We are in a period of history like the world has never seen. There has never been a time when parent’s hands have been so tied as they are today. The government’s child protection agencies have so many regulations concerning the way parents can discipline their children that parents are becoming increasingly paranoid about correcting their very own kids! There is always a fear that some one will perceive the correction as abuse and report them to the authorities; if that were to happen there could be a danger of parents losing their child and the child being placed into state custody.
In this scenario, you as a parent would have no say over his child’s destiny. This condition can cause parents to operate in the fear of losing their child and consequently, the result could lead to very little discipline in children’s lives. As it is today, children are raised with very few or no absolutes in their lives already. There seems to be no law they absolutely have to obey. Whether this is a result of parents failing to discipline the children or a result of fearing governments interference, or just parents with no discipline in their own lives; what ever the cause, we do know this; the result is a lawless generation – a generation that is being infected with the spirit of the antichrist. Lawlessness, according to the authority of Yahveh, is a spirit of antichrist. A law is only enforceable if there is a sure consequence for violation of that law. If there is no consequence to violating the law, then no one pays any attention to it. Psychiatrists tell us we need to reason with our children and eventually they will want to obey the rules we have set for them. Can you imagine being stopped by a policeman for speeding and the policeman saying to you, “It is not wise to speed and I would like to encourage you not to do so anymore? I cannot give you a ticket because the State considers the issuance of a ticket to be abuse. However, I would like to appeal to your good judgment and ask you to slow down. Thank you and have a nice day”.
Now if you were a law abiding citizen who was speeding because he wasn’t paying close enough attention, then you would slow down. That’s all you would need to get you to slow down and possibly save your own life and that of others. However, if you were intentionally speeding, ignoring the restrictions of the law, then you would continue to speed. The law would only be an inconvenience to you and serve only to be a grievous burden to you; you would consider it to be bondage. Your desire to get to your appointment on time would override any responsibility you would feel to obey the law. You would pay no attention to the requirements of the law nor the fruit it was designed to produce.
The law was designed to preserve life, but you would visualize the law as a hindrance to you, a grievous burden to make you late for your appointments. Then as soon as the policeman was back in his car you would be off like a shot in the dark. Once again you would return to your old habits of speeding and possibly kill yourself or some other person. However, if there is a penalty of $200.00 for your infraction, then in all probability the penalty would entice you to resist the urge to speed.
The nature of humans is such that the level of strict adherence goes up with the level of consequences. Can you see that the fruit the law was intended to bring forth is personal safety? Obeying the law could prevent an accident that could take your life or the life of another. The word of God tells us in 1 Tim. 1:8-9 (NKJ) “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, – knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers”. The truth is that the law of Yahveh is good when used properly.
I am convinced that the church today has not even come close to having the right attitude about Father Yahveh’s law. When you start talking about the law of Father Yahveh, people start protesting, “You are trying to put me into bondage”. I would like to point out that there is great liberty in following the commandments. We have access to healing from disease through the stripes of Yahshua; we have freedom from getting the disease by obeying the commandments (Duet.7:11-15). How do you spurn the law of Yahveh without spurning the God that gave the law? Ps 19:9-11 (NKJ) The fear of Yahveh is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of Yahveh are true and righteous altogether. – More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. – More-over by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward”.
David embraced the Father’s commands and declared to the Father that they were more precious to him than gold and not just gold— the most refined gold. David did not see the commands as bars around him to make his life miserable. He saw the laws of Yahveh as avenues to freedom and liberty. There was not a more delivered man in all of history than David; many times Father Yahveh miraculously delivered him from his enemies.
