Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: The Source of All Potential
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
The Source of All Potential
The potential of a thing is related to its source.
Everything in life was created with potential and possesses the potential principle. Creation abounds with potential because the Creator Himself is the potential principle.
When we describe Yah, we often say He is omnipotent. Omnipotent means that Yah is always potent. Made up of two words: omni, meaning “always,” and potent, meaning “full of power,” omnipotent means that Yah is potentially everything. He has within Him the potential for all that is, was, or ever will be. He is omni- potent or omnipotent.
EVERYTHING COMES FROM Yah
Everything that was, and everything that is, was in Yah. That’s a very important concept. Everything that was and is, was in Yah. We have to start with Yah. Before Yah made anything, before He created things, there was only Yah. So before anything was, Yah is. Yah is the root, or source, of all life.
Before anything was, Yah is.
Before there was time, time was—but it was in Yah. Before Yah cre- ated a galaxy or the Milky Way, they existed. Before there was a uni- verse or a planetary system with the third planet called earth revolving around the sun—before any of that was—they were.
I wonder what it must have been like when Yah was just by Himself. Let’s try to imagine that for a bit. Here’s Yah. He steps out on nothing to view nothing, for there was nothing except Yah. And so Yah is standing on top of nothing, looking at nothing because every- thing was in Him.
IN Yah WAS THE BEGINNING
The Bible tells us: “In the beginning, Yah...” That means before there was a beginning, there was Yah. Therefore, Yah began the begin- ning and verse 0 of the first chapter of Genesis might possibly read: In Yah was the beginning. Everything that is was in Yah. Everything that has ever been made was made by Yah.
When we connect Genesis 1:0—in Yah was the beginning—and John 1:1—in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Yah...He was with Yah in the beginning—we see that the Word was with Yah in the beginning, not at the beginning.
Before there was a beginning, there was Yah. Everything that is was in Yah.
The Gospel of John also tells us that all things were made by the Word.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Yah, and the Word was Yah. He was with Yah in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life... (John 1:1-4).
Nothing that was created was made without the Word. In the Word was life. Life came out of Yah. Therefore, before you knew life, life was. All things were made by Yah. Everything you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch was in Yah before they came to be. Even what you dis- cern first existed in Yah.
Now let me be a little ridiculous to prove my point. Yah had roach- es and mosquitoes and rats in Him. He had suns and clouds and plan- ets in Him. The cows to make shoe leather...the oil to run our cars...the ore from the mountains to make steel—all these things were in Yah. Everything on this earth is Yah’s property. If Yah would ever call in His property, we would be in big trouble. All things were in Yah and thus belong to Him. Yah, in the beginning when there was noth- ing, contained everything that man has seen. He also contained every- thing man will ever see.
Thus if you had talked to Yah on the highway of nothingness, you would have been talking to millions of cows and horses and mountains and trees and limousines and hotels and beaches. They all were in Yah. They were in Him, but no one saw them. That’s why we call Yah omnipotent. He’s always full of the potential to bring forth what you see. Yah is pregnant with the universe. In essence, if you met Yah on the highway of nothing, by the corner of nowhere, before there was anything, and you shook His hand, you would be shaking hands with everything, but would not know it. You would be with potential.
THE INVISIBLE BECAME VISIBLE
In the beginning, Yah was pregnant with the universe and all things were made by Him. But how did these things come out of Him? How was the universe formed? All things were formed at Yah’s com- mand. He spat them out—poof! From the invisible came the visible. Things that are seen came from things that were unseen.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at Yah’s com- mand, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible (Hebrews 11:3).
Yah always had everything in Him, but we couldn’t see it. All we now see was once in an invisible state. Everything that man has ever seen first existed in an invisible state. (Please note that invisible does not mean nonexistent.)
All the buildings we see and the businesses we frequent—people making money and investing money—all that stuff began as ideas. We couldn’t see them because they were in somebody’s mind. The stores where we shop, also everything on the shelves and racks in those stores, began as ideas in someone’s mind. They didn’t exist before, yet they did. Although they weren’t present in their current form, they existed as lumber and concrete and nails, cotton and wool and flax, steel and pulleys and motors.
