Musing – Which Wolf Wins?

Hebraic Musing – Which Wolf Wins?

One evening a Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle going on inside him: "My son, it is between two wolves. One is evil: Anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it and asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee replied, "The one that I feed."

How are the two forces inside of us fed?  They feed on whatever we are thinking.

   Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy;
            without holiness no one will see the Lord.
    See to it that no one misses the grace of God
            and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.    NIV Heb. 12:14-15 

Point to ponder

What are we thinking about when studying our Bible?

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Yeshua HaMashiach

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd

Author “Hebraic Insights – 95 messages exploring the Hebrew Roots of Christian faith”

Author “Biblical Marriage” (to be published in June 2012)

Weekly e-mails “Hebraic Musings”  to be added to distribution -- Yosef1@cox.net
www.InsightsByYosef.com

Musing – Who is looking at whose heart?

Hebraic Musing – Who is looking at whose heart?

I have heard many discussions recently regarding the history of Christianity that have resulted in pagan customs and rituals being incorporated into traditional themes. Examples:

·      Days of the week could be honoring names of pagan gods

·      Months are named after Roman Emperors who were the gods of those days, rather than the lunar calendar that Our God gave us.

·      Holy Day or holidays have pagan backgrounds, whereas God gave us specific Feast Days, each with specific purposes.

When those topics are brought up, many defend the status quo by simply saying “God is looking at my heart.” That may well be a truism; but this same excuse is often used to explain other issues like not attending church, not having time to read/study the Bible, etc. How many times have you heard that defense?

A good friend commented recently that he is uncomfortable with the response “God is looking at my heart.”  My friend thinks the more important response should be “Are we looking at God’s heart?”

Whoops, now I remember Jer. 17:9   The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?   NIV

Maybe we should be saying “God is looking at my heart to see if my heart is looking at His heart”?

Points to ponder

Is ‘accepting status quo’ sometimes too comfortable?

 Are we truly searching for God’s heart?

What think you?

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd

Author “Hebraic Insights – 95 messages exploring the Hebrew Roots of Christian faith”

Author “Biblical Marriage” (to be published in June 2012)

Weekly e-mails “Hebraic Musings”  to be added to distribution -- Yosef1@cox.net
www.InsightsByYosef.com

Musing – Are we a choosy people?

Hebraic Musing – Are we a choosy people?

Should we be? God gave us the ability to choose as a characteristic unique to man. Apparently God gave us the ability to choose for a reason; and He was kind enough to advise us as to how to use the unique God-given ability:

·      One example is in Deut. 1:13 Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you."[1] 

·      Moses challenged the people with a life-and-death choice in Deut. 30:19    This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.   Paraphrasing -- Choose to obey and God will bless you; choose to disobey and you will certainly be destroyed.

·      And my all-time favorite is Joshua 24:15  …choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, …. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

We are making choices constantly. Daily we choose what to eat, wear, watch and say. Each choice seems routine, but each choice has lasting effects. And we are constantly choosing how to spend our time here on earth. Then there are times in life we make major choices like who to marry, what profession to pursue, what principles govern our lives and whether, or how, to serve Almighty God.

Our national heritage gives us the liberty to make and pursue choices. We treasure this ability to choose.

Points to ponder

Should we be choosy?

Are any of our choices unimportant?

How does a series of small choices become a big choice?

I choose to be a friend to all y’all.
Shalom                                                                                    April 16, 2013

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd

Author “Hebraic Insights – 95 messages exploring the Hebrew Roots of Christian faith”

Author “Biblical Marriage” (to be published in June 2012)

Weekly e-mails “Hebraic Musings”  to be added to distribution -- Yosef1@cox.net
www.InsightsByYosef.com

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[1] Bible references from the NIV.

Musing – Are you Kosher on the outside? And on the inside?

Hebraic Musing – Are you Kosher on the outside? And on the inside?

We see cartoons of cows saying "Eat more chicken"; can you picture a cartoon of pigs saying "I wish everyone was Jewish!" Why?  Because God set forth kosher rules, or mitzvot (good deeds) -- "Every animal that does not have a divided hoof or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean." —Leviticus 11:26. And now the pig is universally recognized as the most obvious non-kosher animal and not even classified as food by good Jews. So what is unique about the pig?

