Stand by Me (1)
Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, Philippians 2:1 NASB
Encouragement – Do you need encouragement? According to Paul, only one kind of encouragement will actually make a permanent change. That is encouragement in Christ. For Paul, this is a technical term. That means it has a special meaning unique to Paul’s writings. We might think Paul is talking about the movement of the Spirit within us or the change in spiritual legal status precipitated by the coming of the Messiah. We will have to tendency to read this as if we are “hidden in the Lord,” because we will read the two words against the background of movement. But that’s not the way Paul uses this term en christo. For Paul, to be “in Christ” is to be in the community that follows His way. In Christ places the believer within the assembly as one of the many parts of the one body. The reason there is encouragement is because there are others who are also following. We see what God is doing in their lives and we discover a reason to trust in the Lord. We are encouraged because there are changes and results in the whole body, even if today we don’t see any of those changes in us.
We would probably have recognized this if we read the word “encouragement” in Greek. It is paraklesis. Generally it is about calling someone to aid or summoning a helper. In the LXX, this Greek word is used for a variety of Hebrew words, but perhaps the most important is the Hebrew naham, a word that describes comfort and consolation.
According to biblical thought, there is no true comfort apart from God. Real encouragement is a spiritual event. It reminds us of the sovereignty of God and His utter faithfulness in fulfilling His promises. For those in the assembly, this means remembering what God has already done and realizing that He absolutely will not leave any of His purposes unfinished. This includes His purposes and plans for you and me.
There are days when we need encouragement. We need someone to come alongside and comfort us, exhorting us to persevere because God is faithful. There are times when it seems as if we are making no progress, when personal struggles remain unresolved, when fighting the good fight seems impossible. There are times when it appears as though God has abandoned us. Every follower has experienced the momentary terror of thinking he has lost the way. But while today we may be disconsolate, others will see His handiwork. Others will know His presence. Others will remind us that He has not cast us away. In the community of the faithful, encouragement is a contagious affair. If you fail to let someone know your victories, you rob them of paraklesis in their moment of need. If you fail to express your discouragement, you rob someone of the blessing of revealing God’s goodness. Up or down, we share the life of the assembly. One “Christ,” one Messiah, one body. What do you need to tell us today?
Topical Index: encouragement, paraklesis, in Christ, Philippians 2:1
Well, since you ask, please can I tell you that on this Shabbat I feel in desperate need of encouragement.
The Lord has faithfully carried me through many dark and difficult years, and yet still I fail to trust Him at this point and so I continue to go to church on Sundays for fear of losing the only community that I have.
I sit through sermon after sermon, often wanting to scream at error, and yet still unable to walk away and face the isolation that would ensue.
This is a very small community and my acceptance in it is largely due to a shared faith. Being labelled a heretic will make life here very hard to bear. And yet there’s no alternative – is there?
Helen, This is a very good time of year for you to find Torah observant believers. If you can find a Messianic Passover Sedar in your area you will find all the hidden ones like yourself. You will hear stories from people very similar to yours. You will realize that you are not alone.
Dear Helen, How does one live in Babylon? It is ok to shine your light in the Church. I have been kicked out of more than one for the last 2+ decades because of the way I practice my faith. Our little Torah community is very sweet and very small. I do find my encouragement to persevere there. Recently I have found some fellowship in a weekly woman’s bible study. The sermon is optional. How ever I find myself attending because it reminds me of the places that the chasm between christian doctrine and Torah is the deepest and widest. Recently, because I have that picture in my head, I suddenly remembered the 4 spiritual laws booklet and the picture of the little stick man standing on one side of a cliff with the cross bridging the gap from one side to the other and it encouraged me to persevere in the study. Many of the women have made some serious connections that they would have never made had I not suffered through the really horrible teachings and continued on. We must remember that nothing is impossible for God. Yeshua is the bridge between truth and error. Cling to Him and pursue truth and love people. None of us are here because of what we have done. None of us have come to Torah because a whole community was changed all together that I’m aware of. (That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened yet) We have all been called to this as individuals. We have been set as little Torah torches in and among those who are seeking Him. I agree with Ruth. Find a Passover group and ask them to include you in their entire season of festival activities. If you are on Facebook please look me up and we can chat.
Ps 68:6 Those who are without friends, God puts in families; he makes free those who are in chains; but those who are turned away from him are given a dry land.
