Food in the Garden

This article discusses the role of Israel. God clearly states (in Hebrew) that all men live by the Torah. This begs the question of how the rest of us are supposed to know about Torah if it was given to the Israelites. The answer is that they are chosen as God’s priestly people whose role is to tell the world how to live according to God’s standard and to return to the Garden.

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The Certificate

Many of us wonder, then, what got “nailed to the cross” when Yeshua died? Our Bibles translate it as the Torah… but is that correct? This article explores what the Hebrew text says and clarifies the role of Torah in our lives today.

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I am free from condemnation!

Romans 8:1

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The word for condemnation means penalty.  Yeshua paid our penalty when He died.  So, no matter what, if we accept His sacrifice, we accept His payment for our punishment.  He already paid our bills!  We could try and pay them again and again and again, but that would be silly.  Paying them again isn’t going to do anything, except waste money.  If I am in Him then I am not condemned, and my punishment is paid.  There is nothing left.

Does that mean I can do whatever I want?  No.  In order to glorify my maker, to honor His sacrifice, and to be useful to His plan, I still have to follow His commands.  For Sha’ul, this meant following the Torah (he was still writing the “New Testament” remember?).  Just because I am under grace, it doesn’t mean that I am not accountable to God’s way of living.  There is freedom and accountability.

Psalm 19:12, 14

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.  May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

This is my prayer.  Sometimes I feel like there are so many hidden faults, those things that are so ingrained in me that I don’t even realize they’re there – like pride or selfishness.  I know that some people would say that God convicts me of my sin and I should recognize these things… but the truth is sometimes God’s working on one issue and I get focused on that and don’t hear Him, or other times I’m so busy that I’m not paying a whole lot of attention.  I’d like to think that I could pause and reflect and ask God to cleanse me from my hidden faults.  My prayer each day is that the words of my mouth and the thoughts (or meditations) of my heart be pleasing to my Abba, Father, my rock and my redeemer.  He paid a high  price to redeem my heart, and I want to make Him smile.

2 Corinthians 4:9

We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.

I am feeling hunted this morning.  At work I feel like “Big Brother” is watching every move I make so he can pounce on any small mistake to use against me.  And now, I get that feeling at home, too.  I haven’t felt like this since I was a child.  It’s really frustrating because I can’t ask the questions I want to ask or make the observations that I want to make.  So, I’m praying for God’s grace and patience in the situation.  This verse spoke to my heart because God doesn’t abandon me.  He’s not like the watchful, vengeful spirits or people that are just waiting for something to comment on or use to make a point.  He doesn’t lay in wait for me to make a mistake or do something he doesn’t like.  He is always there and doesn’t leave me when I’m in a precarious position.  When I feel crushed under the weight of the fishbowl, He is there to give me His support so that I can get back up and keep going.  That’s what I need now.

Romans 6:11

So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus.

Today’s my first day back at work/school after 2 beautiful and wonderful weeks of vacation.  Man!  I’m so not ready for this!  And of course, my time this morning is all about sin and forgiveness and the role they play in our lives.  Heavy stuff for my mind this early and this distractable.  Romans 6 starts with that famous question, “should I keep sinning so that God can show his mercy and forgiveness through that?  Should I sin more so I can be forgiven more?”  That’s kind of like asking if you should cut yourself to get a bandaid (granted God’s forgiveness is more like a healing miracle than a bandaid, but hopefully that makes the point of how silly that question is).  Paul goes on to talk about how Jesus conquered death and sin and since we believe in Him and have new life through Him we no longer are subjected to continually doing the wrong thing.  Does that mean that we’ll be perfect?  No.  But since we are no longer required to do what sin tells us to, we can live in a way that brings glory to God through our love and kindness.  And if you’re like me at all, you’re thinking “that’s a tall order!  I make mistakes all the time!”  Yup.  You’re human, too (I hope, unless you’re a robot or strangely intelligent something else).  But its okay, that’s why we have forgiveness.  And, the more we get to know God, the more able we are to live like Him and act in a way that reflects His mercy, grace, and love.  And I think that’s the point of it all.

