Rabbi’s Reflections – Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Shalom *|FNAME|*,
Yesterday I wrote about grace. That may have been a mistake per se. Grace is an abundant subject. By grace are we saved, but grace is infinitely so much more than that. Grace is the means by which we enter into God’s provision for us.
And His provision for us involves our body, soul and spirit. We take our next breath by the grace of God. (Made you check, didn’t I?) Our bodies function by the grace of God. We think we understand the chemistry involved. Every time medical science tries to duplicate what God created, we find out how detailed God’s creation is and how inadequate our effort to replace what God made is.
May we all receive the fullness of the grace of God in every area of our lives. Amen.
2 Corinthians 12:9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Messiah may dwell in me.
1 Peter 5:10 After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace—who has called you into His eternal glory in Messiah—will Himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11 All power to Him forever! Amen.
Week 48
Memory Verse: Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great Kohen Gadol who has passed through the heavens, Yeshua Ben-Elohim, let us hold firmly to our confessed allegiance. 15 For we do not have a kohen gadol who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all the same ways—yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near to the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need.
236 11/25 Monday: Philippians 1-2
* 237 11/26 Tuesday: Philippians 3-4
238 11/27 Wednesday: Hebrews 1-2
239 11/28 Thursday: Hebrews 3-4
240 11/29 Friday: Hebrews 5-6
Question of the day: What does this mean? Philippians 3:10 My aim is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death— 11 if somehow I might arrive at the resurrection from among the dead.
Answer: Let’s break this down. Paul describes what he means by “know Him.” It means to intimately have a relationship with the entirety of the Messiah. Paul starts with the power of His resurrection.
I have a question for Paul. That’s your starting point, the power of His resurrection? Don’t we have to wait until we die first? Not according to Galatians 2:19b “I have been crucified with Messiah; 20a and it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me.” We have the power of resurrected life (victory) available to us, not in the great bye and bye, but in the here and now.
Then there is the “sharing of His suffering.” This raises another question. Isn’t there an easier way? We all want the savior, but we don’t want His suffering. Here we find Paul piggy-backing on his own teaching… 2 Timothy 2:11 Trustworthy is the saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 if we endure (KJV “suffer”), we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us;
We all share a destiny found in Philippians 3:11, to arrive at the resurrection from among the dead. Here is the last word for today, “Halevai.” It is a Yiddish word meaning, “may it be the will of God,” or “God willing.” Amen.