So many people around the world tell me much the same. Being alone is the constant cry. I am so anxious for all of us to find each other, and to encourage each other to know that there are people all over the world who long to be of service. So I am calling on those who can offer encouragement to do so.
Hi Helen,
I think I can surely identify with what you share. It has been frustrating, discomforting, hurtful, isolating, lonely and much more for my wife and I. It has left us searching for other communities to be united with. It has been a (seemingly) slow journey. I found myself questioning many things and feeling like I am the only one.
Thank you for sharing. Somehow it nourishes us to identify with fellow strugglers. We are NOT alone. Simply knowing others are now and have walked in our same steps can comfort. At least, it has me. I hope it will comfort you some as well.
Recently, I had lunch with a friend I made in my church quite a few years ago. A very nice, gracious, and hospitable guy. He made everyone seem as if he was your true friend. He really was a genuine guy. We stopped seeing much of each other when our church experienced a split. Many families went their separate ways.
In those 5-6 years since, I had changed. My life had grown to walk in a different paradigm much like what is discussed and studied on this blog. I had left the world of our former Baptist, evangelical, Sunday School world. When catching up with each other over our lunch, I was actually guarded in what and how I said things related to my faith and growth. The conversation moved on with things of the “spiritual” nature as he was a nurturing character. He had genuine concerns for people, me included.
I still kept my guard up until we kept talking and I just decided to speak a little to my new paradigm. Even as I spoke the first sentence, I was hesitant and had an overwhelming sense that this could go badly wrong.
It amazed me that I even thought that way.
My gut proved correct. I produced a paragraph or two regarding the basics that my new paradigm was built upon.
Oh, my!!!
After my few introductory and explanatory paragraphs, there was silence. We just looked at each other for an actually short time but seemed like a day or two. His countenance changed. His disposition morphed.
It was like I just broke in to his house, destroyed all his possessions and then burned his house to the ground.
For the next 15-20 minutes or so he took us in to a discussion that pointedly caused him to doubt my faith, my salvation and my place in heaven. Again, oh, my!!!
Long story short, I succeeded, somehow, to ease his concerns and bring a smile back on his face. We parted with hand shakes and a hug.
Still, there was a significant relationship change. Amazing.
Take courage. There are many right there with you in this experience. Agonizing through sermons, cringing to doctrinal statements and wincing at theologies. Take a step. Then another. Then another. A new community will find you, even though it might be one or two people at a time. Maybe not this week or next, but eventually YHWH will allow your path to cross with another in your same situation. A community will then be born and start to grow. If, that is, you are alert to see it when it happens.
I know you don’t know me or know where I am, but, and I probably speak for many others on here as well, I want you to know I love you from afar and am praying you toward a new community of those He calls in to your world.
Shalom.
And it can cause tension within the family unit and fellowship groups also, Helen, but God bless you. I am on the same road!
dear lady, the fear of lack is a direct gieveaway as to the source. lack of community is the reason lucifer invented church in a nutshell. he is ever the counterfeiter. if you step away from church it feels like a death and it is. a leaving of a structure that has no life in and of itself. it is stepping into the Kingdom, a place where life flows from your belly. from the river of God through us all. you will find such comfort and peace and joy and fellowship. the unexpected will become the usual. He will eradicate fear from your life line.
this is a testimony of what he is doing in me.
TO ONE AND ALL
We each share with each other the same one message
we’ve all been given.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not
your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Jn 14:27
That peace is present with us all here. And I thank
God for it.
Helen
I was where you at. Very trapped! So deeping intrenched with no perceivable way out. I understand that smoothering feeling sitting in that pew. But He made a way for my family out of it. You will know if and when it is time to leave. He will make a way for you. No it’s not going to be easy and you will be lonely at times. But I encourage you to trust that He will let you know His timing and guide you to another community. We all need community.
Shabbat Shalom
Helen, I want to encourage you to carry on. I know it is tough, because women are much more responsible for the social interactions of the family in the community at large as well as the church. I am in very much the same situation with Sunday worship, but I use it as an opportunity to witness to everyone I can in the congergation including the pastor. I am not confrontational. I just speak the truth that they can not refute. For example when the pastor said that the Old Testament was written to the Jews and the New Testament to the Christians, I privately reminded him at the end of the service that there was only one Bible and it was all written by Jews to Jews. I could site other examples, but I find that when I interject Biblical truth into conversations that it may take months before my interjections bear fruit. I suddenly hear truth being spoken by people as if it was some personal revelation to them from God Himself. (Hopefully it was) Skip and this group are my true congergation from which I gain strength and truth to reveal to those in desperate need. I was just like them at one time not knowing that I lost in the maze of social Christianity. Please be sympathetic to those who are so certain of their salvation that may hear the words “depart from me because I never knew you”.
