Don’t Pray for Patience? Are You Sure?

By Brother R. Michel Lankford
 
Part of the feast of Unleavened Bread is about progressively ejecting and removing false teachings and bad ideas out of our thoughts and attitudes and out frame of mind. So I thought that this was pretty timely.As I was cleaning the bathroom floor Preparing for Shabbat, this stream of thought suddenly hit me. As Christians we often joke among one another that we should never pray for patience, because it is believed that most often the Almighty God will allow us to go through trial and suffering in order to build patience in us. So we tell one another not to pray for patients. In keeping with the feast of unleavened bread, and getting the leaven of sin and false teaching out of our lives, I believe that God was trying to get me to cooperate with Him and get that faulty idea out of my head. Here's what I mean:
 

• Yahweh Almighty God IS LOVE (1 John 4:8), right?

• One of the very first characteristics of Godly Love is PATIENCE (1 Corinthians 13:4).

• Yahweh's promises were given to us through Jesus Christ with the explicit purpose that we would become partakers of the Divine Nature and escape the sinful passions that are so common in the world (2 Peter 1:3-8). Please notice that later in the same passage, we are given a guarantee of receiving a rich welcome into heaven if we cooperate with God and diligently developed these godly characteristics (2 Peter 1:8, 10-11).

• In another part of the Scriptures, we are told that part of the reason that God granted the fivefold ministry giftings, was to help the body of believers to reach the fullness of the character and attitudes of Messiah. (Ephesians 4:11-14).

• So, in the light of all the Scriptures, putting all things together, what are we really rejecting when we refuse to pray for patience, and we advise other believers not to ask God to develop patience in them?

• In so doing aren't we teaching believers to avoid praying that they will be transformed by God's Love, which includes patience?

• When we teach believers not to pray for patience, aren't we also  inadvertently teaching them to avoid praying that they will be changed into the very character of Jesus Christ? In so doing, aren't we failing a key component for which God called us into ministry in the first place?

• When we refuse to pray for patience or any other aspect of godly love, aren't we really resisting the opportunity to become transformed into the character and nature of Jesus Christ?

• When we refuse to pray for patience and advise others to do the same because of the challenges, the struggles, or the trials that it may bring, are we not really teaching ourselves and others to value our own comforts well ahead of godly character? I wonder what we are really giving up when we take such an approach.

Knowing that God Is Love and He loves us; remembering the great links that Yeshua the Messiah went through to secure our adoption as God's children, we should never be afraid to boldly ask for and seek for patience, or indeed any other godly characteristics, because the rewards that come with godly character are both incalculable and eternal. What we pray for, and what we refuse to pray for is often a great indicator of what we value, and is also an indicator of our growth and maturity as Christians. It's just food for thought.
Shabbat Shalom,
Brother Michel Lankford

Therefore Let us KEEP the Feast

Why I Believe that Christians Should Honor and commemorate the Biblical Feasts of the LORD
By Brother Michel Lankford
 

 

Principles Review/Overview

• They are Appointments that God Himself Made to gather with His People to rehearse for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. It seems vitally important, not to mention polite that those who claim to be members of the Bride of Messiah who claim to LOVE the Bridegroom to actually desire and then to SHOW UP for our wedding rehearsals (Cf. Matthew 22:1-14).
• God’s people are COMMANDED to announce and proclaim God’s Feasts and Appointed Times (Numbers 23:1-3; cf. Isaiah 56:1-8; and failure to distinguish what God has separated out for Himself is to commit acts of violence against God and and His Kingdom (Ezekiel 22:26).
• NOWHERE in Scripture are we commanded to import and adapt the festival days, the decorations, the mythologies and customs which were connected for centuries with the worship of false gods. In fact God’s people are COMMANDED NOT to do such wicked things (Exodus 32:1-10; Deuteronomy 12:1-4, 8, 29-32; Jeremiah 10:1-2; Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-13; Romans 6:15-16; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 14-22; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; Colossians 2:8; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17; Revelation 14:12; Revelation 21:7-8)
• God’s Feasts and Appointed Times are NOT ONLY for the Jews or the Hebrew people, because such a false doctrine violates God’s Commandments. God’s Feasts and  HIS Appointed times should  observed by All people who claim to believe in and claim to belong to the Almighty Creator God who revealed Himself to Moses (Exodus 12:49; Leviticus 24:22; Numbers 15:15; Romans 11:17,19,23; Ephesians 2:11–13) Notice that WE Gentiles who receive Messiah were grafted INTO the Israel of God, so that we could learn and adopt and come into agreement with God and HIS ways. Israel was NEVER intended to be grafted into the world, so that we would all become more pagan, and look and act like the world. WE were Grafted INTO ISRAEL. Israel WAS NOT meant to be grafted into pagan worldly practices. God always called that sin.  That is a KEY principle that the Church often forgets or chooses to ignore.
• Changing God’s Established times and changing God’s Laws is actually a signal of the beasts and antichrists which are in the world (Daniel 7:24-25).
• Even Paul would clearly deny that he was teaching against KEEPING God’s Feasts. He taught and practiced keeping God’s Feasts and appointed times

 

As it is written:

"Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:8, NKJV)

 

God's Definition of a Feast

I've often said that a key part of discipleship is that we must define all our key terms and concepts in the same manner that Yahweh Almighty God defines things in His Word. Once again I stress this point because if we hold definitions and meanings that are different than how God defines things, we can deceive ourselves into believing that we are living righteously when God's word says that we aren't. Whether we like to admit it or not, many of our definitions and conclusions about key principles comes from culture rather than our Bibles. If we are truly honest, many of our definitions and understandings for key concepts are far more heavily influenced by Greco-Roman pagan ideas and definitions then they are by what Scripture teaches. That's simply a historical fact which any honest student of history can confirm. When we think of the term, "FEAST," the idea that our mind most often jumps to is getting around the table full of food, and eating ourselves into a food coma, and then partying and having a good time. That definition or understanding of a feast is actually a throwback to a Greco-Roman style orgy. That understanding is not a biblical concept of a feast. The word FEAST in Hebrew is Hebrew strong's #4150 (Mo'ed- singular) or Mo'edeem-plural). In Hebrew it literally means, "An appointed time of meeting for rehearsal with Yahweh."
So these are set appointments which Yahweh Almighty God Himself has set, when He GUARANTEES to meet with His people. Now, right off the bat, it seems to me that people who truly love Yahweh with their entire being and really want to be closer to Him, should never want to miss the opportunity to be at an appointment in which God guarantees to show up. Chew and meditate on that for a bit.
Let's backtrack a little bit. You remember Genesis 1:14?: As it is written:

"Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;” (Genesis 1:14, NKJV)

Most people read that verse in the English and we generally ASSUME that Almighty God put the stars in the sky so that we could be able to distinguish between the seasons of spring summer fall and winter, but that is NOT at all what it means. The word used for seasons in Genesis 1:14 is the Hebrew word (Mo'ed). So, one of the original functions for which God placed the stars in the sky was so that it would serve as a signal to all God followers so that we could identify the times which Yahweh has appointed for meeting and rehearsal with HIM. That has been a principle that God established at creation. That's a key portion of the ancient paths (Jeremiah 6:16) which believers have often forgotten, because we have been so heavily influenced by traditions of men which we have allowed to replace what Scripture says.

