about a Spiritual concept. What is the Water that we are washed in?

Ba'alim (husbands), have ahavah for your nashim (wives), as also Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach has ahavah for the Brit Chadasha Kehillah and gave Himself up on behalf of her, That He might bring her to kedushah (Holiness), having given her tohorah (purification) by the tevilah of the mikveh mayim of the Dvar YHWH,

(Ephesians 5:25-26 OJB)

So the Word of YHWH can wash us and make us Set Apart. Men, are you daily washing yourself in His Word? Have you allowed the daily things you are immersed in keep you out of the mikveh (immersion) of YHWH’s Word? We cannot and will never be priests of our homes until we learn that we need the Word of YHWH to make us clean.

The priest would daily light the incense in the Tabernacle and Temple. This would create a pleasing smell to rise up to YHWH. In Revelation chapter 8 we find that the prayers we send up are the incense before YHWH. As the priest of the home, it is our job to daily send up prayers before YHWH on behalf of our family. Three times a day the incense was offered up; morning, midday and early evening. These became the prayer times that we see still observed in the Brit Chadasha (New Testament). In fact, all three times are mentioned in the recounting of Yahshua’s death. We cannot lead our family into YHWH’s Presence until we set the pattern first thing in the morning. We start the day by saying the Shema, and then we address our King with praise and thanksgiving, freely asking for our daily provision because we know He only wants what is best for us. We stop midday and again address our Creator. Then once again before the end of the day, we come into His Presence. Men, we must fall on our faces before YHWH, we must seek His face and we must return to His Way. Most of us come from a christian background were ritualistic type prayers were frowned upon. We have been raised to address YHWH like He is our best buddy. Understand I am not condemning this type of communication; however, we cannot forget that the daily memorized prayers by the Jews kept YHWH were He was supposed to be and the people where they should be. He is King and we are His servants. “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Set Apart is Your Name…” Let’s not do all of our prayers in the Buddy Mode and forget that YHWH is our King. We need confession and teshuvah, these lead to revival. Revival in our lives, in our homes, in our Nation and around the world.

It was the priest’s job to make sure the menorah stayed lit. There was only one Light in the Tabernacle and it could not be neglected and allowed to burn out. To keep it burning, oil must be in the bowls. Men are you keeping the Light in your homes? There is only One Light source for your homes. If you allow it to go out, your home is in darkness. The only way for the menorah to stay lit is to keep the oil (Ruach) full. If we do not have the Ruach, how can we pour it out in our homes? We MUST stay full of the Spirit so we can keep pouring His Spirit out.

There is much more here and I will write additional information in the days to come.

ben YHWH newsletter for the month of Tevet | www.yahisone.com

ben YHWH newsletter for the month of Tevet | www.yahisone.com

Ben YHWH | www.yahisone.com

Ben YHWH | www.yahisone.com

The Great Creator vs. The Evil Imitator

I will not take up your time by going over a subject that you are probably very familiar with by now.  But I do want to draw a line of comparison here because the times and situations demand it.

Ecc 1:9
(9)  What has been is what shall be, what has been done is what shall be done, and there is no new matter under the sun.

We are bombarded on a daily basis with the concept of “new.”  Every product is new and improved, every doctrine of man is new, every thought, every ideology all new.  But yet Shlemo says there is nothing new under the sun.  How can so many be duped by this continuous lying?

The very foundation of sun worship (pagan christianity) is the absolute worse at perpetuating this lie.  Every jack legged preacher who comes along with a new circus act, claims he has a new thing.  Whatever!  There is NOTHING new under the sun or sun-god worship.  These tactics and antics go back to the Garden.  They come from the wrong Tree.  They are all part of the lie that the enemy started telling back in the Garden.  Not being the Creator, ha satan has always been the imitator.  He takes Truth, albeit in small doses, and wraps it around a huge lie.  Just like we do when we try to give our dog medicine.  When you wrap a piece of tasty meat or cheese around the medicine, the dog swallows the whole thing.  Sound familiar?

YHWH created everything, He made it all good and put His Blessing on it.  So in an effort to be like YHWH, the adversary has taken the good and made bad imitations.  Wrapping a little truth around a big lie, smiling and telling us it’s good as we gobble it down. 

The evidence of this dastardly deed is all around us.  Satan didn’t want anyone to keep the Feasts YHWH created, so he made imitations.  The imitation have been around almost as long as the originals.  Check me out.  People celebrated christmas thousands of years before the Messiah was born.  How is that even possible?  Pagan mythology set up the lies before the Truth was manifested.  This way it appears the imitation was the creation.  We know Scripture tells us the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.  So if from Creation the Creator had already planned for the Lamb to be slain, doesn’t go without saying the Lamb must be born, live and die.  Right?  Well where was the Imitator when the Creator made His plan?  Did ha satan not know this plan?  Even if you think he didn’t know then, wouldn’t he have known when these Words were spoken?

Gen 3:15
(15)  And I will put eivah (enmity, personal hostility [see Ezekiel 35:5]) between thee and HaIsha (see HaAlmah, Yeshayah 7:14), and between thy zera and her Zera; it shall crush thy rosh, and thou shalt strike his akev (heel).

When YHWH spoke this curse upon ha satan what do you think he immediately set out to do?  Wouldn’t his MO (modus operandi) be to destroy the Good by imitating it and flooding the market (so to speak) with his cheap imitation?  Well, what a shock that’s exactly what he did.  The pagan lore of a god/man born to a virgin who dies is rampant.  The whole tamuz, I mean christmas story is all through mythology.  So is ishtar/easter, with all of the pagan attachements, colored eggs, rabbits etc.

So is it any surprise that we can actually determine Truth by looking at the lie?  This is not the best and perfect way to find truth, but it really does work.  We know that YHWH created everything and ha satan imitates YHWH’s creation, so why does the world and specifically the christian world embrace the lie?  We have Truth (Scripture) to use as a checkpoint, but still we all have chosen to chase hard after the lie while ignoring and trying to explain away the Truth.

Just because it must be asked, tell me; where is christmas or easter in the Scriptures?  Not there is it?  We do have Passover, Sukkot and other wonderful Feast Days to keep and celebrate, they are all in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, but we always say those were “done away with.” 

The lies of ha satan have ridden on the back of the churches and this causes generation after generation to accept them carte blanche.  It becomes almost impossible to walk away from the imitation when we are multiple generations deep into the lie.

Now I didn’t write this to talk about holidays vs. YHWH’s days, so let me get to my point.

In the late 1800’s a movement broke out in Topeka, KS. that took the United States by storm.  There was speaking in tongues, convulsions, shouting and people getting slain in the spirit.  This movement went from Topeka to Houston, where it grew and deepened.  From Houston it went to Los Angeles (Azusa Street), where it exploded.  I will not get into all of the details because if you are serious about your relationship with the Heavenly Father, you will check this out and confirm the facts.  The facts are this, ALL of these movements were centered around people with deep voodoo (vodou) backgrounds.  The acts that were manifest at these meetings were all syncretizations of pagan satanic rituals mixed with Roman Catholicism.  To be specific, it was called “riding the loa” by those in Haitian and African witchcraft.  Why would ha satan do this?  What was the motive behind shoving the lie down our throats?

There is always a true and real creation that the Imitator wants to debunk.  YHWH has and will move in a very real way through His people when they seek Him.  Yes, people can and will be healed, delivered and set free.  Yes, we can and will dance before YHWH and He does speak through His people with another tongue.  But once again the Imitator has set before us a evil imitation of a real thing that we naturally run to just like Adam and Chawah (Eve) in the Garden.  We are loosing our youth to this imitation ever day, simply because we run from the Truth and embrace the lie ourselves. 

When we look to YHWH, reject the lie and allow the Ruach to work through us, we will see His Ruach (Spirit) poured out in this last day.  It will not be Todd Bentley/Benny Hinn/Oral Roberts/William Seymour/Charles Parham type of hoodoo voodoo.  YHWH’s Spirit will not take us away from His Word.  Real Spirit leads to Real Truth.  Tattooed, adulterous, money hungry, voodoo following perverted men (and women) will not lead YHWH’s people into His outpouring.