It’s In There
What I need to share with the body of believers today is found within the Blessing Book, – God’s love letter to His children. Our Father’s written instructions to us is this: “Comfort [strengthen, encourage] one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4.18)
Friends (and Family), “these words” (His words) are written for our consolation in tHis Book. I do not know why we look for “comfort” elsewhere when these three words are [in glorious reality] all we need: – “it is written!”
Our Master, the Son of Man, though fully God in the flesh, thoroughly trashed and soundly defeated the accursed Accuser as the second Adam. And by so doing He taught us, He showed us, He demonstrated to us that we also have a wonderful weapon. That weapon is the sword of the LORD, the word of God. Beloved, we (who are His) must “armor up..”
(More instructions..) “Put on the whole armor of God.. ” This act of “putting on” is another way of saying- “get dressed!” Don’t go into today’s battle naked!! We (ourselves) must recognize the weapons that are ours!!- and? – put them on!! (Ephesians 6.11-18)
Victory? It is (already) ours through Christ our LORD. Remember, (please remember), we do not pray FOR victory, – we pray FROM victory. The battle, the warfare, and the total victory!) has already been accomplished for us – (where? when?)
O Hallelujah! At Calvary.
“Whether we live or die we are the LORD’s!” (Romans 14.8) Remember? “To live? Christ. To die? Gain!
Heads, we win! Tails, we win!
NO!, – “in [the midst of] all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”
Did you hear that? When will it “sink in?” If this is your testimony: “I am His and He is mine!” If this blessed assurance is yours.. (again) – “These things I have [what?] WRITTEN [it is written!] to you who believe in the Name of the Son of God, so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life. This is the [what?] CONFIDENCE which we have before Him.. (1 John 5.13)
O listen! (please)
~ Very truly I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life! ~ John 5:24
Hear the written witness of John:
…He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
~ But as many as received Him,
to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His Name,
who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God ~ (1 John 12.11-13)
Because God
SO loved..the world
He gave (us) His (only begotten, unique) Son
that “whosoever”.. [what at wonderful word!]
believes in Him
shall NOT perish!!
but have everlasting Life!! [Yes, “both” in quantity and in quality!]
The answer is “nothing!” – And the question is: ~ What or who shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our LORD?
O Love that will not let me go!..
O Love of God, – how rich and pure! How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure— The saints’ and angels’ song.
Not quite sure I ‘feel’ that I’m a part of this community (who are you? where are you? are you who you say you are?) but like Helen and so many millions of others, I long for that community when I do know you, where I know where you live, and that you are who you say you are. But, in the meantime, all I can do is choose……choose…..to believe that community is real….it has a purpose and I find it where ever He chooses to put me.
This morning I woke up a little…well, discombobulated (can’t you tell?) – you’ve heard the word before haven’t you? Not quite here and not quite there? A sort of in-between stage? No matter where we walk, no matter what path we are on or in what pew we sit in….all of us .. yes … all of us – need encouragement. It is the spark that ignites us to take one more step, lift our chin and continue on. We are a community of ‘people’ and that need to be a part of it will never change. May we continue to encourage each other as we all follow the One who is our Breath of Life, until that community is made by His hands …. and holds His heart … with every breath we take.
I encourage each and every one of you this day to bless His Name, Praise His Name and through His eyes see His children……. wherever he chooses to put us.
Community is real and it is crucial in our faith walk. I just don’t know how Community in cyber land, outside of real flesh and blood relationships works.
Yep….sometimes…you just need a real {{{ hug }}} 😉
Hi Pam, I do understand your ‘feeling’. What draws most of us here is the paradigm of worldview (Greek) versus Hebraic, and translation agendas that we can relate to. We see a world of difference from Skip’s TWs and what we hear, or are established by Christian theologies, that set us apart.
This in itself is marvelous and is so encouraging to me and others here.
