Faith – Page 2 – Light from the Word

And He Looked at the Storm

It happened after the multiplication of five loaves of bread and two fish to feed the crowd of 5,000 men, not including women and children (Matt 14:21), when YAHSHUA dismissed the disciples to go into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowd (vs.22). YAHSHUA, after He dismissed the multitudes, went up into the hills by Himself to pray, as He used to do. When it was evening, He was still there alone (vs.23). YAHSHUA’S day had been busy feeding the crowd, and needed to be refreshed by the Father. Not concerned with time, evening came, and He was still there alone, praying. Meanwhile, a storm caught the disciples by surprise. The boat was by that time out on the sea, many furlongs [one-eighth of a mile] distant from the land. Their boat was beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them. In the fourth watch [between 3:00-6:00 a.m.] YAHSHUA came to them walking on the sea (vs.25). The disciples were in the storm for a while before the Lord appeared to them. Not that He didn’t know about it, but for some reason it happened that way. To me, was a matter of faith and trust for the disciples and through it, for them to see the glory of God. After all, the disciples witnessed miracles, and more miracles performed by Messiah YAHSHUA. He, being connected with nature, knew exactly what was going on. He was not delayed, as He is never late for anything.

In the fourth watch He decided to come to the disciples. In an amazing way, YAHSHUA showed His disciples once again Who He was. Creator of the earth, and of all that has been created, He walked over the waters as if walking on ground. The storm continued but it didn’t affect Him. For there stood One Who had the power to hush it. All creations submit to His voice, their Creator. The disciples had no idea. The storm was blinding them from recognizing Who that was walking on water. Distant from land many furlongs the disciples were beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them (Matt.14:24). Without YAHSHUA with them, they feared the fury of the storm. When He appeared in the distance, in their fear, they failed to recognize Him. They feared even more when they saw Him. As a matter of fact, they were terrified and screamed with fright, thinking He to be a ghost. (Vs.26).

From a distance came the comforting words, Take courage! I AM! Stop being afraid! I AM WHO I Am and WHAT I AM, and I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE. This was the answer God gave to Moses, many years ago, when He called him to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He asked God, what answer I would give to the Israelites when they asked, the question, What is His name? And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM AND WHAT I AM, AND I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE; and you shall say this to the Israelites, I AM has sent me to you! (Exodus 3:13-14). There, stood I AM to save them again, and this time, from the storm. The disciples should have known the tittle I AM that referred to God. There, stood the incarnate God, ready to save them as in the days of old. Peter, their spokesman, didn’t hesitate to be the first to answer. Seeing the Lord walking on the water, he wanted to try for himself, voided of faith, he said, “If it is You, command me to come to You on the water. YAHSHUA said, Come! So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward YAHSHUA. But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Instantly YAHSHUA REACHED OUT His hand and caught and held him, saying to him O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat knelt and worshiped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God!” (Matt. 14:26-33).

Pages: 12

A Roof and a Crowd

“Where there is a will, there is a way.” Life is full of surprises coming from every direction. It becomes reality for the pursuer of dreams. Mountains, we did not expect are sometimes present in the fulling of a dream, or a plan. I call this an obstacle. The Bible tells us a story of a crippled man, desperately needed the attention of YAHSHUA for his healing. Mark registers the incident in chapter 3:1-5: And YAHSHUA having returned to Capernaum, after some days it was rumored about that He was in the house [probably Peter’s]. And so many people gathered together there that there was no longer room [for them], not even around the door…Then they came, bringing a paralytic to Him, who had been picked up and was being carried by four men. When they could not get him to a place in front of YAHSHUA because of the throng, they dug through the roof above Him; and when they had scooped out an opening, they let down the quilt or a mat upon which the paralyzed man lay. And when YAHSHUA SAW THEIR FAITH, He said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven and put away. Something must be reasoned in the words of YAHSHUA:” son, your sins are forgiven.” We understand here that sin, in many cases, is the result of diseases. YAHSHUA, in His divinity had the power to save that man from hell and at the same time, heal him physically. He had to deal with the cause for his disease first, so that he would be healed in its entirety. The realization of sins in our lives should be the primary concern when directing our petition to our Lord YAHSHUA for healing.

