October 2019 – Light from the Word

Under His Shadow I Delight To Sit

(Song of Solomon 2; Psalm 91)

The beauty of this Song lies on the fact that this is a picture of a marital relationship with spiritual roots and meaning between Christ and His bride. She confesses to finding delight under His shadow, the secure place for her to be, as Psalm 91 so declares: He who dwells in the Secret Place of the Almighty shall remain fixed and stable. While the bride of Christ delights to be in His presence feeding on His Word, she makes a proclamation that His fruit was sweet to her taste. His Word, like a fruit, nourishes and satisfies the craving of her soul. I will say of the Lord: He is my refuge, my fortress and my God, in Him I will trust. He delights in covering His bride with His love. In His presence, she experiences the abundance of a banquet- a spiritual banquet. While He spreads His love over her she is sustained, and protected, refreshed and completely absorbed in Him. She is enveloped by His embrace, a symbol of complete protection from all evil. He covers her with His pinions and under His wings she finds refuge. No one will be able to harm her. His truth and faithfulness are a shield and a buckler. He is to her a Protector and a Defender. Therefore, she will not fear terror, arrow, pestilence, and destruction that attack and surprise at any time of the day. Even though a thousand may fall at her side and ten thousand at her right hand, nothing will even come near her. Secured under the shadow of the Almighty, she becomes only a spectator or a witness of all that is happening around her.

Pages: 12

Pilate’s Power, Not of His Own

(John 19: 11)

In the midst of YAHSHUA’S trials there was a dialogue between Him and Pilate, since the Jews did not enter the Praetorium not to defile themselves in preparation for the Passover. Pilate, the governor of Judea, a heathen and worshipper of the Roman gods, was now at a crossroad while presiding at the trial of YAHSHUA. Filled with pompous pride, he warned YAHSHUA of his power to free Him or crucify Him, when YAHSHUA would not respond to his question. But Pilate was a weak man; he would not stand for what he knew was right and true, afraid of the Jewish mob. We come to this conclusion after reading the accounts of YAHSHUA’S trials, although, not knowing the complete story found in other books, as in The Archeological Writings of the Sanhedrim and Talmud of the Jews. In this book we learn that Pilate met with YAHSHUA before His trial and crucifixion. This book includes Pilate’s report to Caesar of the arrest, trial and crucifixion and resurrection of YAHSHUA. In his report, Pilate mentions the month of YAHSHUA’S crucifixion-March; the name of his Centurion, Manlius, who after witnessing what had happened, uttered the words, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Pilate also describes the earthquake in detail at the time of YAHSHUA’S death. His emotions, he described as “sad and pensive.”

Pages: 12

In Remembrance of Him

(Matthews 26:23; I Corinthians 11)

Christmas season is the time when everyone is running to and fro, here and there, after gifts for one here and the other there, but not realizing the meaninglessness of it all when they say it is YAHSHUA’S birthday. The Word of God tells us that YAHSHUA had no beginning and no end. We read this in the book of John chapter one verses 1-4: In the beginning there was the Word (YAHSHUA), the Word was with God and the Word was God Himself! He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him(YAHSHUA), and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. He existed before time; He was never held in the boundary of time, neither to its limits, for time exists only by Him. To fulfill the Father’s will, a body was prepared for Him, but that did not measure the time frame of His existence, neither His beginning. It just implies the human’s time frame for men to mark the date of His coming to earth.

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Truth Will Set You Free From Worthless Traditions

Truth can only be a deliverer of man’s chains when he/she accepts it. Truth’s foundation is secured in true facts. It is a reality check without blemishes. When it is embraced and accepted, freedom then takes its wings. Years of being left in the darkness of lies, men have walked crookedly and without direction, framed as preys of ignorance. YAHSHUA, the only true God, without sin, is the root of the truth through Whom all who believe in Him will be Enlighted. He Himself proclaimed to be not only Truth, but the Way, and Life. Through Him, we can go to the heavenly Father. He is the ultimate Truth that will set men free and lead them to heaven. When men reject Truth, they will find themselves to be under the curse of sin. The curse from which YAHSHUA died to set men free. Isaiah prophesized this many years before YAHSHUA came to earth to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation for men: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needed to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded Him] we are healed and made whole” (Isaiah 53:5). Truth, in general, outside of the spiritual realm, is the breaker of chains of blind ignorance. But sometimes, it should be confronted only at the proper time. A man has joy in making an apt answer, and a word spoken at the right moment- how good it is! These are the Words of Solomon (Prov. 15:23).