Father Yahveh is not a respecter of persons so the deliverance wasn’t just about David as a person. It was about relationship, David’s heart and his attitude about the commandments of Yahveh. Ps 119:44-45(NKJ) “So shall I keep Your law continually, forever and ever. – And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts”. This declaration from David’s lips gives us a perfect picture of David’s relationship with the Father. David did not have to be under bit and bridle. For the most part David sought after Yahveh’s heart, but when David did jump tracks and go his own way, the Father would quickly pull the reins on His servant and return him to relationship with Him. What we miss seeing today in all these instances is that David always had the choice of repentance or rebellion. He could have continued in rebellion and disrupted his relationship with the Father, instead he chose to repent every time. In repentance we find the key to David’s many deliverances. The Father called David a man after his own heart. David knew that the Father would not fellowship with rebellion and he understood disobedience as rebellion.
What we fail to understand is the fruit of David’s attitude toward the commandments of Father Yahveh, was mercy. The commandments had a great impact on David’s relationship with the Father. David had respect for the Father and the Father’s commandments. He knew there was great consequences to any violation of Yahveh’s commands. The truth is David had a far greater desire to have a relationship with the Father, than he did to fulfill the desires of the flesh. He understood absolute authority.
We as Americans have a real struggle with this concept. If we don’t like whatever we are involved in we feel compelled to state our opinion on the matter. If it is a group or organizational rule we are not pleased with, we will do everything possible including taking a vote to avoid compliance. We can’t feature standing before the Creator of all the earth and not voicing our opinion. Maybe even harder to come to is the realization that our opinion is of no consequence in regards to eternity . The emotional reaction to this realization is a feeling of helplessness and the epitome of out-of-control feelings. Out of control is not an emotion that we as Americans are comfortable with and rarely tolerate in a peaceful or dignified manner.
I will be the first to admit, the culture I was raised in here in America makes it very difficult to submit myself to the hand of the Father without complaining, groaning and moaning. My flesh wants what it wants, when it wants it and resists anything that would prevent it from fulfilling its desires. It is to my benefit to fulfill the instruction of Yahveh in my body. David declared in Ps 19:7-8 (NKJ) “The law of Yahveh is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of Yahveh is sure, making wise the simple; – The statutes of Yahveh are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Yahveh is pure, enlightening the eyes;”. David had a good understanding of what the law would bring forth in his life.
First, the law would convert his soul or change his behavior. Secondly, it would bring him into the position of walking in the blessed state of protection Father Yahveh promised. Third, it would make him wise because he no longer walked according to his own judgments, but in accordance with the commandments. Fourth, by walking in and being governed with the statutes of Yahveh, he is full of joy because he experiences the goodness of Yahveh all through his life. Fifth, he said the purpose of the commandments was to enlighten the eyes; to bring him out of the darkness of being self-focused and self-indulging to a point where he could see the pit falls and thereby avoid falling into them.
Conversion is the finished process that seems to be missing in today’s church system, that process whereby we are no longer walking after the lust of the flesh, but in the statues and the commandments of Father Yahveh. The apostle Paul tells us about the fruits the commandments would produce in our lives when we obey them. Also, Paul instructs us to have a new mind set as in Eph 4:23 (NKJ) ” and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,”. The Word talks about the whole process of having the way you think, the way you talk and the way you act changed.
That seems to be the one most obvious flaw in many of today’s claim to be Christian. There seems to be no change in attitude or behavior in many of those people making first time decisions. I contribute this directly to be caused by the local church’s attitude toward grace and the commandments. The church in its zeal to attain decisions has omitted to talk about repentance and discipleship. I am not talking about being saved by works of the law but by the grace of Yahveh through the blood of Yahshua. Paul said in Titus 3:5-7 (NKJ) “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, – whom He poured out on us abundantly through Yahshua Ha Mashiach our Savior, – that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
A miracle happens when we decide to submit ourselves to the will of our Father Yahveh. In submission to His commandments after being regenerated through the blood of Yahshua, we are renewed by the Ruach Ha Kadesh. We are no longer of a rebellious nature. We have been reconciled to Yahveh through the blood of Yahshua; then and only then, do we take on His nature. Therefore, His commandments are no longer grievous to us but are welcomed parameters that provide protection to the pastures in which we feed.