We are desperately needing a move of YHWH in this last hour.  We need Spirit (Ruach) and Truth (Emet).  A life that is out of balance in either area cannot stand.  Too much Truth without Spirit is unbalanced and too much Spirit without Truth is not stable either.  Why is it we reject both at one time or another?   

The Children of YHWH need to be seeking His Ruach and what He wants us to have, not seeking the pagan ways of the world.  When we mix the Truth of YHWH with the lies of the Imitator we can not be pure sources of Water for the lost.

My point is this; we need a real move of YHWH in the Body today.  We must put ourselves in the proper position to receive this outpouring.  We must purge our homes and our lives of all pagan influences that ha satan uses because they are all imitations and keep us from YHWH’s Truth.

2Ch 7:14
(14)  If Ami, which are called by Shmi, shall humble themselves, and daven, and seek my face, and turn from their derakhim hara'im (wicked ways), then will I hear from Shomayim, and will forgive their chattat, and will heal their land.

Joe 2:28-29
(28)  (3:1)  And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Ruach [Hakodesh] upon all basar; and your banim and your banot shall prophesy, your zekenim shall dream chalomot, your bochurim shall see chezyonot (visions):
(29)  (3:2)  And also upon the avadim and upon the shefachot in those days will I pour out My Ruach [Hakodesh, see Ac 2:1-42].

I’m Gonna Kill Myself!

My life has not been secluded from the trauma of death.  From looking in my dad’s eyes as he drowned, to watching cancer take my Papa all at eleven years old, to arriving at the hospital as they are trying to revive my father in law, to holding my wife after we have had to pull the plug on her mother; I have witnessed death.  Being in the presence of those passing on numerous occasions has given me insight that I hope no one else ever has to gain.

One thing I have learned, the stress of passing and the fear of the unknown is far greater for those left grieving than for those passing, (at least those who die at peace with YHWH).

Right after we got married my wife and I rented a house in Terre Haute, IN. really cheap.  We wondered why our little home was so cheap until we discovered the neighbor behind us was sitting in jail just recently arrested on charges of mass murder.  The nights laying in bed knowing the atrocities that were committed less 25 yards from my bedroom was a little creepy.

Later we had purchased a home in the small community of Harmony, IN. and one night while I was home alone (with our two dogs), some guy abducted a woman and murdered her then set her car on fire in the alley behind our home.  Again, knowing what had taken place just feet from me, as I lay sleeping was very strange.

So I have known death and do not fear it as much as I fear losing someone else that I love.  The very thought of life without my wonderful wife or son will quickly bring tears to my eyes.  I would struggle to survive without them here.  My mother is now seventy years old and the reality that she isn’t long with us makes me apprehensive and sad.  I realize when she is gone, I will have no remaining connection to my childhood and the guidance and support only a mother can give will be gone.

Having said that, I don’t really fear dying.  I don’t want to leave my family like my father left us, so that part keeps me wanting to stay here just for their sake alone.  But if I have learned anything in life this I will stake my life on, I fear no one or nothing except YHWH.  If you don’t really know me, you may not believe that, but those who know me can tell you that it’s true.  My family has the reputation of not letting fear keep them from doing anything.  In fact, that is why my dad drowned at the young age of thirty-six, he took one too many risks.

Now at this point you are probably wondering where I am going with this and you may think I need prayer, counseling or both.  However, let me clarify something.  There is a part of me that needs to die.  In fact, if I don’t kill it, it will eventually kill me.  I am talking about my carnal nature.

We are at least triune creations, made up of body (basar), soul (nefesh) and spirit (ruach).  There are possibly other parts to us, but for now let’s leave those alone. 

Our flesh (Hebrew word basar) is the vehicle we ride around in, it is nothing more that the vessel carrying the real you.  it has a useful purpose and we tend to spend way too much time washing, waxing and buffing the outside while ignoring the inside.  We understand our body (basar) is the Temple of the Ruach ha Kodesh(Holy Spirit), in other words the body hosts the Spirit and we should maintain and upkeep the body for this reason alone.  However, we don’t ever want to worship the temple while ignoring the Spirit that lives inside.

There is another element that we have that plays a vital part in how we act and react.  This is known as our soul (Hebrew word nefesh) and it is the whole of a person, their body, breath and mind.  It is this part that tries to rule over us on a daily basis.  This is the part of you that makes you, you.  Your nefesh is best reflected through you personality traits and people will connect your appearance (basar) to your actions (nefesh) and create memories of you based on these two parts.  The soul/nefesh has wants and desires and will drive you to do whatever it takes to fulfill these cravings.  These driving desires makes alcoholics, drug addicts, gluttons and perverse men out of  normal people.  The alcoholic wakes up and wants a drink.  Why?  The nefesh is driving and controlling the basar (body) and the ruach (spirit). 

I believe that some people have become so nefesh driven that they are just above an animal in nature.  They seem to have driven any evidence of ruach (spirit) away and are only controlled by the insatiable desires.  Every minute of their lives is about quenching the desire to feel better.  In fact, just pay attention to how often the media talks about the way you feel.  Ha satan knows how to hook us and knows when we have given in to our nefesh we are killing the ruach. 

Does YHWH want a people with no nefesh?  Does He desire zombies that walk around in some state of auto pilot without personalities or emotions?  NO!  What has to happen to us, is we must kill the carnal nature so that is can be born anew with the conjunction of our ruach with His Ruach.  When we allow the Ruach ha Kodesh to fill our ruach we then become driven by Him and not ourselves.

Does this change our nefesh/personalitiy?  Yes and no.  It does in the sense that we no longer seek the things of sin but seek YHWH.  This makes us produce Spiritual Fruit and act like Yahshua.  But is doesn’t make you act different than the way YHWH made you.  Your life has been a collection of experiences, some good and some bad, but all making you into what you are today.  These experiences make you more suited to reach people who relate to your experiences.  So taking these traits out of you would make you unable to connect to other people in need. 

But let’s get back to my problem for a minute.  I have fought my nefesh now for about…all my life.  I have actually over powered it a few times and had it on life support.  I have been so close to getting it submitted to YHWH on several occasions only to catch myself sneaking into the hospital room and nursing it back to health.  It sounds crazy but it’s true.  You would think that having struck the ole man a near fatal wound that I would draw the Sword and cut off it’s ugly head.  But instead I work harder to revive it and bring it back to life than I did to strike the wound.  Then every time I have nursed it back to life I discover that it is more powerful than before and it will take even greater effort to force it into submission again.

So why do I allow something so ominous and threatening survive?  Why is it that I allow the part of me to live,  that wants to kill the part that desires good things?  I don’t understand it and to be quite honest, I’m more than a little mad at myself.  I think it’s time for a killing.  If I am ever going to become all YHWH wants me to be, I must complete this task and decapitate the carnal man.

So just how am I going to do this?  Well here is what has worked before. 

1. Prayer

On  my face frequently and staying that way until things change.  If I really fear (yarah) YHWH then I will realize the only safe place is prostrate.

2.  Fasting

Denying my nefesh the very thing it demands makes it weaker.  In fact, the more you deny it’s cravings the lesser it becomes.  In the process of denying the carnal nature the spiritual man gets stronger.

3. Stay In the Word

Reading, studying and memorizing the Word does something to the inner man.  Scripture is like the protein of the spirit.  Prayer and emunah (a living faith) works out the spiritual muscles, while fasting burns off the unwanted carnal fat, but it’s the Word that provides the fuel needed to create new spiritual muscles.

So what is going to make this time different than before?  How will I complete the tasks set before me and conquer the ole man?  You.

That’s right, I have hooked you in.  By now you have read this far and you are committed to this challenge.  You will join me in this battle, you will fight by my side and together we will be victorious over the flesh.  For you see, I know that you too have these same issues.  I know that you have fought these same battles and felt these same frustrations and now you are accountable.

Are you ready to join together with me and fight this fight to the end?  Are you prepared to be different and become the child of YHWH that He wants you to be?

If so, let’s do this together.  Let’s commit mass suicide of our nefesh.  The world thinks we are a cult anyways, so come on drink the spiritual Kool Aid with me and let’s die together.  Trust me when YHWH sits down on the throne of our heart (nefesh), we will be a new creature.

