Sharing the Truth
It has been a nice weekend off. I spent most of my Sabbath reading, learning, and watching some videos. @simms50 has posted some daily devotions from torahfamily.org, so I decided to check the website out. I stumbled upon this video. In a nutshell, the video tells us we should share the Truth when the Spirit is prompting us to say something.
Yea.. I haven’t really been excelling in this area. There have been people on my mind that I can’t seem to shake, and opportunities that presented themselves that I made excuses for not taking. For example, the workers at the silver and gold exchange our family goes to. These men are openly Christ followers. They have Bible tracts on the counter, a “Jesus is Lord” sign above their door, among other signs around the store that clearly show they are about sharing the Good News. The last time we were in, one gentleman asked if he could ask a couple questions for his church. I knew what was coming. He asked if we believed Jesus physically raised from the dead(yes), and if we had a home church(no). He then gave us a card with his church’s information on it and invited us to the Easter service. I know an opportunity when I see one, but I did not want to make things awkward in the future by causing controversy. Opportunity lost. Ironic side Note: The church he goes to is actually a sister church to the one we used to go to!
Something else I find ironic: The Big Man is great about taking the opportunity to share our belief! I don’t think he even thinks twice about it. This past weekend, his aunt and uncle were staying with his parents. While the Big Man was over there, his mom made pork chops for dinner. He reminded her he couldn’t eat that, and of course, his aunt and uncle were curious why. So he went on to tell them what we believe. He said they seemed more understanding than his parents.
From my own experience, there doesn’t seem to be a pattern of who will be more open to the Truth compared to others. I think this is another good reason why we should share with others when feeling prompted. We just don’t know how they will take the news until we tell them. So I am finally writing emails and letters that I’ve been putting off for awhile. I’ll pray for the best and see how it pans out!
Have you made excuses for not sharing the Truth with others? Have you noticed any patterns to those who are more accepting than those that are not? Or is there no rhyme or reason?
I'll admit that I'm a little lost regarding your doctrine but as for me as a Christian, historically I find far more openness greets my faith when people have watched me "walk the walk" for awhile. Things as simple as the fact that I don't swear get people curious, then they start watching, then they'll approach me to ask about it. I think of myself as the person in the parable who gets the ground ready for planting the seed :)
By “lost”, do you mean you’re not sure what I believe? In a nutshell, I believe all of God’s laws still apply to us today and not just parts ex. “moral laws”. That’s really cool that something as simple as not swearing gets people’s attention. I agree, it really speaks volumes when we live out what we believe!
Yes, I honestly had assumed you were Jewish/practicing Judaism (out of ignorance because I've been around quite the array of cultures growing up but never any Jews!) because of your references to the Sabbath, Torah, feasts, and not eating pork, but this "He asked if we believed Jesus physically raised from the dead(yes)" threw a big stumblingblock across that assumption. And then @dwells has me even more confused referencing himself as a Hebrew who was previously a Christian, so I turned to Google, where I just get "Hebrews are the ancestors of the Jews". So is it basically a combination of Judaism and Christianity where you follow the OT laws while still acknowledging the resurrection of Christ?
Not really a combination of either, but rather the purest form of both. Judaism tends to follow the Talmud (the writings of the rabbi's) more than they do the commands of God, they do follow the commands but they have added to them, something God said not to do. They also tend to reject Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah. Now christians are on the other side of the spectrum, they have Jesus but they reject most all of God's commands. They remove them, something God also said not to do.
A Hebrew is someone who has crossed over. That's literally what the word means, one who has crossed over. It means one who was not in covenant with God, but has crossed over in to Covenant with God. Google did not give you the right answer. Hebrews are those who are a part of Israel, who have accepted Yahweh/Yehovah as their God, have accepted his law, and are in covenant with him. All 13(yes there are technically 13 tribes, there is the half tribe of Ephraim and the half tribe of Manasseh) tribes of Israel are collectively known as hebrews. The Jews come from the tribe of Judah.
This faith is called The Way, (Acts 24:14) We observe, guard, keep the Torah and we have our salvation in Yeshua (Jesus). We are obedient to the law of God not for salvation or to make ourselves righteous, but rather for obedience and to show God we love him, showing him love in the way he asked us to, by being obedient to his law.
I hope this helps @mtnmeadowmomma
That really does help shed light @dwells, thank you! (Thanks for the history refresher as well, it's so easy to mix up Jew/Hebrew/Israel and lose track of who is who.) Googling "Hebrew" under the mistaken impression that that was part of the name of your faith is what tripped me up :) I've never heard of The Way before Steemit and I'm always intrigued by what other people believe. I appreciate the explanation!
You have heard of it I'm sure, but it didn't click as the name of a faith.
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
"I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except thru me."
"And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do."
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye."
There are many many more examples. Now I realize that maybe all these phrases are not exactly the same in the original Hebrew or Greek, but when you read Acts and see that Paul referred to his faith as being called The Way, and then you go back and start reading the old testament, it seems like The Way pops out at you all over the place.
The Way is used in the bible to describe the followers of Jesus more than the term Christian is.
There was a video of a teaching that I watched that opened my eyes to the truth of who I am in Christ, that I am Hebrew, one born a gentile from the wild olive branch, but who has been grafted in to the true olive vine, that is Israel, the bride of messiah, thru the blood atonement of Yeshua the Messiah.