Someone had an idea. Through work they put their idea into things that are visible. Today they take your money. Everything starts in the invisible state. Everything we now see used to be unseen.
In the beginning there was only Yah. At creation the entire unseen universe became visible. Everything that has been created was made by the word of Yah. Although it already existed, Yah spoke so that what was invisible could become visible. You would never have known it existed, except Yah spat it out in faith.
By faith Yah spat out what was in Him. Everything in Him started to come forth. What we now see was birthed by Yah from what was invis- ibly within Him. Whatever you see came from the unseen—nothing exists that was not at some time in Yah. Thus, faith is not the evidence of things that do not exist. It is the evidence of things that are not yet seen. Everything we see has always been. It became visible when Yah spoke it into being. Yah is the source of life.
SPOKE WAS HARD WORK
What happened when Yah spoke at creation? How did He get the invisible to become visible? First let me broaden your idea of the word spoke.
Spoke was a process. What Yah spoke into visibility began as an idea in His mind. Yah first conceived in His mind what He wanted to create. He didn’t just say, “I want this.” The prophet Isaiah tells us that Yah created the earth by first planning its foundations (Isaiah 48:13). After the plans were in His mind, Yah spoke them into existence. When Yah was ready to speak, it was just a matter of taking what was in the plan and putting it on the site.
Spoke was a process.
Yah laid the groundwork for the earth and spread out the heavens. He created the sun to shine during the day and the moon and stars at night. He gave every star a name. He ordered clouds to fill the sky and breezes to blow. He made the waves to roar in the sea. He sent rain to water the earth and grass to cover the hillside. Thunder and lightning were created by His command; hail and sleet were formed by His word. A wool-like blanket of snow He produced for winter; frost and dew He designed.
Yah was full of imagination. He was pregnant with many thoughts. His thoughts became ideas, and the ideas became images. Everything that is came out of Yah as He spoke those images. The unseen became seen—the invisible became visible.
Yah’s speaking was much like the contractions of a woman in labor. With effort He pushed out each detailed creation. Then Yah began organizing the things that appeared. He was busy as He set them up, organizing and organizing and reorganizing. Finally Yah said, “This is good.”
Yah didn’t create the world by just thinking the whole thing into being. He worked it into being. After creating a plan in His mind, Yah spoke to make visible the invisible. (Speaking was one of the ways He worked.) All that was made came from Yah. Through work He creat- ed the world.
For six days Yah created the heavens and the earth. On the seventh day He rested.
By the seventh day Yah had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And Yah blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done (Genesis 2:2-3).
Spoke must be a fairly serious thing. If Yah, who is almighty and all powerful, had to rest after creation, spoke it must have been very hard work.
When creation was completed, Yah rested. Yah was the first one to sabbat—He intended the Sabbath to be a blessing. He knows that life produces work, and work creates the need to rest.
THE WORK OF CREATION IS NOT YET COMPLETE
The work of Yah is not complete—He has not delivered all His babies. He will keep on delivering as long as you deliver, because you are the continuation of His deliveries. Yah can still create. When you ask for something in prayer, Yah doesn’t have to shift things around because He is going broke. If it doesn’t exist in a visible form, Yah will speak it. He’ll make whatever is necessary. He continues to be preg- nant with many things.
Because all things are in Yah, you can ask Yah for anything. An idea is around in Yah a long time before it comes out. Nothing we think or do is new (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Everything that has been done will be done again—what we think is new has already been here for a long time.
Nothing we think or do is new.
There’s a guy in China right now who is thinking about the idea you thought was yours. When the idea came out of Yah, many people got it. Because everything comes out of Yah, you all received the idea from the same Source. Until that idea is transformed by action, Yah will continue to leak that idea into men and women. Why? Because Yah is a Yah of potential. Although He is the source of all things, He shares His omnipotent powers with His creation. We, like Yah, are pregnant with many things. We are full of imagination, having the potential power to be more than we visibly are. There are dreams, visions, plans and ideas in us that need to be released. Yah wants us to tap His power and use it, because Yah made us with potential.
PRINCIPLES
Everything that was and is, was in Yah.
Yah is the Source of all potential.
All things were formed at Yah’s command so the invisible became visible.