 

 

Proclaiming God's Appointed Times

One of the biggest myths in modern-day Christianity is that God's feasts and appointed times are Jewish feasts. It's a popular misconception, but that is not what Scripture says:

As it is written:
"And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.” (Leviticus 23:1–2, NKJV)

First, did you notice that not once, but twice in the same passage, Almighty God the Creator clearly identifies the festivals that He is going to discuss in Leviticus chapter 23 as being HIS FEASTS? God declares that these are the appointed times for convocation that belong to HIM. That's a perspective that we have definitely lost through religious traditions of men.
Secondly, did you notice that we are COMMANDED to PROCLAIM God's feasts and HIS appointed times? That's the part of the Scripture that I'm trying to obey right now, by writing these words to you. I'm proclaiming and calling your attention to God's Feasts, and His appointed times for us to rehearse with Him.
Some well-meaning believers out there will say, "Hey, don't you believe that we should celebrate the birth Messiah coming in the flesh for our sake?" Of course I do! Biblically, we should be commemorating that event during the Feast of Tabernacles, which is when He was actually born. Do I believe in honoring Messiah's death on our behalf for our sins? Of course I do! However, in order to do that biblically, we should NOT imitate or copy communion traditions which were taken from worshiping a pagan god mithra, but instead we should be keeping Passover, and when we are drinking the cup of redemption after supper, we should do it in remembrance of what Jesus did, which is exactly what Messiah said to do. Do I believe in honoring the resurrection of the Messiah and Christ? Of course I do! In order to do that biblically though, we should be honoring the feast of Firstfruits, because Yeshua the Messiah is the firstfruits of the resurrection, we should not be honoring Ishtar's (Easter) Sunday.
NOWHERE in Scripture are we told to commemorate Messiah's birth at the winter solstice fesivals. Nowhere in Scripture are we told to copy and incorporate the festival days of pagan gods, the decorations used to honor pagan gods, the mythologies of pagan gods and the decorations and even the names of pagan gods. If you don't believe me, search out the history and meanings of almost every Christmas tradition for yourself. The next time you're tempted to sing Yuletide carols, do a real historical search of who Yule was, and what a Yuletide festival was! If you have any God conscience at all, once you learn the truth about these things it will literally make you ill. Nowhere in Scripture are we told to imitate copy or proclaim pagan festivals. In fact God in Scripture specifically COMMANDS us NOT to copy these things (Exodus 12:1-4, 8, 29-32; Jeremiah 10:1-2).
On the contrary, we are COMMANDED to proclaim and declare God's Sabbaths. We are commanded to proclaim the LORD'S Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We are commanded to proclaim the Feast of Firstfruits. We are commanded to proclaim the biblical Feast of Pentecost (not 50 days after Ishtar's Sunday, but 50 days after Firstfruits). Sometimes they coincide, but sometimes they don't, so it makes a difference.
We are COMMANDED to proclaim the Feast of Trumpets. We are commanded to proclaim the appointed time of the Day of Atonement and Judgment. We are commanded to proclaim and rehearse the Feast of Tabernacles, which is not only a commemoration of when Messiah was born, but it is also a rehearsal and the preparation for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, which is yet to come!!
Thirdly, did you notice that God's appointed times are to be holy convocations? They are to be set apart for sacred gatherings of God's people. Don't get me wrong, as believers who love Yahweh Almighty God, it is permitted for us to gather for praise prayer and fellowship at other times with one another as well, but we are especially REQUIRED to set apart God's appointed times and to gather especially for holy convocations during God's Feasts

 

Why Changing God's Feasts and Appointed Times Is SO Incredibly Dangerous

This is another understanding that is often lost by God followers because we have forsaken God's ancient paths (Jeremiah 6:16, and we have taken up the traditions of men instead of retaining and following what God specifically said, (Colossians 2:8). Believe it or not, changing or replacing God's appointed times of meeting for rehearsal with Him; is literally a characteristic of the beasts and antichrists. Don't take my word for it. Just look at what Yahweh Almighty God has already said through the prophet Daniel:

As it is written:
"The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time.” (Daniel 7:24–25, NKJV)

So, let's unpack the characteristics of the beasts or what is later identified in Scripture as beasts and antichrists will do. What are the characteristics that they will possess according to what God said through the prophet Daniel?:

• He shall speak boastful and presumptuous words against Almighty God. (So, we know by that fact alone that he is NOT going to be on God's side, but he will speak presumptuously against God the Most High).

• He will persecute, abuse, (some translations use the words 'wear out' the saints. So he will definitely make it harder for those who are trying to obey God's true ways to be able to do so successfully.

• He will seek to change the times that God established. He will change God's biblical calendar to try to delay God's progress in people's lives and to hinder God's influence on the world; by changing the times that people hold in observance.

• Lastly, he will seek to change God's Law. He will try to change the Torah and the influence that God's Law has in people's lives. Now, that's what the beasts will do according to what God said through the prophet Daniel.

Beloved, I BEG you to stop and think about the significance of this. Please think soberly and think biblically for a moment. When somebody speaks presumptuously contrary to what God has already said; when they say something such as, "Well God is so gracious that God is not going to care if you do X...Y....Z…," when Scripture specifically says that, oh yes God does have definite directions about those things, then is that person speaking for Christ, or are they unwittingly preparing people to be deceived, and to be more receptive to the beasts and antichrists, without realizing that that is what they're doing?
When someone says, "Well, I know that in the Old Testament, believers were required to keep God's Feasts and Appointed Times (which God said were eternal regulations, by the way), but now, because of Messiah, we are no longer required to learn and observe God's appointed times anymore, but instead we can now keep festivals that were invented by pagan rulers rather then learning and doing what God said, is that person truly speaking for Christ, or are they unwittingly setting themselves and others up to be more receptive to the antichrist? Think about it. In the light of Scripture, it's definitely a question worth asking.
When somebody tries to tell us that because of Messiah, God's Laws Commandments and Instructions no longer applies to the believers; when they say that God's Laws have changed; When they teach that we should now actively BREAK the explicit Commandments of God, and that we should now do the expressed OPPOSITE of what God has commanded us to do, because we are under grace; and they may sincerely believe it because of how they misunderstand some of the things that Paul wrote in the so-called New Testament, I have to seriously question their conclusion in the light of what God said through the prophet in Daniel 7:25. According to what God already said through the prophet, changing God's Law and His appointed times is a sign of the beasts and antichrists which are in the world. So to any Scriptural believer, that should throw up a definite red flag, shouldn't it?? Think about it.
Another reason why I seriously question the traditional Christian approach to devoutly ignoring God's feasts and ignoring God's appointed times for rehearsal with Him, is because of what God said through the prophet Ezekiel:

As it is written:
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27, NKJV)

Now please look at this passage very carefully what does GOD say will be the result that takes place inside a person when HE changes us, and when HIS SPIRIT comes to live inside of us? What does GOD say will be the result of that work being done in us?
- He will cleanse us from all filthiness and from all idolatry. That right there is a good place to start. When I learned that the holidays and festivals that Christians traditionally celebrate had nearly all of their origins, traditions, and beginnings from pagan religions; that it was adapted and imported from religious traditions where they worship other gods, I didn't want it anymore, because God's Holy Spirit working within me was actively cleansing me from all idolatry and filthiness.
-He will give us a new heart and a new spirit, taking out the old sinful nature. Now that is a picture of being born-again if I ever heard it. He also said that he would be putting HIS Spirit within us, and what will be the result when God does this?:

As it is written:
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27, NKJV)

This is what God says will happen when the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us. He will cause us to WALK in God's statutes, NOT abandon them. He will cause us to KEEP God's judgments NOT violate them. The Holy Spirit will cause us to DO God's Commandments, and NOT to do the opposite of what God has said.
Yes, God did speak and promise a New Testament (a New Covenant), but He was very clear and specific about what would be accomplished in the New Covenant. Yes, He would remove our sin and our guilt from us, but He would also write His Laws on our hearts and on our mind, the idea being that we would not continue to violate them (See Jeremiah 31:31-34). NOWHERE in Scripture does God promise to do away with His Laws Commandments and Instructions. In fact, He promises to do just the opposite.
Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah) Himself faithfully kept God's Feasts and appointed times of meeting for rehearsal. He did not break God's Commandments (Hebrews 4:15). 29 years after Jesus died and rose again Christian believers were specifically directed to walk in every manner the way that Jesus walked (1 John 2:1-6). Jesus the Christ Messiah actively kept God's feasts and appointed times for rehearsal with the LORD, and we should walk in the same manner because that's how Jesus walked before the LORD. Yeshua the Messiah would never have violated (Deuteronomy 12:1-4, 8, 29-32; Jeremiah 10:1-2); Jesus would never have mixed in an incorporated pagan and idolatrous religious traditions and idol worship practices and behaviors together with worshiping Yahweh Almighty God. He would consider that sin and repugnant. Since Jesus did not walk that way with His Heavenly Father, we should copy what Jesus did and not mix pagan worship practices with godly worship either. When we violate that principle, we are not only violating the Old Testament, but we are actively breaking the New Testament instructions in 1 John 2:1-6 as well.
Jesus Christ Himself specifically taught that when we treat the commandments which were handed down by men as though they were just as good as obeying Commandments of God, it is offering God vain worship. Likewise, Messiah also said that when we BREAK the Commandments of God and we keep the traditions and commandments of men, that is worshiping God in VAIN (Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-13; cf. John 4:24). So if we continue to break the Commandments of Almighty God, and we choose to continue obeying the commandments and traditions which were ordered by pagan Roman emperors who claimed to be Christians and if we continue to obey Roman Catholic popes and disobey the Commandments of God in order to keep man-made traditions, we are offering to God vain worship. Folks, that's not my opinion, those are the Words and Principles of the Messiah and Christ in the New Testament. If He is truly your Lord and truly your Master, and the Shepherd and leader of your soul, then what He regards as true worship versus vain worship should make a difference to you. If you do not TRULY care about applying Messiah's definitions of true worship and avoiding Messiah's definitions of vain worship; if HIS definitions do not really matter to you, then are you really allowing Him to be Lord and Master of your life in that area? It's a critical question that every Christian must face and periodically review (John 10:4-5, 27; 2 Corinthians 13:5).
 

"But Paul said we did not have to keep the law anymore, because we are saved by grace."

Let me say that I fully sympathize and understand how you would come to believe such a doctrine. I've been a Christian for going on 25 years and in ministry going on 20 years. I held that same traditional doctrine for about 21 years. Every traditional church I've been in has held essentially the same doctrinal error. I was taught the same way of misinterpreting Paul in Bible college, and God forgive me, I used to teach that very false idea myself, because I believe my teachers, and I figured they must know more than I do since they are getting paid to teach. Upon looking at Scripture a lot more carefully, I have come to understand that Paul was NOT teaching people to BREAK God's Commandments at all.
There are countless numbers of problems with the false doctrine that Paul told us that it was okay to do away with God's Laws and His Commandments, but I’ll only focus on the top few issues.

 

First, Paul is an apostle, Paul is NOT God.

An apostle is one who is sent with a message. That's what the word apostle literally means. Jesus Christ the Son of God and Messiah specifically said that a servant is NOT greater than His master, and that the one who is sent is not greater than the one who sent him, (John 13:16). So, no matter how anointed and empowered by God, Paul the apostle was, he does not have the right or authority to change or do away with what God previously Commanded, or to contradict what Jesus the Messiah already said beforehand. If a messenger contradicts the one who sent him with the message, then he is not being faithful to the one who sent him to deliver that message. Without realizing it, when we teach that Paul the apostle said it was okay to break God's Commandments because we are under grace, we are actually teaching that Paul was not a faithful and true apostle, because that is contradicting what God and Christ previously said.
Paul the apostle of grace specifically wrote that certain habits and behaviors WILL NOT inherit the kingdom of God:

As it is written:
"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21, NKJV)

As it is written:
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, NKJV)

Did these things suddenly become sin only after Paul wrote about them in his letters? Or were these things already sin before Paul ever wrote about them, because God had already said that these things were sin? Where did Paul get the idea that these things were wrong?
For example, we know that witchcraft, idolatry and sorcery will not inherit the kingdom of God. we just read it in the New Testament. (cf Revelation 21:8). Did witchcraft and idolatry only BECOME SIN AFTER Paul and the other apostles wrote about it in their letters, or were the apostles only repeating and restating what God had already described as being sin before hand? (Deuteronomy 18:9-14; Ezekiel 13:17–23)
We know that fornication, adultery, homosexuality and other sexual sins are sins that WILL NOT inherit the kingdom of God. We just read that in the New Testament. Did those things only BECOME SIN AFTER Paul wrote about these in his letters, or was Paul only agreeing and restating what God had already described as being sin before Paul ever wrote about it (Leviticus 20:10; Leviticus 18:1-22)

• Did these certain righteous things only BECOME righteous AFTER Paul identified them in his epistles, or was the apostle Paul merely reminding his readers of what Yahweh and the Prophets had ALREADY long declared to be righteous? Did the things which Paul identified as wickedness and sin, ONLY BECOME SIN AFTER the apostle discussed them in his letters, or was the apostle of the Lord ONLY CONFIRMING the definitions of wickedness and sin, which YAHWEH Almighty God had already long since established?
• Was Paul Immaculately conceived in the Virgin's Womb?- NO.
• Did Paul establish the everlasting Covenants of Salvation?-NO.
• Did Paul Live a sinless life of perfect Love and obedience to God?-NO.
• Was Paul Crucified to pay for the sins of all humankind?-NO.
• Did Paul Physically Rise from the dead and visit with his followers afterward?-NO.

NO... In all these things Paul was MERELY a WITNESS who testified about Someone ELSE who DID DO THOSE THINGS. He never claimed otherwise. So then why do we PRESUME to boldly DISOBEY God and to DISOBEY Christ because WE THINK PAUL told us that it was okay?? If we DISOBEY God because Paul said it was okay, then who are we ultimately exalting and worshiping as Lord and Master of our lives at that point? Paul SERVED God and the Messiah. He NEVER intended nor wanted anything he said to supersede the Father's Instructions. So if there APPEARS to be a contradiction between what Almighty God said and what Paul wrote, then whom should we obey? Just which one of them is Lord anyway?