Chasing

I have chased so many things in my life
Never looking back or away
Only to discover sorrow, frustration and strife
Were waiting at the end of the day

Why I pursue the things that destroy or kill
I cannot say
The sin and wickedness makes me ill
It’s a debt I cannot pay

But when it comes to chasing Truth and Yahweh
I seem to have no drive
I would rather goof off and play
Then chase the One who keeps me alive

The older I get the more I find
The endless pursuit for the things of death
Have quietly eroded my mind
Taken my health and stolen my breath

Yahweh, today I choose to change what I am chasing
After you I will run fast
My priorities and desires in You I am placing
For Your Kingdom is the that which will last

Forgive me for running after sin
With my head lost in the stars
Doing the wrong thing time and again
Like a dog chasing parked cars

Help me start each day praying
As early I seek You
On my knees patiently staying
For chasing You is what I will do

Tabernacles Transformation

My family and I started our transformation from Christianity to a Scriptural based belief about 8.5 years ago.  It was shocking and revolting to discover the depth and length that paganism had within the bounds of Christianity.  As we embraced Scriptural principals and walked away from pagan customs we found ourselves being abundantly blessed.  So many things in Scripture that hadn’t made sense before now we saw with Spiritual clarity.

One of the major things we discovered was that ha satan, our adversary, had imitations for everything the Creator had made.  Every imitation was widely accepted and embraced by many churches.  So we began the process of purging out the leaven and making our walk a Set Apart relationship. 

After embracing the wonderful gift of Shabbat, we started looking at the Feasts Days of YHWH.  We had basically rejected the pagan imitations already, so we now had to consider the real days of celebration and begin observing them as best as we knew. 

Our first Tabernacles/Sukkot was kept in our back yard in a tent.  We had been attending Shabbat meetings with a local assembly, but since they did not observe YHWH’s Feast Days, we decided we should and all we knew to do was try our best.  We had no clue there were other Believers assembling within close driving distance of our home, so we were doing what we knew to be right the best way possible.

That first Sukkot it was my wife, son and me sleeping in a tent in our back yard at our suburban Dallas home.  Between the sirens and traffic noise from highway 175, we didn’t feel too Set Apart.  I know some of our friends, neighbors and relatives thought we were crazy, but we knew what we knew and there was no turning back.  Halfway through that first Sukkot, my then 3 year old son Zachry, got very ill.  It was SO cold that year and realizing the danger of exposing him to more sickness, my wife and son moved back into the warm house.  Believe me, that last few nights by myself, in the freezing cold, I questioned my sanity.  I remember getting during the night to go into the house for restroom use and looking at my family warm and sleeping soundly.  Needless to say, it was a miracle we ever kept Sukkot again.

The next year was somewhat better as it wasn’t as cold and no one got sick, so even though it wasn’t an awesome experience we felt better about our decision and were encouraged to press on.

Our third year we discovered another family from the assembly we were attending was keeping Sukkot on the country acreage and they invited us to join them.  So we set up our tent out in the field about 400 yards from Lake Fork and began this new level of Sukkoting.  We now had another family to fellowship with and the campfire time was awesome.  We also discovered some other new elements to Sukkoting; fire ants, coyotes and outside toileting.  So even though we were so happy to be with another family of Believers, we had some adjusting to do, again.  We came away with a new desire to follow YHWH and knowing we had made the right decision.

Our fourth year was a tough one.  I had reinjured an old back injury and was unable to fully participate in the sleeping on the ground experience.  We had made plans to Sukkot with our friends again and it was frustrating not being to be involved in the way I desired. 

Year five things took a different direction.  My back was a lot better and the opportunity to join a large group of Believers Sukkoting in Oklahoma opened up.  So we loaded up the truck and we moved to… well we headed to Oklahoma.  This was a new and awesome experience.  Hundreds (almost a thousand) other followers of YHWH together celebrating this appointed time.  For the first time we saw the heart of Sukkot among a large group of people and we were blown away.  Even though we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves my family didn’t really connect to other families and we left excited but still feeling like there was more.  Granted, it was probably us because we went with our dear friends the Droblyn’s and they connected to other families.  It was so great to be with YHWH’s family and learn.  The teaching was awesome, the music anointed and the atmosphere was excellent.

Year six we cycled up to another level.  Due to last minute issues, we changed from the Oklahoma group to a closer group meeting south of Arlington TX.  We didn’t really know anyone else going, it was just us and our adopted family the Droblyn’s  We recognized some of the scheduled speakers and like the last Sukkot in OK., Jimmie Black was doing the music.  So we arrived not knowing what would happen just excited to be with YHWH’s people.  Right out of the gate we saw obvious differences from our previous Sukkot.  This one was way less organized and somewhat hectic.  There were less people than the previous one but still there was about 300 people in attendance.  After settling in and adjusting to sporadic weather, something very awesome began to take place.  Unlike the previous year when the size of the Sukkot pushed us outside the camp, this year we were just yards from the tent of meeting and in a circular site with several other families.  Although we knew none of them, YHWH began a new work.  We began to form bonds that at the time we had no idea would be so strong.  When Sukkot was over, we felt like we didn’t want to leave.  Yes, there were mosquitoes, skunks (really), horrific weather swings and fire ants; this time we had forged a bond with our new family.  We wept as we left and prayed we would meet again soon.

 

Year seven (this year) YHWH completed our first week of Sukkot!  We approached Shavuot (Pentecost) with no idea were we where going for Sukkot.  The group we had Sukkoted with last year had chosen to observe the Feast using the vernal equinox and we felt the correct Feast was exactly one month prior than the dates they had chosen.  After much prayer and fasting we decided to look for another place to Sukkot.  In the meantime a really neat bond had been formed from last year.  Right after Sukkot 2009, we found out about a meeting in Dallas called the Final Return and there were some really great teachers going to be there so we went over for the weekend.  When we arrived (with our family the Droblyn’s) there were a few of the families from Sukkot last year,  So we were able to spend some time with our new family and enjoy the meeting.  We exchanged contact info and promised to keep in touch.  Just Shavout, one of the families sent us an email inviting us down to celebrate this Feast with there group from the Georgetown area.  This was 3 1/2 hours southeast of us but we felt this was YHWH’s will so we and the Droblyn’s drove down to be with our new family.  While there the issue with Sukkot came up and someone casually suggested we should do our own Sukkot.  It was laughed about and we moved on.  A few days later David Brumlow, Chris Droblyn and I were discussing plans to put a Sukkot together.  We initially thought it would be really small and just involve the few families that we had Sukkoted with last year.  We had less than 90 days to prepare for this and didn’t really understand the magnitude of our undertaking.  YHWH did send Steve Hoelscher to us and he had done previous Sukkots, so we had some help.  Right in the middle of planning, with no real advertising, YHWH worked a tremendous miracle.  Just days from Sukkot we suddenly had a meeting with around 200 other Believers.  We had felt the burden to keep this Sukkot centered around the local men  attending and their families, so we booked no “big name” speaker other than our friend/brother Paul Nison.  The worship was to be done by Jim Mattson a local brother and lo and behold, Jimmie Black was going to join us for two days. 

Right in the middle of YHWH’s Sukkot, something beautiful happened.  YHWH called the men together for the morning prayer time, and the first morning we met YHWH put us on our faces right in the east Texas dirt.  We repented for the lack of leadership we had displayed in our homes and vowed to become real men of YHWH.  On that day, YHWH’s presence was poured out on our meetings.  Something powerful, beautiful and anointed happen in Rusk, TX.  Bonds were formed that were based on our love for Truth and Torah.  I changed that day and have no desire to return to the old ways. 

Next year in Jerusalem…  If not, we will be were YHWH leads with those who are seeking Him and looking for His return.

