RR “Guarding our Relationship with the Lord” by Jerry Miller
Rabbi’s Reflections - Sunday, January 25, 2026
Shavuah Tov,
Jeremiah 31:34 “No longer will each teach his neighbor or each his brother, saying: ‘Know Adonai,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.” It is a declaration of Adonai, “for I will forgive their iniquity, their sin I will remember no more.”(Italics added)
In this great passage, the prophet Jeremiah gives us insight into God’s heart and goal in providing “a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (see vss. 31-33). This new covenant, of course, would open the way for all people, Jew and Gentile, to enter into relationship with God through faith in Messiah Yeshua. Honestly, to me, this is really a stunning concept—that you and I can have a relationship with God Himself. We might consider a multitude of things that we would perceive to be priorities to God as He sovereignly oversees His creation. But what God Himself shows us in His Word is that relationship is His goal. Sha’ul clearly understood this, telling us in Philippians 3:10, “My aim is to know Him…” While there is certainly much that we are called to do as Yeshua-followers, at the heart of our “activity” for God is to be relationship with Him. This is foundational to a walk that reflects Yeshua and shows others the beauty and greatness of who He is.
As I shared last time, it is our abiding in Yeshua that is key to our walk with Him and living fruitful lives. I believe that abiding in Him is our highest priority as we face the challenges of life in this fallen world. With that in mind, it makes sense that we can encounter so many challenges to growing in this relationship with God. I suspect that among the highest priorities of the enemy of our soul is to hinder us in this relationship with Yeshua. Thus, we must alert and guarded against the enemy’s tactics. So today, and in some future RR’s, I want to give some attention to this and share some practical helps for guarding our relationship with the Lord.
The truth is, we live out our lives amid an environment that, spiritually and culturally, is hostile to what we stand for as Yeshua-followers. It’s not enough for us to simply know intellectually the values and attitudes we are called to embrace as believers. We need to guard our hearts and be alert to different ways the enemy seeks to hinder us in our relational pursuit of God. The enemy is at work seeking to tear down our faith and attack our confidence in the Lord and confidence in His ways. So, what I would like to introduce today and continue in coming weeks is some discussion of what we might see as a plan of action, so to speak, for guarding our relationship with God.
I felt the Lord put on my heart that, in guarding our relationship with Him, there are demonic narratives we must consciously reject, and there are godly truths we must consciously affirm, in nurturing strong faith. If we desire to flourish as a people of faith, hope and love, we must be aware of ways the enemy seeks to work against that goal. I’ve said in past RR’s that we do not become a people of strong faith by accident. Strong faith requires both pursuit of God as well as rejection of all that wars against our faith. Yes, God Himself is our heart’s desire and our primary focus, but awareness and alertness to the enemy and his tactics is needed for helping us remain focused on Yeshua.
In Sha’ul’s letter to the congregation in Ephesus, he warns us of the importance of being alert to “the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). There are specific narratives we must be alert to and reject as part of guarding our own hearts. One such narrative we must be consciously recognizing and rejecting is the arrogant unbelief and skepticism so rampant in our secular culture. Much exposure to skepticism can have the effect of leaving us shaky in our faith, so we must be alert to it.
Our culture’s arrogance and skepticism in relation to faith, is meant to leave us questioning the whole idea of living for God. I am reminded of Psalm 73:13, where the psalmist writes, “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and washed my hands in innocence.” In other words, he was questioning in his heart whether is it truly “worth it” to keep serving God. When our hearts are left unguarded amid an onslaught of worldly arguments that challenge faith, we leave ourselves vulnerable. We must know that our secular culture wants to convince us that faith is foolish. If we listen enough to skeptical arguments, even though knowing the arguments are wrong, such arguments have the potential to chip away at our confidence in the Lord. Thus, we must be alert—we must be guarded against the unbelief and skepticism so pervasive in our culture today.
