Greasy Grace

These scripture quotations seem quite long, but please read them in order to find the thread that binds them together :o)

Jeremiah 7:4-15 'Do not trust in lying words, saing, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are these. For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you completely do judgment between a man and his neighbour, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever. Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot do any good. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, we are delivered to do all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I also have seen says the Lord. But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer, therefore I will do to this house, which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, the whole seed of Ephraim.'

2 Cor 6:16 ' And what agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are the temple of the living God as God has said," I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people".'

1 Cor 3:16-18  'Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any-one defiles the temple of God, God shall destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are. Let no one deceive himself.'

What exactly is grace?

This is a question I have really had to ask myself. More-so over the last two years (since my journey in Torah began) than at any other time in my life. Grace ... as I understood it .. was a fairly easy concept to grasp. Yeshua died for me, He took all my sin upon Himself and I now stood before YHVH guilt-free! Not only guilt-free but free from the law (Torah) too! I was certainly in a much more privileged position than any Israelite in the Old Testament, further- more the Jews today as I was taught to see it, were still in bondage ... in bondage to an archaic system that at the end of the day could save no-one. A system that was legalistic and really just another form of enslavement. I on the other hand (along with every other christian) was a recipient of YHVH's grace ... and there was nothing more that I needed to do ... after all ... Yeshua did it all for me ... didn't He?? The law (Torah) along with the sacrificial system was now over and a different dispensation had begun (sound familiar to any-one).  :o)  ... mmmmm...

Praise Yah, I now find myself on the other side of this fence .. now truly a recipient of His grace! Needless to say ... my view is a little (well .. alot ) different and my heart has had a much needed overhaul. Things look alot different standing on this side and the grass is definately greener!  :o)

Is it grace that I find to be suddenly different ... or my eyes that have been resurrected and the scales graciously removed from? All of both I think. Looking back  ... I can now see all the hurt and destruction that erroneous teaching can and does cause, that YHVH's people are truly destroyed for a lack of knowledge. 

True Grace I have/am discovering is NOT giving licence to my flesh for sin, no matter how great or small with the safety net that 'I don't need to worry, Yeshua has done it all for me ... He will forgive me ... I am after all only human ... no longer under the law (Torah) but grace'.

Instead I am learning that true grace is having my eyes opened to the wonder and truth of His Torah. True grace is being given a new heart of flesh upon which His commandments and ways are engraved.

True grace is being given a heart that wants to Shema ... hear and obey.

True grace is knowing that He will catch me when I fall.

To those still on the other side of the fence this seems like legalism ... going back under the law ... or even worse .. 'Do I think I am now Jewish'? said in such a way as to imply that there couldn't possibly be a worse fate than this.  

Law (Torah) and grace have always gone hand in hand, the one cannot be withouth the other. The problem comes in when we do in fact try to seperate them. All of Torah without grace ... impossible. All of grace without Torah ... no purpose.

Greasy grace is a cheap counterfeit for the beauty of true grace...

I guess the question we should be asking ourselves then is ... 'Do I  want to settle for less than the very best that YHVH has for me ... to know and understand HIS grace?'.

Where the sun has already set .. I pray your Shabbat was filled with His Shalom!

Where the sun still shines .. may His grace shine ever brighter on each one of you!

Shabbat Shalom and Blessings!!

A Book Review - My Servant Caleb

A Jewish boy

A Gentile girl

A world at war

Norfolk, England, June 1936.  "Celia kicked off her jodhpur boots with a sigh of relief. She would far rather spend her days outdoors in wind and rain, with freezing hands and feet, than live the life of a salon poodle. The memory of her year in London made her shudder ...".

When Lady Celia, daughter of the Earl of Besthorpe, meets Caleb Levine, a rising young solicitor and a Jew from London's East End, their mutual attraction horrifies her freinds and scandalises her anti-semitic parents. But just as she is an exile from her class, so Caleb is in exile from both his Jewish heritage and his now Christian family. How can their relationship survive? Can two world views ever meet?