We may be far from each other geographically, but yet nearer than most in mindsets; that is quintessential.
Relating to emunah (a conviction, a perception of truth that transcends, rather than evades) as it should be is our very own essence and being, cannot be falsified, as emunah cannot be divorced by attitudes and actions.
We should be as we present ourselves here :- ), as we have been taken out of falsehood, why continue to be a part of it?
Shalom, shalom!
All of this has been lovely to me. Thank you all. I have been out in that cold for decades, too. Trust begins at home. I love all of you. Thank you in a very real way for my existence. I would be much less without you. All of you. All of US. Halleluah!
Be encouraged today Ms. Helen. It is definitely no easy thing you are experiencing. Trial by fire is no easy thing!! May I recommend reading 2 Corinthians 4 and sum it up as:
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,”
You WILL come out shining for His glory!!
I too have been exactly where you state you are now. Your fearfulness is understood. Baby steps are in order as you continue your journey to the Promised Land. You may wish to consider using some of the social media sites, ie. fellowship finders, to possibly locate some like minded believers in your area that are shining in the shadows.
Today’s post hit me like a shot! Like Pam, I woke up somewhat unsettled this Shabbat. Life has changed for me drastically since the beginning of 2015. On the surface, some would consider these occurrences a blessing. Personally, I feel as though I am between two worlds and in a holding patten.
Of course, whatever my lot, I am learning to express my gratitude to my Creator through my intentional obedience to Him. increasingly, I sense something like a cloud hovering around me. I cannot help but view it as the pillar of cloud YHWH gave Israel as they journeyed out of captivity! Another expression of the weight of His Glory…Baruch HaShem!!
Mary, Your word about the glory of Gods presence over us as we walk in His light… by the light of His Word as He led His people out from bondage was a timely word in encouraging my faith walk! A perfect visual for those in a dark place…even the physical as well as spiritual. And I am a born again Gentile that has spent the last 40 years under that cloud living in a world that does not want to r3tain God in their knowledge. Family rejection that was cruel with snickering and belittlement… but the “banner over me is Love”…and I know my Redeemer lives…and He is timely….we ned only to continue abiding, trusting and watching His work daily..wait on the Lord..Psalm27:14
Maybe Abba is doing a shaking (and has sent us the latest sunblast to do so) in the body to wake us up and so therefore has given some of us a troubled heart (over many waters) this morning. Actually – I tried to shake it off – went outside, walked around and in and out thru the emerging life of green that is slowly poking its head above the soggy clay clumps…Sun where are you?? Sun I need you ….
But I need people … real people…who shine real light, real blessings, real life. However, I’m beginning to believe that ‘real’ community just won’t happen until Messiah returns and sets it all in place as it should be. Too many today are still in Babylon mode…still stroking their egos, and their beards, and their accomplishments…wonder what that real community will really look like? Maybe ‘shining faces all looking up to the real Light?’ ….. just a thought. Until then….we will simply have to plod along the best we can with what we have….I guess.
“…still stroking their egos, and their beards, and their accomplishments…”
Oh yes, and don’t forget, “let me show you how “humble” I am”.
Today’s Word does play an important part in my life. But I find “cyber” and “community” kind of an oxymoron. With Pam I ask, “Who are you?” “where are you?” And “Are you who you say you are?”. It is to easy to present yourself as someone you are not in “cyber community”. You can try that false presentation in “warm body, flesh and blood communities”, but I have found that type of false presentation is hard to maintain if you do actually walk through life together over a long period of time. Being faithful to people and hanging in there through sharp challenging rubbing of elbows in real flesh and blood relationships is where community is built. If this sight, Today’s Word is your community, I’m curious how that works as community for you? Maybe I’m just not understanding, maybe I’m missing something.
In the multitude of councelors there is safety…Proverbs 11:14..there are seasons in our walk that a rest away in the wilderness we can hear God..as this site can be ….
Tanya, I think perhaps we just get what we get right now. If I only get encouragement from a cyber community then I welcome it. None of us for some reason are finding fellowship. The fellowships that are out there seem to be falling apart at the seems and the ones that are holding together are doing so at the expense of anyone who doesn’t hold to their particular brand of practice.