 

Second, Paul denies that he was teaching against God's Law:

The second enormous problem with teaching that Paul instructed us to do away with God's Law because we are under grace, is that Paul himself denies that doctrine in his own teachings. Here are just a few examples:

• Paul clearly said that a mindset which does not subject itself to YAHWEH God's LAW is carnal minded, it is hostile against God, it CANNOT please God, and it leads to DEATH, (Romans 8:5-8). He taught this after the death and resurrection of Messiah, and he taught it to a predominantly non-Hebrew Gentile congregation in Rome.

• Paul clearly taught that the so called "Old Testament" was written for OUR INSTRUCTION (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6).

• Paul Clearly taught that Christians should NOT follow or copy pagan gentile methods of worship because it is DEMONIC in nature (1 Corinthians 10:19-22).

• Paul Clearly taught Christians to KEEP Passover/Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:6-8). He did not say to replace the feast in favor of copying pagan/Mithra communion services. He said to keep Passover and unleavened bread, but to keep Messiah as the focus.

• The apostle Paul took special care to deliberately keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Acts 18:18-21). He also later said that we should imitate him as he imitated Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). So guess what feasts and festivals we should be honoring as Christians?

• Paul clearly taught Timothy (A 'New Testament' Pastor), to CONTINUE walking in the Scriptures which he had learned from childhood (1 Timothy 3:14-15) When Timothy was a child, there was NO New Testament. So what was Paul telling the New Testament Pastor Timothy to CONTINUE and NOT Stop doing?- The Old Testament.

• Paul Clearly taught that we should not be deceived and led astray; that we should not follow the religious traditions of MEN (Colossians 2:8), Christianity devoutly ignores that one.

• Paul clearly taught that we had to actively SEPARATE ourselves from what Yahweh Almighty God considered unclean, and that learning to do this was REQUIRED in order to be fully accepted as a child of God (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1). Christianity devoutly ignores that one.

I could keep going but I won't. The fact is that modern Christianity only seems to honor the parts of Paul's teaching that APPEARS to suggest you don't have to honor Yahweh's Decrees, which is NOT what Paul taught at all. I Cannot Justify abandoning God's Law, because I've done the math.
Conservatively there are about 70 Verses of Scripture in the New testament that could be misconstrued as giving us permission to abandon God's LAW and to break or abandon His Commandments., because we are "under Grace."
The big problem is that there are 220 or more verses in the New Testament that clearly teach that we should KEEP the Torah. So from a sheer number standpoint it's NOT EVEN A CLOSE CALL. Even if you push the envelope of misinterpretation, the odds are at least 3 to 1 AGAINST the possibility of you being right if you abandon the instructions of Genesis to Deuteronomy, even by supposed New Testament standards.
What Paul WAS teaching was that obeying Torah DOES NOT CAUSE salvation, but truly becoming born again in Yahweh's Spirit WILL CAUSE you to overcome your sinful nature and WILL CAUSE you to OBEY Yahweh's Decrees. Obeying Yahweh does not cause salvation, but truly being born again ALWAYS causes you to Obey Yahweh's Instruction. That is the true fruit and evidence of Salvation. Paul was merely refuting a false teaching of Rabbinical Judaism which taught that obeying the law causes salvation, when it's actually the other way around. First you get saved through grace, then you obey God. The Old Testament actually taught the same thing (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Paul was just trying to bring people back to what written Scripture actually said and away from the rabbinical traditions of men. He was not encouraging lawlessness against Yahweh's Laws. He was NOT suggesting that we should not subject ourselves to God's Laws, because he knew that not subjecting ourselves to God's Law was carnal minded, it is hostile against God, it cannot please God, and it leads to death (Romans 8:5=8).

"Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:8, NKJV)

Don't Attack Your Own Salvation

By Brother R. Michel Lankford

 
As it is written:
"Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:6–8, NKJV)

 
Did you notice that we are commanded to KEEP the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread even as Christians? Did you also notice that with Messiah as our focus during the Feast, we are to practice keeping it with BOTH SINCERITY AND TRUTH, and NOT sincerity OR truth? Now, that is an extremely important distinction because in our day and age many Christians often go around believing that as long as they are sincere, well-meaning and well-intentioned, then God will not really care whether or not we are pursuing being scripturally accurate. Yes, sincerity is good but sincerity without being Scripturally true is still leavened. Likewise, pursuing Biblical accuracy without true sincerity is also leaven. We have to constantly practice forcibly evicting both biblical and doctrinal inaccuracy as well as evicting insincerity out of our lives if we are going to be keeping this feast properly. It takes practice, but that is the level to which we are called to live as true Christians.
 

Here are Some Game Changing Leaven-evicting Questions:

(In preparation for unleavened bread)

1. Do You consider the Written Scriptures (The Books of Genesis through Revelation) to be God's written Word to us? (2 Timothy 3:14-17; Deut. 8:2-3; John 17:17
2. Does God Lie? (Numbers 23:19; Psalm 33:10-11)
3. Do you consider Scripture to be authoritative? In other words, do you believe that Scripture contains legitimate instructions concerning what we should believe, and how we should live towards God and other people? (Psalm 19:7-14; 2 Peter 1:3-11)
4. Does Scripture contain promises for those who obey it, and consequences for those who disregard, or disobey it? (Exodus 20:1-6; Psalm 119:9; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
5. Do you accept that the promises and consequences identified in Scripture are true? (1 Samuel 15:29)?
6. Will God change His Word to agree with human beings, or do we need to submit to God and let him change us so that we will come into agreement with Him? (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
7. Does God's True Word contradict itself?- NO- (1 Cor 14:33; 2 Timothy 2:13).
8. Does God's Word Stand forever?- Yes (Isaiah 40:8; Isaiah 59:21 Psalm 119:142; 1 Peter 1.25)
9. Does God do anything without first revealing it to the prophets (Amos 3:7).
Today many well-meaning Christians emphatically refuse to honor and respect God's Sabbaths and HIS Appointed Festival Days. By long-standing human religious tradition, Christians routinely abandon what God considers to be holy and set apart for Himself, and instead they replace what God Commanded with obeying pagan Roman emperors and Roman Catholic popes. Christians typically do this in spite of the fact that it is directly forbidden in BOTH parts of the Testament of Scripture.
It is easily provable by studying history alongside Scripture that the practice of changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, the practices of Christmas and the practices of Easter, along with Valentine's Day and Halloween harvest festivals which are so commonly accepted in almost every church today ALL have their origins and beginnings in the worship of false gods. The Festival days, the decorations, the mythologies, and even the names of these false deities are often unwittingly praised and practiced among Christians.
So when did it become okay to BREAK and to do the opposite of what God Commanded in order to copy pagan practices and bring them into the church? When did it become okay to DISOBEY what God commanded (Deuteronomy 12:1-4, 8, 29-32; Jeremiah 10:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1), in order to keep what pagan Roman emperors and Roman Catholic popes have decreed?
Will God forsake His Own Words to agree with these human beings? Or should we submit to God and allow Him to change us, so that we will truly be in agreement with Him and HIS Words?
Some of you well-intentioned people will absolutely insist that Jesus Christ the Son of God and Messiah did away with those biblical requirements at the cross. Now, there is a list of problems with that doctrine which are as long as your arm. However, for the sake of time I will limit myself to discussing three of them.
First, to which prophet did God reveal it; that when the Messiah which He sent died, breaking His Commandments would then be okay? To which prophet did He reveal that after Messiah died it would then be okay and even blessed to disobey Him and to obey pagan Roman emperors and Roman Catholic popes instead of doing what God said? To which prophet did God reveal it that His Laws would be done away with after Messiah died? If God didn't reveal a coming change to His Servants the prophets, then God is not the one who authorized the change.
Second, God himself said that His Laws and His Words are ETERNAL, and will NOT change. (Look at the above questions and references). I know that we can all be deceived and we can all misunderstand things at times, but are you really and truly comfortable calling the Almighty Creator, and the God of your salvation a liar to His face?
Third, we are utterly dependent upon the reliability of God's ETERNAL WORD, and the Word Made Flesh, Yeshua the Messiah for our ETERNAL salvation, right? IF God's ETERNAL Words and ETERNAL Commandments can possibly be put away, abolished and done away with at the cross, then His Words are not eternal, are they? If God's Eternal Laws; If God's ETERNAL Commandments can be abolished and done away with, then on what basis do you believe your ETERNAL LIFE and your ETERNAL SALVATION to be safe and secure? Both ETERNAL things were declared and promised by the SAME God. So, if one can be done away with, then so can the other. We cannot attack God's ETERNAL Laws, without attacking our own ETERNAL salvation at the same time. Think about it.
Brother Michel Lankford

