Dear ones,
Those of you who are aware of the Biblical calendar will recall that we are currently in the midst of the 40 days of Teshuva (repentance) leading up to the holy day of Yom Kippur. [Side note: If these Hebrew concepts in the Biblical calendar are new to you, the website www.hebrew4christians.com includes a very clear and easy to understand outline of the Mo’edim, when God said He wanted to meet with his people.]
Please understand that God’s appointed times do not negate His expectation that we would be holy, as He is holy (Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:16) throughout every day and season of our lives. We disciples who have chosen to live with and from our Master 24/7 should always ‘keep short accounts’ with God. Our hearts must always open to the correction of the Holy Spirit, and be willing to repent each time He points out some sin, transgression or iniquity in our hearts and lives. So I would compare this season of Teshuva to ‘Spring cleaning’ in our homes – it’s the time to make sure we get all the cobwebs out of every area and level of our souls.
Here in our congregation at Adat, we use a handout that goes through the Commandments (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5). It breaks down the different ways in which we transgress the commandments. This is a reminder and an encouragement. It points out the good, narrow path disciples are to follow that puts us in the proper position to press into Father’s heart and hear from His Spirit what He has to reveal to us. We use that checklist as a tool for the ‘house cleaning’ of our souls, which helps us prepare our hearts to celebrate the marvelous work of redemption done on our behalf, and the intimate communion with the Lover of our souls that our salvation in our Messiah now makes possible for us.
Brenda and I wanted to share a few of our thoughts and what Father has been teaching us during this time, and what better place to start than with the Word itself.
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2; the rest of the chapter is like our Adat list… evil deeds, acts of violence, evil schemes, shedding innocent blood, no justice, etc.)
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)
- To sin is to miss the “mark” or target …Yeshua is the target.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:7-14)
- Every choice we make, every act we follow through with either hits the mark or misses the mark.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling… (Philippians 2:12)
- Double mindedness (see James 1:8) causes us to aim at two or more targets, making Yeshua just one of many targets. But for disciples, He is the one and only Ultimate target!
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:8-11)
We must remember that worldly sorrow is only a self-pitying sorrow for how our sin has hurt us and our image and sense of self-esteem. It has nothing to do with acknowledging the offense and hurt the Sin causes to the heart of the One who gave Himself that we might be freed from it (see John 8:36). Godly sorrow happens when we see how much we have grieved our Heavenly Father by rejecting and disobeying His living and written Word and resisting the precious Holy Spirit He has sent to dwell in us and serve as our Guide and Comforter.
So the first step in truly repenting is to acknowledge our sins before Almighty God.
For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. (Isaiah 59:12-13)
Followed by a deep gratitude for His gifts of provision and redemption.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
We find a very provocative question in the latter part of Luke 18:8:
However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
It’s our delight and privilege to be on this journey together with each of our precious brothers and sisters around the world and we know we all have the sincere desire to be the answer to His quest and to make the answer to the question above a resounding “Yes!” – not for our sake, but for the sake of His eternal glory. So let’s keep pressing on together until our Master comes for us.
In His everlasting love,
Brenda and Nancy