Tag: Yeshua

Biblical Meditation – John 20:22

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Via Unsplash

John 20:22: And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

For the second time in scripture in John 20:22, God breathed on man. The first time in scripture that God breathes on a man is when the Creator breathes on Adam in Genesis 2:7.

When God breathes life into you, it’s not possible for you to die.

Adam, from creation, was immortal. Something profound and spiritual had to take place for death to enter the picture. Later in the Edenic story, we learn that Adam and Eve ate the fruit that would lead to death – and it wasn’t necessarily the fruit, but the disobedience that opened the door to death.

Rebellion is dangerous.

When Adam and Eve rebelled, the death process began. And it wasn’t just a physical process, but a spiritual one as well. Mankind was left to die – not just in his body, but also in his sin.

And then Yeshua came.

When Yeshua came He did something profound – He breathed on His disciples. Yeshua was giving them the Holy Spirit, but I also believe that Yeshua was breathing spiritual life back into mankind. I think he was correcting the brokenness that occurred when man was disobedient.

The Greek word for Holy Spirit is pneuma – which means wind, breath or spirit. I think that the breath of life in Genesis 2:7 was also HOLY. Logic dictates that God’s breath is Holy because He is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.

When God made man, man was Holy because God had breathed on Him – man had an impartation of God. You cannot have a piece of God within, without having some holiness in you. When Yeshua breathed on His disciples, He was imparting the Holy Spirit.

When you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, you are filled with the Breath of Life. It’s our duty to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be filled with life. We are to be life in the midst of darkness.

I used to think that if I prayed more, fasted more, read more scripture, recited the Psalms and the Lord’s Prayer more I would have more of God’s spirit within.

Can you image the relief I felt when I learned in the Bible that the way to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to simply ask God and walk in obedience to Him.

We need to ask for the Holy Spirit.

The Bible clearly says you’re supposed to ask for the Holy Spirit. God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. Ask God to fill you with His Breath of Life.

Baptism: Dying to Self

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Baptism is one of the most memorable events in my life. I was baptized at age seven, and it was something I’ll never forget. In our Southern Baptist church it was traditional for a person to wear white from head to toe – I even wore a white turban on my head. When I stepped into the baptismal pool, (which wasn’t designed for children, but for adults) the water was almost up to my neck.

There was no need to tip me backwards. I was so small that the pastor could have pushed a small wave towards me. However, I was dipped backwards and came back up again. I felt clean and tingly – there were all these emotions stirring within. I knew that I had done something spectacular, and I knew that the angels in heaven were having a party. I knew that something profound had occurred that I didn’t truly understand.

Baptism is one of the most profound aspects of Christianity. It’s an enigma. It’s an esoteric mystery of renewal and cleansing. There are two things that occur when you are baptized. You go under. And then you rise again.

You are submerged and what’s left in the water are the fragments of who you used to be and what rises from the water is a brand new person. Baptism symbolizes dying to self.

Pray for the Persecuted Church

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Via Flickr

Years ago I read a book that changed my life. It was a book (written by Richard Wurmbrand) called Tortured for Christ. The book opened a world for me that I didn’t know existed – the world of Christian persecution. In the book, Wurmbrand talked about his persecution in Romania under the oppressive rule of communism.

Richard eventually went on to found an organization called Voice of the Martyrs, which is a Christian ministry that helps families affected by Christian persecution.

Since reading Richard’s book, I’ve had a heart for those who are persecuted. Every day I pray for those who are in chains. (Hebrews 13:3) God tells us to identify with our brothers and sisters who suffer persecution. I think this is one of the ways that we fulfill the commandment of Yeshua who gave us a new commandment in John 13:34,35: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Loving each other means loving the persecuted church and those in North Korea, Iran, Iraq, India, Egypt, Syria, Columbia and all the other countries where Christians are persecuted. Let’s not forget to pray for our brothers and sisters on a daily basis that God would be their source of strength in times of trial.

When God Breaks, He Multiplies

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On Daystar, I heard a minister preach on the miracle of Yeshua feeding the 5,000. The preacher pointed something out that I had never noticed before. He pointed out that Yeshua blessed the bread and broke it, but the miracle didn’t materialize until it was in the hands of His disciples. His point was clear – We need God’s blessing for the miracle, but the miracle is in our hands – we have to take action. There are times when we should actively participate in the miracle and not just be passive observers of what God is doing, but actually act – with His Blessing.

However, I believe that the miracle of feeding 5,000 was twofold.

Throughout the New Testament, we watch God incarnate heal and fix everything that He touched. And now, finally, He breaks something – a loaf of bread. But, then we discover that God wasn’t actually breaking the bread, but rather multiplying it. Here is another beautiful mystery of the Father – that even when He seems to break – He is really multiplying.

Only God can bring abundance from that which is broken.

