Torah Is Nearby

Do you ever feel like evil is closing in like the bad guys in a 70’s Karate movie?

When Trouble Surrounds…

We must remember two things from today’s scripture in Psalm 119:150-151.

  • God is near.
  • The evil ones are far from God and His law.

God Is Near.

“The word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it”

Deuteronomy 30:14

“The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach)”

Romans 10:8

When the evil people of your community come against you… When your trusted institutions (media, government, medicine) seek your harm… When mythical levels of secret forces mock your way of life and attempt to round you up and push you away…

Your Father is near. He is with you and He is in you. Hear His words, feel His breath (spirit) in your very lungs. Read His Word (living and powerful) out loud to draw near and to provide a barrier, an offence to the lawless ones. Remember His angels are here to. He commissions them to stand for our cause. Halleluyah.

Though they threaten, they are lost

The evil ones are the walking dead, slowly encroaching upon your space. Do not give them your mind, your soul, your strength. Those belong to your King (Deut. 6). They are focused but they are lost.

Jerks will be jerks. Without God’s ways in their hearts, the sinners will do sinner’s stuff. They will be trusted, in a way, to be untrustworthy. Don’t take your eyes off your God. Don’t let your heart cheer for their demise.

Pray for those who persecute you.

Do it now. It is super important to take every available moment to use your weapon. The time is short. You may see that Cruella DeVille turn into a meek child of God. Pray salvation, pray Deliverance. Pray the revival will come. You and I were outside God’s will and Kingdom, outside His rescuing grace. Now we need to serve as a lifeguard.

Using wisdom, of course. Let’s love our neighbors.

Prayer

Father in Heaven, sometimes I feel that I’ve known you forever. Sometimes I forget that I lived in a state of being unsaved from my sin. Let me have compassion on the very people who come after me. Bring them to mind in my prayer closet. Hear me when I pray. I pray for my protection and favor in all interactions. Keep us from their evil and their games. If they can be saved, let them turn to you. Amen.

Torah Is Compassionate

Big Tent

Yah has room under His tent.

As I drive the country, occasionally I see a large tent set up in an open space. There is usually a sign saying something like “Revival” or “Tent Revival.” Whenever we see that, we should pray that lives will be changed. We should root for a true revival. We can lift them up in prayer, both the ministers and the attendees of this event.

The real thing that happens in true revivals is repentance. Simply put, we all get hit with the reality of our sins (no matter what level) and we are drawn to seek forgiveness and (big AND) to change our ways. Here is the door for a continued training after the decision point of repentance.

I have often wondered if anyone would just label the tent event as “Repentance” or “Tent Repent.” Maybe we need to market it in a more positive way, but that is what is essentially the goal. Large changes have followed when a cluster of communities bow down to Yah and repent.

The Weeping Wallow

Occasionally we are moved to weeping for the things that the Father weeps for. Jesus wept. Jeremiah wept. We can weep. This brings today’s characteristic of Torah. Because Torah is good and given by God, we can be sad for those who live without it. Those who live outside His word and His way, live outside His will. Living outside His will denies us the natural benefits, the blessings of Torah.

But Torah also brings death.

Yes the end of sin, is death. The end of Torah (think goal line) is YESHUA/Jesus.

Torah has blessings to the faithful and curses to the ones who reject it (the lawless).

Sadness through our joy

God doesn’t want us to fall into the pit of judgement. He doesn’t desire that we reject what He has to offer. He is compassionate and His Torah Is Compassionate.

Through Eyes Of Love

YHWH has eyes of love. Whenever we hear the words “eyes” or “ears” we need to keep in mind the different levels of our seeing and hearing. We need to see with spiritual eyes as well as our physical eyes. Our eyes of faith can see farther. They can see beyond walls and beyond the constraints of time.

Let us see with compassion. I have realized that my mouth, in prayer is more effective than my blabbing in the physical. I have rarely changed a mind, changed a heart by speaking or lecturing. I’m not that eloquent. However, I have prayed (out loud, with mouth and mind) and seen people change.

Don’t stop believing

Keep it up. Follow Messiah. Speak out when He calls you to do so. Preach the good news of salvation. But don’t forget how powerful it is to pray for the lost ones, and weep over their sins. But for the grace of God, we would all still be lost in our sin and lawlessness.

Prayer:

Father in Heaven, gracious and Holy are You. Be blessed in Heaven and earth. Keep us in your grace and let us not forget the lawless ones. Bring repentance to the lost nations and the lost sheep. Be glorified in your servants. Be lifted up in this land. Halleluyah! Blessed be your Name! Amen.

