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The parable of wineskins and garments in Luke 5:36-39 is often misconstrued to mean that old is bad and new is good, but that wasn't the point at all. #yeshua made that clear when he said that "No one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’"

So, what was the point of that parable?

It has nothing to do with Torah and everything to do with spiritual and political leadership. A new circumstances or a new people often requires new leaders and those new leaders must age and mature along with their people. If you try to force the old leadership structure to work with the new circumstances, you risk destroying both of them. Yeshua was about to replace the old order of the Pharisees and Sadducees with the new order of the Disciples.

OVERCOMING A LOW SELF-IMAGE – PART 2

Key 2 – Believe YHVH’s View is True:

How would you respond if I asked you this question: [Do you honestly believe that YHVH likes you, not just loves you because theologically YHVH has to love you?] If you can with all honesty answer: [Yes, I know that YHVH both likes me and loves me, you are well on your way to healing your self-image.] The problem is that you can hear a message like this and start feeling better about yourself, but tomorrow morning there will be that temptation to go back to where you were before. [For if you just listen and don't obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you keep looking steadily into YHVH's perfect Law, the Law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then YHVH will bless you for doing it.] -- James 1:23-25. Now this passage has a little different context than what we’re looking at, but the principle still applies. We need to not only understand what YHVH is saying to us, we need to believe that what He is saying about us is true and act upon it. What it really comes down to is a matter of faith; am I going to believe what YHVH says about me or what others say about me? Am I going to base my self-image on what YHVH has revealed or on what I’ve come to believe about myself by using a false system of measurement? The two things that will give you the ability to have the faith necessary is time spent with YHVH in prayer; ask Him to reveal how He feels about you and time in His Word reading the actual revelation He has given.

Key 3 – Discover The Real You:

If you have been living under the illusion that you are unloved, unwanted and not a valued contributor to this world and to your church, it is going to take time to overcome that. You need to spend some personal time with YHVH and others in discovery mode. Let me give you a few practical ways to begin that process.

A -- Give others what you need: Let’s look at a passage that is often wrongly connected with money. [If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving, large or small, it will be used to measure what is given back to you.] -- Luke 6:38. In this context Yeshua is talking about forgiveness and really any other positive thing that you can grant to other people. Why not spend your time encouraging others in the areas of their giftedness and self-image and trying to lift them up to a new level. If you seriously do this you will find that your own self-image will begin to grow, and you will be encouraged in a way you’ve never experienced before.

B -- Use your YHVH-given gifts and talents: There are certain things that you can do better than anyone else. Everyone is a [10] in some area and you probably already know what area that is. [YHVH has given each of us the ability to do certain things well]. -- Romans 12:6a. He goes on in this passage to list various gifts such as prophesy, serving others, teaching, encouragement, generosity, leadership and showing kindness. Now, this is not an exhaustive list, so if you didn’t hear your gift, don’t be discouraged. The point is this, you will discover your true self-image when you begin to use the gifts that YHVH has given to you, because only then are you fully living out who YHVH has created you to be.

Over A Cup of Coffee at the Soul Café, Leonard Sweet tells the story of the making of a film by two Londoners. In 1971 they began to film street people. The film captured the daily rituals of the homeless, their trials and joys. Some were drunk, others mentally disturbed; some were articulate and others unintelligible. One of England's leading composers, Gavin Bryars, agreed to help with the audio aspects of the film. During his work, he became aware of a constant undercurrent of sound that appeared whenever one certain homeless man was filmed. At first, the sound seemed like muttered gibberish. But after removing the background noise, Bryars discovered the old man was singing. Bryars learned that this beggar didn’t drink or socialize with others. The old man was alone, filthy, homeless, but he also had a sunny demeanour. What distinguished him from the others was his quiet singing. He would for hours sing the same thing over and over. The man's weak voice was untrained, but it never wavered from pitch. He repeated the simple phrases of the song over and over. One day at the office the composer looped together the first 13 bars of the homeless man's song, preparing to add orchestration to the piece. He left the loop running while he went downstairs for a cup of coffee. When he returned, he found his fellow workers listening in subdued silence and a few were even weeping. The old man's quiet, trembling voice had leaked from the recording room and transformed the office floor. Here is what he sang, the words to an old hymn:

Yeshua' blood never failed me yet
never failed me yet
Yeshua' blood never failed me yet
there’s one thing I know
for he loves me so.