On another occasion, there was a certain man who had suffered with a deep-seated and lingering disorder for thirty-eight years. When YASHUA noticed him lying there, knowing that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, Do you want to become well? He answered, Sir, I have nobody when the water is moving to put me into the pool; but while I am trying to come [into it] myself, somebody else steps down ahead of me. YAHSHUA said to him, Pick up your bed and walk! Instantly, the man became well and recovered his strength and picked up his bed and walked… Afterward, when YAHSHUA found him in the temple, He said to him, See, you are well! Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was YAHSHUA Who had made him well. For this reason, the Jews began to persecute and sought to kill Him, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath (John 5:5-9,14-15). Here there is no obstacle for the healing of this man, except his own sin. YAHSHUA warned him not to continue in sin, otherwise, worse was going to happen to him.

Pages: 12

Do Not I Fill Heaven and Earth?

(Jer. 23:24b)

Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there; if I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me and the night shall be light about me, even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You (Ps. 139:7-12). In the beginning, God. In the beginning of creation, God was there creating all that was created. When He spoke, things were created. “Let it be” and existence took place. The world was created in order of things as God planned. Before Adam and Eve sinned, they enjoyed the presence of the Lord in the cool of the day, as He walked in the garden. However, when they sinned, they tried to hide from His presence, ashamed of what they had just done; The relationship was then broken, but God’s presence was ever in the world He created. No place to run from Him as the psalmist so expressed and asked the question, Where could I go from Your Spirit?

As humans, we can never comprehend the omnipresence of God. He is everywhere at the same time. When reading the verse in Jeremiah 23:24b, I came to understand better how it is that God is everywhere: “He fills heaven and earth.” His presence is everywhere we go, or cannot go. It is God Who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; it is He Who stretches out the heavens like curtains and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in (Isaiah 40:22).

The world, in midst of chaos because of sin, still enjoys peace and physical order, because the heavens and earth are filled with God’s presence. It is the presence of the Lord that maintains order in the universe. Sitting above the circle of the earth, nothing escapes Him. The Patriarch Job said, He is Who spreads out the northern skies over emptiness and hangs the earth upon or over nothing; He holds the waters bound in His clouds and the cloud is not rent under them; He covers the face of His throne and spreads over it His cloud; He has placed an enclosing limit [the horizon] upon the waters at the boundary between light and darkness; the pillars of the heavens tremble and are astonished at His rebuke; He stills or stirs up the sea by His power, and by His understanding, He smites proud Rahab; by His breath the heavens are garnished; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent; yet, these are but the outskirts of His ways or the mere fringes of His force, the faintest whisper of His voice! Who dares contemplate or who can understand the thunders of His full magnificent power? (Job 26:7-14). These inspired words from the Holy Spirit to the Patriarch Job make us to realize how much do we lack in respect and the honor we due Him. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” What fear means here is reverence; it is to regard Him as holy and honor His holy name. To fear men instead of God, it constitutes an offense to Him; God spoke to Isaiah and said, The Lord of hosts-regard Him as holy and honor His holy name; and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread (Isaiah 8:13).

Pages: 12

The Everlasting Covenant (part 1)

Covenant, in its secular demand, binds and establishes a relationship between two parties. However, God’s covenant establishes a relationship with men through his obedience. His covenant is not bilateral, but unilateral. For He is the One Who initiated, and He is the One Who determines the principles of it. Men are subjected to His commands in order to be recipients of the blessings He offers through His covenant. When God covenanted with Adam, He instructed him not to eat of the certain fruit from the garden. To maintain the relationship with God Adam had to obey God’s covenant’s instruction. When Adam failed what the covenant demanded, he died spiritually, as God told him he would. However, right then, God’s covenant went as far as to promise a Savior to restore the human race into covenant with Him through His Son. Speaking to Satan, He said, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread you under underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel (Gen. 3: 15). God’s covenant was never annulled in spite of Adam’s disobedience, for He in His mercy, provided a way for the covenant relationship to exist between Him and men through the death of His Son.