The Art of Negotiation

Recently on a return trip from camping over Labor Day, I was forced to spend several hours in an upscale hotel lobby after a vehicle breakdown. As I sit waiting on the needed parts to arrive so we could get the vehicle repaired, I watched the people coming and going in the lobby. While waiting I made an alarming discovery. People actually haggled over the hotel rate and surprisingly all got reduced rates. I am not unfamiliar with the negotiating concept and having a couple of decades in sales experience, I have haggled and been haggled far too many times. I just never even considered trying bartering for a room.
This discovery got me thinking; how many dollars have I left on the table all these years? Since 1983 I have been getting my own room from time to time, and having traveled quite a bit, have been in my share of hotel/motels. If I would have saved $5 - $10 dollars every time that comes out to a pretty large chunk of change over a twenty-seven year period. You wonder how many other people don’t know about this technique. Am I the only ignorant person who just asked for a room and either paid or moved on?
Then while pondering this financial travesty, YHWH spoke to my heart. “You don’t have because you haven’t asked.”
James 4:2 You lust for something and you do not have it; you kill and you envy and you are not able to obtain. You get involved in machalokot (divisions of dissensions) and fights. You do not have because you fail to daven (pray) with your request.
James 4:3 Or you make techinot (petitions) and you do not receive, because you ask wrongly, that on your ta'avot (lusts) you may spend what you receive. [TEHILLIM 18:41; 66:18]
WOW! So Ya’acob says exactly what YHWH spoke to me, we are doing without what YHWH wants us to have because we are not asking. Why wouldn’t we ask? What would keep us from asking YHWH for the things we need?
Scripture clearly states that whatever we ask, faith believing in His Name, He will provide. But maybe that’s the problem, we aren’t asking IN His Name. To ask in His Name, you will ask for what He desires. Maybe we are not so much willing to line up with His will before asking. Maybe we spend too much time asking for things we know aren’t really kosher or copacetic.
Then there is another possibility to consider; maybe we are too proud to humble ourselves and ask. We tend to be very self reliant and independent and most of us are raised under the “do it yourself” mentality. Personally, I probably fall under this category more that the first one listed above. I always tell myself that what I need is not near as important as what others need and I am somehow taking up YHWH’s time by burdening Him with my petty requests.
YHWH wants to baruch (bless) us, and He desires that we receive the things we need. Somehow, we His children, must get past these two hindrances and allow Him to be our Abba.
Psalms 66:17-20
(17) I called to Him with my mouth, And praise was in my tongue.
(18) If I have seen wickedness in my heart, יהוה would not hear.
(19) Truly, Elohim has heard me; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
(20) Blessed be Elohim, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His kindness from me!
Luke 11:9-13
(9) “And I say to you: ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.
(10) “For everyone asking receives, and he who is seeking finds, and to him who is knocking it shall be opened.
(11) “And what father among you whose son asks for bread shall give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish shall give him a snake instead of a fish,
(12) or if he asks for an egg shall give him a scorpion?
(13) “If you then, being wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father from heaven give the Set-apart Spirit to those asking Him!”
So what can we ascertain from these passages? YHWH wants to give us what we need and ask for and He wants us to ask when we need Him. Sounds simple enough, right? If it is so simple, why do so many of us struggle to survive while lacking the basic things in life?
Consider a servant and how they live. A worthy servant under a righteous master doesn’t need anything. We as Bond Servants have a Tzadik (Righteous) Master, He wants us to be blessed and lack nothing.
I have known many people who have unfulfilled needs simply because they are too proud to ask someone for help. Living with the mindset that others should observe their needs and give to them so they don’t need to ask for help, keeps many from having what they need.
So they path to prosperity begins with a servant’s heart. Sounds kind of backwards from the ways of the world, doesn’t it? The world teaches us that we must take what we need or want. Never show your weak side, divide and conquer, plunder and ravage. YHWH says humble yourselves and seek His face, turn (teshuvah) from your wicked ways and He will hear us and provide.
So maybe it’s time I quit being too proud to ask and be bold in the power of His might. Maybe I should get in line with His Word and walk His halacha (path) so that I know I am not asking amiss. Then I can see His blessings in my home and in my life.

Proper (Torah) Procedure for Handling Disputes

YHWH is a Set Apart (Qodash) Elohim. He will not and cannot be joined to sin. Sin is transgression (disobedience) of the Torah. Torah states clearly defined and easily understood instructions on how to treat each other and handle day to day situations. Having said that, we must take a closer look at the serious divisions and disputes among so-called Believers and how it affects other Believers.
I am not going to address specifics regarding any situation; I just want to address correct procedure (Torah) for these types of confrontations. In any dispute there can only be the following facts: Both parties are wrong, one party is wrong and the other is right or both are right and are misunderstanding each other. So how does Torah advise us to handle these situations?
Lev 19:16-18
(16) ‘Do not go slandering among your people. Do not stand against the blood of your neighbour. I am יהוה.
(17) ‘Do not hate your brother in your heart. Reprove your neighbour, for certain, and bear no sin because of him.
(18) ‘Do not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people. And you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am יהוה.
Do not go spreading tales among the people (Hebrew am). This is clear that taking your “side” of a dispute to the Body without proper procedure should NEVER happen. Neither take a position or stance against the blood or life (Hebrew dom) of your neighbor or brother (Hebrew reya). When we take a position of defense of opposition towards a fellow Believer, we in essence stand against their life. This is a life or death situation and should NEVER be taken lightly.
Do not hate or make an enemy (Hebrew sane) against your brother or one who has stood with you in battle (Hebrew awkh) in your heart or inner man (Hebrew leb). So if you suddenly have a dispute with someone you have previously called a “brother” or close companion, either you were greatly deceived and didn’t allow the Ruach to give you proper discernment or you are in the wrong and have allowed evil to move into your heart. It is Scripture folks.
We can and should reprove or rebuke (Hebrew yakach) sin or missing the mark (Hebrew chet) in a fellow Believer. But we should never try to get even with or avenge (Hebrew naqam) ourselves against another Israelite. If someone in the family of YHWH has missed the mark and fallen short we should personally and privately address the issue giving them a chance to correct the sin. This never gives us the right to try and “get even” with another Israelite.
We should love or look out for (Hebrew ahab) our neighbor as we do ourselves. YHWH puts His stamp on these instructions by saying, Ani YHWH,” I am YHWH. When YHWH says this He is making sure you understand the severity of what He has just said, and how Who He is and who we are defines these instructions.
If we always handled these situations with proper prospective/fear (yarah) of YHWH, we wouldn’t see the cold and calculated assassination of our family members.
Proverbs 15:18
(18) An ish chemah (angry man) stirreth up madon (strife), but he that is slow to anger pacifies a quarrel.
A hot-headed, furious and angry (Hebrew chema) man stirs up or gets excited (Hebrew garah) about strife or contention (Hebrew madon), but he that is slow or patient (Hebrew arek) to anger or flaring of the nostrils (Hebrew af) settles or pacifies (Hebrew shaqat) strife or controversy (Hebrew reeb).
Quite an interesting contrast painted here by Shlomo. On one hand you have a loud, red faced, big mouthed person waving their arms, flaring their nostrils and yelling about how right they are and how wrong others are; on the other hand you have a quiet and patient person who prefers to put out fires rather than play with matches.
So as fruit inspectors (See Matthew 7:20), we can sit back and watch these dilemmas play out. We will know who was planted by the Rivers of Life by the fruit their tree bears. We also will know whose roots where evil by the fruit their tree bears. (See 1 Timothy 6:10). Isn’t amazing how often these types of contention between so-called “leaders” are centered on money and or possessions?
Pro 16:28
(28) A perverse/fraudulent ish (man) soweth madon (strife, dissension), and a whisperer separates close friends.
We can watch a person and know that someone who continuously seems to be in the middle of contentions is wicked and a fraud. Again I am not pointing fingers just quoting Scripture. A whisperer or a talebearer divides leaders or teachers.
Okay fellow fruit inspectors; let’s take a long hard look at these divisions. Who (if any) are handling these contentions with calm and patient demeanor, and who is waving their arms making accusations and telling tales? You decide. If both sides are acting improperly and violating Torah, both are wrong, they need to teshuvah. If one party continues to show the attributes of a perverse and fraudulent man, then we can determine who is at fault. YHWH is not about division within the Body; however, He is about division between the world and the Body. If it is clear that someone (be it one or both parties) is causing division by violating Torah, we should give them an opportunity to teshuvah and if they do not we separate ourselves from them. We cannot support, condone or follow (spiritually, monetarily or in any way) someone who is willfully violating Torah. The Body should freeze all support until these matters are resolved. YHWH will take care of the innocent and we should not support the guilty that have not repented.
When one chooses to set themselves up as a leader within the Body of Yahshua they are now subject to more scrutiny because of the position they have sought. You cannot call yourself a leader and not expect those following to watch how you handle yourself. Is not a Torah teacher bound by the same Torah they teach?
The first and fatal mistake many Believers make is when they put humans on a pedestal. If we would stop acting as if those who lead are infallible, we would not have the repercussions we are seeing when we find out they have fallen. Keep Yahshua the focus and follow others who are following Him and do not follow those who don’t follow Him.
Let’s agree that we should not judge that which we do not know, but we can and should judge Believers by their fruit. If their tree bears unrighteous fruit we should as a Body demand and expect teshuvah. Those who bear righteous fruit, regardless of false accusations, we should support and lift in prayer.
Shalom Aleichem and may the Body be Echad.