One of my life accomplishments is that I am a master builder of natural stone walls. It has taught me so much about building the alter of natural stone that has never had a tool come upon it to knock off the rough edges. In a drystack wall those edges and gaps are what lock the whole thing together. What’s more it’s the smallest and funniest shaped stones that hold up the giant ones to make the entire wall stable. But each one only fits in one place and until the place is revealed, it just lays there waiting for that place to be revealed. I see us as stones being gathered together but not yet put in place. He has made us what we are among the communities that we’ve been part of in our lifetimes. We now see ourselves as misfits and outcasts. But He knows where we fit and when He puts us in our place, all those things that stick out and all the supposed holes in us that we see as lacking something will be the things that lock us together with others sticky out parts and holes. Prophets and priests are lonely people. But when God brings us all together one day we will all be in good company with compassion for all those who have suffered even as our Master Yeshua has. If you are laying out in the field out of place, rejoice! You have been quarried (cut out of your native mountain) and gathered, but not yet placed. Don’t worry what you think you look like. He is preparing a place for you and will come for you when that place is made manifest.
Oh my Pam…….oh my……what beauty and shalom your message has brought my tear-stained heart….Baruch HaShem…..Baruch HaShem…… may His face shine brightly on each and every living stone…..
Pam,
What a GREAT illustration! I love it. I get joy out of building and making things. I love to learn how things work. Your explanation lit all my lights up! Thank you.
Well said, Pam! “We just get what we get right now.” It’s not ideal according to our thinking (for whatever “our thinking” is worth), but it is what we have, and if we believe that we are following God’s will, we need to find contentment in this, as well. BTW: The stone “parable” is right on and a great encouragement.
One of the ways to put faces to cyber personalities is to make the effort to attend one of Skip’s conferences, or to host him in your town. Yes, there is a cost; but consider setting aside your tithe for this. (see Deut 14:24-26) There is a tithe that made provision to pay the expenses of “going up” to Yerushalayim for the major festivals. While some might think this a stretch, I think the point was to bring God’s people together for a meal in a God’s presence, for the purpose of enjoying ourselves in His presence. It was a family reunion and BBQ. 🙂 (no pork or shrimp allowed!)
The Fresno conference was sweet and I especially enjoyed that it was held in your home. Fellowship is so natural in a home setting. Thank you again for your wonderful hospitality.
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Some of us have been conditioned not to reveal who we truly are due to condemnation from others within the community. What a joy to have a place to go that provides the freedom of self expression! 🙂
The comments to Today’s Word are exceptionally forthright and insightful on this day, I think. May I add my comment? I’m repeating some of what I’ve said before for the benefit of new readers. I have multiple chemical sensitivity. My ability to enjoy social situations is extremely limited. I’m glad my children and a handful of others are fragrance-free so that I can enjoy their company, but I miss being with other people.
Last year I asked the Today’s Word community if anyone wanted to exchange emails, and I submitted my email. Dawn McLaughlin, a frequent contributor to this site, emailed me, and we soon were communicating by email, then by telephone. My wife and I, and Dawn and her husband, were thrilled to get to know each other, as well as that can be done without being in person.
Last summer, Dawn then completely surprised us by telling us that she and her husband were planning a trip, and that they could swing by our place (in northeast Iowa), and visit for a few days. Dawn had told us early on in our friendship that she had already made her household fragrance-free some time ago simply because she understood that fragrances were a great grief to many people. So not only would I be able to see these new friends, but I could do so knowing my health would not suffer for it.
All good news, right?
There is more.
August 13 my wife fell and broke her hip catastrophically, requiring a total hip replacement. This was just days before the McLaughlins’ scheduled visit. Here we were, knee-deep in garden produce and goat’s milk, besides the regular work from my self-employement, and my wife just home from the hospital.
We all went ahead with our plans. Dawn and Gene came in a motor home, parking it out front, so that they would not be intrusive. We got to know each other a lot better, and by the end of the visit, I think we could all say we were fast friends.
We kind of broke some rules, you know. Inviting people you’ve met online, of all places, to come into your home??? Our youngest son was quite impressed with how things turned out!
So…first century, or 21st century…that word “brethren” means something special. People are united in their devotion to God and to His Son. That devotion hasn’t changed. God is the same. Online communities have their limitations. BUT, God has no limitations. When and if He wants us to enjoy something more tangible than an online posting, He will provide that.
Since all this, one other person has emailed me, too, and we have had a couple of telephone visits.