God covenanted with Noah when He told Him to build an ark. He followed God’s orders and God promised him to establish His covenant (promise, pledge) of salvation with him when His wrath would pour over the entire earth. Noah and his family were delivered in the shelter of the ark God told him to make when he entered into the covenant relationship with God in obedience to the demand of the covenant (Gen. 6). God’s covenant with Abraham was a covenant of promise which was to continue through Abraham’s generation, that is, through his son Isaac, the son of the promise. For the covenant of promise to have affected, or to have bound to him, Abraham was to act in faith and in obedience. Abraham showed faithfulness to God’s covenant, when he satisfied the demand of the covenant in the sacrifice of his son, as he was told, believing that God would raise him from the dead, to fulfill His covenantal promise. Abraham found favor with God and the confirmation of the promise was then literate in God’s own words, I have sworn by Myself, that since you have done this and have not withheld or begrudged your son, your only son, in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying, I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed YAHSHUA will possess the gate of His enemies. And in your Seed (YAHSHUA) shall all the nations of the earth be blessed and [by Him] bless themselves, because you have heard and obeyed My voice (Gen. 22). We are recipients of this blessing because Abraham obeyed the demands of God’s covenant. Abraham’s blessings have a prophetic perspective, embracing the entire world.

In Exodus 19 we see God covenanting with Israel, a nation which He created to covenant with Him and thus bless it. When Israel arrived at the wilderness of Sinai, God appeared to them. Moses, as their mediator, received the instructions before they were to appear before God. God, then covenanted with Israel by saying, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among the above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. These are the words you shall speak to the Israelites. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord (vs. 3-8). There, the Lord gave the nation of Israel the Ten Commandments- the written covenant. Israel came to a mountain that was ablaze with fire and to gloom and darkness and a raging storm, with a blast of a trumpet and a voice whose words make the listeners beg that nothing more be said to them for they could not bear the command that was given; if even a wild animal touches the mountain it shall be stoned to death. In fact, so awful and terrifying was the sight that Moses s aid, I am terrified (Heb. 12:19-21). That was Israel’s experience when God covenanted with them.

The covenant God made with King David is a covenant comprised of promises. He covenanted with David by saying, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over My people Israel. I was with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like [that] of the great men of the earth. (II Sam. 7: 8-9). David’s subjected himself to the covenant saying, what more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord God. Because of Your promise and as Your own heart dictates, You have done all these astounding things to make Your servants know and understand. Therefore, You are great, O Lord God; for none is like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all [You have made] our ears to hear… You have established for Yourself Your people Israel to be Your people forever, and You, Lord, became their God (II Sa. 7: 21-22,24).
Until YAHSHUA’S coming to earth, the nation of Israel was under the covenant of the law. But YAHSHUA came to fulfill it, since there was no one who could perfectly and accordingly to God’s demand, fulfill it. He came while the old covenant was in effect, and not only fulfilled the old covenant, but brought the new covenant with Him. This new covenant was predicted by Moses, Jeremiah, and Ez ekiel. (Deut. 29:4; Jer. 31:33; Ezekiel 36: 26-27). YAHSHUA was the mediator of the new covenant. His death carries the fulfillment and the basis of His promise. Before His death, He established the new covenant with those with Him and with those who would believe in Him: He took the cup after supper saying, This cup is the new testament or covenant [ratified] in My blood, which is shed for you (Luke 22:20). With His death, YAHSHUA made the first covenant obsolete. He did not abolish the law, but he fulfilled the law and taught us to observe the summary of the Law: love God with all our heart, soul and mind and love our neighbor as ourselves. That is the summary of the entire law because where there is love, there is no stealing, adultery, murder, coveting, etc. The old covenant was then replaced by the new: For if that first covenant had been without defect, there would have been no room for another one or an attempt to institute another one (Heb. 8:7).

YAHSHUA established the new covenant while He was shedding His blood when being beaten, when a crown of thorns was put on His head and when on the cross. As a Mediator, He connected us to God in the covenant of blood. His demands in His covenant are that we dwell in Him, bear fruit, abide in His love, keep His commandments, obey His instructions, and His principal commandment: love God, love one another, just as He loved us (John 15). The old covenant was written on a stone, but the new one was written in our hearts with the blood of YAHSHUA. The Prophet Jeremiah prophesized concerning this new covenant many years before the coming of YAHSHUA to establish it. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was their Husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the Lord, I will put My law within them and on their hearts will I write it; and I will be their God and they will be My people (Jer. 31:31-33).