My Servant Caleb is a story that spans from 1936 to 1952 and across two continents. This wonderful story is played out against the back-drop of a world war, the holocaust and the tremulous re-birth of the nation of Israel. A Jewish boy and a Gentile girl who against all odds fall in love and  must both find their way to the Messiah of Israel. Caleb from all the traditions of his past and Celia from a world formed almost completely on class distinction and prejudice.
What I really loved about this book is that the author has managed so beautifully to portray the coming together of both Jew and Gentile into one people ... the Israel of God through this love story. The struggles that each one of us must go through as we struggle with eternal questions individually and all the shedding and leaving behind of preconceived ideas, vanities and lies until finally we meet together at the feet of our Saviour.
This book is rich in detail and calls into question the very meaning of home ....
This is truly a story that engages the heart and until you have read the last page is very hard to put down!!


Kerstin Sheldrake, is a German born in Berlin, she supports her English husband, Andrew, in the leadership of the Messianic Synagogue in Norwich, UK.

This is a book I highly recommend, I enjoyed it immensely and am a little richer for having read it!!


Blessings

Should Woman Wear Headcoverings?

I really enjoyed this video! I enjoyed all the testimonies and encouragement from all of these beautiful women of YHVH!

Blessings and Shalom

Who Are We?

'His foundation is in the holy mountains.

YHVH loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacov.

Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of YHVH. 

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia,

this man was born there.

And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the Highest Himself shall establish her.

YHVH shall count, when He writes up the people, that this man was born there.

As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.'

- Psalm 87

Praise YAH for His loving kindness and faithfulness!!

The one thing that is grieving my heart this Shabbat ... is the one thing my eyes have been blind to for far too long. My eyes have now been opened and my heart is heavy ... for I am now able to see the degree of anti-semitism that has/is infecting the house and people of YHVH. At least this is what they profess to be.

The day that YHVH opened my eyes to His Torah and revealed His heart to me, is the day that life truly began! There have been many changes ... both inside and out ... I am truly a new creation! Praise YAH!!

I am called out ... called to leave behind all the lies and vanities that I have inherited. Called to leave all vain imaginations that have raised themselves up against the true knowledge of who YHVH is. Called to become a daughter of the Most High God ...

With this 'calling' comes a new identity ... a new destiny ... a new future, inheritence and hope!

And a new people that I am now a part of ...ISRAEL.

Unless I am a child of Israel ... I cannot be a partaker of His covenant.

The covenants were made with Israel and remain with Israel, and we wait with anticipation for the final fulfillment of all of YHVH'S promises to Israel!

Israel are who they are because of YHVH - the God of Israel. Their ways ... are His ways.

If His ways are now becoming my ways (by His mercy and grace I have been lovingly grafted in) - the question is... who am I going to start looking like? Is my life going to start being a reflection of His Torah? And if so ... then what people am I going to start resembling? There has only ever been one nation that are set apart in their keeping of the Shabbat and feasts and Torah of YHVH ... Israel.

Only with these changes taking place in my life have my eyes been opened to the undercurrents of anti-semitism and hatred that lie undetected in so many hearts. Many are afraid of being identified with Israel ... the land, the people and even the Jewish Messiah. Maybe we should examine our hearts a little more ... after all is it not a privilege to be identified as one of the people of YHVH ... set apart and in covenant with Him?

As the people of YHVH .. we should be carrying Israel - the people and the land - deep within our hearts, just as He does. Their struggles and wrestlings should drive us to our knees in prayer ... after all ... are they not our people. Is Israel not the home our spirits yearn for?

Just as the Psalm above promises ... YHVH Himself will declare that we belong there with Him ... part of His people ... the Israel of God for all eternity!

Just as Naomi and Ruth had to leave the fields of Moab and return to the land and God of Israel - so too do we along with our Jewish brothers and sisters. Let our prayer this Shabbat be for our people to return to the God of Israel ... YHVH ... and His ways, that all vanities, lies and vain imaginations will be destroyed and that His name will be sanctified in all of Israel!

May YHVH bless you and keep you

May YHVH make His face to shine upon you

May YHVH lift up His countenance upon you

and give you His Shalom,

Blessings

Feeling Uncomfortable??

Christmas Carols

With the world gearing up to celebrate christmas ... this video was such a lovely reminder for me ... this place is not home ...

I guess we all need to be reminded at times that the danger lies in becoming too comfortable ...
I love the perspective of Mrs Palatnik and I thank YHVH that He is speaking to us all the time ... reminding us, we just need to learn to listen :o)
So this christmas let all the carols and tinsel serve to remind us that this is not home ... let us be on guard to becoming too comfortable!!


