We are beginning to celebrate the feast of dedication
or Hanukkah tonight. It is also called the feast of
lights. We do not do a lot of the traditions
associated with this celebration. We do have
doughnuts and light the candles. We focus mainly
on rededicating our lives to the Father as the temple
and instruments were rededicated after the Maccabees
victory over their oppressors. With this in mind
I post another part of my book. I trust that this
will bless you and encourage you to live the way in
which the Father desires all of His children to, Set
Apart for Him.
DISCIPLESHIP:
Discipleship is the key point around which all the rest of what
we do revolves. If we don’t grasp discipleship as a way of life for
ourselves we might as well not continue from here. If we picture a
wagon wheel with the Scriptures and Yahweh Elohim being the hub and
discipleship being the rim, the other items being the spokes you
will get an accurate picture of what this all looks like. How do we
parent our children in ways which encourage discipleship? The end
result should be our children internalize the Scriptures and desire
to follow Elohim whole heartedly.
In the western world most people function with a Greek mindset.
The Greek mindset separates everything into categories and those
categories do not overlap. It is linear in its thinking. If we try
to see things from the Hebraic mindset then everything a person does
revolves around one thing. It is a circular way of thinking. Much
like a wagon wheel with spokes. That one thing or person happens to
be Yahweh Elohim. Paul Schutte talks about these different mindsets
concerning education. I would insert it here as a means of what we
are trying to do with the discipleship of our family.
Here is an excerpt of his article entitled, “Developing a
Biblical Philosophy of Education.” You may view the entire document
by visiting the following website www.rivertownbible.org.
The understanding of these conflicting educational systems is
important in determining a Biblical perspective of education.
Methodology is NOT neutral. Our philosophy will dictate our
methodology. Our methodology will affect our outcome. We need to
develop a culture and educational methodology that distinctively
reflects our love for God.
(this goes back to what I was saying about keeping Yahweh’s
instructions)
The Greek model of education shapes our modern American
educational theories. Greek education focused on content. Hebrew
education focused on relationship. Greek teachers tried to shape
students' minds. Hebrew teachers tried to shape students' hearts.
Greek students were to learn what their teacher knew. Hebrew
students were to become what their teacher was. The notion that one
can merely teach the mind and body of a child without involving the
heart and soul is the method of the Greeks. We see no precedent in
Scripture for the teaching of children's minds for the sake of
academia. We are to bring every thought captive to Christ. The mind
of Christ is what we are to model and teach.4
(This has infiltrated our churches. We have people who know the
Scriptures but lack a personal relationship with the Father).
A learned scholar, Canon H. Goudge, of the Church of England
remarked:
“When the Greek and Roman mind, instead of the Hebrew mind, came
to dominate the church” (starting with some of the early church
fathers, such as Augustine in the 400’s a.d.) “there occurred a
disaster in belief and practice from which we have never recovered,
either in doctrine or practice.”5
Personally, if we are to get back to the roots of believing and
living the way the apostles did, we must start before the time of
Constantine. All of the beliefs from Constantine forward are subject
to scrutiny and should be carefully considered in light of
the whole of Scripture as following the Way has changed since that
time.
Jack Deere puts it this way
“Knowing the Bible is not the same thing as knowing God. Loving
the Bible is not the same thing as loving God. Reading the Bible is
not the same thing as hearing God. The Pharisees knew the Bible,
loved the Bible and read the Bible but they did not know, love or
hear God.”6
Scripture defines discipleship this way.
Deu 6:5 “And you shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being,
and with all your might.
Deu 6:6 “And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in
your heart,
Deu 6:7 and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall
speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the
way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up,
Deu 6:8 and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall
be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deu 6:9 “And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and
on your gates.
Also in the New Testament we are told in everything we do, we are to
do it with one purpose.
1Co 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do all to the esteem of Elohim.
This I call discipleship. Discipleship is leading or guiding
someone in becoming a follower of a teacher, leader or philosophy.
In our case we become disciples or followers of the Messiah or
Yahshua and the Word of Elohim.
In discipling our children we want them to be obedient to the
voice of our Abba El (Daddy Elohim). So the Scriptures become
important to us in determining just what it is Abba El desires of
us or has for us to do. The Scriptures are the Word of Elohim. They
are His words for us. When we steep ourselves in His Word we learn
to recognize His voice. He will not say anything which is contrary
to His written word. Here we need to be careful that it is His Word
we are in obedience to and not the teachings or doctrines of men. We
desire something different for our family. We want them to be able
to know, love and hear Elohim and to serve Him with their whole
hearts.
David Kupelian in Whistle Blower magizine had this to say about
the battle believers are involved in today. “Today America and
Europe are being transformed by Islam because there is a spiritual
vacuum in these once Christian lands... all the vain, prideful
fantasies of the post-Christian, secular, multiculturalism –
worshiping Europeans are crashing down around them. Having traded
the Christian faith of their fathers for the smug, self-righteous
ecstasy of the socialist welfare state. Europeans have no strength
left with which to fight back the invading hordes...We need to
remember...to realize the bottom line reality that man is a
spiritual creature and that he will have faith, one way or the
other.