A True Measure of Love & Respect

By Brother R. Michel Lankford

Throughout the book of Psalms, there are countless prophecies and pictures of Messiah. Here are just a few. For example: Messiah would be the Son of God (Psalms 2:7, 12, Matthew 17:5). Yeshua the Messiah would be resurrected (Psalms 16:8-10, Acts 13:30-37). Messiah would be despised & crucified (Psalms 22:6-8, 14, Luke 23:21-23, Matthew 27:35). Messiah would be hated without cause (Psalm 69:4, Luke 23:13-22). Messiah would be Lord, seated at the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1, 5, 1 Peter 3:21-22). Messiah would be in the line of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 6:17-20).Messiah would be the 'stone' rejected by His own people (Psalm 118:22, Matthew 21:42-43).
Messiah is the living embodiment of the Law of God (this is highlighted in 25 verses of Psalm 119; e.g. 119:1, 97, 109, 142; cf. John 14:6).
Messiah is the living embodiment of the reality that the Law of God and the Light of God are the SAME (Psalm 119:105; Psalm 119:130 cf. Isaiah 8:20; 1 John 1:5; John 8:12). Jesus is the way the truth and the life, (John 14:6) right? God’s Laws, God’s Commandments, and God’s Word are described as being identical with who Messiah is. Jesus is the way, and God’s Law is also described as the WAY to walk (Psalms 19:7-14; Psalm 119:1, 9, 14-15, 30, 33, 37, 59, 104, 128, 168).
Messiah is identified as being the TRUTH. God’s Law and God’s Words are described as being exactly the same (John 14:6; John 17:17 Psalm 119:43, Psalms 119:142, Psalms 119:151, Psalms 119:160).
Messiah is described as being the LIFE (John 14:6; Leviticus 18:5; Luke 10:26-28; Psalm 119:25, 107; John 6:63, 68).
Other key Messianic Psalms: Chapters 2, 8, 16, 22, 45, 69, 89, 109, 110, 118, and 119
FACT: Yeshua the Messiah is described as being the way the truth and the life (John 14:6). God’s Laws, God’s Word, and God’s Commandments are also described throughout Scripture as being the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Both are defined in exactly the same terms. So the simple fact of the matter is that when we undermine, disregard, attack, or reject God’s Laws or Commandments, we are then by definition also undermining, disregarding, attacking or rejecting Jesus Christ at the very same time, whether or not we understand that this is what we are truly doing. Our attitudes toward God’s Laws and Commandments, will by definition also characterize our attitudes toward Jesus Christ, because they are defined in Scripture as being ONE and the SAME. So if you want a true measure of your love and respect for Jesus Christ, consider how much you love and respect Yahweh’s commandments. That will give you a truer measurement.
Brother R Michel Lankford

As it is written:
"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:3–6, NKJV)

As it is written:
"Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:1–3, NKJV)

 
“Almighty God Please transform and fill me to overflowing with Your unfailing Love. Help me to steadily grow in Loving You with my whole being, and to truly demonstrate my growing love toward you by respecting and increasingly KEEPING and OBEYING your Commandments. For no true and loyal child of God would wish anything less. Mercifully grant this through Your unfailing Love and Mercy, and in Messiah; AMEN”

A prayer for the Grace to Honor God as HIS Children

By Brother Michel Lankford

“as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.””
(1 Peter 1:14–16, NKJV cf. Leviticus 11:44-45; Leviticus 19:2).
“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” (Ephesians 5:1, NKJV)

O Yahweh Almighty Creator; the Everlasting One, Blessed be Your Name FOREVER.
In Your Love, You gave Your Torah and by it You Instructed us, so that by Your Words we would have Life, and truly LIVE. (Deut. 8:2-3; Lev. 18:5; Luke 10:25-28) . In Your Mercy you did not leave us under the curse of sin and death, when we had sinned and violated Your Torah, but You graciously provided Yeshua the Messiah who modeled Torah-living for us, and then died to pay the penalties that we deserve for breaking Your Word (1John 2:1-6; Titus 2:11–15). In Your Mercy You did not leave us  powerless, for You raised Messiah and then Sent the Holy Spirit, to transform us from disobedient sinners, into Your children (Colossians 1:9-12; cf. Ephesians 5:1; Matthew 5:48). How then do we repay your marvelous work of Love, and Grace? Have we said to ourselves, oh Yahweh, change our hearts and minds so that we will delight in, agree with, choose, and DO, what pleases You, as our Father? Have we said, your love and patience is so great, I wish to learn the ways and deeds of my Father?
 

• Oh no, what we have said is this. Foolishly we have said, since God is so gracious and so loving, we can ignore His decrees, claim faith in His Son, and we will be saved regardless (cf. Matthew 7:21-23).
• In our arrogance we have said, surely what Yahweh prefers and delights in, and the decrees of His Mouth have died with His Son, so that His Judgments and Standards are now meaningless (Romans 6:1; cf. Romans 8:5-8)
• Foolishly we have said, let us bring to God what we prefer, instead of learning and doing what He prefers (cf. Matthew 16:24; Luke 22:42; Isa. 56:1-7).
• Arrogantly we have said, let us abandon what Yahweh has prescribed for worship, and instead let us raise up the Festival days, the names, the decorations, the customs and the mythologies which were used for centuries to worship other gods, which were used to profane the Name of our God and Father, and to murder His people (Deut. 12:1-4, 8, 29-32; Jeremiah 10:1-6; cf. 2 Corinth. 6:14-7:1).
• Arrogantly we have said, let us extol the customs and methods of the pagans who hate our God, but let us proclaim that Yahweh's ways are backward.

I put it to you plainly. Is this truly the fruit which love toward God produces? Is this the sort of fruit that God's Grace truly produces?  (Matthew 7:13-25;  Ezekiel 36:25-27; cf. Philippians 2:13).