Where Do Your Loyalties Lie?

This blog will not make me popular; in fact I may lose some friends over this one. I have had this spinning through my mind for quite some time and cannot put it off any longer.
I spent my childhood years during the peak of the Vietnam War. My dad did not fight in the war, so I had no personal connection. However, it did affect my life and was an integral part of my world. When I was in school we still recited the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. Love for your country and patriotism was still very evident. Later in my early teens, I was blessed to attend a private Christian school, where the only colors worn were red, white and blue (everyday). We recited the Pledge and raised the flag every school day.
I studied American history and loved the stories about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln along with the other heroes of our Nation. I also read the tall tales about Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill and many more great yarns. I spent many hours reading comic books and dreaming about being Superman, Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk. There was no shortage on heroes to emulate and I had a vivid imagination, so I wore all the hats.
Lately I have realized a horrific fact, as much as I love this country and the folklore that surrounds it, there is a truth that must be acknowledged. If we have an allegiance and we have heroes does it matter the source we draw these images from? If our Heavenly Father has a favored country what is it? Does the United States have some kind of leverage with YHWH and does He consider this Nation the “apple of His eye”?
What does it even matter if we are told stories from our youth that in fact may not be true? Do you know the difference between fact and fiction anymore? For example, George Washington didn’t really cut down a cherry tree and probably never said “I cannot tell a lie.” In fact that story isn’t verifiably true. Neither are the ones about Paul Revere, Davy Crockett, Johnny Appleseed Chapman and Daniel Boone. There may be elements of truth in some of these stories, but the truth mixed with lies creates a lie.
Have we become comfortable with telling our children lies? Does a world mixed with Harry Potter, Thomas Jefferson, Scooby Doo and Billy Graham really affect the lives of our youth? Can we continue to raise our sons and daughters to believe that the U.S. is God’s Nation? Where in Scriptures do you find this mindset to be acceptable? Can we continue to take verses like the following out of context?
Heb 13:17
(17) Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
1Pe 2:13-14
(13) Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the sake of YHWH: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
(14) Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
Where do we draw the line, at what point do we put our allegiance back towards our Heavenly Father?
I submit to you that YHWH does have a favored country. There are heroes worthy of our admiration. The truth is out there waiting to be embraced and believed.
Fasten your seatbelts; I am going to take the rocky road now. Is it possible that most of the wars this Nation has fought had motives that were less than honorable? Should we continue to wave the flag and propound the godliness of a nation that is by and large ran by men who don’t know, fear or love YHWH? Not every man who has wore a uniform and fought had noble and righteous motives, so a blanket endorsement of all those who have fought seems a little extreme. Recently I read a comment that was circulating on the web and cringed. The comment was, “If you want to burn this flag, wrap yourself in it first.” Is this what we have become? Are we so patriotic that we condone someone dying if they burn the flag? You may not agree with me on this one but the flag of the United States isn’t technically my flag. I have been exiled here due to the sin we have committed that is keeping us from our Land Israel. I am so thankful and grateful for being in this country, but if we hadn’t sinned in the first place I wouldn’t be here. Check your Scriptures, the sin of the people led to the dispersion to the four corners of the earth. We were driven from His Land, Israel, when we turned our backs on Him. Where do we end up? When we return to Him and His Torah, YHWH returns us to Israel and the two sticks become one again.
I know that I have risked offending some of those who have fought or had relatives who fought for this country. If you are offended, you have misunderstood my message. We are here until YHWH calls us back and we should be good stewards and be righteous within our community. But stop and consider your allegiance. In this day and time, our nation is changing. When the laws of this land demand that we violate the Laws (Torah) of YHWH will we still fly the U.S. flag? The day is coming when we will have to choose, and as for me and my house we will serve YHWH.

Ode to a spider while mowing the lawn

I mowed the lawn today
While mowing there’s not a lot you can say
Just sit on the mower
As your world spins around slower
And you watch the grass clippings soar away

Mowing gives you plenty of time to think
To ponder, take in and drink
Of the things that aren’t seen
In your daily routine
While starting to sweat and to stink

The first thing that caught my eye
As my mower and I flew by
Was a the web of a spider
Though the tree it did hide her
Her web was exactly head high

I am sure that the spider worked hard
At this great food catcher in our yard
But to mow all the grass
On my very next pass
The web I would have to discard

I wondered as the web blew away
How did my actions change her day?
Would she sit and mourn?
Would her Creator the spider scorn?
And if so what would she say?

If this spider were like a man
I am sure she wouldn’t understand
For in her little world
Catastrophe was hurled
And it must have been from YHWH’s Hand

She probably would start to complain
“Is my Creator trying to drive me insane?”
“Doesn’t He even know?
Without food I can’t grow
And my existence will certainly wane?”

She might have even been the kind
When troubles and trials she did find
Start blaming her neighbor
For the destruction of her labor
Even though he was nowhere to find

For you see what we can’t explain
Does certainly drive us insane
Since we don’t KNOW our Creator
We become a typical hater
And put on Him all of the blame

We can’t see the complete universe
So when things in “our world” turn for the worse
We feel we’ve been cheated
Our hopes have been depleted
So often we all start to curse

Maybe we need all to know
If the grass does continue to grow
The level of pain and loss
In our universe from the chaos
Would create problems above and below

So the issue we all must work through
Is our world and all that we do,
Is so little in the frame of it all
But still yet if any should fall
He would catch us…if only we knew

In His Presence

This Friday evening as the sunset, I stood a couple of hundred yards from the banks of Navarro Mills Lake shore with 8 other Torah observant, believing adults and prayed as we welcomed in Shabbat. As I began to lead us in prayer it suddenly seemed we were in a vacuum with YHWH. All time seemed to cease and it was as if the crickets, locusts, birds and frogs were praying with us. The Presence of YHWH was so real and heavy, I didn’t even realize what I was saying, I just knew He was there and we were in Him. I knew what His Word really meant when it said:
“For where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there I am in their midst.”
(Mat 18:20) ISR

For where two or three are gathered as a Chavurah and are a Kehillah in my name [Moshiach], there I am in the midst of them.
(Mat 18:20) OJB

I was always taught this verse was telling us to go to church and don’t worry if there only a couple people there, God will meet with you. Well, I am not saying it cannot be applied to that, it just doesn’t mean that alone! What happen to us was we gathered in His Name (Yahshua), because His Name does matter, and He honored our commitment to keep His Command regarding Shabbat by being with us. If you have never been in His Presence, let me fill you in. I wanted to fall on my face! At that moment, I knew the fear (yarah) of YHWH. He was All Powerful, Mighty, Merciful, Loving and Consuming in that moment.

Why has the world rejected this precious visitation and settled for the three ring circus of churches? The entire disco beat music programs, Oscar nominated speakers, Olympic qualifying shouters/dancers could never compare to one small second of His Presence. And when you get visited by Him, you don’t have the nerve to show off in front of Him. All you want is to bask in Him and usually on your face.

