Rabbi’s Reflections – Monday, August 24, 2020
Shalom *|FNAME|*,
Usually, I don’t participate in this sort of thing (petitions and the like), but Dan Juster sent it to me, and when Dan speaks, I listen. Now I’m forwarding this along to all of you RR subscribers. Human trafficking is a terrible stain on society worldwide. When you have the opportunity, please visit signtheoath.org. We are all against human trafficking, the question remains, who will take a stand.
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Jeremiah 33:3 appears on page 1 of the teaching notes (you don’t see them) for Song of Songs this week. It is titled, Session 2: Dark but Lovely, SoS 1:5-11.
Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me, and I will answer you— I will tell you great and hidden things, which you do not know.”
Who wouldn’t want God to “tell you great and hidden things, which you do not know.” Satan sowed chaos into God’s order. The effect of that chaos is confusion, and that confusion is ubiquitous (including God’s people). When God speaks into our lives, it is to replace Satan’s chaos with His order.
God’s order is full of the fruit of the spirit. Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Ruach is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control—against such things there is no law.
We get caught up in Satan’s bondage when we try to get things in order without God. Galatians 5:1 For freedom, Messiah set us free—so stand firm, and do not be burdened by a yoke of slavery (bondage) again. Messiah set us free by grace. Being “burdened again” is to ignore grace and return to striving, our self will. We cannot “will ourselves” into the kingdom of God. The only way into the kingdom of God is by grace alone.
Zechariah 4:6b “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Ruach!” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
What grace does is give us a “yes” in our hearts for God so that we can call upon Him. Psalm 145:18 Adonai is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. We cry out to God and He promises to answer when we cry. And His answer is a message of bringing order by overcoming chaos. We do this by submitting to Him.
Let me help by providing my understanding of submission. Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Give honor where it is due (Romans 13:7) and receive an honorable reward. And obey God which is summed up here… 1 Peter 2:21 For you were called to this, because Messiah also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in His footsteps.
We don’t have to defeat chaos, we only have to partner with God. Let’s let Him do the heavy lifting. He will defeat every enemy and set things in right order. Blessings and amen.
Week 35
Memory Verse: John 13:34 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you must love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
* 171 8/24 Monday: John 11; Matthew 21:1-13
172 8/25 Tuesday: John 13
173 8/26 Wednesday: John 14-15
174 8/27 Thursday: John 16
175 8/28 Friday: Matthew 24:1-31
Question of the day: The crowd asks the question of the day. Matthew 21:10 When He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
Answer: Actually, I don’t want to answer that question, because you probably already know the answer. If you don’t know, at least you already know my answer, so why should I tell you what you already know? The thing I want to write about is how quickly things turned. Yeshua entered Jerusalem in the previous verse… Matthew 21:9 The crowds going before Him and those following kept shouting, saying, “Hoshia-na to Ben-David! Baruch ha-ba b’shem Adonai! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hoshia-na in the highest!”
The entry of Yeshua into Jerusalem was triumphant. Only a few days later, the shout of the crowd is altogether different. Luke 23:21 but they kept shouting out, saying, “Execute, execute Him!” And so it went. Yeshua entered with a victorious celebration. Less than a week later (and possibly only a day or two), things had changed completely.
We also must beware of highs and lows. Rudyard Kipling calls them both impostors in his poem “If.” “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same;.”
Yeshua knew His victorious entry was not the end, but He also knew His crucifixion was not the end. We too, will have moments of both triumph and disaster, but we must remember our destiny is eternity in the presence of Yeshua if we make a profession of faith and hold fast to it.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the unwavering confession of hope, for He who promised is faithful.