We Hold These Truths...

When I think of Independence Day, I can't help but remember all those brave men in my family who served our country in part because they believed these words from the Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

So what is the meaning of unalienable as pertains to rights given to all people by God?  Here is a definition:

"Unalienable: incapable of being alienated, that is, sold and transferred." Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, page 1523:
You can not surrender, sell or transfer unalienable rights, they are a gift from the Creator to the individual and can not under any circumstances be surrendered or taken. All individuals have unalienable rights.

We take a lot for granted but in many countries slavery, oppression, lack of freedom of religion and free speech rule the day.  Human life is seen as having little or no value and even in THIS country, the rights of the unborn are not fully considered under this protective banner.  Did you know that in the U.S. abortion due to the sex of the child is LEGAL whereas even in China such a practice is restricted?

The point is that GOD ALMIGHTY has given all people such rights and even in the Bible, slavery was highly regulated with people being allowed to go free after a period of 7 years or at the Jubilee Year, whichever came first.  If a slave was injured or otherwise mistreated, they could go free immediately with compensation.
We really can't criticize slavery's presence in the Bible when we condone abortion in modern times.  The Bible in fact sees an unborn child as just that, a valued human life.  Here is the penalty under Mosaic Law for harming or killing an unborn baby:

"If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman's husband demands and the judges allow. 

But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life,"  Exodus 21:22-23
 
See what it says?  Life for Life.  So the Bible extends the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness even to the unborn and lays a heavy penalty to those who accidentally cause harm.  Remember the men are fighting with each other, not the woman.  Yah sees that life as precious as shown in this Psalm:

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb." Psalm 139:13

We need to remember that our unalienable rights can not be given or taken away by man or governments, no matter what laws they may pass or uphold.  I can think of nothing so cruel as to deliberately hurt and kill an innocent child who had nothing to do with his or her own conception.  Please pray for our country to live up to its creed this Independence Day. All people, including the unborn have inherent value as each is created in the image of God our Father.

God is SO Generous!

A large bushel of oysters, Yah's bounty from the sea!

Generous, benevolent, magnanimous, beneficent and truly AWESOME is Yahuwah Yireh, our provider!  The scriptures say it correctly when it speaks of our Heavenly Father's giving nature and care of His creation:

You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. Psalm 145:16

Sometimes we forget that our needs will NEVER be greater than Yah's capacity to provide for them.  When we look to other people or things to provide for us, we often don't see that there is but ONE GOD who gives to all.  In other words, rather than looking to another person or institution as our hope, we need to trust God who is Sovereign over all.

When Yahuwah sent manna to supply the needs of the children of Israel in the desert, He didn't say, "You can only gather so much per person."  Now while our Heavenly Father does not condone greed, He allows us to choose how much and when to partake of His bounty.

"This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'" Exodus 16:16

An "omer" was about equivalent to 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon in US measure.  Still the Bible recounts that some gathered much and some gathered little, all according to his or her eating.  We also have to remember that the manna could not be kept over from the previous day.  It would spoil and become wormy except when it was gathered prior to Shabbat or the Sabbath their day of rest.

So didn't God just let them gather enough for the whole week at once?  Well the lesson here is the same for us today.  When we are able to physically "see" our abundance, the focus can tend to shift from the one who provided it to the material things themselves.  We put more of our confidence in these gathered resources rather than the One who provided them in the first place. Paul said:

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 1 Timothy 6:17

So next time you are worried about what tomorrow will bring financially just remember that Yah is a RICH and generous provider.  We can put our full confidence in HIM, not material things which are so temporary. 


Prayer: Oh Yah, Maker of all things, thank you for what You have already done starting with the generosity of this day's provisions. I know that if I but first seek the Kingdom, as Yahushua taught, all other things will be added to me.  I have all things in Messiah and bless You for all that You have done, are doing and will do for me.  Amen   

Good News!

