The Koran teaches that Yeshua is a messenger, but He is more than a Messenger. He is the son of God. He IS God. Even the winds and waves obey Him.
Tag: Yeshua
His Mercy is Never-Ending
I keep trying to convince myself that parenting is going to get easier. It doesn’t. The challenges change, and the difficulties rooted in parenting simply shift to other areas. My son is technically a preschooler, and I keep telling myself that in a year or two things will be better – it’s self-deception for purposes of sanity.
When my son gives me a hard time, I often stop and ask myself “Am I giving my heavenly Father a hard time? In a year or two, will I be better?” I often feel like I’m flailing about – swimming in doubt and unbelief… and displeasing Him, yet He rescues me from the depths every time.
His mercy is never-ending.
Parenting doesn’t just require patience, it requires mercy. Because when you are dealing with a rebellious, defiant, or downright uncontrollable child, you’ve got to restrain yourself when you find it impossible to restrain them. You have to extend love in the midst of your anger.
Most parents love their kids with all their hearts. If our hearts, which are evil are capable of loving our children so desperately; then God, who is pure righteousness loves us beyond our comprehension. His capacity to love us is endless.
Instead of sinking in doubt and unbelief, I need to learn to sink in His grace – because His grace, love, and mercy really is an ocean.
Are Mary and Jesus on Equal Footing?
Catholics will tell you that they do not worship Mary, and perhaps they don’t. But they won’t deny that they pay the highest respect and honor to Mary – respect that exceeds that of any other great man or woman of God in the Bible. In Catholicism, are Mary and Yeshua on equal footing?
When Yeshua pushed through the crowds, a woman cries out “Blessed is the woman who gave you birth and nursed you” Yeshua’s reply is so interesting. Instead of confirming the woman’s words and saying “Yes, my mother is blessed!” Instead, he says,
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
In a previous passage, we read that all generations would call His mother blessed. But this passage teaches that there are a people even more blessed or as equally blessed as Mary herself. And those people are the disciples of Yeshua – people who hear the word of God and obey it.
Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, a thing is established. In the second witness, Yeshua talks about kinship.
Again, Yeshua is talking to a crowd. His mother and brothers are standing outside waiting to speak with Him. Someone tells Him “Your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you.” But Yeshua’s reply is again deeply interesting. His reply is…
“Who is my mother and who are my brothers – pointing to His disciples – He says here are my mother and brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother, sister and mother.”
Usually people put the most important names first, but in this passage, brother and sister come before mother. Mother is last. Yeshua is again making a point about who is truly blessed.
All generations may call Mary blessed, but there are those who are just as blessed – those who follow Yeshua.
Getting the Heart and Mind to Agree
How do you feel settled when everything around you is unsettling?
You have to dig deep down in a place that you haven’t reached before and allow God to be in that place. If He is the Prince of Peace then peace will reside in you – and the same peace will eventually permeate the rest of your spirit and soul.
One of my favorite books in the Bible is Philippians, otherwise known as the Book of Peace. There have only been a handful of times in my life when I’ve felt a physical, tangible peace. Not inner peace, but a peace that is both inner and outer – a solid peace that blankets the soul and body. The first time I felt that peace was while reading the book of Philippians.
Scientifically (from a biological perspective) you can’t feel peace unless your heart and mind agree. Researchers have discovered that the heart has a literal mind of its own – a smaller brain. And when your head-brain and heart-brain agree this produces a chemical that runs through your bloodstream producing a ‘feeling’ of peace.
Many people are robbed of their peace. It’s because they are in a constant struggle with getting their mind and heart on the same page. However, it’s not just as simple as getting the brain and heart to agree, but specifically getting them to agree on the right thing, or rather the righteous thing. Because it’s possible for your heart and mind to agree on an evil thing.
Evil can never produce peace. It can only produce darkness, which can only be dissolved by light.
In Luke, Jesus talks about heart-mind agreement when encountering a young, rich man who wanted to know more about holiness and heaven. Jesus’s reply to the man’s question of how he could live a righteous life was this:
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”
Peace is as simple as trusting God with your whole heart and mind. But it’s as complicated as trusting God with all your heart and mind because you’ve got to get the two to agree first.
BOHO + THEO 