Elohim, therefore, has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Yahshua every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Yahshua Messiah is Master, to the esteem of Elohim the Father.
(Php 2:9-11) ISR

Every knee shall bow at His Name. His Name is His mark of distinction, it is His reputation, it is His very Presence. When He shows up, you cannot stand in pride and arrogance before Him. When He is there you cannot put on a show or and act to draw attention to yourself. He is everything and His Presence demands your attention.

Nothing in the whole world compares to a real visitation from our King. If you have never really been in His Presence you don’t realize that His visitation is not driven by your emotions. All of your crying, shouting, laughing and dancing does not bring Him to you. He comes when you follow His instructions. It takes unity, submission and proper approach. Get these three things right and He will be there. When He arrives you might find yourself crying, shouting, laughing and dancing but that is because He is so awesome and we are so insignificant without Him.

Service and Repair

The repair and service industry is booming. Today’s products are built so shabbily that it seems things break within days of purchase. Because of this epidemic, service companies are constantly busy. Even though you would expect and hope that things would not break down so quickly, it is inevitable all things will eventually wear out.
YHWH’s Creation is under constant attack from the adversary. Ha satan would love to destroy everything that YHWH created and called good. Our enemy has two goals; destroy the good, while making pathetic imitations of good things to lead the ignorant astray. Way back in the Gan (Garden) Eden ha satan began doing these two things. In an effort to destroy the gan (garden) the adversary offered a cheap and pathetic imitation of something Adam and Chawah already had going for them. Humankind had developed a level of existence with YHWH that included regular visitations and leisurely walks. During this time Adam could commune with YHWH and allow Him to be daddy.
And they heard the kol (Voice/Sound) of YHWH Elohim walking in the gan in the cool of the day; and HaAdam and his isha hid from the presence of YHWH Elohim amongst the etz (tree) hagan (the garden).
(Gen 3:8)

I could elaborate on this verse quite extensively, but I will stay off the rabbit trails for now and focus on the point. This was a unique relationship Adam had going for himself. YHWH would manifest Himself in the Tree of the gan and walk and talk with Adam. Seems like too awesome of an experience to even consider messing up, right? Not so fast my friend. Why accept the perfect and beautiful when you can have a cheap and pathetic imitation. Knowledge can be yours, if the price is right. Just think instead of having the Source of Knowledge visiting you in a lovely gan while eating from the Tree of Life, you can throw it all away and choose your own knowledge. But wait, that’s not all; call now and ha satan will throw in death for absolutely free. Yes, you heard me; for no additional charge you will lose everlasting life and a personal connection to the Creator. This, my friend, is the trick of the adversary, destroy the Good and hand you a big bag of disappointment.
So every since that horrible day the world has been in a downward spiral. Rolling downhill like a snowball headed…you get the point. What the world needs now is repair sweet repair. Yes, we know the story of Yahshua and the work He performed on the Tree. We all realize that He ultimately put His foot on the serpent’s head and His Blood destroys the curse. That’s not the problem I am addressing today. Here’s the issue; people are coming to the Tree and embracing its redemptive power, but too many are walking away and not becoming repairers.
What exactly do I mean? Let’s look at the Word for a minute. Most of you have probably heard of letting the first usage of a word in Scripture define the word throughout Scripture, right? The word for repair is khawzaq in Hebrew. It means to seize or grab hold of, holding tightly, repair, strengthen, harden or encourage. The first time this word is used is in Beresheet (Genesis) chapter nineteen in the story of Lot and his family.
And while he loitered, the men took hold (khawzaq) of his hand, and his wifeʼs hand, and the hands of his two daughters, יהוה having compassion on him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
(Gen 19:16)
So we can see here the definition is set and established. The messengers seized, grabbed a hold of; holding tightly, while encouraging, Lot. We literally see a standing in the breach here. The adversary is attacking the family of Abraham. Ha satan seeks to destroy Lot and his family by keeping them from fleeing the fires of judgment sent from YHWH to Sedom and Gomorrah. The men are pulling Lot from the flames. Does that sound familiar to you?
And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
(Jud 1:22-23)
Do you think it’s possible that Yehudah had this Torah portion in mind when he wrote these words? We are told to have compassion, make a difference, reach out stand in the breach and pull some out of the fire. Do you see our job now? This is what we are supposed to be doing after we have been filled with the Ruach ha Kadosh. We become khawzaqim (repairers) of the breach.
In Beresheet 41:56 Yoseph becomes a repairman by opening up the storehouses during a time of extreme famine. There, by the hands of Yoseph, lives were pulled from certain death. Yoseph seized the opportunity to be the ultimate in customer care, resolving the issue and restoring the lives to those who were staring death in the face.
Notice in Yehudah (Jude) 1:23 that we are to HATE the garment spotted by the flesh. We don’t hate those we are rescuing, no matter how filthy they have become. We only hate the filthy garment. Why, because you are not what you wear. What you wear may reflect what you are becoming but with YHWH’s mercy, you can change what you are wearing for a spotless, white robe.
When the children of Israel were preparing to enter the Promised Land that YHWH had led them to, YHWH told them to keep the commandments He had given them so they would khawzaq (repair, be strong) in the Land. Think about that for a minute. All they have to do is repair/restore YHWH’s commandments in the Land and this will give them strength. Sounds easy enough, right? Not so fast my friend. Behind door number two is a cheap and pathetic imitation that leads to death. Step right up and choose. Oy veh!!
In II Kings chapter twelve Yehoash instructs the cohen (priests) to repair the breaches in the House of YHWH. Where ever a breach was found, they were to khawzaq the breach (gap or leak). Today the House of YHWH needs to have the breaches repaired, but where are the Cohen? No one wants to stand in the gap and plug the leak.
The Book of NechemYah (Nehemiah) is FULL of khawzaqim. Chapter three of NechemYah lists all the men and the ways they repaired Yahrushalem (Jerusalem). Oh that men (and women) would rise up today and become khawzaqim! Each one of us has been given unique and individual skills that can be put into action, thus repairing and restoring YHWH’s Kingdom.
Scientists have speculated for some time the affect certain small and unnoticed things have on the world around us. It has been proposed that a butterfly can flap its wings in India and cause a storm to hit California. I am not a scientist neither do I play one on TV; so I cannot confirm or deny these things. What I can say is this, one sharp word, one ugly look, just one time passing by some needy individual can cause a Spiritual tsunami. We destroy things all the time, essentially becoming the tool of ha satan by doing small but wicked things. If we can see this principle, and you can see it today if you try, then why can’t we believe the opposite to be true?
One kind word spoken by the prompting of the Ruach can make a HUGE change in the universe. One kind deed unnoticed by most but appreciated by the needy, causes a bountiful blessing to be poured out on a dry and thirsty land. This, my family, is khawzaqim (repairers) at work. The only way we can affectively go about bringing a change to this wicked and evil world is by changing our vocation. We must see every day, every hour, every minute as an opportunity to stand in the gap. You may not realize it but the hungry, lost and down trodden are looking at you. They can see you have something different about you (at least I hope they can). They get frustrated and depressed when you walk right by them without reaching out to help.
And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the Temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the Temple;
Who seeing Kefa and Yochanan about to go into the Temple asked an alms.
And Kefa, fastening his eyes upon him with Yochanan, said, Look on us.
And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Kefa said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Yahshua HaMoshiach of Natzeret rise up and walk.
And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the Temple, walking, and leaping, and praising Elohim.
And all the people saw him walking and praising Elohim:
(Act 3:2-9)
Kefa (Peter) and Yochanan (John) were heading to the Temple when they received the service call. They stopped for a moment and asked the broken man “Look at us!” Notice something here, they broken man was expecting to receive something. How many people did you walk right by today that were expecting to receive something? Did you not get the service call? Stop, repair and restore that broken person. Don’t be afraid, give them something IN the Name of Yahshua HaMoshiach; give them LIFE!