Our greatest defense against the skepticism of our day is to give ourselves continually to a walk of worship and thanksgiving, seeing the absolute priority of an ongoing relationship with the Lord Himself. It’s in the secret place of our relationship with Him that He fills our hearts with His presence and strengthens us in our confidence that His ways are holy and righteous and true. It’s in His presence that our hearts are strengthened for persevering in our faith. Don’t allow skepticism and unbelief to have more influence on your heart than God Himself. He wants to meet with you as you seek Him. He wants to make Himself known to you, and He Himself has provided so great a salvation that allows us to experience true relationship with the living God. May the Lord bless you in your pursuit of Him, taking you deeper each day into the joy and reality of who He is. May He give you much grace for guarding this precious relationship.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sun25-Jan-20267th of Sh'vat, 5786
Ex 13:17-14:81 Ki 15Ps 118 Lk 24:28-53(Col 3)
Shavuah Tov,
Jeremiah 31:34 “No longer will each teach his neighbor or each his brother, saying: ‘Know Adonai,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.” It is a declaration of Adonai, “for I will forgive their iniquity, their sin I will remember no more.”(Italics added)
In this great passage, the prophet Jeremiah gives us insight into God’s heart and goal in providing “a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (see vss. 31-33). This new covenant, of course, would open the way for all people, Jew and Gentile, to enter into relationship with God through faith in Messiah Yeshua. Honestly, to me, this is really a stunning concept—that you and I can have a relationship with God Himself. We might consider a multitude of things that we would perceive to be priorities to God as He sovereignly oversees His creation. But what God Himself shows us in His Word is that relationship is His goal. Sha’ul clearly understood this, telling us in Philippians 3:10, “My aim is to know Him…” While there is certainly much that we are called to do as Yeshua-followers, at the heart of our “activity” for God is to be relationship with Him. This is foundational to a walk that reflects Yeshua and shows others the beauty and greatness of who He is.
As I shared last time, it is our abiding in Yeshua that is key to our walk with Him and living fruitful lives. I believe that abiding in Him is our highest priority as we face the challenges of life in this fallen world. With that in mind, it makes sense that we can encounter so many challenges to growing in this relationship with God. I suspect that among the highest priorities of the enemy of our soul is to hinder us in this relationship with Yeshua. Thus, we must alert and guarded against the enemy’s tactics. So today, and in some future RR’s, I want to give some attention to this and share some practical helps for guarding our relationship with the Lord.
The truth is, we live out our lives amid an environment that, spiritually and culturally, is hostile to what we stand for as Yeshua-followers. It’s not enough for us to simply know intellectually the values and attitudes we are called to embrace as believers. We need to guard our hearts and be alert to different ways the enemy seeks to hinder us in our relational pursuit of God. The enemy is at work seeking to tear down our faith and attack our confidence in the Lord and confidence in His ways. So, what I would like to introduce today and continue in coming weeks is some discussion of what we might see as a plan of action, so to speak, for guarding our relationship with God.
I felt the Lord put on my heart that, in guarding our relationship with Him, there are demonic narratives we must consciously reject, and there are godly truths we must consciously affirm, in nurturing strong faith. If we desire to flourish as a people of faith, hope and love, we must be aware of ways the enemy seeks to work against that goal. I’ve said in past RR’s that we do not become a people of strong faith by accident. Strong faith requires both pursuit of God as well as rejection of all that wars against our faith. Yes, God Himself is our heart’s desire and our primary focus, but awareness and alertness to the enemy and his tactics is needed for helping us remain focused on Yeshua.
In Sha’ul’s letter to the congregation in Ephesus, he warns us of the importance of being alert to “the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). There are specific narratives we must be alert to and reject as part of guarding our own hearts. One such narrative we must be consciously recognizing and rejecting is the arrogant unbelief and skepticism so rampant in our secular culture. Much exposure to skepticism can have the effect of leaving us shaky in our faith, so we must be alert to it.
Our culture’s arrogance and skepticism in relation to faith, is meant to leave us questioning the whole idea of living for God. I am reminded of Psalm 73:13, where the psalmist writes, “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and washed my hands in innocence.” In other words, he was questioning in his heart whether is it truly “worth it” to keep serving God. When our hearts are left unguarded amid an onslaught of worldly arguments that challenge faith, we leave ourselves vulnerable. We must know that our secular culture wants to convince us that faith is foolish. If we listen enough to skeptical arguments, even though knowing the arguments are wrong, such arguments have the potential to chip away at our confidence in the Lord. Thus, we must be alert—we must be guarded against the unbelief and skepticism so pervasive in our culture today.