If Christmas doesn't do anything else, it should at the very basic level remind us of the Good News.  Not just the Biblical account of Yahushua's birth or geneo (beginning), but of the Good News that he himself preached.  In the synagogue He read the following scroll of the prophet Isaiah and finished saying this prophecy is now fulfilled in your hearing:

“The Spirit of THE LORD YAHUWAH is upon me, and because of this He has anointed me to preach The Good News to the poor; He has sent me to heal broken hearts and to proclaim liberty to captives, vision to the blind, and to restore the crushed with forgiveness,”  Luke 4:18

No human authority, government or earthy power could stop this fulfillment and it was executed with precision and completeness during Yahushua's three year ministry.  See the Jews in the first century were looking for a powerful king who would immediately free them from oppressive Roman rule.  The only problem is in their quest for political liberation, they failed to recognize their present spiritual slavery to sin and evil.  This was the Messiah's primary mission, to preach the Good News of salvation to both the materially and more importantly spiritually bankrupt of the House of Israel.

So while the Good News or Gospel is certainly about the Lord Messiah, it also is his message to his spiritual brothers and then to us.  As the apostle Paul summed it up:

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” Romans 1:16  

Now that is the power of God.  The message of salvation delivered through the one whom it would ultimately be advanced.  First the Jews were told and then it was spread to the Gentiles.  

But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:  Romans 2:10

We just can't hold that sort of good news in!  We've got to tell it because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to become right with God through the saving power of Christ's finished work and blood.  When he said, "It is accomplished", he had done all that the Father had asked of him.  Like our Master, we can be faithful too and proclaim the good and acceptable year of the LORD while there is still time.  It won't go on forever.  So yes, rejoice this Christmas as it calls to mind the loving act of our Heavenly Father and His obedient son.  It still holds out the gift of salvation and the promise of everlasting life to those who believe.

Be Our Strength

O Yahuwah, favour us, for thee we have waited, Be their arm, in the mornings, Yea, our salvation in time of adversity. Isaiah 33:2

I read this in my YouVersion Bible Reading this morning and was so moved by the poetry of this verse that I had to share it with you.  I read "Be their arm in the mornings", I though of the word "army" and to arm oneself.  The main sense is that Yah was being called upon to be the strength of a nation in adverse times.  Isaiah the prophet wrote these words and you can hear him praying both for his people and the success of those fighting men of Israel.

This is such a blessing to know that our God is indeed a strong tower where the righteous run in and are saved:

A tower of strength is the name of Yahuwah, Into it the righteous runneth, and is set on high.  Proverbs 18:10

Imagine a place to run to, really a name and the authority it bears that allows the righteous to run in and be set up high and away from those seeking our harm.  Yahushua is our righteousness due to what he accomplished for us on the cross.  So through Messiah our sins are obliterated and we are now the righteousness of God:

“For HE HATH MADE HIM TO BE SIN FOR US, WHO KNEW NO SIN; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2nd Corinthians 5:21)

I've had the sublime joy of running to Yah as my tower of refuge many times when I was hard pressed and in trouble.  I made a request like Moshe and had a vision where I asked to be placed in the cleft of a high rock.  I could then see Yah pass by but with his hand covering me.  This was so I could see His glory pass by but also it was a place of immense peace and safety.

"I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, 'You are My people."  Isaiah 51:16

So I have been able to stand against adversities and troubling storms of life by placing my full trust and confidence in the everlasting arms of Yahuwah my Salvation.  You can too as He is only a prayer away.

PRAYER: Oh Yah, how great and mighty is the power of your set apart name!  I also know that there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved.  That is Your Son Yahuwah and your name is truly in him.  Thank you Father for Your divine strength and power through Christ when mine so often fails.

Amen. 

Thankful No Matter What

I can remember working with a wonderful scientist, Dr. Lester Weintraub, who always said, "Could have been worse!" when describing something unpleasant that just happened to him.