Pages: 12

Interruptions Are Life’s Stoplights

(Mark 5:22-34, 41-42)

One certain day one of the rulers of the Synagogue named Jairus, came to YAHSHUA prostrating himself at His feet begging Him to come and heal his daughter who was at the point of death. This leader was one of the board members of elders who governed the activities and oversaw the building and whatever else that pertained to do with the synagogue. They were lay leaders who did not get paid for services rendered. Jairus, in spite of his position, had to make a decision not acceptable by the Pharisees or the Scribes- the spiritual leaders of the country. Based on the testimony of many concerning YAHSHUA’S power to heal the sick, and possibly having witnessed it himself, he believed YAHSHUA could heal his daughter who was at the point of death. No doctors could turn her around and give her life. Jairus could be thrown out of the synagogue’s leadership position due to his decision, but his daughter’s health situation was of more value at that moment. He courageously went to see YAHSHUA humbly begging Him for his daughter’s healing. His heart was filled with hope when YAHSHUA decided to follow him to his house.

Pages: 12

Look At Things That Are Unseen

(II Corinthians 4:18; Titus 2:13)

For our light, momentary affliction is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory, since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal, but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting (II Cor. 4:17-18).

Visible and invisible things are ever being introduced to us by means of circumstances (visible) and faith that sprouts from the reading the Word of God. Those whose hope depends solely on things seen are the most miserable of men. They are as the illustration YAHSHUA gave concerning the man who built his house on sand. Its foundation lasts only as long as there is no change in the environment or weather. But soon as they change, the foundation disappears with them. The foundation of things is the most important part of any plan to be successfully substantiated. YAHSHUA said that life did not consist in and is not derived from possessions; life is more than things, as food; and the body more than clothes (Luke 12: 15,23). These are temporal and seen things available to us as part of life, but they are not to control and dictate our state of mind.

Pages: 12

Forty Stripes – No More

Forty stripes may be given him but not more, lest, if he should be beaten with many stripes, your brother should seem low and worthless to you (Deut. 25:3).

At Pilate’s decision to let YAHSHUA go, the Jewish vehemently cried, Crucify Him! Not wanting to do that, Pilate said he would scourge Him and let Him go. YAHSHUA would then be under the mercilessness of the Roman hand of judgment. The Roman government laws were independent of the Jewish laws. In this case, we read, forty stripes may be given him (the guilty man) but not more… Let’s compare the two and once and for all delete from your mind that YAHSHUA was beaten forty stripes. That is an erroneous teaching.

Pages: 12

The Law Served As a Guide To Lead Us To Christ (Part 2)

(Galatians 3)

I am the Lord your God… you shall have no other god before Me (Exodus 20:2). And now, Israel, what does the Lord God require of you but to fear the Lord your God – to walk in all His ways and to love Him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with you entire being to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? (Deut. 10: 5, 12.13)

The Law showed the nation of Israel the holiness of the Lord, the need for them to desire it for themselves through obedience to God’s commandments as their part of the covenant. No one outside the Law’s requirements was able to please God’s holiness. In holiness, our God is righteous, and righteousness is the foundation of His throne (Psalm 89:14a). From the beginning men adopted many gods to satisfy their spiritual hunger, since they were created with a spiritual need for God. The Law was given with the purpose to point men to the One True God and His attributes. There are two aspects of the Law: ceremonial and moral. The ceremonial rituals served to point to the ultimate sacrifice of God’s Son, ending all the sacrifices of animals for the atonement of men’s sin. The blood of God’s Son poured out for the forgiveness of sin was more than sufficient to ratify the agreement of the new covenant- covenant of blood.

Pages: 12

Wilderness, a Place For Temptation

(Luke 4)

Then YAHSHUA, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit for during forty days in the wilderness, where He was tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, He was hungry (Like 4:1,2). The devil came to YAHSHUA at the point of His need – hunger. Forty days and nights without eating can starve the body and lead it to death, that is, for some people, depending on their health factors. Forty days is long enough time for the body to have used all the resources it had to be sustained. YAHSHUA, as a man, was subject to the weakness of a human body, but not to man’s sinful nature. He was led to the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted in preparation for the ministry He was going to fulfill. Like us, He was also subjected to temptations, and to the extent of sufferings that we experience. So after fasting forty days and forty nights, His obvious need of that moment was hunger. Hunger and thirst in the desert are something hard to overcome without having knowledge of how to survive in such environment which lacks everything that benefits the body. The Bible does not say if He went without water however, I assume so. Whatever the situation, He went hungry after forty days.

Pages: 12

Let No One Deceive You

(II Thessalonians 2; I John 4:1-4)

Deceit comes to all some time and in some fashion. Its intent is to brain-wash the truth, in order to achieve its purpose of control. The main reason it will be able to ensnare the mind successfully is ignorance. Ignorance then partners with destruction when zeal is manifested. Deceit is like a spider’s web in its impressive design. It does not covey the purpose to kill in its beauty and intelligence. But it attracts the victim to its death serving as food for the deceiver. That’s the way Satan operates. YAHSHUA said this of him: The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they (the sheep) may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (John 10:10) There are many ways deceit leads to destruction. However, the most serious one is the deceit that leads one to hell. From the beginning of time, Satan used deceit to deviate man from the truth to believe lies he created, instead.

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