Tag: Scripture

Lack of Knowledge

On By rcannata7In Biblical LiteracyLeave a comment

Hosea 4:6

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6, ESV)

Hosea is the last prophet sent to Northern Kingdom of Israel before they fell to Assyria. His ministry came on the heels of a golden age in their history where there was peace and prosperity of the likes not seen since the time of Solomon.

But there was a problem, the people where in moral decay, no longer seeking after God, and heavy into idolatry.

God instructs Hosea to marry a woman of whoredom whose unfaithfulness to her husband is an example of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. Yet Hosea would remain faithful to his wife through all of this as an example of God’s love for His people.

The message is simple – return to God or judgment is coming. Today our message is no less complicated, return to God by believing in the name of our Lord and Savior Yeshua (Jesus) and you will be saved from God’s coming judgment.

Chapter 4 is where God brings an indictment to the people based on their violation of the covenant.

“Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.” (Hosea 4:1–3, ESV)

The word in this passage is the Hebrew word daat and is from the root word yada which has the implication of intimate relationship. If you do a search on the exact use of the verbal form of this word you will come across some 140 places that it is used. Here is a verse that I think captures the idea well considering the condition of the people in the time of Hosea.

““Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”” (1 Kings 8:56–61, ESV)

Look at the condition again of these people – swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery. Does that sound familiar – not with the world, but with God’s people! Is this not also a condition that Paul warns Timothy about regarding the last days before God’s return.

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:1–7, ESV)

History is repeating, God’s people in Hosea are destroyed for lack of knowledge, they rejected knowledge and forgot the instruction of God.

Paul in his encouragement to Timothy after this warning is about following Pauls example in all that he has taught Timothy and to hold steadfast through it all. He warned of trouble and persecution, of evil people and imposters. But to Timothy he gave simple instruction:

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14–17, ESV)

This brings me to the reason for writing this blog, we are in a time of decay in the body of Christ where people are not wanting to do the hard work of learning God’s instruction but are settling for pithy sayings, entertainment, and manipulation of the word to give them what they want to here. This is not always on purpose and it has subtly slipped into the body of Christ over time so that not even some very well intentioned leaders have noticed the issue and are caught up in the excitement of the shiny new and improved yet man created way of doing church.

Time permitted I hope to blog more on this subject in the weeks to come. May the encouragement Paul gave to Timothy ring true in our lives…“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:3–5, ESV)

And these words…

On By rcannata7In God's Word, Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6:6–7, ESV)

I was reading through a course activity on the Jewish Context of the Life of Jesus and at the end of the session the author challenges his audience by asking a simple question. Do you practice this teaching? What does it look like?

The passage here is part of the Shema which is recited morning and evening as the centerpiece of a Jewish prayer service. In the world of the Christian church we also have part of this prayer as a central idea behind how we should live and that is this:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5, ESV)

As I pondered this verse I had to stop and really think about what it was saying. Do I talk of them when I walk by the way, or when I lie down, or even when I rise? How much does the word of God permeate my life every day?

Some may argue, well, that is the Old Testament, that does not really apply today. But then you would have to consider the words Paul give to Timothy in the New Testament:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV)

What does this really mean for me as a follower of Jesus our Lord? In the end I believe that the Word of God should fill every part of our daily routines. We should be challenging each other with what we are learning from the scriptures and through the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Every day we should be encouraging one another with God’s words and allowing them to sink deep into our soul.

One thing that really made me think about this even more is that fact that this part of the Shema comes right after the section about loving the Lord with all your heart. To me this is important because it suggest that part of loving the Lord your God is tied to God’s word and its impact on our lives every day.

The challenge today is how to do this amid a distracted world, and with so many things pulling us in so many different directions? Paul understood this even in the early days of Christianity and gives these good words to Timothy which are still good for us to hear today:

“But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:11–16, ESV)

The Lord is going to appear, he will return, and what will we be doing when he does? Will we be distracted by the desires of the world, or will we be fighting the good fight and holding fast to the eternal life in which we are called?