Micah 7:8

Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD himself will be my light.

This verse is so full of hope!  There’s sorrow, too.  Micah doesn’t say,”if” I fall; he says “though”.  Failure is inevitable because we are sinful.  Darkness is inevitable because we are sinful.  However, sin and darkness do not mean we are overcome and hopeless.  We have the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, we will rise again.  And though we sin and are so limited in our sight, the Lord himself will guide us and show us what is right!  That is so awesome!  God doesn’t send some angel or book or person to be our light.  He does it Himself!  That is very cool!

However you want to look at this verse, it gives me hope that my mistakes aren’t the be-all and end-all.  Though things seem dark right now and though I feel like I’ve fallen flat on my face, at the bottom of the barrel, there is light and there will come a time when I will rise and stand again.  And considering how many people probably feel that way (especially with the economy in the condition its in), this should be a verse that we cling to and remember that God does not desert Him people.  He Himself lights the way!  Yeah God!

A ship faces a perfect storm

Jonah 1:19

The sailors were awestruck by the LORD’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.

I’d have been pretty awestruck, too.  Imagine!  There are 10-20 foot waves crashing around your not-so-huge boat.  You’ve thrown everything you can into the boiling, churning water in a desperate attempt to stay afloat.  The rain is whipping around like nails, hammering the deck in a thunderous applause.  The deck rears up, throwing people and the few objects left from one side to the other, threatening to knock everyone into the deadly sea.  The sky is black, and the water is blacker.  All hope seems lost.  But then, a crazy guy who can sleep through a storm this bad, admits to angering a God you’ve never heard about and offers to be thrown overboard.  And the minute his feet leave the deck on his way into the water, instantly the sea is calm, the driving wind and rain become a gentle breeze, the clouds vanish and the sun shines down.  Yeah, I’d be awestruck!

Even though Jonah disobeyed God and brought a great storm on these guys, there was some good that came from it.  No, Jonah didn’t really learn a great lesson because when God didn’t destroy Ninevah he was very upset (You should watch the Veggie Tales version – Jonah and the Big Fish – to get a great illustration of this point).  But these sailors, who had just thrown their livelihoods overboard, became servants of the Most High God.

Our disobedience affects other people.  Jonah’s probably cost the sailors tons of money.  But it doesn’t have to be all bad.  God used Jonah’s sin to show His power, punishment, and mercy to the sailors who might never have heard of Him otherwise.  I’m not advocating sinning just so God can use it for good.  I’d imagine that far more good comes from our obedience; but since we are constantly fighting our fleshly, natural natures, sin is inevitable (remember that verse… all have sinned – Rom 3:23….yeah, that would be me and you and everybody on earth).  It’s a bit reassuring to know that God can bring good from our stubbornness and selfishness and pride.

Ezekiel 43:12

And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness!

Ezekiel has another vision.  In this one he is watching the Temple being measured.  My thoughts… this thing is huge!  Some of the walls are 8 feet thick!!!  Crazy!  Anyhow, God enters the Temple (sounding like roaring, rushing waters) and speaks with him about this coming Temple.  But the law of the Temple is absolute holiness!

For humanity, on our own, holiness is a pipe-dream.  We can’t be holy because we are imperfect…  However, there’s hope!  Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection gives us the ability to be holy.  No, not on our own or on the merit of what we try to do (imperfect beings can’t achieve perfection since our very nature is flawed), but through the mercy and sacrifice of Jesus.  Being washed in His blood we become like Him.  Not God, certainly, but in His image.  So through Jesus we can at least attempt holiness.  He does, after all, say “be holy as I am holy” (although that definition of holy may not be the traditional meaning – you can read my other post on that one).  So, there is hope!  By the blood of the perfect Lamb we are made clean and holy… and therefore we can come before the Lord of Hosts in His absolutely holy Temple worshiping Him and bringing Him glory!

