Tag: Walk

Whatever you ask

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

“Praying in the name of Jesus”. This simple phrase has been so abused in our modern era. It is based on a section of teaching from Jesus to His disciples where he was responding to a request from Philip for Him to show them the Father.

“Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:8–14, ESV)

This small phrase has been turned into a quick memory verse that is often quoted to support praying whatever we want in Jesus name and expect that God will honor that request as if it some magic incantation.

The context though really does not support this. Jesus tells them that whoever believes in Him will do works greater than the ones that he has done. Those works are the many acts that He has done throughout the gospels. Jesus tells them that it is the Father working through Him that they have seen.

He then goes on to tell them that whoever believes in Him will also do the works He did. Not only those works, but even greater works. Essentially you could say that Jesus will be accomplishing His works through us, and it will be connected to prayer.

This can be seen in what Paul teaches us in Eph 2:8-10…

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8–10, ESV)

We are His workmanship and the works we are to do are the works He has prepared for us. How do we know what those are? The Holy Spirit works in us in combination with the Word of God and Prayer.

I like how the IVP Bible background Commentary puts it…

In this context “name” means something like: those who seek his glory and speak accurately for him, who are genuinely his authorized representatives. Nothing could be further from the pagan magical use of names that sought to manipulate spiritual forces for one’s own ends.[1]

There is a similar verse in John 15 where Jesus is teaching about His disciples abiding in the vine and bearing much fruit.  He then tells them this…

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:7–8, ESV)

So, if His words abide in us, the works we do will be in line with His will and teaching. This is tied together with asking whatever we desire because our desires will be in line with His will.

We see a perfect example of this in the book of Acts…

“Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”” (Acts 3:1–6, ESV)

Peter was acting in the power of the Holy Spirit, accomplishing the works that God had prepared for him to walk in.

What can we learn from this? We must be careful that we do not do what the pagans did and use the name as a magical incantation to manipulate God for our own desires. Instead, we need to abide in His words and seek His will through prayer, so that we can do His works for the Glory of God.

[1] Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament (Jn 14:12–14). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

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.

On Your Heart

On By rcannata7In Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”” (Jeremiah 31:33–34, ESV)

When Yeshua inaugurated the New Covenant, which we believe then allows the Holy Spirit to write God’s Torah upon our hearts, what that really means? I have known a lot of good Yeshua following believers in my life and none of them suddenly knew all of God’s commands or understood what it means to walk with God the day the decided to walk a life with Him. In fact, it seems that many believers continue to wade in the mud pit.

I have seen changed lives, and people repent of sin, and walk away from habitual or destructive lifestyles. I have seen restored marriages, angry and hateful people become long-suffering and peace loving, and exhibit qualities of godliness, but even then many of them have very little understanding of God’s Torah.

I have also heard theologians come up with all kinds of excuses as to why, including one that I use to say, which is that we won’t fully have all the Torah written on our heart until he comes back and we get our glorified bodies. But, where does it say that? The prophecy in Jeremiah seems to say that when the new covenant is given, part of that new covenant will be God writing His Torah on our hearts now.

So, what do we do? We dig into the scripture and see if we can see a pattern to help us understand what Jeremiah may have meant.

First we must understand what the scripture means by the heart. The Hebrew word is “lev”. Here is a summary list of what the Theological Dictionary of the OT (1) says this about this word…

1. “heart” became the richest biblical term for the totality of man’s inner or immaterial nature.

2. the majority of the usages of lēb refer either to the inner or immaterial nature in general or to one of the three traditional personality functions of man; emotion, thought, or will.

3. The whole spectrum of emotion is attributed to the heart.

4. Thought functions may be attributed to the heart. In such cases it is likely to be translated as “mind” or “understanding.” To “set the heart to” may mean to “pay attention to” (Ex 7:23) or to “consider important” (II Sam 18:32). Creative thought is a heart function.

5. Wisdom and understanding are seated in the heart.

6. The heart is the seat of the will. A decision may be described as “setting” the heart

Point 6 could be said this way…The heart is the seat of your desires.