To be deemed kosher, or clean, an animal has to pass two attributes – (1) must have cloven or divided hoofs, and (2) must chew the cud. At first look the pig must be kosher, or clean, because it obviously has split hooves. The second attribute is not as readily discernible. Does the pig chew a cud?  No, so the pig is not kosher, deemed to be unclean.  The first sign was apparent from the outside. The second requirement is only discernible on the inside; hidden from view. If one of the attributes is missing, the animal is unclean.

Most animals either have both attributes or none at all. The pig is deceptive because it does have split-hooves, but it does not chew a cud. So, the pig looks kosher on the outside, but is not kosher, unclean, on the inside.

There is a symbolic lesson here. Some people look good on the outside, but not necessarily on the inside. I remember that the day before I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I called myself a hypocrite and could not shake that self-accusation. Even now, I still wrestle with the internal uncleanness that I do not allow family, friends and others to see. 

"People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). How many people look okay to the outside world, but lead a different private life or thought process? How many times are we like a pig – okay on the outside while God is looking at the inside?

How are we hypocritical? Are we always sincere?

Points to ponder

Could we pick a day to live as if
our every thought was broadcast on a TV-like screen on our forehead
and on the family and friends’ TV screens?

Does our inside match our outside?

Shalom to your body, soul and Spirit                        April 9, 2013

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd

Author “Hebraic Insights – 95 messages exploring the Hebrew Roots of Christian faith”

Author “Biblical Marriage” (to be published in June 2012)

Weekly e-mails “Hebraic Musings”  to be added to distribution -- Yosef1@cox.net
www.InsightsByYosef.com

Inspired by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, April 4, 2013

Musing – Come join me on the bridge

Hebraic Musing – Come join me on the bridge

Here is an excerpt from the Foreword in my book – Hebraic Insights - Messages Exploring
the Hebrew Roots of Christian Faith.   “I find myself in a ‘bridge’ position in my faith walk. Jews traditionally have difficulty with Christians, and sometimes even more so with Messianics. Many traditional Christian fellowships are not comfortable with Jewish teachings and especially their emphasis on the Old Testament. Some Christians even think that the Old Testament no longer applies. So I find myself on the ‘bridge’ between the two groups; and I encourage both Jews and Christians to join me on the bridge.”

Since my challenge is in getting each side to respect, acknowledge and learn from the other, recent comments in an e-mail from Derek Leman were of special interest. He cited 10 brief statements that point out key misunderstandings on either side of the symbolic bridge.  These points deal with Jesus in Jewish perspective, Torah and Judaism, Jew and Gentile in Messiah, and Yeshua as Messiah. Derek went on to say that these are “Things Messianics would like to say to our Christian friends and fellow Jews.”  In my word-picture, these are things needing clarification on either side of the ‘bridge’:

1.       Gentile inclusion doesn’t mean Jewish exclusion.  (Or, when the Roman Empire pirated Christianity from its Hebrew roots, the Jews of the early church were rejected, etc.)

2.       In Galatians, Paul had to preach against Judaizing – Gentiles being required to convert to Judaism. But ‘Reverse Galatianism’ is an equally false gospel – that Jews must become non-Jews in order to be in Messiah.

3.       The “new” adds to the “old” without erasing what came before.

4.       Torah is not the failed plan of God, but the seed from which came Yeshua.  In the beginning was the Word (Torah), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  NIV John 1:1-2  

5.       Yeshua is not God’s second plan. It was His intention from the beginning to manifest all things in Messiah.

6.       The power of Christianity was diminished early in church history by the de-Judaizing of Jesus. Thus, Christianity will be repaired by returning to a Jesus as understood in Jewish context.

7.       The modern movement of Jews following Jesus as Jews (Jews acknowledging Yeshua as their Messiah) is a hopeful sign that the age to come is nearing, or the end of the current age is upon us.

8.       The increasing love that many non-Jews have in recent times for Jews and Judaism (growth in defenders contrasted with growing anti-Semitism) is a sign that the end of the current age is upon us.

9.       The Jewish world has not properly heard of Yeshua from the Church or its missions to the Jewish people, but Messianic Judaism is coming to a clear common ground about the meaning of Yeshua from within Judaism.

What think you?  I would like to hear your reactions, questions and comments on these points. A dialog would be welcome, I will respond to your reply.

Point to ponder

Do you recognize a need to join me on the bridge?

Shalom

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd

Author “Hebraic Insights – 95 messages exploring the Hebrew Roots of Christian faith”

Author “Biblical Marriage” (to be published in June 2012)

Weekly e-mails “Hebraic Musings”  to be added to distribution -- Yosef1@cox.net
www.InsightsByYosef.com