Torah Is Timely

His Promise Of Judgement

We don’t like to talk of the Judgement of God. We often dispensation-ize it. We sing songs that tell us that judgement and wrath were for times like the Old Testament Sodom and Gomorrah… “BUT mercy and grace He gave us at the cross,” as if setting the old testament apart from the new is easier to gulp down.

We often forget that the judgement would have been withheld if there were only 10 people who were righteous. The grace of God was alive in 2000 BC as well as 2000 AD. As a matter of fact, ALL of scripture speaks of the judgement at the end of this age. This grace was what kept Yah from destroying the nations who inhabited Canaan while Israel awaited return to their promised land.

Torah Brings Promised Judgement

Judgement is not simply a punishment, it is a vengeance.

The wicked people of the nations do wicked things.

Wicked people do unmentionable things to the “least of these.”

Wicked people fight for the rights of people to do those wicked things. Judgement is, in a real sense, God’s answer to the prayer of the persecuted.

We often ask why so much evil is allowed to exist. “How can a loving God…”

Our loving Savior will come for the very purpose of executing judgement over evil deeds and the people who do them. He will also be setting the captives free and rescuing the little ones who have seen pain and distress at the hands of the wicked.

But Yah Will Save Even The Repentant Evil-doers.

LORD is not slow in regard to the promise, as some count slowness, but is long-suffering to us, not intending any to be lost, but all to come to conversion,

II Peter 3:9 (LSV)

He really does love us. You and I were outside His Way for too long. We can be so grateful that He is so graceful in his judgement.

Not everyone will be saved.

But Yah wants them to.

When will it be time?

When will he deal with the sins of the world? These sins bring death, disease, war, and all types of pestilence. At some point, He will blow the trumpet and take action. There will be weeping, there will be gnashing of teeth. There will be a world of people who say…

Gulp!

At some point, it will be too late. At this point, many of us say,

“Return, Yahweh, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.”

Numbers 10:36

I pray that you are “in that number” when Yeshua returns to reward the faithful with glory and to judge others with the end of their story.

Prayer:

Father in Heaven. You are great and most wise in your actions. Thank you for your patience with mankind. Keep me in your shalom as I wait for the promise. Keep me in your provision as your enemies seek to take away our life.

Your promise will be fulfilled to your perfection, in your perfect time. Help us lead people to the light and away from the dark as we wait for your Hosannah! Amen.

Torah Is Loved

Can you say you love Torah? Would you say you hate those who are double-minded.

I would say I am frustrated by those who change their mind over and over, but I would not say I hate them. “I mean, pick a lane. Do you want a taco or a beef burrito? Move along here. We got places to go. People to see.” Right?

But I think, as the entire subject of the longest Psalm is Yah’s Torah and righteous living, this double-mindedness is in regards to God’s Ways. In many ways, the double-minded are worse than the ignorant, or the depraved soul.

Maybe that should give us some perspective on this principle.

So—because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to vomit you out of My mouth;

Revelation 3:16 ISV

I do prefer the term “spew” but “vomit” works.

Again, Torah is the key

The hate, if you will, is directed toward those who are double-minded or half-hearted toward God’s Law, His Torah.

As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Romans 9:13

This can be a confusing concept at first. But, keep in mind two things. 1. Yah is sovereign. 2. Our contemporary definitions are often somewhat off from original context.

However, you will see that this word “hate” is used more in scripture than we often want to admit.

Here’s My Takeaway

Yah spells it out for us clearly in His word that our part of the covenant is to obey His word. I go so far as to say, “obey His Torah.” If we choose to disobey, He can choose to reject (hate) us as he did Esau.

Now… Let me share a good video with you. This ministry does a good job on several subjects. I haven’t seen them all but this one gives, I think, a good perspective on the issue at hand.

As we know, God Is Love. But God can also choose. He can disfavor. He can reject (and He does). Often rejection helps bring us back to His home, under His loving arms of forgiveness. Torah, however, is a huge reason for His choosing (or hating). Even His special seed, Israel, was rejected for a season as they strayed from His Torah.

Let us choose Torah. Let us choose favor. Let us reject evil, even flee from it, to embrace, and run to, His instructions.

Prayer

Father in Heaven. I love you and thank you for bringing me back into your arms with grace, with compassion, with joy as I turned (shuva) from my evil. Help me to love what you love and hate what you hate. Amen

Do you love what God loves?


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Torah Is Most Valuable

More than gold

The proverb says that wisdom is more valuable than gold and silver. Where do we start with wisdom? Reverence for Yah.

The psalmist tells me that Torah is worth more than gold or silver. More than thousands of pieces. Have you betrayed the Savior’s teaching? His Torah? If so, how many pieces of silver did it take?