I'm in You, You are in Me

We are a fragmented Body of believers. It has been a great concern of mine that we having to exist while being separated by distance. I greatly miss the fellowship and visitation with my family in YHWH. Sometimes because of this problem, I get separation anxiety. I can’t wait until the next opportunity to be with my brethren. All of this division is quite simply a curse.
“And YHWH shall scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other mighty ones, which neither you nor your fathers have known, wood and stone. “And among those nations you are to find no rest, nor have a resting place for the sole of your foot. But there YHWH shall give you a trembling heart, and failing eyes, and sorrow of being. “And your life shall be hanging in suspense before you, and you shall fear day and night, and not be certain of your life.
(Deu 28:64-66)
Our sin was what caused us to become scattered to the four corners of the Earth.
“I (YHWH) said, ‘I should blow them away, I should make the remembrance of them To cease from among men,
(Deu 32:26)
It was literally as if YHWH blew us to the North, South, East and West; just like it was feared would happen at Babylon.
And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens, and make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over all the face of the earth.”
(Gen 11:4)
To this day, because of our sin, we remain scattered abroad. This makes it very hard sometimes because we feel alone. Some Shabbats I look around the room at our three families (11 people) and wonder how much better it would be with 30 or dare I say 60 people. Then I realize there are single families and sometimes individual people meeting with YHWH every week.
So if the curse was to scatter Israel, then the baruch (blessing) must be to gather Israel. This gathering occurs when we return (shoob in Hebrew), and we return by the act of teshuvah (repentance). To repent one must make a 180 degree turn and walk away the other direction. There is no looking back in true repentance. If we are blessed by returning to the House of Israel, shouldn’t our Shepherd be the one leading us back?
And He (Yahshua) answering, said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Yisraʼĕl.”
(Mat 15:24)
Have you read the parable of “The Lost Sheep”? Evidently, we have been really confused when it comes to the work the Messiah came to do. We have been taught He came to “do away” with the law and teach us to love everybody. But Yahshua Himself clearly states His ministry was one of restoration NOT revolution! So after Yahshua ascended and left his talmidim (disciples) here, how was this restoration work to continue? Wouldn’t there be a need for a servant/Spirit to comfort and assist us?
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Ruach of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
(Joh 14:16-20)
So, Yahshua did say He would send us a Comforter, a Helper, a Servant if you will. Not in the sense that we are master, but this Ruach (Spirit) would have a Master. Is there a story in Torah that will point to this Spiritual Truth?
Abraham had a servant who was very important in his day to day functions.
And Aḇram said, “Master יהוה, what would You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliʽezer of Damascus?”
(Gen 15:2)
Here we see that the head servant or heir of the childless Abraham was Eli’ezer. In Hebrew Eli’ezer has a very thought provoking definition – “El of help” or “the help of El.” It would go without saying that the servant would do the work of the Father.
In Genesis chapter 24, this same bond servant is commissioned to do a very special job; he is sent to find a bride for the groom (the son). The help of El (Eli’ezer) travels out into the nations to where the family of Abraham still lived. They hadn’t crossed over (Hebrew) as Abraham had into YHWH’s land. This was a very important job given to a dedicated servant. So we see the servant’s job is: (1.) Go find a Bride for the Groom. (2.) Test all applicants to ensure they qualify. (3.) Purchase the Bride. (4.) Bring the Bride and preparing her as you return. These are the functions of the Ruach today. It seeks and saves the lost that pass the test (water test) by seeking. The Ruach delivers the earnest for the purchase of the Bride. The bond servant then brings the Bride back to her home and people preparing her as they go. Do you see these Spiritual applications?
For now, let’s focus on this Comforter or Ruach that Yahshua said the Father would send us. One (Echad) ruach, not multiple servants or spirits; one Spirit, one job, one purpose, to prepare one Bride. By having one Spirit this will allow singular focus and bring unity to the body. YHWH has always been about unity. Let’s look at some earthly examples YHWH gave us of unity among a large and diverse body.
When Israel came out of Mitzarim (Egypt) they were a large group of people, over a million strong. Each family had tasks and responsibilities they had to accomplish within their clan (family group). Each clan had tasks and responsibilities they had to fulfill within their tribe. Each tribe had tasks and responsibilities they had to perform within the Body of Israel. Just one member of one family of one clan of one tribe within the Nation not performing as needed throws a monkey wrench in the whole system. Talk about unity! This type of harmony builds confidence within each person; you feel needed and important, because you are. Each individual has singular vision within the working Body.

As intricate as the Nation of Israel was, the office of cohen was also intricate and detailed. Every cohen had a function and purpose. You were required to be at certain stations at specific times to perform important tasks. One cohen not cooperating as needed causes a breakdown in the system. But we see that the cohen kept unity and cohesiveness allowing YHWH to work through them as needed.
We could also look at the Battle of Yerikho or the YHWH ordained system of tithing, all of these are physical manifestations of a Spiritual principal at work. When a corporate body focuses on a singular purpose, putting all selfish motives aside, mighty and miraculous things are accomplished.
The key element to any of these things happening is the heart of the individual. Without the leb (heart) of an ebed (servant), no one is capable of working at this level. Attitude is everything!! The old saying is “too many chiefs and not enough Indians.” In other words, everyone wants to be boss and get the glory while sitting behind their tennis court sized desk and bossing the peons around. Somebody has to clean the toilets, mop the floor and take out the trash. Somebody has to be responsible and take the blame when things go wrong. That is the true definition of a leader – being a servant. When ALL of YHWH’s children get the heart of a servant, we will see change.
Abraham was a servant.
and (Abraham)said, “יהוה, if I have now found favour in Your eyes, please do not pass Your servant by.
(Gen 18:3)
What made Abraham a servant?
1. Abraham was willing to forsake everyone and all to follow his Elohim.
2. Abraham lived a life of shema-ing YHWH.
3. Abraham walked by emunah (faith) and not by his earthly sight.
4. Abraham made mistakes but quickly took the blame and teshuva.
So we see four key elements to being a servant of YHWH. Become Set Apart (Kodesh) to YHWH, hear and do what YHWH says, allow YHWH to be Master and just trust Him, while always having a heart for teshuvah. Because Abraham was YHWH’s servant others were blessed.
Gen 26:24 And YHWH appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the Elohim of your father Aḇraham. Do not fear, for I am with you, and shall bless you and increase your seed for My servant Aḇrahamʼs sake.”
David was a servant.
“And now, do it! For יהוה has spoken of Dawiḏ, saying, ‘By the hand of My servant Dawiḏ, I save My people Yisraʼĕl from the hand of the Philistines and the hand of all their enemies.ʼ ”
(2Sa 3:18)
What made David a servant?
1. David was willing to put all aspirations (even justified ones) aside and wait on YHWH.
2. David lived a life of shema-ing YHWH.
3. David walked by emunah.
4. David made mistakes but quickly took the blame and teshuva.
Here again we see the same four basic traits. Is this a coincidence? Check out Job, he was a servant of YHWH. All of these traits are essential to being a servant of YHWH. When does one become a servant of YHWH and no longer a slave to sin?

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves servants for obedience, you are servants of the one whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? But thanks to Elohim that you were servants of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of teaching to which you were entrusted. And having been set free from sin, you became servants of righteousness.
(Rom 6:16-18)

For do I now persuade men, or Elohim? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I should not be a servant of Messiah.
(Gal 1:10)

In Romans 1:1 Shaul calls himself a bond servant. What is a bond servant as opposed to a slave?

“These are the right-rulings which you are to set before them: “When you buy a Heḇrew servant, he serves six years, and in the seventh he goes out free, for naught. “If he comes in by himself, he goes out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. “If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children are her masterʼs, and he goes out by himself. “And if the servant truly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children, let me not go out free,ʼ then his master shall bring him before Elohim, and shall bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl. And he shall serve him forever.
(Exo 21:1-6)

In the seventh year a Hebrew was to be set free. But if he chooses to be free, (free of his master) he leaves ALL that he acquired while in his masters house behind. However, the slave may CHOOSE to stay in his master’s house and become a bond servant. He now stays in the “house” for life and keeps what he acquired. He still serves his “Master” but he does so out of love now. Before he can become a bond servant there is a procedure that must be followed, “then his master shall bring him before Elohim, and shall bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl. And he shall serve him forever.”