@mtnmeadowmomma Check out my post I wrote a few months ago about 3 videos that changed my life, that video is one of them.
https://steemit.com/spirituality/@dwells/sharing-my-testimony-part-1-3-videos-that-changed-my-life-forever
I've been more bold in sharing my faith as a Hebrew than I ever was as a Christian. My biggest down fall has been in my zeal to share the truth, I can lapse over in to anger when I come up against those "Christians" who adamantly oppose the Torah and basically preach a doctrine of disobedience. I've drove more people away than I have converted unfortunately and for that I am deeply sorrowful. My advice to you is to share in love, ALWAYS. Remember that only the father can remove the scales from their eyes. If you attempt to forcibly remove their scales it will be painful for both parties. Be as wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove.......AND SMASH HERETICS WITH A HAMMER LIKE A MACABEE!!! Lol, just kidding on that last part.
Haha! That is one reason I prefer to write something out. I can reread and make corrections where needed before I send it to them. I get nervous about saying anything in person. I always think they’re are going to put up a fight and say “well tell me what verses support this, this, and this.” I’d hate to trip and stumble, only to look like I have no idea what I’m talking about.
In ways it is like God leads us to those who have the yearning to hear the truth.
I agree!
I have made plenty of excuses. In my 1 year of following Gods instructions I have found that it usually the people that you would never expect that listen and the people who you think will catch right on that won’t. Great post
I could see that. Seems like that’s how a lot of things in life goes, the opposite of what you expect. Lol.
I am going to agree with @dwells in that I too have been more bold in sharing what I believe in than ever before. I will say that early on in this walk I did not, mainly because I was not able to answer the questions that were being asked, but in my spirit I knew I was not wrong. 4 plus years into this walk and I am a lot more comfortable in answering those questions because I had to research all of those questions myself! I can also agree when others are saying that we cannot remove the scales, no matter how much TRUTH I show them they just can't see it. In my experience I did find that my closest family members were the ones who were the most hostile towards me when I started walking this walk. It is always sad to be rejected but even worse when those closet to you do it. When I found fellowship with others that walk this way I really understood what Yeshua said in Matthew 10 and Matthew 12.
This reminds me of a meme I saw. It said "Torah, makes family strangers and strangers family." I can honestly say, those people in my life right now that are closest to me (other than my wife and son) are people I didn't even know 3.5 years ago.
I totally agree with everything you just said and that also applies to me as well! I would not be surprised if this is very common! Shalom Brother!
That makes a lot of sense. Even Paul waited 3 years. It is an odd thing how the ones closest to us are the ones to reject us, but not all is lost because He brings others to us to fellowship with.
I got an email from my old pastor saying he wants to get together with my husband and me to figure out exactly where we disagree on. Thinking about it now, I was rather vague about how our beliefs differ. So now I’m a little nervous and thinking of all the topics he could possibly bring up lol. One thing I was thinking about, and I was wondering if maybe you would have an answer because I’d like to know myself too, is what would we say to those that ask us why we don’t try to obey the sacrifices but we try to obey keeping the feasts when we can’t fully obey either one?
Good questions....I would say that we can't do sacrifices because there is no temple. The people then who had a temple had to go to the temple, they did not do the sacrifices in their yard! You can't force something just to make it work! As for why we keep the feasts, well frankly because we still can, is it perfect and can we do it as described in the bible...no, why mainly because again there is no temple! But why would we not want to do the feasts, all of them point to our Messiah. Paul even says that Christ was our Passover Lamb and that he was the First Fruits. All of those feasts point to him, you could show this old pastor how Yeshua fulfilled all of the spring feasts and then show him how he will fulfill all of the fall ones when He returns again. When Yeshua comes back for the 1,000 year reign the sacrifices and feasts will begin again. Zechariah 14:16-19 is one example of this. How much more prepared will we be when He returns if we are already following His calendar and His Holy Days? The Law, the Torah will be returning to the world again. (Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2). Maybe we are all wrong, but I doubt it....too much going on with more and more people being awaking to this. I'm going to error on doing His commandments because I don't want to be least! Matthew 5:19 - "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." I hope this helped some...Shalom!
Great post! I would say for our family that the hardest ones are family and the most open and hungry are those who are disgusted by "Christians" and have left the "church" because they have been hurt, abused and ridiculed the most by them. It's a journey with persecutions and hate, but I count it so much JOY to know the Truth and walk in His Ways. I am humbled each day knowing it wasn't that long ago that I too was also blinded. I agree with @dwells...when you force them to remove their scales, it's UGLY! I've learned to hold my tongue and speak very few words when the nasty divisive spirit arises up! Be BOLD!
I’ve wondered if that’s why I was so quick to see the Truth, because I was already disgusted by the Catholic Church, and the ones that are closer to the truth so-to-speak, aren’t as open. Luckily, I haven’t had any uncivil discussions with others yet. I try to just keep it short and simple to at the very least introduce the idea to them, and if they are curious beyond my understanding, I pass them on to resources to do their own research.
That's how you lead with GRACE & LOVE! Well done my friend. You are doing the fight well. We don't back down because of adversity, but we press forward. We aren't told to be push overs for the Gospel, but BOLD AS LIONS who bring TRUTH with does divide. I love your heart!