Most people would look at an old homeless man like this and wonder how he could possibly have a good self-image. But he had come to the place where old images are shattered, and new images are created. He had come to the Cross, to Yeshua’ Blood and discovered that YHVH has proved that he was worth much in His eyes, by sending His Son to die on the cross for his sins. While everything external cried out [loser,] the Cross proved that he was a winner in YHVH’s eyes. You see, he did what we all need to do; come to the living waters of YHVH’s Grace and be made whole. Have you made a trip there yet? Have you been to the living waters of YHVH? Have you been made right with YHVH so that you could live your life in the assurance that He offers?

OVERCOMING A LOW SELF-IMAGE – PART 1

Many of us have two faces or images:

1 -- The image we try to present to others.

2 -- A secret image or private picture of ourselves.

Let me give you an idea of what I’m talking about; you go to church or gathering and the people who see you see the exterior you, the one that has it together, that smiles all the time and appears to be doing great. But inwardly you might be thinking something like: [I’m stupid, I’m ugly, I am not a good father or mother, I’m too fat, no one loves me, I wish I were different, I’m not a good believer, YHVH couldn’t want anything to do with me.] And the truth of the matter is that deep down inside you despise yourself or at least some parts of yourself. When you feel that way about yourself it has a dramatic effect on your life and the lives of the people who are closest to you. Let us help each other to overcome a low self-image by getting some instruction from YHVH’s Word.

The Danger of Distorted Mirrors:

I’m holding a mirror in my hand and when I look in it I see certain things. What I see is dependent upon what preconceived notions I have about what is or is not of worth. The problem I’ve found is that people might have a unrealistic view of what they look like, how smart or how successful they are, but they have a distorted view of the value of those things. In other words, most people have the wrong perception of what is and what is not of value, leading them to devalue themselves because they do not meet the faulty expectations, they have for themselves. Let’s consider some of the false mirror perceptions that many of us hold.

1 -- The Appearance Mirror – My value depends on how I look:
If you haven’t noticed yet, extreme makeovers are in. In fact, there is TV shows that details drastic cosmetic surgeries that people are undertaking to change their appearance. Of the 6.6 million cosmetic-plastic-surgery patients in 2002, nearly a third had multiple procedures at the same time. Total makeovers include cosmetic dentists, injections and other cosmetic enhancements. The average cost in 2002 run up to 20,000 pounds. Now in 2022, it is way more! If you have ever watched interviews with any of these people who have had the surgeries, they will always talk about what a boost it gave to their self-image. There’s only one problem; it doesn’t last, because they are basing their self-worth on a false perception of what is valuable. The fact of the matter is, everyone is not beautiful, and everyone doesn’t have a perfect body. The good news is that this should not and does not determine our worth.

2 -- The Performance Mirror – My value depends on what I can do.:
Worship teams do a great job of singing and our instrumentalists do a great job of playing their instruments. Guess what? I can’t sing that great and I certainly can’t play an instrument. But that doesn’t bother me in the slightest, because my self-image and self-perception isn’t built on what I cannot do. Too many of us allow our self-image to be determined by what grades we get, what our level of education is, how much money we make or how far we have moved up the corporate ladder. But there is great danger in that because there is always someone who is smarter than us, makes more money than us and who is more accomplished than us. It’s a lose-lose situation and it will destroy you if you fall prey to it.