Oh Yahweh Almighty God our Father, save us, for our hearts are truly wicked beyond measure. In your love and mercy, forgive us and save us from all deeds of lawlessness and sin. By Your Spirit, mercifully transform us into Your true sons and daughters, who delight to learn Your ways, to obey Your Instructions as our Father, and to follow Your straight and narrow pathway, as our shepherd. Mercifully give us grace to abandon our ways and to gladly take up Your ways instead. Mercifully give us ears to hear, a heart that is good fertile and receptive ground, and a will that is obedient to what You say is pleasing and honoring to You; for this is truly what Your Grace came to accomplish in the lives of humankind. Have mercy upon us oh Yahweh. Grant this through Your unfailing love, and through Your Son Yeshua the Messiah, amen.
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear, what the Spirit  says to the churches.” ‘Repent for I am coming soon.’ (See Revelation 22:12)

The Fruit of Grace: Part 2

By Brother R. Michel Lankford

 

 

Principles Review

· It's a natural law of God that every natural tree produces seeds and fruit after its own kind (Genesis 1:11).
· Imagine that trees could talk. If you came upon a tree that insisted it was an Apple tree, but he consistently produced lemons instead of apples, anyone with any sense would know that the tree which insisted he was an Apple tree when in fact he consistently produced lemons was either confused, deceived, delusional or outright lying. In any case such a tree would certainly not be telling the truth.
· Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus) used the same example. He said that we could recognize what was true and what was false by its fruit (Matthew 7:15-20).
· We don't often think of it this way, but the spiritual life works exactly the same way. The simple reality is that the sinful nature produces certain fruits in the human being (Galatians 5:19-21; Romans 1:18-32; 2 Timothy 3:1-13). Conversely, the Holy Spirit produces vastly different fruits in the human being (Galatians 5:22-25). Love produces certain fruits and characteristics in a human being (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Genuine faith produces works of obedience in agreement with what God said. If we do not act according to what God has said, then we really did not believe Him (James 2:18; James 2:26). And so genuine faith than produces certain identifiable fruits - mainly acting in obedience to what God has said, because that’s what truly demonstrates that we actually BELIEVE God. Heavenly God-given wisdom produces certain fruits and characteristics. Likewise, earthly human wisdom has certain other identifying characteristics (James 3:13-18). We can tell the difference by properly assessing the fruit.
· The same absolute principle holds true with the concept of God’s True Biblical Grace. True Grace also produces its own identifiable fruit. In this day and age were very fond of saying that a great many things are permissible because we are now, “Under Grace;” but have we really compared the fruit of our lives to see if they really and truly match the fruit of God’s True Biblical Grace? Do we know how to recognize the fruit of God’s True Biblical Grace when we see it? Are we insisting that we are Apple trees; all the while we are consistently producing crops of lemons? Are we really producing fruit consistent with God’s Grace? It’s crucial that we learn to spot the fruit of Grace, lest we deceive ourselves.
· In order to sharpen our grace spotting skills, we closed out part one of this series by starting a game called, “Spot the Grace. The rules are pretty simple. Each item has a set of A or B contrasting options and you have to identify which one is grace, and which one isn’t really the grace of God at work. Doing this type of thing really sharpens our spiritual eyesight.
 

Let's Continue Playing Spot the Grace

 

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Which of these is truly the fruit of grace? +++ A. I use God’s name loosely and irreverently. I dishonor and disrespect my parents. I mock, make fun of, or find rationalizations to disobey or disregard God appointed authority, even if what they’re asking me to do happens to be godly. B. I choose to love honor and obey Yahweh. I choose to submit myself under His authority, and to respect the authorities which He places above me. Which of these requires the grace of God in order for the person to do it successfully? +++ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in Them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Which of these is truly the fruit of God’s Grace? +++ A. I choose to learn what God has made Holy and what He has separated out for Himself. I choose to respect and honor those things, because I Love and respect the One True Creator God and I want to treat as Holy what He calls Holy. B. The way that I try to prove that I’m under God’s Grace is to disrespect and disregard God’s Laws, and to show little or no respect for what He calls Holy, because I don’t have to. I will however readily embrace, honor, and celebrate the festival days, customs, traditions and decorations which were used for centuries to worship other gods, and to murder believers, because Roman emperors, Roman Imperial senates and Roman Catholic popes said that I should, as long as I do it, “In Jesus’ Name.” What’s the matter with you, can’t you see how grace filled I am by living this way? +++ “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Which of these is truly the fruit of grace? +++

1. I am resistant to almost all authority including my parents. Rules are okay for people who need them, but I’m smart enough that I don’t really need them. I get a real charge out of finding loopholes around the rules, because it shows off how smart I am.

3. I choose to love honor and obey Yahweh. I choose to submit myself under His authority, and to respect the authorities which He places above me. Which of these requires the grace of God in order for the person to do it successfully?

+++

You shall not murder.

Which of these is truly the fruit of grace?

+++

A. I acknowledge wrongs done to me. I do not pretend that the wrongs were not done, or that it did not hurt, but at the same time I sincerely choose to forgive the person. I choose to look upon them with compassion. I choose to pray for their blessing and not their harm. I choose not to hold their wrongs against them, but I pray them to be blessed. When I do pray for their repentance, it is because I sincerely do not want their misdeeds to be counted against them on the Day of Judgment, but I want them to repent so that they can truly be blessed and accepted by God, just as I wish to be accepted myself.
B. I hold onto grudges and painful resentments, even unto hatred. When someone has wronged me, I am much quicker to look for their faults and weaknesses the next time so that I can feel justified in holding on to the bad feelings, and I don’t have to relate to the person on an equal footing. Which of these requires the grace of God in order for the person to do it successfully?

Which of these is truly the fruit of grace?

+++

You shall not commit adultery.

A. I chose to be faithful to Yahweh and to my spouse. I do not open myself up to situations that would cause me to look at others lustfully, or that would incline me toward comparing my spouse with other people. I keep my marriage bed untainted by wicked passions or behaviors which could cause me to degrade, belittle, or dishonor my spouse or the purity of our marriage.
B. I rationalize, give excuses, and find reasons to give vent to my own sexual desires instead of obeying what God says. I look at and act toward others lustfully. I compare my spouse with others. I tell myself that it’s my body and I can do what I want and I tell myself that it’s okay because I believe in Jesus, so God will overlook it, because He knows that that’s just how I am, and I just can’t really help it. Which of those is the fruit of God’s grace working inside a human being?

Which of these is truly the fruit of grace?

+++

You shall not steal.

A. I crave and desire what I cannot readily have, so I forcibly or surreptitiously take it from my neighbor.
B. I choose to allow God to change me so that I am not controlled by greed. I choose not to take what belongs to another. Which of these is truly producing the fruit of God’s grace?

+++

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Which of these is truly the fruit of grace?