Another interesting aspect of the word “lev” is the idea that is presented when one looks at the potential meaning derived from the ancient pictograph letters of this word.  Rev. Kathryn S. Patterson M.Min., BCCC gives a nice breakdown of the meanings:

“Another “lamed” word is “lev” which is Hebrew for “heart.”  The Hebrew spelling for “lev” is “lamed” with a letter sound of “L” with a word picture of a “staff, control or strong/strength,” followed by a “bet” with the letter sound of “V” (sometimes a “B” when it has a dagesh or dot in the center) with a word picture of a “house or inside.” Together these two Hebrew letters, “lamed” followed by a “bet” spell “lev,” which is “heart.”  The Hebrew word picture is that the heart controls what is inside.” (http://www.biblelandstudies.com/Lamed.html)

The most interesting use in the above definition was point 4 above which said to set the heart was to pay attention to, or consider important.

Now lets look at a couple of verses of scripture:

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 3:1–3, ESV)

A lot of Hebrew writing uses what is called parallelism. Where a thought is repeated but in another form. Here is Proverbs 3 the writer (Solomon) tells the son not to forget his teaching and to let his heart (that which controls the inside, the seat of emotions, the inner man) keep his commandments. He then tells him to “Let not steadfast love (chesed) and faithfulness forsake you” . The Faithlife study Bible (2) has this about steadfast love:

The word chesed describes a faithful covenantal love. Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the rule of a king (20:28).

The idea of faithfulness and covenantal love is to preserve the rule of the King, or to say in another way, keep his commandments as a way of showing faithfulness and chesed.

The writer then says to “bind them to your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart”

The Faithlife Study Bible also says this about the idea to bind them to your neck…”A way to keep them close and ensure they will not be forgotten (Deut 6:8–9).” (2)

Here again we are getting parallel ideas, so that even to write them on the tablet of your heart is parallel to”do not forget my teaching” which also carries the idea of point 4 in our definition of the heart above. (“pay attention to” (Ex 7:23) or to “consider important”)

Proverbs 7 is similar in its structure, lets take a look:

“My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 7:1–3, ESV)

Here we see the idea to “treasure up my commandments” and the parralel “bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart”  giving us the same basic idea.

So in Jeremiah 31, the the writer may actually be telling us that what controls our inside, our desires, the inner man, is going to pay attention to or consider important the Torah. The one who is going to enable this is the Holy Spirit. Now, that makes more sense to me. The Holy Spirit living inside of me now gives me a passion and desire for God’s word.

This makes what James writes about in James chapter 1 about asking for wisdom, and testing our faith, and steadfastness, that we may be perfect and complete, contrasted by this verse:

“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:14–15, ESV)

Our desire, which is found in the heart, that which controls our inside is what can tempt us towards sin, so if God then puts into us a new heart, or writes his Torah upon our hearts, and the idea is to give us a passion and desire for His Word, then what controls our insides is guided by God’s Torah, which effectively is Yeshua the Living Word who we are told to Imitate!!!

This makes far greater sense to me, and also aligns more perfectly with what I see in true followers of Yeshua, and also in my own testimony. Before I committed my life to follow Yeshua I read the Bible but it was not that important or interesting. After I committed my life to walking with Yeshua, the Word of God came alive and I had so much passion and desire for His word.

What is even move interesting is that we still have free will, and can choose to disobey what God has placed in us. In doing so we quench or hinder God’s work in our lives. This also lines up with what the Lord said in Deuteronomy…

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.” (Deuteronomy 30:15–18, ESV)

By the way, this verse follows on the heals of God telling His people that:

“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6, ESV)

Lord, thank you that you put your Spirit within us and give us a new heart that desires and is passionate about obedience to your word. May the words of the Apostle John ever ring truer in my life..

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15–17, ESV)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1) Bowling, A. (1999). 1071 לָבַב. (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke, Eds.)Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press.

(2) Barry, J. D., Grigoni, M. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (Pr 3:3). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

 

 

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.