3. The Status Mirror – My value depends on what others think of me:
When a person speaks negatively about himself and puts himself down it is usually because he is feeling incompetent, unimportant or unloved. And usually, they feel that way because someone has told them that. It might be their parents, their spouse or their peers, but someone has told them that they were ugly, fat, or stupid and that memory has become imbedded deep within their psyche. Of course, there are times where no one told them these kinds of things, but something has happened in their lives to make them think that way. Now if you’re looking through this distorted mirror of status, your self-image will be determined by whose company you’re in at any given moment. If you think the person approves of you, you’ll feel good about yourself, but if you think they disapprove your self-image will go out the window.

FACT: Until we see ourselves as YHVH sees us, we are destined to feel inferior. When we base our self-image on how we look, how we perform or on what others think of us, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Because we are basing our self-worth upon a false system of measurement. It’s like measuring your height with a scale or measuring your weight with a ruler. You cannot possibly have a good self-image until you use the right standard of measurement, and the right standard of measurement is how YHVH sees us.

Three Keys to Biblical Self-Image:

I promise you that if you’ll take these four keys and apply them to your life, over time you will be completely victorious over this self-image problem.

Key 1 -- Understand YHVH’s view of you:
What does YHVH think of you? Have you ever wondered about that? Not, what does my boss, husband, wife, kids, fellow church members or friends, think about me, but what does YHVH think about me?

A -- YHVH made you in His Image: [YHVH created people in His Own Image; YHVH patterned them after Himself; male and female He created them.] -- Genesis 1:27. If you are made in YHVH’s image, yet you have a bad self-image, you also have a bad image of YHVH. Now I’m not trying to make things worse for you, but it is my contention and experience that those who don’t view themselves in the right light also have a tremendous struggle with relating to YHVH. Because when your view of yourself is in conflict with what YHVH says about you, your view of YHVH is also in conflict and until you begin to see yourself in the right light you will be unable to relate to YHVH in the right way. When YHVH made you in His image He was creating a person with intelligence, a spiritual nature, with abilities, talents and personality. And while we are not YHVH, we are made with many of the same characteristics and personality traits as YHVH Himself.

B -- YHVH Loves you for who you really are: [People judge by outward appearance, but Adonai looks at a person's thoughts and intentions.] -- 1 Samuel 16:7. Do you think YHVH really cares whether you are pretty or not? Do you think that somehow your worth in His sight is determined by external appearance? Nothing could be further from the truth; while others might make judgments based upon your height, weight, looks or other externals, YHVH is focusing intently upon what is taking place inside your heart.

C -- YHVH has taken up residence in you: [Don't you know that your body is the temple of Ruach HaKodesh, who lives in you and was given to you by YHVH? You do not belong to yourself, for YHVH bought you with a high price. So, you must honour YHVH with your body.] -- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. YHVH literally lives in you if you have placed your trust in Yeshua Moshiach. This isn’t some symbolic thing that’s taking place, if someone were to ask YHVH for His address He would give them your name. YHVH doesn’t choose junk to take up residence in.

D -- YHVH has made you His masterpiece: [For we are YHVH's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Moshiach Yeshua, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago]. -- Ephesians 2:10. Think of yourself as a used canvas: YHVH, the Master-Artist, took some divine paint remover and through Yeshua Moshiach has wiped the surface clean. He removed every sin, every bad experience, everything that made you feel impure and ugly inside. And then He began repainting your life with the brushes of sacrifice, love, commitment, and adoption His family. He now puts you on display, sits back to look at you with the eyes of the most accomplished artist and He says, “You are my masterpiece.” That’s who you are in YHVH’s eyes, you are YHVH’s masterpiece. That’s Key 1, to understand YHVH’s view of you.

6Go to the ant, you lazy one! See her ways and be wise,

7Which, having no commander, overseer or ruler,

8Provides her supplies in the summer, Gathers her food in the harvest.

9How long would you lie down, O lazy one? When do you arise from your sleep?

10A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to lie down;

11And your poverty shall come like a prowler, And your need as an armed man.