My wife and I are indebted to all who contribute to this community. Yes, it is easy to “put up fronts” online. There is safety in being able to be invisible, so to speak. And there is also safety in knowing that, for whatever reason, this is the arrangement that God has chosen for the time being for some of us.
We are grateful to Skip and all of you.
Oh Tom,
You are so kind with your words. It was a great blessing to come to you (and your family) and meet you face to face. I would love to do so with others here as well.
My husband and I have been very busy with closing down a farm and selling a home (and buying one) to prepare to move to NE Missouri a 2 short weeks away! If there is anyone in the area of Trenton, MO we would love to connect with you. Send me an email to let me know at 15gdmclaugh@gmail.com
I am aware of the conference in St Jo in August and hope to make it there.
This community is what one makes it to be. Nothing compares to a face to face meeting and those real hugs and tears. Seeing someone’s face when you talk to them makes things so much more personal and real. The wisdom and kindness shared here are special to me. Even the disagreements and questions are so valuable to those of us seeking to understand what is truly in the text as it was written.
I absolutely love and appreciate Pam Custer’s stones analogy! What a wonderful illustration that I believe is spot on for many of us here. I have always felt like the odd (wo)man out and spent a lot of years walking the fence to fit in. Things have changed for me in many ways and now the fence has different meaning to me. I am going to think about things in terms of stones and stone walls now instead of fences!! (chuckles)
Take heart and be encouraged Helen, there are many here who understand what you shared with your hearts cry. Keep walking and keep your faith where it belongs, on God and His things. Chose your battles wisely and seek out good and positive things to lift your spirits. Keep giving of yourself and pour out compassion on others. Be a servant and a doer of what God has revealed about Himself. You will never lack for needy people!
what if we all wrote where we live at the end of our post maybe we might discover a friend nearby
-Baton Rouge, LA
Great idea Dee, I live in Moncton New Brunswick Canada in the summer and Dade City Florida in the winter. George
Oh my dear believers. Your writings bring tears to my eyes as I feel your pain. In Hesed, if I have this right, your pain is my pain. I am relatively new to this blog and website. I have been immersing myself in Skip’s downloadable lectures and only read “Today’s Word” part of the time.
I too have been alone most of my life! It started when I was 12 in a Lutheran church school where I attended kindergarten through 8th grade save my 6th grade year. At 12 in the 8th grade, I got called into the principal’s office and my parents were there and I was told that all of my questions were disruptive in class and that I needed to listen and be quiet. WOW! My first thought was, “What happened to Luther and his posting on the church door?” While my parents were supportive of me in private, this incident changed me forever and drove me into a life of quiet solitary prayer, afraid to reach out for fear of condemnation of thoughts that varied with the status quo. I was alone in church and in crowds so life became about finding YHWH at the most intimate level that I could at every given moment, even when I did not know that was what I was doing. I have floundered through life in many respects although I believe that I have been taught of YHWH as it truly was written in my heart, so I would recognize the truth when it was time.
Over the years, I gave up the church, and “Scripture” went with it, as it did not make sense, however, I clung to our Heavenly Father and His Son, the Messiah. When I realized, that knowing the real Hebrew translations explained the seeming contradictions in 2008, a whole new vista opened up for me. I have been plugging away at learning Scripture from a Hebraic Jewish perspective ever since.
I am sure my story is not unique, however, I want you all to know that I am here too. I find very little solace in the church, although I understand why some stay there. I stayed until one day, it was just OK to leave, like I was released. I actually find more acceptance in less church oriented groups as there appears to be less judgement, more latitude to be different. We are social creatures that long to be in “Hesed” (community) with each other. The first time I heard Skip speak on “Hesed” in Sedalia, Missouri, I knew I had a new teacher that could point me in the right direction. Everything he said on “Hesed” I had thought and longed for and that is what I hear in all that I have read on this post. We need and long for each other in the context of Torah, which is loving-commitment.
Thank you to all of you that have gone before me, paving the way of this path because as each of us find it, it makes it easier for the next. The path may be different in appearance as some of us are in the church, some of us are hiding, others are in various private groups that meet in homes and the list goes on. The important thing is to keep our sights on the truth the best that we can, whatever our circumstances and to love and care for each other, holding the vision of our Heavenly Father for us all. I pray for this group and I hope you can feel my encouraging hug wrap around each and everyone of you and just feel love. This is for you too Skip!! You lose me sometimes with all of your studies and words, however we are together in “Hesed” !! I love you for your dedication to helping all of us see what we once could not see. Everyday you help me to unveil the mystery of my divine relationship with my Creator. THANK YOU!!!!