Cha-Ching

Do you think, with all the prophecy in Psalms, David could have known that Paul would abolish the Torah? Sarcasm. Did David know that preaching would depend upon a philosophy of the law being a curse and being done away with in the new testament? Sorry, sarcasm again.

My purpose in this series is to define Torah with the very words of Yahweh. What is Torah? What is its purpose and benefit? For me to know this, I want to know what God thinks of it. Was Paul working against the grain? Or have contemporary Christians largely misunderstood him? Have we misrepresented the Torah from the lecterns across this world?

How can the law be such a blessing and be such a curse at the same time? Perhaps we should cling to the many biblical praises for Torah and dissect the sayings of Paul in Galatians.

Who are the lawless ones?

The ones who get literally locked out of the Kingdom of Heaven. The lawless ones. Jesus doesn’t even know them. Why would we preach lawlessness? Why would we practice lawlessness?

Lawlessness? Gulp!

Doing the will of God is an evidence of relationship. We want to heal, to prophesy, we want to cast out demons? All those things are possible without a relationship. What? Matthew 7:21-23 tells us. Messiah tells us this will happen. Who wants to ignore this warning? Not me. I want to be His friend. His servant. I know I’m not perfect, so does He. I want Him to claim me. I want to stand strong in the judgement.

Yes, I want to please Him. Is this legalism? Not according to the Word of God. According to God, that’s being rich. That is to be sought as precious gold and silver. Have you ever, perhaps unknowingly, turned away from Torah, seeing it as legalism? Why? What have you been taught regarding the Torah of Yahweh?

Torah Is A Lifeline

Bring me to safety!

The cords of the wicked have encircled me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.
— Psalm 119:61

I think of Jonah. He was pulled down by the kelp and the weight of his sin.

The waters closed in over me to take my life;

    the deep surrounded me;

weeds were wrapped about my head

Jonah 2:5

Be gracious to me, O Lord!
    See my affliction from those who hate me,
    O you who lift me up from the gates of death,

that I may recount all your praises,
    that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
    I may rejoice in your salvation.

The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
    in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.

The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
    the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.

– Psalm 119:13-16

This is great. I love how Jonah tells us of the parallel. Death wraps around us. Evil tries to ensnare us and bring us down into the depths. But YHWH saves. His Torah is a lifeline.

But the evil will be brought down in the end. The wicked will be caught in their own trap. The end will be a literal pit. The pit that the fallen angels experience now will one day be a forever pit of fire.

This same pit will be the judgement of all the evil ones. No longer will they have a hand to touch the chosen (us). No longer will we be a target.

But we have hope. We have it now. We have it eternally. We follow His Torah. We receive comfort. We grab onto the inheritance through the bloodline of the Messiah.

Embrace your adoption. Your heritage and draw near to Him with teaching (Torah) that brings life, that brings light.

Prayer:

Father, you are beautiful. May we flee from evil. Keep us from the wicked that we not be ensnared. Keep us in your love. Keep us in your covenant. Redeem us and feed us through the bread of Messiah.

Father, thank you for the hope in your Torah. Thank you for the promise of your eternity, your kingdom come. May your will, your Torah, be done in our hearts and in our hands. Amen.

My friend. Cling to Torah. It is a life-saver. Have you ever been snared by the cords of death and evil? How did you find the shore and safety?

Torah Is 24/7

His presence is with us at all times

O YHWH, I remember Your name in the night,
And keep (guard, keep watch) Your Torah.

Psalm 119:55

How do we keep Torah at night.

Prayer, study, worship. When we pray, our prayers go forth as offerings of sweet savor before the throne in the Heavenly temple.

It’s beautiful. One thing that Covid did to me is start a new insomnia. Well, I will use this time to spend time on my bed remembering His Name and spending time with Him. Receiving a hug from my Father. Receiving prophetic words for my family.

Like David, I think of Him through the watches of the night.

The enemy is a night prowler.

So it makes sense to do warfare during the night watches. Halleluyah. Awake and do some warfare for your family, for the children around the world. Do some good for the Kingdom as you speak truth to the heavenly wars. It’s not flesh and blood. It’s spiritual battle. Many people worldwide need your prayer. It’s 4 am where you rest, but 4 pm on the other side of the world.

Be blessed as you sleep. But before you do, spend your time with your King. And when you awake, guard your Torah. Honor His word and bring about victory on earth. Amen.

Prayer:

Thank you Father for the time we spend in the night. Let me not waste those hours and hear my prayer. Bless the little children, the widows as they spend hours in coldness and fear. Send forth your ministering angels. Let me not forget your Name and your Torah. Amen.