No King BUT Christ no. 9

“When he was insulted, he didn’t retaliate with insults; when he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but handed them over to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the stake, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness — by his wounds you were healed. For you used to be like sheep gone astray, but now you have turned to the Shepherd, who watches over you” (1 Kefa (1 Pe) 2:23-25). I need to die to my sins and live for righteousness BUT what happens when I disguise my sin as righteousness? What happens when I haven’t changed my heart BUT only my mind? What happens when I am not transformed by the Good News of His Kingdom? I insult, I retaliate, I threaten, I go astray.

There is a lot of grumbling against brothers and sisters in Jesus, “'Don’t grumble against one another, brothers, so that you won’t come under condemnation — look! the Judge is standing at the door” (Ya'akov (Jas) 5:9)! There are so many divisions to argue over that the Spirit, that is supposed to unify, is replaced with a worldly spirit of divisiveness. “Always be humble, gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love, and making every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit gives through the binding power of shalom . There is one body and one Spirit, just as when you were called you were called to one hope. And there is one Lord, one trust, one immersion, and one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all” (Ephesians (Eph) 4:2-6). And being humble, gentle, and patient which leads to peace and unity is often cast aside for being right and winning debates. The Spirit is unity. The Spirit is, “. . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things” (Galatians (Gal) 5:22-23). And too often I lose sight of that because the world is still in my flesh and in my heart.

I have not been back in the Church very long. I spent a lot of time out amongst the Goyim while going to church. And the Goyim have a ‘true believer’ obsession. I am certain you are accustomed to hearing folks say things like “Well, if you believe that then you aren’t a real . . .” and insert whatever label you like. You might not be a real American or libertarian or man or whatever. When we start saying that folks are not real Christians then we start moving into that ‘true believer’ and Goyim idea of judging others. Ultimately, it is not my job to sit in judgment on whether folks are ‘real’ or ‘truly’ anything. I have a lot of work to do in loving God and my neighbor. When I get that part down, I should then think about judging whether someone else has the right theology. A lot of folks that are saved by grace are too worried about folks thinking and doing the wrong thing. I either trust that God will figure it out or I don’t. And I want to trust in Him a lot more than I want to trust in me figuring everything out perfectly. And if that makes me a hypocrite at times, if that makes folks question my theology, if that makes folks think I am not a ‘true believer’ then I suppose that is something else I need to work out in prayer with Him. What I need to work out with you is love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

No King BUT Christ no. 8

“Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, compassionate Father, God of all encouragement and comfort; who encourages us in all our trials, so that we can encourage others in whatever trials they may be undergoing with the encouragement we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians (2 Co) 1:3-4). God is one that encourages and comforts. Likewise as disciples of His Kingdom, we should encourage and comfort others just like God encourages us.

It is so easy to take our Goyim practices from our old lives or even pick up the Goyim practices in our daily walk among them and become folks that are bitter, discouraging, and uncomforting. I was definitely a guy that was all of those things and worse. I would look down my nose at folks that struggled. I had no hope for them or myself. I was definitely not comforted and I was definitely not giving out comfort. I was giving out a lot of judgment and wrath. And those are hard habits to break BUT they are not unbreakable. And the Spirit will work to fix those problems in me when I allow Him to do that.

Just like all skills, being a comfort and encouragement are skills that need practice and development. I often feel like I am not making much progress in those skills until I get into situations among folks I have spent significant time with prior to my current journey. Sometimes comparison can be the thief of joy and sometimes comparison can give perspective. What I choose to see are opportunities to comfort those that need comforting and encourage those that need encouragement even if it is only through asking to pray for them.

I am a huge advocate for praying more. Prayer not only encourages me but it also comforts me. Praying for others encourages them and comforts them. Communion and fellowship with God is always a great source of comfort and encouragement. I have never felt discouraged or uncomfortable in prayer.

I pray that I am an encouragement and comfort to others today because I need a lot of work on doing that. I pray that I work on those skills rather than falling into the traps of the Adversary. May I reflect the comfort that I feel when going to God in prayer and radiate the encouragement I get from reading His Word.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH