Rabbi’s Reflections – Friday, January 6, 2023
(Early) Shabbat Shalom,
The Gap Between Faith and Action
Rabbi Trail: Eighteen months ago, Jerry Miller wrote the book, Grace Beyond Reason: The Untapped Secret to the Life God Intends. https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Beyond-Reason-Untapped-Intends/dp/1954533098 It is the best breakdown of the concept of grace I’ve ever seen. Eighteen months later, it is still on my nightstand and I read parts of it from time to time.
The reason I’m telling you this, is that Jerry is a faithful RR reader, and today I’m writing about grace. Ordinarily, I don’t get intimidated when ministering, (after all, I’m ministering in the name of the Lord, not my own name) but to minister about grace to an authority on grace is intimidating. I wouldn’t do it, except for the grace of God. End RT.
Yesterday, we ended by promising to go deeper into the gap between what we believe and how we act. (Do we really act according to our beliefs? By grace we do.) By grace we have the desire to do the will of God. At the same time, by grace, God also gives us the ability to do His will. Desire and ability are two sides of the same “grace coin.” They cannot be separated.
We know God’s will because it is written in His Testament. The Bible is a manual that serves as a guide to living life according to God’s righteous principles. Deuteronomy 4:40 “You must keep His statutes and His mitzvot, which I am commanding you today, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you may prolong your days in the land that Adonai your God is giving you for all time.”
Too many people are living as if God’s will is what makes them feel good. That is the path to destruction. Forbidden fruit (sin) is sweet in your mouth and bitter in your belly. God provides a warning of this in Revelation. Read all of chapter 10 (it is only 11 verses).
Revelation 10:10 So I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth; but when I had swallowed it, my stomach was made bitter.
God is commanding His people to obedience, we cannot be double-minded. Jacob 4:7 Therefore submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded!
May we, who serve the Lord, close the gap between what we believe and what we do. Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Messiah dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Yeshua, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Fri 06-Jan-2023 13th of Tevet, 5783
Ge 49:27-50:20 2 Sa 19 Ps 91 Lk 12:1-34 (Gal 1)