Pages: 12

The House Built on the Rock

(Matthew 7: 24-28)

So, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them, will be like a sensible man who built his house upon the rock. This comparison of illustration takes us to the parable of the Sower, who sowed his seeds on different soils; but only one fell on good ground, which produced fruit in abundance. YAHSHUA then said, For whoever who has, to him will more be given and he will be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; bur him who has not, even what he has will be taken away (Mat. 13:12). What does it tell us? Listening to the word of God with the heart and understanding, it will make us wise and fit to face the storms of life, because our faith is firmed on YAHSHUA, the Author and Consummator of it. More knowledge and more understanding will come to those who hide the Word of God in their heart in order to follow and to depend on it. You see, the house here is our faith. Faith on God, on His word, His promises without waving or doubting, but believing with confidence. Do not therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward; for you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away what is promised (Heb. 10:35-36). The strength of our faith will prove itself in times of trials; Its genuineness will shine when tested. Our faith is the building block of and YAHSHUA, the foundation, the Rock on Whom our faith is built.

Comparing this to a physical house, we well know the importance of location, materials and the foundation for the building of a house in order to be strong and to endure storms of any kind. “There is no place like home” it is said and experienced when we are away for a while. The feeling of security one feels at home, not only for the strength of its foundation, but for the warmth of family nested in that home. A house is never a home, unless it is filled with family members. For a house, it is only an empty structure with divisions to accommodate the needs of the family or person. In any case, it is good to be found in a place where the roof does not leak in times of heavy rain, where the foundation does not rattle when the winds hit it. It is all together comfortable knowing that. YAHSHUA’S illustration of comparison should have hit the understanding of those who were hearing Him, for it was a very practical illustration; it touched everyone’s understanding of the matter.

Pages: 12

Prayer, the Key to Open Heaven’s Door (part 1)

David experienced the presence of God when he prayed. He, more than anyone we read about often sought the Lord, for his life was a life of trouble. Persecuted by King Saul until Saul died, he was a fugitive without means and position that entitled his deliverance from the king, the most powerful man in the country. But David was a king in God’s eyes waiting for the right time to be crowned so. He was also a fugitive from his son Absalom, who tried to take his throne. But David sought the Lord and called on His name. When we read his prayers in the book of Psalms it confirms that he had a relationship with God. When he committed sins of adultery and homicide he returned to God in repentance and grief of soul. He prayed, Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin, for I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in You judgment… create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51). And again, I acknowledge my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide… then You forgave me the guilt and the iniquity of my sin (Psalm 32); I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry…He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear and put their trust in the Lord (Psalm 40: 1, 3); my sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, such O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51: 17). When we admit our sins to Him, heaven acknowledges and forgiveness flows to us; when we praise Him angels join us in worship to God. David acknowledged the answers to his prayers, and it encouraged and helped others to know that God is faithful and He is a loving God.

Pages: 12

The Hope that Will Never Fade Away

Hope, as I have said before, is a product of faith. It feeds on it to be alive in every circumstance that presents itself. When hope is deferred, the soul is affected and the heart, too. The word deferred means to put off or drag out, as hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life (Prov. 13:12). One example of hope deferred is found in the life of Jacob, after he labored for seven years to marry Rachel, only to end up with her sister, Leah. Imagine the emotional pain he suffered! Seven years of hope and then been deferred is hard to swallow. That’s the hope that the world offers. Despair and anxiety with depression is often the fruit of a deferred hope. Man in his sinful nature, offers nothing that is not tainted with his sinful nature. Applying hope on the wrong dream, on the wrong person and on wrong things, often results in disappointments. We all have suffered from deferred hope embed in false promises from jobs, relationships, family and friends. Everything in this world that originates from man, is prone to be uncertain and deserving of wisdom on our part. In whom to believe? It is the question echoing in the voices of those depraved of hope, for having had bad experiences. If the hope we have is only on the physical world, we are most miserable and hopeless people, for hope that comes from God is hope that brings us joy, and peace. By believing in Him, His Holy Spirit will empower us to abound in hope (Rom. 8:24-25).

