Daily Bible Portion (Tuesday)
Daily Bible Portion - 3 of 7
"REWARD"
(Weekly Reading>>Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25, Isaiah 49:14-51:3, Hebrews 12:1-29, Luke 4:1-13)
As believers, we must understand that while to be filled with the Spirit gives us His power it is not until we walk in His power and authority [His Word] that we are one in Yeshua/Jesus. Authority in Yahweh’s Kingdom comes when we obey His Gospel found in our Mosaic Covenant, our ketubah/marriage. Honoring Yahweh’s Feast Days, His Sabbath, His clean and holy ways (including what God says is food for us) gives us authority in His Kingdom. As believers, we may claim to be filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues but if we are still eating meat with blood in it or pepperoni pizza we are placing blood and pork on the altar of His Tabernacle within us. This is an issue of our rebellion to His loving instructions for our lives. In doing this we alone nullify the authority He desires for us. We then wonder why we cannot get full victory in areas of our lives or teach life and His authority to others (Exodus 19:5-6; Ezekiel 44; Amos 9:11; Act 15: 16-21; 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1; 1 Peter 2:9; Hebrews 4).
It is through obedience to His Word/Gospel that we receive our freedom from bondage. It is in our obedience to His Principles/ketubah that Yeshua in-fills us with His power and His authority to stand firm, effectively leaving no room for the enemy to trespass in our lives.
Detestable Things
(Deuteronomy 7:25-26)
We must be careful not to covet or invite images, gods, or idols into our homes or admire them before Yahweh. Yahweh calls us to burn them in the fire and not regard the gold and silver in them. They are to be as detestable to us as they are to Yahweh. Other ways detestable things can come into our lives is when we innocently purchase foreign gods as souvenirs during vacations and bring them back as gifts for family and friends. Lifting up religious idols, relics, memorials, museums pieces, shrines or places of worship of other cultures and religions are all forms of high places. We are cautioned not to bring them into our lives, homes or place them before Yahweh. Spiritually speaking, these images, idols and gods can also be formed in our hearts by our yielding to the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, or pride of life (1 John 2:16). As we learned in the study of Balak believers can be ensnared by eating what Yahweh forbids, tolerating wrong associations, assuming workaholic lifestyles or seeking a worldly pleasure that is in opposition to Yahweh.
These examples show how we unknowingly invite other gods and their spiritual activity into our homes or offer them to other people. They may have been constructed with grace and beauty in the physical world but they are unacceptable before Yahweh as they present a false god and a pagan religion (Deuteronomy 7:25-26).
The Asherah Pole
On a personal note, growing up in West Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada, we lived fifty feet above a beautiful creek that flowed through the land. The house looked down the protected fisheries stream that, in the fall, salmon would swim up to spawn. My father loved West Coast Native art and acquired one of the last deep-carved totem poles in the region from the local First Nations tribe. The day it arrived, five generations of chiefs in full regalia came to pray over our property. They sought the best location to place the pole and then performed their ceremony dedicating the land to the three gods carved on the pole. After all the official duties were completed, my father secured the coveted sacred art on the side of the hill beside our house, overlooking the stream.
Unknowingly we had opened our lives to Satan’s realm of sin and death. Over time, the physical and spiritual act of accepting and worshipping those gods and their coverings upon us became evident. Yahweh is as faithful to the curses as He is to the blessings, and eventually the unclean spirits prevailed in our lives and on our property. Everyone in our family suffered emotionally and physically for years after the planting of that Asherah totem pole in our land. Ultimately, one night there was a huge rumbling noise like an earthquake that woke our whole household. In the morning we found that all the land except the ground where the totem pole stood had slid down the bank into the river below. The trees, patio and beautiful landscaped garden all were gone in an instant. The house was intact but now rested close to the edge of a cliff. Only a small part of the original property was left, along with the totem pole. Poverty, alcohol abuse and divorce soon finished off what was left of our resources and family. Years later, when the house was sold, the totem pole was removed and returned to those who carved it. Through all of our tragedies, my parents and I sought Yeshua as our Lord and Savior. In our repentance He healed us and restored us (Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3; 16:21).
continues tomorrow...