Our greatest defense against the skepticism of our day is to give ourselves continually to a walk of worship and thanksgiving, seeing the absolute priority of an ongoing relationship with the Lord Himself. It’s in the secret place of our relationship with Him that He fills our hearts with His presence and strengthens us in our confidence that His ways are holy and righteous and true. It’s in His presence that our hearts are strengthened for persevering in our faith. Don’t allow skepticism and unbelief to have more influence on your heart than God Himself. He wants to meet with you as you seek Him. He wants to make Himself known to you, and He Himself has provided so great a salvation that allows us to experience true relationship with the living God. May the Lord bless you in your pursuit of Him, taking you deeper each day into the joy and reality of who He is. May He give you much grace for guarding this precious relationship.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sun25-Jan-20267th of Sh'vat, 5786
Ex 13:17-14:81 Ki 15Ps 118 Lk 24:28-53(Col 3)
Posted in Rabbis Reflections
Recent
Archive
2026
January
RR Psalm 42:12(11) Part 8RR Psalm 43:1 Part 1RR In Praise of Milk By David HarwoodRR Psalm 43:2 Part 2RR Psalm 43:3 Part 3RR Psalm 43:4 Part 4RR Psalm 43:5 Part 5RR Psalm 44:1-5(1-4) Part 1RR “The Priority & Power of Relationship” by Jerry MillerRR Favor on top of Favor By David HarwoodRR Psalm 44:6-9(5-8) Part 2RR Psalm 44:10-13(9-12) Part 3RR Psalm 44:14-17(13-16) Part 4RR Psalm 44:18-22(17-21) Part 5RR The Throne By David HarwoodRR Psalm 44:23-27(22-26) Part 6RR Psalm 45:1-3(1,2) Part 1RR PPsalm 45:4(3) Part 2RR Psalm 45:5(4) Part 3RR Psalm 45:6(5) Part 4RR Psalm 45:7(6) Part 5RR “Guarding our Relationship with the Lord” by Jerry MillerRR Doubting Favor by David HarwoodRR Psalm 45:8(7) Part 6RR Psalm 45:9(8) Part 7
2025
May
RR Psalm 28:5 Part 5RR Psalm 28:6 Part 6RR Psalm 28:7a Part 7RR Psalm 28:7b Part 8RR Psalm 28:7c Part 9RR Psalm 28:7d Part 10RR Psalm 28:8 Part 11Rabbi’s Reflections - Saturday, May 10, 2025 by David HarwoodRR Psalm 28:9 Part 12RR Psalm 28:9 Part 13RR Psalm 28:9 Part 14RR Psalm 28:9 Part 15RR Psalm 29:1 Part 1RR Psalm 29:2 Part 2Favor From a Fooled Philistine By David HarwoodRR Psalm 29:3 Part 3RR Psalm 29:4 Part 4RR Psalm 29:5 Part 5RR Psalm 29:6 Part 6RR Psalm 29:7 Part 7RR Psalm 29:7 Part 7Favor/Grace in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings By David HarwoodRR Psalm 29:8 Part 8RR Psalm 29:10 Part 10RR Psalm 29:9 Part 9RR Psalm 29:11 Paert 11RR Psalm 30:1,2 Part 1RR Psalms 30:3 Part 2RR Psalm 30:4 Part 3Favor (Chen/Charis) in the Psalms By David HarwoodRR Psalm 30:5 Part 4
June
RR Psalm 30:6 Part 5RR Psalm 30:7 Part 6RR Psalm 30:8 Part 7RR - Psalm 30:9-11 Part 8RR Psalm 30:12,13 Part 9RR Favor (Chen/Charis) in Proverbs By David HarwoodRR Psalm 31:1,2 Part 1RR Psalm 31:3 Part 2RR Psalm 31:4 Part 3RR Psalm 31:5 Part 4RR Psalm 31:6 Part 5RR Psalm 31:7 Part 6RR Kohelet By David HarwoodRR “Taking Our Thoughts Captive – Part 2” By Jerry MillerRR Psalm 31:8 Part 7RR Psalm 31:8 Part 8RR Psalm 31:9 Part 9RR - Psalm 31:10 Part 10RR Psalm 31:11 Part 11Zechariah and Favor By David HarwoodRR - Psalm 31:12-14 Part 12RR Shalom SpecialRR Psalm 31:15 Part 13RR Psalm 31:16,17 Part 14RR Psalm 31:18 Part 15RR Psalm 31:19,20 Part 16RR Adonai-Tzva’ot and End-Time Favor By David HarwoodRR Psalm 31:21 Part 17RR Psalm 31:22 Part 18RR Psalm 31:23 Part 19
July
RR Psalm 31:24 Part 20RR Psalm 31:25 Part 21RR Psalm 32:1 Part 1Rabbi’s Reflections - Favor and Luke By David HarwoodRR Taking Thoughts Captive Part 3 by Jerry MillerRR Psalm 32:2 Part 2RR Psalm 32:3,4 Part 3RR Psalm 32:5 Part 4RR Psalm 32:5 Part 5Some Nuances of Charis By David HarwoodRR Psalm 32:6 Part 6RR Psalm 32:7 Part 7RR Psalm 32:8 Part 8RR Psalm 32:8 Part 9