Blessings and Shalom

Israel My Beloved

"They will never again defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, or any of their transgressions, but I will save them from all the places where they have been living and sinning, and I will cleanse them, so that they will be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David will be king over them, and all of them will have one shepherd, they will live by my rulings and keep and observe my regulations. They will live in the land I gave to Ya'akov my servant, where your ancestors lived, they will live there - they, their children, and their granchildren, forever, and David my servant will be their leader forver. I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give to them, increase their numbers, and set my sanctuary among them forever. My home will be with them, I will be their God, and they will be my people. The nations will know that I am  YHVH, who sets Isra'el apart as holy, when my sanctuary is with them forever." - Yechezk'el (Ezekiel) 37:23-28  CJB.

We long for and look forward to that day ... when ALL of Israel will be saved and her Shalom ... final and complete.

The keeping of the Shabbat is the sign that sets us, the people of YHVH, apart from the rest of the nations. The keeping of the Shabbat is a privilege ... and a beautiful gift from our Father and our King. Many do not see this though ... and shout 'legalism' when confronted with a heart that wants to obey. If taking this one day and setting it apart from all others in order to have our spirit refreshed by His ... to have time to sing His praise and exalt ourselves in Him ... to allow ourselves to be reminded that He is the God in whose hand our breath is and in whom are all our ways ... that without Him there is no life - if all of this treasure can be labeled 'legalism' ... then a legalist I shall be. The thing is legalism does not bring freedom ... and the truth is ...

I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE FREE!!!

Shabbat Shalom to all of Israel!!

What in the World Are We Doing??

I am sure that we are all familiar with the above advertisements selling perfume to the masses (mainly women) ... although men are also becoming regular users of the various fragrances sold by movie stars, musicians and design houses. We are subtly sold the lie that some-how wearing these fragrances will make us more desirable or they will be the crowning glory to the image we ourselves are creating and projecting to the world.
The last 48 hrs have been really trying for me ... I have learned an extremely important lesson, and once again I am grateful to YHVH for His faithfulness and for leading me to a place of taking more off and leaving it far behind :o)

On Monday morning I decided to try a perfume that my mom had given to Rachel, who in turn did not like the fragrance and so she passed it on to me ... it has a really pleasant smell ... so I decided to give it a go. This is where it gets interesting ... within 5 minutes of trying the fragrance I started experiencing heart palpitations and really started feeling quite ill. I immedietely made the association between symptoms and fragrance, but wondered if this was indeed possible ... maybe this was something else?? I decided to wash the fragrance off ... but throughout the day I felt really bad with the heart palpitations constantly there. The palpitaions lasted throughout the night and throughout the whole of Tuesday. I decided to give my GP a visit, only to find out that he will only be back in his rooms as of next year. At this point I was really starting to get concerned. Many people told me that there is no way that perfume could do this including our pharmacist. But we know our bodies, and YHVH kept on witnessing inside of me that it was indeed the perfume that had triggered some kind of allergic response. He urged me to trust Him ... to walk this through ... that He would bring me through this. There were moments that I felt really afraid ...
Praise YHVH ... throughout last night I felt the symptoms lifting and my heart beat returning to normal :o)  This morning I feel soooo much better. But I have definately learned a very big lesson! My husband and I decided to google the effects of perfume entering the blood stream and were REALLY shocked by all that we read. One well known brand is known to contain over 800 compounds that are toxic to the human body!! Rachel and I decided that as an exercise today, we would look up all the individual ingredients in these perfumes ... let me just say .... the result??? We have had a major clean-out!! (Rachel will be doing a more in depth post on these toxic ingredients on her blog Peculiar Treasures). Some of these ingredients are known to cause cancer .. liver and kidney failure... respiratory disorders etc etc etc the list goes on and on. I have now come face to face with the dangers of these various toxins and  have repented to being careless with what I have allowed not only in my body .. but what I use or spray on my body!
This is a lesson I am so grateful for. Not only am I perhaps wiser in an area I was not before - but, my trust in YHVH is refreshed and restored and this morning my heart is stable and in continuous worship!! The only after effect I seem to have today is a headache!! I suppose with the toxins leaving the body this is to be expected.
Here are a couple of links that I found interesting:
Perfumes and chemical sensitivity
chemicals and toxins in cosmetics

I am finding that there are many things that the world has packaged as 'harmless' and 'necessary' that YHVH is busy cleaning and removing out of the lives of His set apart people ... the journey continues :o)

Blessings and Shalom