Really, he had the right attitude of gratitude when I think back.

"Let the peace of the Messiah also rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and be thankful". Colossians 3:15

First you see the peace ruling in one's heart as we are part of the ONE Body of Christ.  Yahushua taught about obtaining that peace by not being overly concerned with what we will drink or eat or put on.  This excessive worry is given to those whose hearts are ruled by  anxiety and therefore LACK such peace.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Matthew 6:25

He places things in the proper order of importance.  You are alive right now which shows Yah's divine providence.  Many people in the world did not live to see this new day.   Young, old, rich and poor did not wake up this morning.  So if God cares to allow you another day of life, will He not also provide the sustenance needed to maintain it?  Likewise our bodies are fearfully made, miracles of creation.  So what are clothes as compared to the beauty and complexity of the human form?

We really need to consider these things because this will lead to greater trust and faith in Yah's ability to take care of us.  So...

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  Philippians 4:6

Prayer:  Yahuwah Yireh, my Provider!  Thank you for sending your Son so that I may have my sins forgiven and the hope of everlasting life.  No matter what my circumstances, let me be thankful and rest in Your given peace.  In Yahushua's name, Amen.

 

Yahuwah Yireh, My Provider

¹⁴ He makes grass grow for the cattle,
   and plants for people to cultivate—
   bringing forth food from the earth:
¹⁵ wine that gladdens human hearts,
   oil to make their faces shine,
   and bread that sustains their hearts.  Psalm 104:14-15

I read this only this morning as part of my daily reading plan and though about Yah's going above and beyond filling our basic needs.  He not only cares for us but He also has great concern for the animals of His creation.  If the grass does not grow, even today, ranchers can not sustain their cattle.  The drought in Texas was so bad this past summer that many had to sell of a large part of their herds to keep them from dying.  If God withholds His provisions for them, they are dismayed,

²⁷ All creatures look to you
   to give them their food at the proper time.
²⁸ When you give it to them,
   they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
   they are satisfied with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face,
   they are terrified;  

Many agricultural problems today are often caused by poor land stewardship or natural changes in weather and seasons.  Still it says ALL creatures look to You.  We depend on animals for meat and hides plus many other products.  If they suffer, we also suffer.

Yahuwah cares deeply for us.  Giving us water would suffice to keep us alive but notice He also offers us wine to gladden our hearts.  That shows God is also concerned with our enjoyment of life.  Rely on Him for even more than just our basic needs.  Whatever our lot, we should trust Yah to provide for us.  Paul summed it up this way:  

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 1 Tim. 6:17

PRAYER:  O Yah, bless Your name forever!  Thank you for not only providing so richly for my temporal needs but also for giving us Your Son and life everlasting through him.

Authority

^"1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2 1-4

We often think one political party has the upper hand or the other is causing all the trouble but that may only be part of the whole picture.  When we look at Paul's instructions to Timothy, we see that he was in fact asking 1st century Christians to pray for a rather corrupt, oppressive government, that of the Roman Empire.  This same empire under the prodding of the Jews had put their leader to death.  Still Paul asks fellow believers in Yahushua Ha Messiach to pray for representatives of this brutal order?

This is because he knew that there is no authority except by God.  In other words, even today, the rulers are in their position because our Heavenly Father allows it.

¹ Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.  Romans 13:1-2

Does this mean that God condones the evil and lawless things these governments do?  Certainly not but if we read further in Romans we'll see that God understands that the absence of authority is anarchy.  Can you imagine life with no structure or authority at all?  Believe me, you wouldn't want to live in a country like that but many of our fellow Christians abroad do.

⁴ For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. Romans 13:4-5 

Even though the various governments are far from perfect, they do serve God's purpose in protecting the lives and property of its citizens.  With that protection, we are able to carry out peaceful lives as chaos would be the likely result of no government authority at all.  As far as it goes with us however, each Christian should consult their conscience in choosing godly people for political office.