There are people who are bribed to church or who are convinced by miracles, but never commit to the hard work of tilling and planting. They are takers only and not givers. They have no interest in becoming disciples.
Others will abandon the plow because they don't find the rewards to their liking. They are motivated more by comforts, position, or power than by righteousness or God's pleasure.
Matthew 13:20-22
HOPE -- PART 2
WHY SHOULD I TRUST GOD AS MY HOPE?
Hebrews 6:18-19: YHVH has given us both His Promise and His Oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for YHVH to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to His promise with confidence. This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain of heaven into YHVH’s inner sanctuary. Hebrews 10:23: Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for YHVH can be trusted to keep His Promise. 1 Peter 1:21: Through Moshiach you have come to trust in YHVH. And because YHVH raised Moshiach from the dead and gave Him great glory, your faith and hope can be placed confidently in Elohim. YHVH cannot lie because He is truth. YHVH therefore, cannot break His promises. His Word stands forever. YHVH must be trusted for our hope because He alone conquered death by raising Moshiach from the dead.
WHERE CAN I GO DAILY TO REINFORCE MY HOPE?
Romans 15:4: Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. They give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for YHVH’s Promises. Psalm 119:43, 74, 81, 114, 147: Do not snatch Your Word of Truth from me, for my only hope is in your Laws. ...may all who fear You find in me a cause for joy, for I have put my hope in Your Word. ...I faint with longing for Your Salvation; but I have put my hope in Your Word. ...You are my Refuge and my Shield; Your Word is my only Source of hope. ...I rise early, before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in Your Words. -- Each day I can visit YHVH’s Word and have my hope renewed and reinforced. His Word never fails or wavers.
HOW DOES HOPE HELP ME LIVE BETTER TODAY?
Philippians 3:13-14: No dear friends, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which YHVH, through Yeshua Moshiach, is calling us up to heaven. -- Hope focuses on our future, especially our eternal future.
1 John 3:3: All who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Moshiach is pure. -- Hope helps keep my life more pure before YHVH.
WHAT CAN I DO WHEN THINGS SEEM HOPELESS?
1 Samuel 1:1-28: Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to Elohim. -- In the midst of Hannah’s hopelessness, she prayed to YHVH, knowing that if any hope was to be found, it would be found in Him.
Acts 16:16-34: He took no chances but put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to Elohim. -- Paul and Silas were on death row for preaching about Yeshua, yet in this hopeless situation they sang praises to YHVH. Why? Because they had an eternal perspective.
Proverbs 10:28: The hopes of the godly result in happiness, but the expectations of the wicked are all in vain. -- No matter how hopeless things seem here on earth, in Moshiach we have ultimate, eternal hope. -- People who don’t know Moshiach have nothing but their own hopelessness to cling to.
Psalm 27:14: Wait patiently for Elohim. Be brave and courageous. -- Hope is trusting YHVH to act in His good timing. Haggai 1:9: You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because My house lies in ruins, says YHVH Almighty, while you are all busy building your own fine houses. When we honour Elohim, our hopes can be richly fulfilled.
Psalm 18:4-6: The ropes of death surrounded me; the floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death itself stared me in the face. But in my distress I cried out to Elohim; yes, I prayed to my YHVH for help. He heard me from His Sanctuary; my cry reached His Ears. -- Hope is trusting YHVH to act in His Good Timing. Hope also means carrying with us an eternal perspective that realizes sin and evil may sometimes thwart our plans here on earth but never YHVH’s plans in heaven.
WHAT PLANS DOES YHVH HAVE FOR ME? HOW IS HOPE INVOLVED IN YHVH’S PLAN FOR ME?
Jeremiah 29:11: I know the plans I have for you, says Elohim. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Philippians 3:13-14: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which Elohim, through Yeshua Moshiach, is calling us up to heaven. -- YHVH never plans evil or hopelessness for His people. And His ultimate plan is to give us eternal life with Him in Heaven, where pain, sorrow and suffering are gone forever. Hope involves an understanding of the future.
Romans 12:12: Be glad for all YHVH is planning for you. Be patient in trouble and always be prayerful. Our greatest hope is that we will live in heaven forever with Elohim. In the meantime, He created each of us with a plan for our lives and we must hope that we are listening to Him and following Him closely so that we might fulfil His plan for our lives.