Quenching the Spirit – Part 1

On By rcannata7In God's Word, Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–22, ESV)

Have you ever considered what it truly means to “quench the Spirit”? As I was reading through 1 Thessalonians, I came across this verse again and had to stop and think about it. What does it mean to quench the Spirit, or better what do we do to not quench the Spirit? If we do quench the Spirit how does that impact our lives in Christ?

To really answer this question, we must first look at how the Spirit works in the body of believers.

The testimony of the Scriptures shows us God’s spirit at work in the lives of His people, and with the resurrection of our Lord, the actions of the Spirit of God have been made new in the people that God is calling back to himself. What are those things that we see of the Spirit in Scripture?

First, as in Genesis, He gives life. Jesus expressed this in the passage that we quote so often – “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”” (John 3:3–8, ESV) Being born of the Spirit is considered the new life of every believer called by God.

Then what happens after that? The spirit (whom we are told is sent forth from the father and son – another expression for our benefit) will teach us (Jn 14:26), bear witness to the life of Jesus (Jn 15:26), guide us in all truth (Jn 16:13), represent the power of God in the lives of his people (Acts 1:8, Rom 8:26, 15:13), bears witness to our spirit that we are His children (Rom 8:16, Gal 4:6), instill in us the qualities of God’s character (Gal 5:22), and as it is in Genesis, the Spirit Speaks. (Rev 2:29, 3:6, 3:22)

A very important role of the Spirit in our lives is to give manifestations of Himself through the people of God. The Greek word for this word found in 1 Cor 12:7 is phanerosis and essentially means acts in which the Spirit manifests himself.[1] Paul speaking to the Corinthians discusses with them the Spiritual gifts of the body. There are all kinds of gifts given by the Holy Spirit which are to be used for that common good of the body. What I find interesting is that it says to each is given the manifestation, but if we are all given this, then why do we not see His power moving that well in the body today?

 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” (1 Corinthians 12:4–11, ESV)

“So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:12, ESV)

Are we living lives that allow the Spirit to manifest his presence through us, or are we doing things that hinders the Spirit in our lives?

[1] [2] [3] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 1245). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

Dis-Unity

On By rcannata7In Walk of obedience1 Comment

“And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” (John 17:11, ESV)

Where is the evidence that we are ONE body in Christ? In main stream Christianity we have over 40,000 denominations that have some sort of disagreement on doctrine. Then in the last many years we have had a large growth in what is termed Messianic groups, which when you go skimming through the material they are producing also seem to differ wildly on what they believe. Many groups like to focus on pointing out why they are right on some point while some other group is wrong and therefore they must not be following Yeshua. I don’t want to point to one group or another and say they are wrong, since I feel I can gain positive ideas from many of these groups. The problem is the dis-unity many groups continue to feed.

Let’s take the concept of the Trinity as an example. I have seen so many different articles bash the early church and even churches today because they were trying to understand and know God, and came up with the term the Trinity. The critics will say that the church believes in 3 separate persons, which if you look at the actual definition is simply not true. I heard one group say the trinity is wrong, you need to think of it like one tree with 3 branches. The problem with that idea is that branches are still individual but part of the tree. That is what the trinity says. It says that God represents himself as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yet they are one God. If you look at Yeshua’s high priestly prayer you notice that he asks the Father that we be ONE as they are ONE. Yet, I am an individual, but I am part of the body of Christ as are my brothers and sisters which makes us one with the body.  Yeshua is praying to the father, he is a person that the apostles can talk to and touch, yet they could not touch the Father, so at that moment, Yeshua and the Father appear as if they are separated individuals, yet they are ONE. Earlier in the Gospel of John Yeshua says this:

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:25–26, ESV)

The Father sends the Spirit in the Name of Yeshua, and it says that HE will teach you all things. So the Spirit is SENT by the Father in the NAME of the Son and has the ability to Teach? If I was wrestling with this, I might come to the conclusion that the Spirit (a manifestation of God) seems to act like an individual.In the end it seems that each group is describing the same coin in just a different way. Does that mean that they are both wrong or right, no, it just means that we in our flesh do not understand fully how to explain the many ways God has revealed him self to us. There are so many issues and positions like this, and most of the time we end up arguing over who is right.