+++

A. Yahweh Almighty God and His Words are TRUTH (Psalm 119:143; John 17:17). God’s Law is TRUTH (Psalm 119:142). His Spirit reminds us of what He said and guides us into all TRUTH (John 16:13). His Son, the Messiah is the embodiment and personification of TRUTH (John 14:6) When His Love is working within us, it causes us to reject iniquity, and only to rejoice in, to honor, and to esteem what God says is TRUTH. Since I love God and I love the truth, I do not want to lie or bear false witness against God. I do not want to misrepresent Him, or His Son. Since I love God and the TRUTH, I do not want to pretend that He approves or accepts something, which He clearly says that He doesn’t. I don’t want to pretend that something is godly, when He says it’s not. Since I love God and I love the truth, I do not want to lie and misrepresent myself, and I do not want to deceive my neighbor or bear false witness against him, because such a thing contradicts my Heavenly Father’s Character.
B. I treat truth as though it were relative and adjustable according to what is most advantageous to me or my circumstances. I change or recolor events to make myself look better and others look worse. I rationalize and tweak Scripture to give myself apparent justification for choosing to do what I already prefer doing instead of choosing to do what God prefers. I’m willing to lie, to deceive or to manipulate in order to give myself or my point of view an advantage. Which of these scenarios demonstrates the fruit of Grace?

+++

“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.”

Which of these is truly the fruit of grace?

+++

A. I look at coveting, being jealous and craving other people’s possessions and blessings as being equal to the sin of idolatry. It’s the same as worshiping other gods, or worshiping the real God falsely. I choose to look at it that way because that’s what God calls it (Colossians 3:15). When I spot coveting operating in me, I run to God and I confess it as being the evil and the sin that it truly is. I treat coveting like it’s an enemy to my soul, because it is. I don’t want to keep it, but I eagerly want God to thoroughly kill it out of me, well before it permeates my attitudes and beliefs systems, and thus harms me, or it harms my relationship with God, or it harms my relationship with my neighbor.
B. I claim to believe and follow Jesus Christ. I don’t really want to call it coveting (because that would be bad), so I will develop a complicated theological system where I believe and teach that God wants me to be happy. I’ll develop a theology that says that God wants me to have abundant wealth and prosperity, and that if I don’t have these things, something must be horribly wrong or unjust in my life. The clear reading of Scripture doesn’t teach prosperity in that manner, but hey, TV preachers preach that kind of gospel quite frequently and they get incredibly wealthy doing it, so God must approve, right? Of course, this kind of ideology causes me to look at people with greater advantages than myself with envy, with jealousy and with suspicion. I get upset when they seem “blessed” more than I am, but hey, I’m a Christian. I believe Jesus. There is no real hurry in overcoming these coveting attitudes, (that is if I ever even reach the point of seeing these attitudes as being wrong like God says they are, because up to now, I’ve twisted Scripture so much that I’ve trained myself to believe these coveting attitudes are actually Christian, instead of calling them sin, so I don’t even see a problem yet), but it doesn’t really matter whether I truly overcome coveting or not, because avoiding coveting is not what saves us anyway. Jesus is what saves us. So I can keep my ‘faith in Jesus,’ and my coveting attitudes living side-by-side in me, and I will be just fine. I can continue to disobey God, because I’m not under the law, I’m living under Grace?
Really?! Is that REALLY GRACE teaching us to think, to believe and to walk in such a manner before the HOLY God of Heaven?!! Really, that’s Grace?! Are you absolutely sure that it is grace, and not Lawlessness motivating that type of thought pattern and behavior?

 

 

What Is the True Fruit of Grace?

Let’s think about this for a moment. How much of God’s Grace is required to be at work in a person, for us to CONTINUE committing idolatry and worshiping other gods, instead of honoring the Real Almighty Creator? It requires NO grace from God to continue in that way of life. It requires no Grace to invent our own religion in order to justify feeding our own passions and desires instead of obeying God. Cain did as much. Nimrod and Babylon have done as much. The Canaanites did as much. The Assyrian Empire, the Grecian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Roman Catholic Church with their Inquisitions did as much. The Nazis did as much. Islam and the Qur’an are now copying that same example. Are all these cultures truly exhibiting that they were under God’s Grace? It doesn’t require the Grace of God to invent our own religion, to give ourselves the excuse to feed our passions, and to persecute or kill those who are trying to obey the Scriptures so that there is no one left to question or oppose your actions.
On the other hand, repenting and turning away from idolatry and choosing to follow the One True Creator God, and worshiping Him according to what He says He wants. THAT TAKES GRACE. Loving your neighbor as yourself, it takes God’s Grace and power to be able to pull that off successfully and consistently. Loving our enemies; doing good to those who hate us; praying for those who despitefully use us and persecute us. That’s not common to human nature. It requires for God’s Grace to be thoroughly working in us in order for us to be able to do that successfully!! When we are truly able to live this way; then that is the proof that we are under grace, because God’s grace is required to be at work within us in order for us to do it successfully.
Continuing to use God’s name in vain is not proof that I’m under Grace, is it? Any heathen who lacks respect for God, lacks respect for himself who is created in the image of God and thoroughly lacks self-control can easily open his mouth and spew out profanity and use God’s name in vain with impunity. On the other hand, overcoming that sin, having a change of heart, developing reverence for God, self respect and self-control that proves that God’s grace is at work there, because it takes God’s grace to be able to repent in that way.
Rationalizing my sin, making excuses for my sin, keeping and indulging my sin, disobeying God and living as I choose does not prove that I’m under grace, because it does not require the grace of God to be working in me in order to accomplish those types of things. I was capable of living that way long before I knew Yahweh and the Messiah.
Please don’t deceive yourself. Please don’t allow yourself to be deceived by others. Disregarding God’s will and doing what is right in our own eyes, disregarding what God said, to do what is common and popular. Disobeying God in order to do what seems right to us is NEVER a sign that you are living under God’s Grace. It doesn’t require God’s grace to live that way. Any unrepentant unregenerate heathen sinner can quite naturally live in the exact same manner, and rationalize himself right into hell.
· On the other hand, recognizing my sin as being sin and agreeing with God because He calls it sin; that’s GRACE at work in my life.
· Hating my sin and being repulsed by it, because that more closely matches the way that God is repulsed by sin; that’s God’s GRACE at work in my life.
· Choosing to repent, choosing to radically turn away from what God said is wrong, simply because He said it was wrong, and I take him at His Word, and I choose to agree with Him; now that’s GRACE at work in my life.
· Choosing to let Yahweh change my desires so that I delight in what delights Him, instead of living to please myself; that’s GRACE at work in my life.
· Choosing to desire, choosing to learn, choosing to obey, and choosing to persevere in obeying Yahweh’s Laws, Commandments, and Instructions; that’s the fruit of God’s Grace working in my life.
It doesn’t require the grace of God for me to disobey God; any sinful Yutz can do that without God’s help and power. It requires the Grace of God working in a person to OVERCOME disobeying God, not to continue disobeying God. That’s the point. The fruit of grace is OVERCOMING our sin, NOT continuing to indulge it.
Yeshua the Messiah Himself is proof that I'm right. Scripture tells us that He is full of Grace and Truth (John 1:14). Messiah never broke a Commandment of God (Hebrews 4:15). Now, He stood against the religious traditions of men when those traditions violated God's Commandments, but He always upheld and followed Yahweh's Laws and Commandments. Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth. Grace and truth live inside of Him, and comprise Who and What He IS.
What fruit did that produce? He kept the Father's Commandments. He spoke the Father's Words. He put the Father's Will well ahead of His own. So how DARE we teach that breaking the Sabbath or breaking any other Commandment of God in Scripture is proof that we are walking under God's Grace?! Come on!! We can all be deceived by tradition, I was too, but breaking God's Law is the opposite of how Grace functions! Christians wake up!
Brother R. Michel Lankford