Ezekial 18:21-23

But if the wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my laws and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die.  All their past sins will be forgotten and they will live because of the righteous things they have done.  Do you think, asks the Sovereign Lord, that I like to see wicked people die?  Of course not!  I only want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.

This is the very crux of Christianity.  Jesus came that we might LIVE!  He doesn’t want to see His children die, but as a just God He can’t ignore it.  However, if those children turn away from their wicked ways and obey God, then all the things they’ve done in the past will be wiped out and forgotten (not just forgiven).  It’s a good thing that God loves us so much!  I love that He has wiped out and forgotten my past.  He wants us to live.  He’s gone to great lengths to ensure that we can live.  Why do you think He gave Israel so many chances to turn and get it right?  Yes, He’s just, but He loves His children.

It’s like when my children do something they shouldn’t (like using the table as a springboard to jump onto the couch).  My inclination is to warn them, warn them, warn them, and finally I have to punish them.  I don’t like seeing them upset, but if they don’t heed my warning and directly disobey, that’s bad, too, because they could get hurt.  I think God’s like that with us.  He gives lots of warning, but eventually He has to punish us (usually to keep us from hurting ourselves or others, and to remind us that what we’re doing is wrong).

However, like I said, if my little ones stop trying to be superman off the table and onto the couch, then we move on.  I don’t add up the different things they do wrong or punish them for something they did a while ago after they do something else.  It doesn’t add up.  They turned from what they were doing and obeyed.  I forget about what they did and we move on together.  Yeah God!

Psalm 103:12

He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.

At church on Sunday we watched Perry Noble speak on God is Here.  It was awesome!  He is hilarious!  Among the points that he made was one that’s stuck with me this week.  With the new school year starting, it seems I am constantly reminded of the mistakes and failures of last year.  It’s like a shadow that never leaves.  It’s not totally visible, but it’s also subtly there shading everything I do and every conversation I have.  Very frustrating.

As humans, we tend to think that whenever something we’ve done in the past that Jesus has forgiven is recalled to our brain, it must be that God is reminding us of our sins.  But this isn’t true.  Perry Noble has a great illustration: his little girl  had a really stinky diaper (and as a mom of two boys under two-years I can certainly relate to that!).  He got her and changed her diaper, and when he was finished he didn’t shove it in her face and say, “See!  Look at how disgusting this is!  How could you do this?  You’re so revolting!”  No, he cleaned up her mess and threw it away so she wouldn’t have to deal with it ever again.

That’s how God is.  He cleans up our mess and throws it away (as far as east is from the west – which, by the way, is eternally distant) so we don’t ever have to deal with it again.  He doesn’t shove it in our face every-so-often to remind us of what we’ve done.  As our heavenly Father, He loves us.

So where do those reminders come from?  Well, unlike our loving but holy God, our memories are long and Satan’s memory is even longer.  After his tail got kicked by Jesus on the cross he’s made it his goal to mess with God’s children as much as possible.  And he loves to remind us of all the ways we’ve failed and how we’re not good enough and how we should just give up now because we’ll never get it right and … But, if we spend any time at all getting to know Jesus, we know that these are true.

Wait, what?!  Yes.  I said true.  But, it’s like the lie that’s partly true so it’s more believable.  Sure, we’ve failed, but Jesus paid for our sins and washed them away – He has the victory.  Sure, we’re not good enough, but again, that’s why Jesus died for us – so that by His blood we might be saved and reconciled and made holy before God.  Sure, we’re never going to get it right, but Jesus says that we’re not supposed to do things on our own and to ask for His help and power to do things (and we’ll still mess it up even then, but He still loves us).  So, yeah, those things are true, but they’re only the beginning.  The end is victory, and that’s what Satan would like for us to forget.  Remind yourself and remind him, then put the thoughts out of your mind, thanking Jesus for his grace and mercy.  And move forward!