If he doesn't embrace true faith, he will embrace false faith.
It's not only automatic it's God ordained.” The war before us “
at core a spiritual war and therefore we cannot and will not win
it without God. Indeed our national faithlessness, immorality and
rebellion against Him, our abandonment of His wholesome laws of life
and the resulting self doubt and self loathing we experience and the
perverse policies such self hatred inspires – all this draws the
barbarian hordes to us. To truly turn the tide of battle and win the
greater war, we need nothing less than a genuine national awakening,
a rebirth of faith and trust in Almighty God, and a rediscovery of
the core biblical values...”7
In this book I am suggesting we are unable to meet the coming
tide of unbelief unless we turn back to discipleship as outlined
here. Not the current discipleship we find in churchianity. But
actually becoming a life student of the Messiah. I believe this
would include going back and rediscovering that He taught and
practiced obedience to the instructions of His Father found in the
Torah or the first five books of the Bible. If we truly face the
facts people are leaving churchianity. It is steeped in traditions
that are not biblical. So let us go back and find the truth that
has
been lost.
“The Hebrew word for disciple is talmid…the word implies one
who is constantly learning – a life student. More specifically a
disciple is a lifelong student of his rabbi. It is this we are
called to create…”8
Mat 28:19 “Therefore, go and make taught ones of all the nations,
immersing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Set-apart Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to guard all that I have commanded you. And
see, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Amen.
“Being a disciple implies that we are fully able to transmit,
communicate and demonstrate the message of our rabbi through our
teaching and our life practice.”9
As we will see throughout the remainder of the book the cost of
discipleship will involve a radical commitment. It may require some
radical changes in the way in which we think and live our lives. The
question remains, will it be worth it? In this world we live in and
the churches we attend “the influence of our secular culture has
rubbed off all signs of our devotion and in many cases caused us to
be “Christ like in name only. We have accepted salvation, a label, a
creed or a doctrine,
but have forsaken our master in our daily lives. The disciples Jesus
called left everything and followed him…”10
The greatest area of error in Christianity today is that of
accepting pagan teaching and philosophy and adapting it to teach
about our Messiah and discipleship. The Greek philosophers Plato and
Socrates taught “knowledge is virtue. Good depends on the extent of
one’s knowledge. Hence, the teaching of knowledge is the teaching of
virtue. Herein lies the root and stem of contemporary Christian
education. It is built on the Platonic idea that knowledge is the
equivalent of moral character.”11
Many pastors in the church are coming to realize that preaching
sermons on Sunday just isn’t enough. The people in the pews may
comment on how great the sermon was and then go on their merry way
without thought of how it can affect the outcome of their own life.
“These were the very people who were struggling with self-esteem,
beating their spouses, struggling as workaholics, succumbing to
their addictions. Their lives weren’t changing. I had to ask myself
why this great knowledge I was presenting didn’t move from their
heads to their hearts and their lives. And I began to realize that
the breakdown in the church was actually based on what we learned in
seminary. We were taught that if you just give people information,
that’s enough!12
Discipleship is the key. It is a lifestyle. We do not take in
information just to have an idea of what the Master taught. We do
not want our lives to be ruled by do’s and don’ts. We follow Abba’s
instructions for His people because of our love for Him. He has
given us instructions for life in order that our lives become filled
with meaning and purpose. In internalizing and making His
instructions a part of our life we become His set-apart people. We
become people that are different from the world around us. We become
people who make a difference and in which others can see a
difference. We become disciples of Master Yahshua our Messiah.
Act 4:13 And seeing the boldness of Kĕpha and Yoḥanan, and perceiving that they were
unlearned and ordinary men, they marvelled. And they recognised that they had been with
יהושע.
The New Testament teaches us Yahweh Elohim is spirit. Because He
is spirit we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. He is known to
us by His revelation (spiritual insight) to the human spirit.
The reason and intellect, as we have seen, can cause us to know
about Elohim and give us a means to communicate and share what we
know. But they fall short of the goal of being able to worship
Elohim. We cannot deeply know Elohim through the gateway of our
intellect or emotions. So much of what we see and hear in
Christianity today is geared to touch our emotions and
intellect. A. W. Tozer had this to say, “Divine truth is of
the nature of spirit and for that reason can be received only
by spiritual revelation….God’s thoughts belong to the spirit
world of intellect, and while spirit can embrace intellect,
the human intellect can never comprehend spirit…. Man by
reason cannot know God; he can only know about God…. Man’s
reason is a fine instrument and useful within its field. It
was not given as an organ by which to know God.”13
To put this simply, we can have extensive Bible knowledge, a high
powered intellect and super reasoning skills, but these things will
not automatically produce within us a deep and lasting spiritual
relationship with Yahshua in a way in which we can impart a life-
changing revelation of Him to others. Someone once wisely said “It
is the heart which perceives God, and not the reason.” With these
thoughts in mind let us turn our attention to the how of discipleship.
