How many times we, as followers of our Savior, our Messiah, our Mashiach, say something that we did not plan or wanted to say? It happens to me at times, and I feel so rotten, and feel so defeated like I can never become holy as Yehovah calls me to be. He is Holy and we must be holy.
Wayyiqra/Leviticus 11:43-45
“You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them. For I am Yehovah your Elohim. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.”
This chapter speaks about the foods we can eat and those we cannot eat for they will defile us. We cannot eat certain foods. Yehovah is saying that even when we eat foods He has not created to be eaten, we get defiled. To be defile, first of all is because we have disobeyed and done our own pleasure in spite of His command.
And we also become defiled because those foods are not beneficial to our bodies, and we can become sick if we eat them. Many believers die prematurely because they refuse to follow the Scriptures. I am appalled how many believers die from cancer in the churches! Disobedience is sin and can and will many times open the door to Satan to afflict us.
So now we talk about sin.
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 59:1-3
Behold, Yehovah’s hand is not shortened, that cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your Elohim’ and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. For your hands are filled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity.
Many times, even as professed followers of our Mashiach-Messiah Yehoshua, we say something we should not have. May exaggeration, which is a lie, or we were not walking in perfect love toward someone, as we are commanded to do (See Devarim/Deuteronomy 6:5; Wayyiqra/Leviticus 19:18; Matt. 22:37-39)
We are commanded to love Yehovah, our Heavenly Creator, King and Father with all our heart, and to love our neighbor, which includes our enemies, with all our hearts. Are we doing this? We need His grace, for we seem to be easily led to fall all the time to our disgrace! The great apostle Shaul speaks on this issue in Romans 7:1-25. I will write only some of those heart felt verses written by of our beloved apostle.
Romiyim/Romans 7: 20-24
“Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of Elohim according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank Elohim-through Yehoshua HaMashiach our Adon!
When, many times, I read this passage, I thought that the apostle Shaul/Paul was only writing it to teach us, but he did not really feel that way.
However, through my own experience in pursuing Yehovah and serving Him with all my heart, (although many times not speaking what I wanted to say), but adding something, I came to believe that maybe he was indeed speaking of himself.
I cannot even write how miserable I felt when I missed the mark of perfection! I felt indeed wretched! How can I go to Heaven, I thought.
Well, there is hope. We go through Yehoshua HaMashiach. We cannot go to Heaven because we belong to a particular church or because of our own “wonderful” good works! Our salvation is received by His grace alone.
He has provided the Atonement about 2000 years ago. Yehoshua hanged on the cross for six long hours, and died to pay the penalty for our sins, which is death (Romiyim/3:23; 6:23).
Our sin was already atoned when He took the penalty of our sin on His body. He suffered horribly for you and me. All we are required is to fully and completely repent of our sin, and be restored into His presence.
For, as we have read in the prophet Yeshayahu book, Yehovah will not hear when we call upon Him if our hands are filled with blood, iniquity, sin. He waits on our heartfelt repentance. Will you today repent, as I do, and ask Him, Yehovah to forgive you of your sin? Yehoshua has paid the full price for our redemption.
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 53 is one chapter that declares completely the work of Atonement Yehoshua paid for the forgiveness of our sins. We are sinners, and we do need a Savior. Yehoshua is our Atonement. I will write a few verses of this chapter in the Sefer Yeshayahu.
4 – “Surely He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed stricken, smitten by Elohim, and afflicted.”
5 – But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by stripes we are healed.”
Qorin’tiyim 1/1Corinthians 6:20
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify Elohim in your body and in your spirit, which are Elohim’s.
I have gone through so many failures that I cannot count. When that happened, I did not sense the presence of my Savior or of my Father in Heaven, Yehovah. I also lost my joy. I felt that I was good for nothing, and this is the complete truth. On my own I am a nothing. I live by His grace alone. I am so thankful for His love toward me. He hanged on the cross six hours, after He had been beaten, ridiculed, mocked, beaten, and a crown of thorns was placed upon His head.
All this He allowed to be done to Him, for He was dying even for those who were doing those atrocities to Him. He did it for you and me. If we did not sin, He would not have to die for us.
No one is without sin (Romiyim 3:23).
But we are called to be holy. We must pursue Him and seek His grace to prevent us from sinning. But if we do sin, we must immediately run to our Father Yehovah, who is in Heaven, and ask Him to forgive us.
He is faithful. He knows us better than ourselves. He knows every hair in our heads. He knows us by name. He is very personal, and I am thankful that now we also have learned to call Him by His name.
Yehovah is holy. Sometimes we may have to let go of some friends who with their speech defile us. We must choose our friends carefully. Always keeping in mind that we belong to the Most Holy Elohim of Heaven and Earth.
1 Chronicles 16:28-29
Give to Yehovah, o families of the peoples, give to Yehovah glory and strength. Give to Yehovah the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship Yehovah in the beauty of His Holiness.
Psalm 96:9
Oh, worship Yehovah in the beauty of His holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Let us do it now. Let us worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness, and He will help us to be holy as He is Holy!
Yehovah- Called erroneously “the LORD”
Elohim- God
Yehoshua/Yeshua – Called erroneously “Jesus.”