So why do I bring all this up. Because or Lord and our God desire us to be in UNITY, one with one another just as He and the Father are one. But, what I see today is groups of unhappy people, who have been wounded, or feel that the people they are in fellowship with are not walking the way they should, so they find some problem they can latch hold of, take a righteous stand on it, then criticize the problems and then go form their own group that agrees with their position. To make themselves feel better they then attack all the things wrong with the other group. HOW IS THIS BEING ONE as the Father and Son are one.

Does that mean that I agree with what is being taught in many churches, NO. But, I do know that every church I have been too has believers that are seeking, but are not being grown in their faith, there is usually a CORE of believers that truly desire a deep relationship with Yeshua and the Father. Then there are those who are there to get their passport stamped and join a club and do the club things but never really desire to walk with the Lord. There are also people at many different points in their walk with the Lord and therefore do not fully understand things that someone who has been walking a longer time might. The unfortunate side of this is that many sermons are tailored to the least common denominator leaving many believers struggling to mature in their faith.

This is also why we still need to be good Bereans and search the scriptures to make sure what is being taught is true, but being a good Berean also means being a good student and understanding how to study and dig into the word. We also need to make greater efforts to disciple and teach younger believers how to walk a life of obedience.

None of the groups out there have all the right answers, even God has told us that every inclination of our hearts is evil. That includes me and you. So before we criticize, lets figure out how to lift each other up, encourage, equip, and edify the body. If someone does not agree with you, have productive discussions on the subject and pray for one another. Then maybe we can be ONE like the Father and Son Are One.

Returning

On By rcannata7In Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

I just started teaching through the book of Ezra, and though I have studied this book before it always amazes me that each time we open a book there are new things that the Lord teaches us.

The southern Kingdom of Judah had watched as her sister Israel refuse to heed the warnings of the prophets that God had sent warning them to turn away from the worship of pagan Gods and immoral practices that went along with that worship. Judah would slip into the same pattern of harlotry and would also be exiled because of their sins. The problem was simple as the prophet Jeremiah details in chapter 25:

 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words,” (Jeremiah 25:8, ESV)

But the Lord has a plan and in Chapter 29 we see a wonderful hope:

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:10–14, ESV)

They had learned a great lesson and must have had a change of heart for the promise above had a condition…”You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

I love the word picture that we get from the word Heart. The root Hebrew word for heart is “lev” and in the word picture that we get from the letters of the word form a picture of “that which controls the inside”. Everything about them emotion, thought, and will, which combined, control all that we are and do. These all need to be seeking after the Lord. When our desire is that strong, then we will find Him!

This should not have been new to them or a surprise, for if they had truly desired a relationship with the Lord then His words would have been a great treasure and they all would have a heart like that described in Psalm 119…

 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” (Psalm 119:9–16, ESV)

Do we love His word that much, how does it compare to the many other things that control our lives like TV, Internet, games etc.. What things in our lives consume our time? It is not that we can’t do those things that are a blessing in our lives to have, but what is the priority, what CONTROL my inside? Do I truly desire to follow our Lord in obedience? Here is the simple plan that God outlined for us..

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4–9, ESV)

This passage is very clear…the Word of God should be the priority in our lives, unfortunately I believe many of us make it a short hobby that we occasionally make time for.

So I ask myself – how can I make God’s word a higher priority in my life…How can I worship more!!! Maybe it’s time to really talk about repentance.