If discipleship is becoming like your instructor, then we must
become like Yahshua. So what was Yahshua like? As we saw at the
beginning of the book, Yahshua could not do anything apart from the
Father. The words He spoke, the commands He followed were those of
the Father. Yahshua didn’t follow His own agenda. It was in complete
obedience to the Father that He came. Our quest for becoming
disciples of Yahshua must also begin with being in obedience to the
Father’s instructions for His set-apart people.
The Father is pretty explicit in what He expects of those who
worship and serve Him. It can be summed up in one word: obedience.
We can see over and over again in the Scriptures where Yahweh
Elohim tells His people to “guard” or “keep” His instructions and
commands. Even Yahshua told His disciples “If you love me keep my
commands”. Yahshua did not follow His own agenda. It was in complete
obedience to the Father that He came and in the things He said and
did. Yahshua was in complete obedience to His Father, and that is
where we must start if we desire to be His disciples.
Throughout the Scriptures we find the importance of being in
obedience to the instructions of Yahweh. In Deuteronomy we are told
to guard or keep His commands. This word is a very interesting word
picture in the Hebrew.
Strongs #8104:
V) ....
(....
Sh-MR) -Guard: To watch over or guard in the sense of preserving or
protecting. [freq. 468] (vf: Paal, Niphal, Hitpael, Piel, Participle)
|kjv: keep, observe, heed, keeper, preserve, beware, mark, watchman,
wait, watch, regard, save.
To consume
. Might
. Highest, most important
When we put these Hebrew letters together we have the definition
of “consuming with ones might or life, the words that come from the
Most High.” It is these words of life we are to impart to our
children and families. Not only are we to guard and keep the Father’s
instructions, which tell us the way in which we are to walk but we
are also to be in obedience to them out of our love for Him. Our
obedience does not save us or cause Elohim to look more favorable
upon us. It is simply a demonstration of our love for our Father in
heaven.
People often pursue goals in different fields of interest with
single-mindedness. They often give themselves wholeheartedly to the
pursuit of goals which have no ultimate or lasting value. Is it too
much to ask that we, who are followers of Yahshua, dedicate
ourselves to the only goal in life which really lasts for eternity?
1Sa 15:22 Then Shemu’ĕl said, “Does יהוה delight in burnt offerings and slaughterings, as in obeying
the voice of יהוה? Look, to obey is better than an offering, to heed is better than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and
stubbornness is as wickedness and idolatry.
Let’s look at a couple of other passages that help to shed light
on our being disciples.
.Jos 24:15 “And if it seems evil in your eyes to serve יהוה, choose for yourselves this day whom you are
going to serve, whether the mighty ones which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the
mighty ones of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But I and my house, we serve יהוה.”
Jos 24:19 Then Yehoshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve יהוה, for He is a
set-apart Elohim, a jealous Ěl is He. He does not bear with your transgression and with
your sins,
This is part Joshua’s last address to the people of Israel. This
statement is found in many homes today, “as for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord”. I want to take a deeper look at the word
“serve”.
The Hebrew word serve comes from an Aramaic root meaning to do
or make. This leads to “work” or “serve”. In the case of service to
the Most High it becomes an act of worship or obedience. The Hebrew
word picture shows a statement of service or obedience as being the
pathway in which one enters into the family. We must learn to be
obedient to the Father’s instructions without trying to impose our
own interpretation or desires into what He plainly tells us in the
Scriptures. In light of what we find in Matt. I believe this aspect
is extremely important.
Mat 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall
enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire
of My Father in the heavens.
Mat 7:22 “Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we
not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and
done many mighty works in Your Name?’
Mat 7:23 “And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you,
depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’1 Footnote: 1 See v. 15.
Allowing ourselves to be disciples and teaching our children to
be disciples of Yahshua “involves intentionally overseeing the
generational transfer of the faith in such a way that children learn
to consistently live all of life under God’s divine rule….We have
been called to love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul and
strength as well as to love others as ourselves (Luke 10:27
Deut 6).”14
If we are to accept the call to a life of discipleship we are
to live our lives counter to the culture around us. It means we are
to live life with an awareness that constantly demonstrates we are
guarding to keep the values and instructions that point the way in
which we are to go, the very instructions which Yahweh Elohim gave
to His set-apart people rather than the values and norms of the
society in which we live. As we go out and touch the world around
us we bring the Word of Elohim to life. This message of the Word
is so much more important than programs and buildings. It is more
important than the acceptance or favor of friends, neighbors or
even relatives. In fact, living this way we cannot expect praise,
honor or esteem from mankind as we travel this often lonely path we
call life. The message of the Word and being counter culture is not
about us. It is about living our life so transparent that the message
of Yahweh Elohim can be seen through us. This message seen through
us is the reflection of the glory or esteem of the one true Elohim
and Him alone.
Soren Kierkegaard argues in “Fear and Trembling,” if we are not
willing to give up the things we love most for Elohim, then we make
a mockery of our love for Abba El. Even if we give them grudgingly,
they in fact become idols in our life and usurp the place which
rightfully belongs to Him. To truly be a disciple of the Messiah
is to walk a path which has always brought controversy and conflict
in its wake. As a result many have partaken in the same fate as our
Messiah, Yahshua of Nazareth.