I stand by you all prayerfully as an action Zone 4 “Encourager”. When you are able, call John Samuel and work with him on your gifting from YHWH. It changes everything for the better and will give you tons of courage, confidence and hope.
I just want to send my heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to my plea for encouragement this morning. I was quite honestly desperate with the dreaded Sunday coming around again and feeling I MUST make my decision to ‘come out from among them’ but still feeling unable to face the consequences. Your responses have given me such support, understanding and wisdom when all I really expected was condemnation. I live on a Scottish island where religion is still very strong and to hang the washing out on the ‘Sabbath’ is very much frowned upon. We did have a Passover demonstration by Jews for Jesus last year, and so I met some people with an interest in Israel, but they still hold tightly to the belief that the Church is free from the Law etc.
Anyway, I thank the Lord for you all, for making me feel less alone and desperate, and helping me live to fight another day. I will read your responses over and over, I’m sure, whenever I need a shot of encouragement to keep going. And if you ever come to Skye, please do get in touch!
Great comments! Another question that’s been bubbling on my back burner is what does it look like to be a part of Gods tribe; grafted into the community of Israel? My husband and I have been extremely blessed to be able to gather with about 11other like-minded believers who are on this path to understanding and apply scripture in its proper context. We are all Gentiles wanting to be part of the “tribe” as Skip calls it. How do we do that? There are no synagogues in my community, no groups of existing long living tribe members. I feel sort of like a cyber want to be grafted in branch. Is being in community with that tribe more than pursuing a Torah lifestyle i.e., keeping the Appointed times, eating scripturally… What do you think? Has Skip written anything on this?
I have thought fallowing Yeshua and pursuing a Torah life style was how you get grafted into and identify with the “tribe”. I am sure it does not mean doing a man made conversion thing or heading headlong into any particular Rabbinic tradition… I am sure I am not the first to wrestle with this… Just thinking out loud here.
That is a good question Tanya. I cling to one of the first scriptures that Our precious heavenly Father gave to me when I first realized that He was calling me to step out into this walk.
Like Ruth I lay claim to Him as my own and behave like a law abiding citizen. Then I pray.
YHVH Let Your eyes be looking down from heaven, from Your holy and beautiful house: where is Your deep compassion, the working of your power?
Do not keep back the moving of Your pity and Your mercies: For You are our Father. Though Abraham has no knowledge of us, and Israel gives no thought to us:
You, YHVH, are our Father;
from the earliest days You have taken up our cause.
O YHVH, why do You send us wandering from Your ways, making our hearts hard, so that we have no fear of You? Come back, because of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
Why have evil men gone over Your holy place, so that it is crushed under the feet of those who hate us?
We have become like those who were never ruled by You,
on whom Your name was not named.
O let the heavens be broken open and come down, so that the mountains shake before you,
As when fire puts the brushwood in flames, or as when water is boiling from the heat of the fire: to make Your name feared by all who hate You, so that the nations may tremble before You;
Is.63:15-64:2
Dear Tanya, It sounds like you have a great start to have 11 like minded people, all in community pursuing a common goal to understand who we are. We too wrestled in the beginning with what do we do now, so we started honoring the 4th commandment and kept the Sabbath. I think it is simple in that when we are in covenant, by keeping the Sabbath, we are grafted in. Of course because we have lacked an example, we still wonder exactly what does that look like to keep the Sabbath and just today read all of Skip’s teachings on the Sabbath and have read the Scriptures on Sabbath. We have been greatly blessed over the years in keeping the Sabbath the best that we can. We stay in touch by phone and email with others on this quest and break bread with those around us that are asking the same questions. None of us agree 100% except that we know to keep the Sabbath. Some keep the feasts and some still go to church on Sundays. We are all plowing our way through, learning to listen to our Heavenly Father in a way that we have not before. It is about our relationship with our Creator and anything that promotes that relationship I do and the relationship with those around me. It is not about being right as being right suggests judgement and that is dangerous ground; it is about embracing and loving each other where each of us is at. It is about taking what we learn in our head and engaging it in our heart and being and living it. All we have to do is humbly ask our Father to show us and teach us and he does.