Pages: 12

Confessing That They Were Strangers

(Hebrews 11)

Faith, a thing that moves mountains, a thing that compels us to do the impossible, a thing that transforms and directs a life that embraces it, it is a thing that conquers the world. Faith is the assured feeling embed in hope and belief of the reality of things not seen, as if they existed. Faith is the force that keeps us persevering through it all in our pilgrimage on this earth. YAHSHUA, the Author and consummator of it, has given us a measure of it to uphold His promises for now and for the future. Our hope in Him is by faith that springs out from belief. There are many heroes and heroines of the faith that are suffering persecutions and many who have died for the faith in the true God. They have understood beyond doubt the true meaning of following the Savior, YAHSHUA. Their lives were and are true living sacrifices unto God, as they confessed and confess to the world that theirs is the heavenly citizenship. As those heroes and heroines of ancient times, today’s heroes and heroines of the faith, have provided the way for us to follow, carrying the torch of faith that will never be snuffed out, lightening the way for all to see beyond earthly stuff. It is a matter of our heavenly citizenship. Paul said, But our citizenship is in heaven, and from there we eagerly wait the Savior, the Lord YAHSHUA Messiah (Phil. 3:20). As patriots, we love our mother land. It is a natural thing to get attached to it, for it is where our ancestors’ roots are established. We die for it in times of war; we measure no sacrifice to display the love we have for our country. It is an emotion that goes deep into our soul. However, our permanent home is in heaven, where life after death will continue forever in a sphere of holiness and beauty, one we have never experienced before, but long for. Our love for heaven then should be of greater esteem and devotion with readiness to give our life for it.

Pages: 12

The Faithlessness of Today’s Church

Will not God defend and protect and avenge His elect, who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on their behalf? I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18: 7-80)

The faithlessness of today’s church is perceived everywhere. The Lord YAHSHUA rightly asked the question: When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? What possibly caused the church to lose her faith? From one extreme to another, the church has lost her faith through the multiplied wickedness and through the pursuit of worldly things. The prosperity teaching has caused the church to lose focus on YAHSHUA’S teachings concerning the pursuit of heavenly treasures. They instead are running after the worldly treasures and losing faith. Do not gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, He said, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal. But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt. 6:19-21). The church’s heart is sunk in the wealth of the world, not in heaven. In their faithless acts they pursue the world, not YAHSHUA. So they have become faithless.

The church’s faithlessness happens also when wickedness abounds and super abounds without correction. The acceptance of wickedness is easily received and adopted, as one example, the case of moral issues. Faithfulness to the teachings of the Word of God has faded and many has followed the wide road, in the attitude of co-existence, instead of taking a stand for the teachings of the Lord. They spare their lives but will lose it in the end. YAHSHUA said, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven; many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly, I never knew you; depart from Me you who act wickedly (Matt. 7:21-23).

Pages: 12

But Thomas Did Not Believe

Just before His trials and afterward His death, YASHUA spent time alone with His disciples comforting and instructing them, preparing them for what was coming. He spent His last hours with them alone to say good-bye in a sense. Disregarding what was ahead of Him, when He had to go through much suffering, His focus was now on the needs of the disciples. His three-year ministry had come to an end; the time had come when He was going to experience death and resurrection to accomplish the will of the Father, for which He had come. Subsequently, His exit from the earth was approaching. But these were news the disciples couldn’t digest for not being able to understand the meaning of it all. It seemed that they stayed in the dark of their understanding, until the Lord’s resurrection, when the He revealed plainly the meaning to two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus: YAHSHUA said to them, O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe everything that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary and essentially fitting that the Christ should suffer all these things before entering into His glory? Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He went on explaining and interpreting to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning and referring to Himself (Luke 24:25-27).

Do not let your hearts be troubled, He starts, you believe on God, believe also on Me (John 14:1). The days ahead were going to be days of uncertainties for all the disciples, with the absence of their Messiah from among them. Believe on God; believe also on Me, because the future holds the promise of deliverance and hope. I will not leave you orphans; I will come [back] to you (vs. 18) … And when I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also; and where I am going, you know the way (vs.3,4). Thomas then asked a leading question in the middle of the Lord’s words of hope. He said, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” which opened the door for YAHSHUA to declare Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life. (John 14:5,6). He is the Way to heaven, and to the heavenly Father; He is the Truth that sets the sinners free, He is the Life eternal. The definite article, the implies that He is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life.

Pages: 12