The Fruit of Grace: Part 1

By brother R Michel Lankford
Speaking for myself I am devoted to Biblical Whole Testament Theology; (By His Grace, may Yahweh make me even more so). At the same time I am also firmly persuaded that even if you are not exactly on the same page with me theologically, Yahweh Almighty God will teach you, and bring you closer and closer to the image and desire of Messiah as long as you are willing to cooperate with Him. Even if we only believed that the so-called red parts apply to us (the words of Messiah usually being in red), we would still be much better off as a body of believers than most Christians are today. Even if we only believe that the words of Messiah were authoritative and binding, most Christians would not walk as they do today. Even if we just believe the red parts, and take Messiah and His Words seriously then we could not define grace as we most often do today. Take a look for a moment at how Messiah defines who His family members are. As it is written:

“And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.” But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”” (Mark 3:32–35, NKJV)

Even if we believe that only the so-called New Testament was authoritative for the Christian, then shouldn’t Messiah’s own definitions be authoritative for the Christian? If we claim that Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew) is our Lord and Master, and our Savior, then shouldn’t the Savior’s definitions of who His family is matter to us as Christians? Yeshua the Messiah and Christ specifically declared that those who DO the will of Yahweh Almighty God the Father are counted as being members of Messiah’s family.
Yahweh Almighty God who made heaven and earth is perfect love (1 John 4:8). There is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5). He is not double minded or schizophrenic. He cannot contradict or deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13). Therefore, by definition, His Laws, Commandments and Instructions CANNOT contradict His Will. By definition, it is impossible to DO the WILL of the Father without learning and then doing His Commandments. When we teach people to break, to violate, or to do the opposite of what the Father has commanded, we are literally teaching people how NOT to be counted as members of Messiah’s Family, and we don’t have to go any further than reading, understanding and believing the red parts to learn that key lesson.
I cannot speak for the rest of you, but for myself, whether or not Yeshua the Messiah TRULY counts me as being a member of His Family; that really matters to me. That’s the whole shooting match, so to speak.
 

The Modern Understanding of Grace

As difficult as it may be to believe, today’s modern Christianity often teaches that the way that we prove that we are under God’s grace is to actively do the OPPOSITE of God’s Will. How does that happen? Well, 1^st it is often taught throughout modern Christendom, that God’s Laws Commandments and Instructions have been nailed to the cross, and so it is often believed and taught, that the Christian no longer needs to pay attention to, respect, or obey God’s Laws, Commandments and Instructions, because we are under Grace.
Moreover, it is often believed and taught by tradition and practice that the way that we prove that we are under grace and that we are not trying to justify ourselves by works of the Law, is to actively break God’s Law and to do the explicit opposite of what God said that He desires and requires in His Laws Commandments and Instructions.
That can sound plausible based on what we have been taught through long-standing tradition and misapplying Scripture. The great problem with it though is that it runs directly contrary to something else that Messiah taught. Just as it is written:

““Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:15–20, NKJV)

The reality is that one knows and recognizes an Apple tree because it produces a harvest of apples. If a pear tree insisted that it was an Apple tree, but it kept producing pears instead of apples, then you would quite naturally say that the pear tree which insisted it was an Apple tree but continued producing pears was deceived or delusional, wouldn’t you?
The simple reality is that the sinful nature produces certain fruits in the human being (Galatians 5:19-21; Romans 1:18-32; 2 Timothy 3:1-13).
Conversely, the Holy Spirit produces vastly different fruits in the human being (Galatians 5:22-25)
Love produces certain fruits and characteristics in a human being (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
Genuine faith produces works of obedience in agreement with what God said. If we do not act according to what God said, then we really did not believe Him (James 2:18; James 2:26). And so genuine faith than produces certain identifiable fruits - mainly acting in obedience to what God has said, because that’s what truly demonstrates that we actually BELIEVE God.
Heavenly God-given wisdom produces certain fruits and characteristics. Likewise, earthly human wisdom has certain other identifying characteristics (James 3:13-18). We can tell the difference by properly assessing the fruit.
The grace of God is no different. God’s True Biblical Grace has unique and peculiar, clearly identifiable traits, but we have forgotten what the fruit of biblical grace truly looks like, and since we have forgotten what the grace of God really looks like, we have changed the definition of grace into something that God never intended.
We have gotten so enamored with the idea that our salvation does not originate or come about by our obedience to God’s Law, but through Christ, that in the process we have forgotten how the grace of God truly functions, we have forgotten the real fruit that grace produces, and in the process we have actually turned the grace of God into lawlessness, even without being aware of it.
If we take a careful look at what most Christians identify as being Grace today (which I describe immediately before the passage of Matthew 7:15-20 above), our modern definition of grace looks an awful lot like the New Testament definition of Lawlessness. That’s not Grace.
Most of us identify grace as being the unmerited undeserved favor of God. Most of us understand the function of grace to provide us forgiveness when we sin, and most are content to stop there. However, that is not the only function of Grace, far from it. Although the grace of God can and does wipe the slate clean when we sin and we recognize and admit that we have violated God’s Instructions, God’s true grace accomplishes far more than simply wipe the slate clean and to merely forgive us when we sin and violate God’s Commands and Instructions. We have often become so completely Lawless in our interpretation and application of Grace, that we have largely forgotten what the Biblical Grace of God truly looks like and how Grace truly functions.

 

Let’s Play Spot the Grace

For the next few blog entries , I would like to earnestly entreat you to play a game with me called “Spot the Grace.” I will give you a set of A & B choices. With each set of questions, you have to decide which of the 2 choices requires more of God’s Grace working within the believer, in order for the believer to successfully accomplish the task. At the end, hopefully you will get a much clearer picture of how God’s True Biblical Grace actually functions inside a person. Which of these is truly operating in God’s Grace? Which of these requires God’s grace for the person to accomplish it successfully?
As it is written:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Which of these is the fruit of grace?

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A. I want to let God and His Word set my definitions. When God and His Word characterizes something as being loving, then I want to agree with God and call it love also. Something is worship when God calls it worship. Something is good when God calls it good. When God calls something sinful or wicked, I don’t want to call that thing something other than sin.
B. My definitions about right, or wrong, truth or false are based on what I personally feel comfortable with. It changes with the circumstances, or according to majority opinion.
Which of those 2 mindsets and ideologies really puts God in charge instead of making a god out of myself and my own preferences? Which of these 2 ideologies and mindsets requires that God’s grace and power must be working in me in order for me to be able to do it successfully? Which of those behaviors is truly a product or the fruit of the Grace of God working inside a person?

+++

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.

Which of these is the fruit of grace?

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A. I allow God and what His Word says that He desires to determine what I bring to Him in worship, and the manner with which I bring it before Him.
B. What I bring to God in worship is determined by my own opinions and personal preferences about what is good. I base my worship practices on what is popular, on what is commonly accepted, and traditional. Seeking in doing what God says He wants is secondary. I invent my own ways of worshiping and honoring God based on what pleases and satisfies me, and I cherry pick Scriptures to make it seem okay for me to choose and do what makes me feel good, but I do it in Christ’s Name, so it’s all right then. Which of these requires more of God’s grace and power working in me for me to do it successfully, A or B?  Think about it.
To be continued in part two.
Brother R.Michel Lankford