"REWARD"
(Weekly Reading>>Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25, Isaiah 49:14-51:3, Hebrews 12:1-29, Luke 4:1-13)
As believers, we must understand that while to be filled with the Spirit gives us His power it is not until we walk in His power and authority [His Word] that we are one in Yeshua/Jesus. Authority in Yahweh’s Kingdom comes when we obey His Gospel found in our Mosaic Covenant, our ketubah/marriage. Honoring Yahweh’s Feast Days, His Sabbath, His clean and holy ways (including what God says is food for us) gives us authority in His Kingdom. As believers, we may claim to be filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues but if we are still eating meat with blood in it or pepperoni pizza we are placing blood and pork on the altar of His Tabernacle within us. This is an issue of our rebellion to His loving instructions for our lives. In doing this we alone nullify the authority He desires for us. We then wonder why we cannot get full victory in areas of our lives or teach life and His authority to others (Exodus 19:5-6; Ezekiel 44; Amos 9:11; Act 15: 16-21; 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1; 1 Peter 2:9; Hebrews 4).
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we [believers] are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin[lawlessness] that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Yeshua/Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...”
Proverbs 3:11-12 “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because Yahweh disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
Proverbs 3:11-12 “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because Yahweh disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
Hebrews 12:10-14 “God disciplines us [believers] for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore [Believers], strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. [Believers] Make every effort to live in peace with all men [love your neighbor] and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
It is through obedience to His Word/Gospel that we receive our freedom from bondage. It is in our obedience to His Principles/ketubah that Yeshua in-fills us with His power and His authority to stand firm, effectively leaving no room for the enemy to trespass in our lives.
John 8:31-32 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word [Torah], you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth [Torah/Jesus], and the truth [Torah/Jesus] will set you free."
Isaiah 8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law[Torah] among my disciples.
Psalms 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law[Torah] is the truth.
Psalms 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law[Torah] is the truth.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I [the living instructions, principles] am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
“No, do not be afraid of those nations, for Yahweh is among you, and he is a great and awesome God/Elohim. Yahweh will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, for if you did, the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. But Yahweh will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed” (Deuteronomy 7:21-23).
Detestable Things
(Deuteronomy 7:25-26)
We must be careful not to covet or invite images, gods, or idols into our homes or admire them before Yahweh. Yahweh calls us to burn them in the fire and not regard the gold and silver in them. They are to be as detestable to us as they are to Yahweh. Other ways detestable things can come into our lives is when we innocently purchase foreign gods as souvenirs during vacations and bring them back as gifts for family and friends. Lifting up religious idols, relics, memorials, museums pieces, shrines or places of worship of other cultures and religions are all forms of high places. We are cautioned not to bring them into our lives, homes or place them before Yahweh. Spiritually speaking, these images, idols and gods can also be formed in our hearts by our yielding to the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, or pride of life (1 John 2:16). As we learned in the study of Balak believers can be ensnared by eating what Yahweh forbids, tolerating wrong associations, assuming workaholic lifestyles or seeking a worldly pleasure that is in opposition to Yahweh.
These examples show how we unknowingly invite other gods and their spiritual activity into our homes or offer them to other people. They may have been constructed with grace and beauty in the physical world but they are unacceptable before Yahweh as they present a false god and a pagan religion (Deuteronomy 7:25-26).
Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Numbers 33:51-52 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places’”
Numbers 33:51-52 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places’”
The Asherah Pole
On a personal note, growing up in West Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada, we lived fifty feet above a beautiful creek that flowed through the land. The house looked down the protected fisheries stream that, in the fall, salmon would swim up to spawn. My father loved West Coast Native art and acquired one of the last deep-carved totem poles in the region from the local First Nations tribe. The day it arrived, five generations of chiefs in full regalia came to pray over our property. They sought the best location to place the pole and then performed their ceremony dedicating the land to the three gods carved on the pole. After all the official duties were completed, my father secured the coveted sacred art on the side of the hill beside our house, overlooking the stream.
Unknowingly we had opened our lives to Satan’s realm of sin and death. Over time, the physical and spiritual act of accepting and worshipping those gods and their coverings upon us became evident. Yahweh is as faithful to the curses as He is to the blessings, and eventually the unclean spirits prevailed in our lives and on our property. Everyone in our family suffered emotionally and physically for years after the planting of that Asherah totem pole in our land. Ultimately, one night there was a huge rumbling noise like an earthquake that woke our whole household. In the morning we found that all the land except the ground where the totem pole stood had slid down the bank into the river below. The trees, patio and beautiful landscaped garden all were gone in an instant. The house was intact but now rested close to the edge of a cliff. Only a small part of the original property was left, along with the totem pole. Poverty, alcohol abuse and divorce soon finished off what was left of our resources and family. Years later, when the house was sold, the totem pole was removed and returned to those who carved it. Through all of our tragedies, my parents and I sought Yeshua as our Lord and Savior. In our repentance He healed us and restored us (Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3; 16:21).
Deuteronomy 7:26 “Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.”
continues tomorrow...