OUR HOPE IS BUILT ON A TRUST RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
Psalm 71:5: O Adonai, You alone are my Hope. -- Who but YHVH controls the future? Who but YHVH has a home for us that is eternal? Who but YHVH forgives our sins? Who but YHVH can give us a life that lasts forever? No wonder He is our hope! Romans 8:24: Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don’t need to hope for it. -- Salvation comes through trust in Moshiach, believing He will do for us what He has Promised. Hope is expecting that He will give us everlasting life and that we will live with Him forever. We can’t see these things, but we can hope with assurance, for our hope is built on a trust in the most trustworthy one of all.
Hebrews 11:1: What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. -- We have faith in YHVH to do what He has Promised and we can be absolutely sure that He will. So our hopes are not idle hopes, but built on the solid foundation of His trustworthiness.
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it...
Matthew 13:19
There are three kinds of people who hear the Word of God and don't understand it.
1. People who are incapable of understanding it because of their inferior capacity.
2. People who hear, don't understand, and don't ask for help, for whatever reason.
3. People who hear and believe that they understand, but don't.
God speaks to different people differently depending on what kind of relationship they have with him. He speaks more plainly to those who want to hear and act on what he says. Those who are more likely to put God's words to use are probably more likely to hear him plainly. Those who won't act on them will have to work harder to hear and understand.
Sometimes, people don't want to hear God's truth. They don't want to be forgiven and healed, because that would mean greater accountability. Nobody expects much of the sick, so some people want to remain spiritually sick. It's easier.
When you choose to see and hear, God will give you something to see and hear. How God speaks to you from then on will be determined by whether you keep or reject it.
This principle extends to finances, authority, etc. If you refuse to be responsible for what God gives, don't expect more. Don't look at anyone else either. You don't know their heart or God's plans for them.
Matthew 13:10-17
This week's Torah portion is Bo, which means "come" and is derived from the Hebrew word that means to appear, to enter.
Moses entered into Pharaoh's presence only two more times, yet Pharaoh's heart remained hardened.
This section is famous because it contains the story of the first Passover, as well as the instructions for how the Feast of Unleavened Bread should be celebrated forever.
It's a special passage to me because it's one of the very first sections of Scripture I studied intensively after realizing that the Torah's instructions applied to me.
I learned that I should keep the Passover because I was part of the congregation of Israel (Exodus 12:3). I had read this passage my entire life, but I had always seen it as something that happened to "them." Now I saw it as something that applied to me.
One night at our Baptist church, while sitting in the nursery with one of our new babies, I took a sheet of paper and wrote down all the "rules" for keeping Passover, taking them straight from the book of Exodus. This became my checklist for what to do that year.
On the tenth day of that month, we took a stuffed lamb and placed it on our kitchen table. The kids played with it for several days. I also ordered some lamb from our local grocery store.
I invited friends from church, another family with young children, and asked it they would like to celebrate the Passover with us. They thought we were a little crazy, but they agreed. What fun we had!
We did everything that night like Exodus 12:11 -- with coats on, sandals on our feet, and "staffs" (sticks from the backyard).
Before Passover, we carefully cleaned our house and searched for leaven. We learned many valuable lessons from that experience alone!
We researched hyssop, the plant the Israelites used to apply the blood to their doorposts.
One mother online pointed out that it is sometimes nice to "practice" Passover at this time of the year, when there is no rush or stress. You may also find that you notice details from this Torah portion that might get skipped later this spring. Most of all, look for Yeshua!
We are in an age of shallow preaching, hyper-grace, and cheap grace. This produces blasé Christians. Yes, Yahweh loves us unconditionally, but hyper-grace advocates ignore verses directing us on how to live a holy life, one dedicated to the Father.
Grace is never an excuse for sinning! In fact, any concept of grace, which makes us comfortable with sinning, is not Biblical. This is “antinomianism”. The Greek word means “against the law” or just plain “lawlessness”. That pretty much sums up the situation in the church today. Scripture is sliced and diced to make it palatable for our super sweet palate.
Those, who are Whole Bible Believers, are regularly accused of falling away from grace. Galatians 5:4 is often quoted as proof positive, “You who are trying to be justified by the Law have been alienated from Christ/Messiah; you have fallen away from grace.” Yes, that is certainly as true today as it was when Paul wrote it. What hyper-gracers can’t seem to comprehend is the Law has been written on our hearts, not abolished. We keep the Law, not to be saved, but because we are saved.
Salvation is a sovereign work of Yeshua. A “profession of faith” without a changed heart is meaningless. “You believe there is one God/Elohim; you do well: the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2:19).
A regenerated heart wants to please the Father:
Yeshua said, “If you love Me, keep My Commandments” (John 14:15).
Paul said, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1-2)
James said, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17).