Keywords to look into here are door or doorpost, pierce, ear and awl. EVERYTHING YHWH does is for a reason; there are no coincidences in YHWH’s Kingdom.
Why the door or doorpost?
“I (Yahshua) am the door. Whoever enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and shall go out and find pasture.
(Joh 10:9)
So the slave must come to the Door (Yahshua). Then the slave’s ear is pierced.
Why the ear pierced?
Throughout Scripture we see a pattern established, it is the principle of shema-ing.
H8085
שׁמע
shâma‛
BDB Definition:
1) to hear, listen to, obey (verb)
Hear, hearken, listen to in the Scriptures is shema. Shema is a VERB it means hear and do! We have a huge problem in the world today. Very few listen, even less hear and even far less do. We tend to question everything, why do I have to do this, why do you want me to, why, why, why. There is NO in shema. So to start shema-ing we need to have our ears opened. How do we get our ears opened? Go to the Door and let the awl pierce through your ear. You see the awl is a boring instrument. This is no nice ear piercing at Wally World. Your Master bores out your ear all the way through to the Door. Let that sink in a minute.
But why does the slave have to wait until the seventh year? Can’t a good slave prove they are worthy of becoming a bond servant sooner? YHWH works in cycles, and I am talking about cycles of seven. Six days you will work (slave) then on the seventh day you will cease from your labor. On the seventh day you can become a bond servant, this starts a new cycle and day eight becomes a new beginning our a new day one. There are seven Feasts or Festivals of YHWH a year. Then we cycle through and begin again.
When we choose to become a bond servant, we choose to lose. We lose “freedom” but what is it we become a servant to when we leave our Master? Do we really lose freedom or do we in reality become completely free by choosing Him? The law of the bond servant places the slave in the position of willful submission and puts the burden of responsibility on the Master. When the bond servant is hungry, who feeds him? When we are sick, who heals us? When we are in trouble, who rescues us? Submission as a bond servant takes the burden of responsibility off of us and places it upon our Master!! We must learn to submit to win.
So what am I getting at here? Why must we become bond servants and be nailed to the Door? If the awl goes through me into Him, I am now attached to Him. We are one! I am in Him and He is in me.
Ye are of Elohim, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
(1Jn 4:4)
He is in me, and my Master who lives in me is greater than he that is in this world.
Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of Elohim which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of Elohim;
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his holy ones:
To whom Elohim would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Moshiach in you, the hope of glory:
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Moshiach Yahshua:
(Col 1:25-28)
The mystery has been hidden but if it has been hidden who is it hidden from? Not the Set Apart bond servants of YHWH. We know the secret and it is Yahshua (the Door) in us. This makes us perfect and is our only hope.
Okay, so stop a second and go read Ezekiel chapter 37. I’ll wait for you…
To save space and make this blog user friendly, I will not post Ezekiel 37 and trust that you read it through.
The Hand of YHWH was upon the prophet and carries him in the Ruach to a valley filled with bones. Nothing too deep yet, this is just a supernatural trip to a valley that has bones scattered all over. There are lots of bones and they are dry having all of the water baked out by the sun. So we can see bleached white bones, dry and lifeless, scattered and incapable of man putting them back together. YHWH asks, “Can these bones live?” and Ezekiel is no dummy for he says, “Oh YHWH Elohim, you know.” Notice he doesn’t really answer the question. YHWH tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, a little strange but okay. Ezekiel is to tell the bones to hear (shema) the Word of YHWH.
Now let me stop for a second. According to man’s definition what does a prophet do? We have always had the misconception that a prophet tells our future. To some extent Ezekiel does that by telling the bones that they will be reassembled, knit together and brought to life. However, the Scriptural function of a prophet is to call people to return (teshuvah) to YHWH. Go check me out. Yeshayahu (Isaiah), Yeremiah (Jeremiah), Yoel (Joel), Daniel and Jonah; isn’t that what they ALL did? So what do you think Ezekiel said to the bones? Was it, “I see a HUGE amount of money coming your way” or “Step on a crack break your momma’s back”? C’mon now. We all know that Ezekiel preached that the bones needed to return to YHWH and shema His Commandments.
As Ezekiel is preaching, there comes a noise (Kol in Hebrew which means voice or light), then a shaking (Ra’ash in Hebrew which means earthquake or rattling) then the bones came together. Everybody sing along… “Thigh bone connected to the shin bone, shin bone connected…” you get it. I want you to notice a couple of things. 1. The prophecy to return to YHWH brings the bones together and makes them a Body again. 2. Verse 11 clearly states these bones are the House of Israel. What has happened to these bones? They are dried up and there hope is lost. Dried up or they have no more water in them.
That he might sanctify and cleanse it (the Body) with the washing of water by the word,
(Eph 5:26)
The woman said to Him, “Master, You have no vessel, and the well is deep. From where, then, do You have living water? “Are You greater than our father Yaʽaqoḇ, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?” Yahshua answered and said to her, “Everyone drinking of this water shall thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water I give him shall certainly never thirst. And the water that I give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
(Joh 4:11-14)
Go to the Psalms and read all of the references to water. It is very clear that the Water the bones were lacking is mayim chayim (Living Water). Yahshua was that Water/Word made flesh and these bones or in dire need of a drink. Not only that but their expectancy or hope has been cut off or divided from them. WOW!! I hope you can see what this is saying.
The final step in this process is YHWH breathes on these bones and they receive life. Just being reassembled into a Body is not enough. This Body needs LIFE; One Ruach from YHWH giving back the Body Life.
Ezekiel chapter 37 is a picture of the Body of Messiah, the Bride being put back together and brought to Life by teshuvah to YHWH and shema-ing His Commandments while being full of His Ruach.
One more and final point; if we are one Body, one Bride in Yahshua and are being prepared to fight, what kind of fight is it?
Because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against authorities, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual matters of wickedness in the heavenlies.
(Eph 6:12)
This Spiritual Body can only fight a Spiritual battle. When we try and fight a Spiritual battle with our physical things, we lose. We must be united to stand and fight against the wickedness of ha satan or we will never overcome. So that brings us back to the beginning (as you knew it would). How do we as Believers who are separated by physical barriers (time and distance) unite and fight?
YHWH knew we would end up scattered. He has every intention of bringing us back together physically to His Land. In the mean time, He created something that is mind blowing for His People. If you and I are one Body, if we are one in Him, it is through the One Spirit that we are united. So as I sit here in the sticks of Texas, I can become Spiritually united with ANY Believer who joins me in Him. Sounds simple but what do I mean? When we enter into Him together even while separated we are in a Spiritual plane that is real. This world and everything in and on it is just dirt and is temporary. He made it all and everything is connected through Him. But we have an element that makes us different, that is the Spirit which is really real and not just temporary. Everything I can see is not real and everything I cannot see is real. Yes, there was an element of truth to the movie the Matrix.
So how do I get into that Spiritual plane and join forces with the other parts of His Body? Well YHWH created that as well. Every day at the third hour and ninth hour of the day, we have a prayer time (approximately 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.) Yes this is Scriptural, in fact look at Yahshua on the Tree and what happened during these times. Also the talmidim (disciples) observed these prayer times. Secondly, we have a seventh day every week when we stop and enter into a time warp, if you please. It is a Spiritual place that YHWH created for His People. Thirdly we have a time every month when we go out and watch for the New Moon and thank YHWH for another month. Fourthly we have Set Apart Feast Days have been established by YHWH so that we can enter into this Place with Him.
So even if we are separated, whether it be a handle full or thousands of miles, when we go together to meet YHWH we unite in Him. At the moment we are together in Him, we are a functioning Body. What that means is if you have a need when you go to YHWH with your need, I can feel your need and intercede on your behalf. I am not declaring to have achieved this Spiritual state as of yet, but this doesn’t mean what I am saying isn’t true and achievable.
We are fighting a Spiritual battle, until we can learn to unite, just like the army in Ezekiel chapter 37, and fight together on a Spiritual level we cannot win. The Bride of Messiah must KEEP these appointed times designated by YHWH. These matters are Spiritual matters that we cannot completely fathom on a physical plane. When we have been brought by the Ruach to this point, we will no longer struggle so much with the physical separation that plagues us. Until we are brought together physically, it is imperative that the Body learn to exist on this Spiritual level so that we can be strong in the power of His might.
Shalom in YHWH.