Study and Worship

On By rcannata7In Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

Dr John D Garr wrote:

“For many centuries study has been at the very heart of the Jewish experience, so much so that much of Judaism has considered study as the highest form of worship. Humbly submitting oneself to the wisdom of God revealed in the Tenach (Hebrew Scriptures) was viewed as worship, which literally meant to “prostrate oneself” before the Eternal. The Hebrew word for worship, dg”s] (segad), means to “bow down or do obeisance to,” and it has the connotation of total submission to a superior (as the king). The Greek translation of this word, proskunevw (proskunéo), is even more graphic, meaning to “kiss as a dog licking its master’s hand.” The decision to study God’s Word in order to do His Word is a meaningful act of submission and reverence–in short, it is worship. Study carried out with this motive is the very essence of Jewish learning. This is not study in order to understand; it is study in order to do. Abraham Joshua Heschel encapsulated this Jewish approach to study by saying that the Greeks study in order to understand while the Hebrews study in order to revere. God’s Word and ways are ineffable: only by doing them does one understand them.Study of God’s Word in order to mold one’s lifestyle to that Word is also worship in the truest sense of the English word worship, which means to “ascribe worth to.” When we fully submit our lives to God’s Word, when we study what he has said with complete devotion and intensity, we do, indeed, ascribe worth to him: we worship him.”

(Full article can be found here: http://heartofwisdom.com/blog/study-the-highest-form-of-worship/)

When I first began to study the Hebrew Language the hardest concept for me to grasp from my noun based American culture is that Hebrew is a Verb oriented language. In other words, it is a language of action. So the comments from Dr. Garr above really hit home with me. We study God’s Word in order to do His Word and in doing His Word we are entering into the Worship of our Lord.

I was pondering this verse in relationship to this action oriented language…

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”(John 14:21, ESV)

What do the terms “has my commandments” and “keeps them” really mean?

The word for “has” is the Greek word “echo” and the ESL defines it this way:

“…to have (hold) in the hand, in the sense of wearing, to have (hold) possession of the mind (refers to alarm, agitating emotions, etc.), to hold fast keep, to have or comprise or involve, to regard or consider or hold as. 2 to have i.e. own, possess”. (Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)

This could be the idea that we see when Moses wrote these words: “See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:5–8, ESV)

Maybe whoever “has my commandments” is one who has been taught by them and they have become so much a part of their life that they possess his mind and mold his life in such a way that we reflect the Lord in our lives. Then we keep them, we act on them, we DO them, why? Because they point back to our amazing God and His amazing WORD.
When we DO God’s word we are essentially saying we TRUST what you have given to us and we are going to ACT on that trust…And that is the one who LOVES YESHUA.
He loved us first, but our love back to HIM is demonstrated in our ACTIONS OF OBEDIENCE!

So, how will I Worship the Lord in my life today?

To Know Him

On By rcannata7In Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” (John 17:3–4, ESV)

Each year I like to pick a Bible verse that will be my verse for the year, though this one may become my second life verse. My heart so yearns for this verse to be a reality in my life. To know the only true God, and Yeshua the Messiah whom you have sent!! So I ask the question daily, how? The answer is so simple, yet in practice it seems so challenging at times. God has revealed Himself in the Scriptures, so if I really want to know Him then I must study them. But not in a way that I just want to gain knowledge, when I study I am always asking the question of how can I know Him better in these verses, or even sometimes in just a single word. The word “know” in the above passage is a very interesting word to look at. In the general Greek sense of the word ginosko it can be just intelligent comprehension, but the word that corresponds to this word in the Septuagint is the Hebrew word yada which according to the TWOT can be used for the most intimate acquaintance. I like what the Little Kittle has to say about the OT usage of the word

“A movement of will is involved which means that ignorance is guilty. Knowledge is acknowledgment of God’s acts (Dt. 11:20), recognition that Yahweh is God (Dt. 4:39), and the honoring of his name and doing of his will (1 Sam. 2:12; Is. 1:3, etc.). Hence knowledge of God is much the same as fear of God” (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. )

So in this blog I hope to share in my journey as I walk with my Lord and Savior Yeshua our Messiah.