When God takes away something, we often writhe in pain, not knowing or understanding what He is doing. We don’t realize that when He breaks, He is creating something new. When God took away a rib from Adam, it was because he was going to multiply people upon the earth. Is it possible for God to divide without simultaneously multiplying? I think Job understood this concept when he said “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” I think Job understood that although it seemed like God had broken him and taken everything away, God could restore even more… and this is precisely what occurs at the end of Job. By the end of Job’s book, we read: And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Can Rocks Speak? (Hosanna in the Highest)

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When Yeshua entered Jerusalem on the donkey and the people started to cry  Hosanna, the Pharisees’ immediate response was to tell Yeshua to tell the people to stop praising Him.

Yeshua’s response to the Pharisees is interesting. He tells them that if they don’t worship Him the rocks will cry out. This is intriguing for many reasons. First, it’s interesting because rocks really can cry out, scientifically speaking. Researchers who dug into the mysteries of Stonehenge discovered that there was acoustic energy in the stones. They called them sonic or music rocks.

Rocks speak.

Sound is vibrational energy – and for some strange, metaphysical, geological reason – rocks CAN hold sound. Yeshua was geologically accurate when He said that the bricks would talk because the rocks around Yeshua were carrying the praises of God.

Yeshua wasn’t just a man, but also God in the flesh. I can’t imagine the infinite pool of vibrational energy that must have exuded from Yeshua. Even His clothes carried a divine energy that repelled sickness and disease. Everything about Him and everything around Him was affected by His Presence… including objects that are otherwise ‘inanimate’. Yeshua brought so much life to the earth that even His clothes held the life of healing.

The second thing that’s interesting about Yeshua stating that the rocks would cry out is the humbling realization that God doesn’t need our praise. Everything that has breath praises God – we know that. But here in Luke, we see that even that which has NO breath is capable of praising God. When the Psalmist said that all creation praise the Lord, he wasn’t just speaking of people – but literally meant ALL creation – the trees, plants, water, and even the rocks.

When Peter Recognized Yeshua as God

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In Matthew 16, when Yeshua came to the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Yeshua answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Amazing things occurred when Peter recognized Yeshua as God.

First, he was blessed.

Next, he gained a new identity. When Peter confessed that Yeshua was Christ and recognized his divinity, God gave Peter a new name.

Finally, Peter gained authority. Christ gave him something that he hadn’t given his other disciples nor anyone else – the ‘keys of the kingdom of heaven’. With those keys, came a divine authority from God Himself.

Being a Control Freak is Too Risky

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I used to be somewhat of a control freak. I became that way while living in Chicago during my early 20’s. It was a time when I had no idea who I was or what my purpose was. To gain a sense of identity I thought I needed to seize the reigns. So I ripped the reigns of my life out of the hands of God and tried to control everything – and as soon as I did that – everything went out of control…

Contrary to popular belief – we are not masters of our fate. This is not to say that we shouldn’t live a life of diligence and wisdom. And it’s not to say that we should consume everything we have and plan for nothing. And this is not to say that responsibility is meaningless. But… this IS to say, that unless God is in control, and He has the reigns, everything will be out of control, even if it looks like it’s under control, it’s an illusion.

We are not sovereign. We cannot control the outcome of anything. We can plan things and attempt to control our lives, yet most of us have come to grips with the fact that our lives aren’t completely under our control. This can wreak havoc on the emotional and physical health of the control freak.

I am no longer a control freak. Being a control freak is entirely too disappointing and risky. I’ve matured enough to know that trying to control everything isn’t good for my emotional or physical health. Instead I look to God, seek His face, and give everything to Him. This isn’t always easy. Sometimes I snatch situations out of His hands forgetting that He can handle life much better than I can… But then I remember – that I can’t do this alone. I NEED Him and His strength to help me daily.

The War Against ISIS

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Via Flickr - Berlin Against ISIS
Via Flickr – Berlin Against ISIS

God is not just a God of love, but also a God of justice. I understand how this is connected to the idea of warfare, and I’ve read the book of Joshua with trepidation as I studied the Biblical account of nations being completely wiped off the face of the earth.

When you have ideas of what you think God should do (which is often wrong) you can’t help but suffer from cognitive dissonance when you encounter what you think is a disconnect between what is happening in the Bible and what seems to be ‘just’ or ‘loving’.

With that said, Ezekiel 18:23 says something so beautiful and profound. It says;

Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

God is not pleased by war, and He is not pleased when people die. As Christians, we are not to take pleasure in the death of the wicked. We should feel sorrow and mourning for souls headed to destruction.

I’ve seen some Christian blogs that are quite controversial because of their stance that we should be praying for ISIS. They are full of love for their enemies. It reminds me of Pastor Saeed and how he is praying for the salvation of those holding him in prison.

But, isn’t this how you bring people to Yeshua? By allowing your love to overcome their evil?