Provers 6

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11

God's Word always has an impact. No matter how poorly conveyed nor how deaf the spiritual ear to which it is given, God's Word changes the people who hear it. His promises are never in vain. He has never given a single idle word. If he says something will happen, then it will happen.

We drew this picture on the chalkboard today, to review the Fall Feasts. See if you can follow along and make sense of my drawing.
The Seventh Month
- Month comes from the word "moon." The seventh month starts when the seventh new moon of the year is seen in Jerusalem. This year, that happened Tuesday evening, September 27. Since days start at sunset, that started Day 1 of the seventh month, and Day 1 continued all day Wednesday, September 28.
Day 1 is Yom Teruah
Leviticus 23:23-25
- Yom is the Hebrew word for "day." (Yom rhymes with home.) Teruah comes from a word that means loud noise, which is usually made with shofars, silver trumpets, or shouting. So this is Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets or Shouting. Most people call it the "feast" of trumpets, but it's not really called a feast day in the Bible. It IS a Sabbath, or day off work.
Day 10 is Yom Kippur
Leviticus 23:26-32, Leviticus 16
- This is the "day" (yom) of "covering." Kippur (the u has an /oo/ sound) means covering. You might recognize the kippah, or hat (or covering) that Jewish men wear. It covers their heads. This is the day of covering, or atonement. On this day, the high priest applies the blood of the sacrificed goat to the mercy seat on the top of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle or temple. When Yeshua died, the book of Hebrews tells us that His blood was applied to the REAL ark of the covenant in heaven. The tabernacle or temple on earth is only a picture of the real one in heaven, where His blood covered our sins once for all. The object lesson on earth helps us understand and thank Him for what He did. So this is the Day of Atonement, or Day of Covering of sin, or Yom Kippur. It is a complete day of rest and humbling ("afflict" in KJV), because He did all the work. We cannot earn our covering or atonement, so we completely rest on this day. Some people fast from food, but this is a tradition not commanded in Scripture.
Days 15 through 22 are Sukkot.
Leviticus 23:33-43
- Sukkot is a plural word in Hebrew. You can tell plural words because of the -ot or -im ending, like English has an -s or -es ending. It is plural for Sukkah, which means a temporary dwelling, much like a tent (or tabernacle or booth in older English). In the wilderness, the Israelites lived in tents for 40 years. Those people who are born as Israelites are commanded to live in temporary dwellings for a week each year to remember this time and look forward to our permanent homes when Yeshua comes back to live as king on earth. The first and last days are Sabbaths, days off work, but we can cook and set up our "temporary dwellings." We are also commanded to rejoice the entire week, so this is a fun week. When there was a temple or tabernacle in Israel, people would set aside a tithe (10%) all year to bring to the Levites (their spiritual leaders/teachers), the poor, and to have money for this vacation---- er, trip to Jerusalem-- for food, drink, feasting, celebrating, gifts, and sharing with others.
The Fall Feasts are sometimes called “moedim.” (See the -im plural ending there?) This word means appointments. These are some of the times when God meets with His people. You can read about all the moedim in Leviticus 23. It seems important to put His appointments on our calendar and keep them. They all teach us about Yeshua and God’s plan.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares YHWH. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9

One of the most absurd things that men do is to attack each other over subtle differences of opinion about the mind and anatomy of God. As if anyone was even capable of comprehending the reality. Trinitarianism, unitarianism, modalism, etc.... They're all right in some ways and they're all wrong in some ways. Some ideas are clearly unscriptural, but there's a lot of ambiguity in the Bible on this topic. If you are totally convinced of one particular model of theotomy (God's anatomy) to the point where you are calling others heretics for disagreeing about some aspects, then you've got a problem with pride.

Seek YHWH while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to YHWH, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:6-7

God's capacity for forgiveness is larger than your capacity for sin, but his offer is not available indefinitely. Repent while there is time. We don't have to understand why God wants us, why he forgives. We only have to accept that he does.