Yah planned the world in His mind before speaking it into existence.
The Divine destiny connection, the chain that links us together.
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Monday, September 18, 2023
EVERYTHING IN LIFE HAS POTENTIAL
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Everything In Life Has Potential
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Everything in Life Has Potential
All men are sent to the world with limitless credit, but few draw to their full extent.
It is a tragedy to know that with over five billion people on this planet today, only a minute percentage will experience a significant fraction of their true potential. Perhaps you are a candidate for contributing to the wealth of the cemetery. Your potential was not given for you to deposit in the grave. You must understand the tremendous potential you possess and commit yourself to maximizing it in your short lifetime. What is potential, anyway?
POTENTIAL DEFINED
Potential is...dormant ability...reserved power...untapped strength... unused success...hidden talents...capped capability.
All you can be but have not yet become...all you can do but have not yet done...how far you can reach but have not yet reached...what you can accomplish but have not yet accomplished. Potential is unexposed ability and latent power.
Potential is therefore not what you have done, but what you are yet able to do. In other words, what you have done is no longer your potential. What you have successfully accomplished is no longer potential. It is said that unless you do something beyond what you have done, you will never grow or experience your full potential. Potential demands that you never settle for what you have accomplished. One of the great enemies of your potential is success. In order to realize your full potential, you must never be satisfied with your last accomplishment. It is also important that you never let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but a life that never realized its full potential. You must decide today not to rob the world of the rich, valuable, potent, untapped resources locked away within you. Potential never has a retirement plan.
THE POTENTIAL PRINCIPLE
To simplify this concept let us look at one of the most powerful elements in nature...the seed. If I held a seed in my hand and asked you, “What do I have in my hand?” what would you say? Perhaps you would answer what seems to be the obvious...a seed. However, if you understand the nature of a seed, your answer would be fact but not truth.
The truth is I hold a forest in my hand. Why? Because in every seed there is a tree, and in every tree there is fruit or flowers with seeds in them. And these seeds also have trees that have fruit that have seeds...that have trees that have fruit that have seeds, etc. In essence, what you see is not all there is. That is potential. Not what is, but what could be.
Yah created everything with potential, including you. He placed the seed of each thing within itself (Genesis 1:12), and planted within each person or thing He created the ability to be much more than it is at any one moment. Thus, everything in life has potential.
NOTHING IS INSTANT
Nothing in life is instant. People think miracles are instant, but they really are not. They are just a process that has been sped up. Nothing Yah created is instant, because Yah does not operate in the instant. He is a Yah of the potential principle. Everything begins as potential.
He did not create a ready-made human race—the earth was not given an instant population. Yah made one person—not a million people. He started with one seed. Then from that one He created another. Then He said to those seeds, “Bless you (that means, ‘You have My permission’). Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.”
In Adam, Yah gave the earth a seed with the potential of one...one hundred...one thousand...one million.... The five billion people on the earth today were in that one man’s loins. Yah knew that in Adam and Eve there were enough people to fill the earth. That’s the way Yah works. He knows the potential principle because He introduced it. It is Him.
DON’T SETTLE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE
Potential is always present, waiting to be exposed. It demands that you never settle for what you have accomplished. One of the greatest enemies of your potential is success. Yah wants you to maximize the potential He has given to you. You are not yet what you are supposed to be—though you may be pleased with what you now are. Don’t accept your present state in life as final, because it is just that, a state. Don’t be satisfied with your last accomplishment, because there are many accomplishments yet to be perfected. Since you are full of potential, you should not be the same person next year that you are this year.
Never accept success as a lifestyle—it is but a phase. Never accept an accomplishment as the end—it is but a mark in the process. Because you are Yah’s offspring, there are many selves within you that lie dormant, untapped and unused. Your primary problem is that you do not think like Yah does.
There are many selves within you that lie dormant, untapped and unused.
Yah is always looking for what is not yet visible. He expects to find inside each person and thing He created more than is evident on the outside. On the other hand, man is often satisfied with what he has— or at least if not satisfied, he thinks there is nothing better. Thus he settles for what he has.
Therein lies the tragedy of life. The minute we begin to settle down and be satisfied with what we have, we lose the possibility of revealing what is really inside us. Too often we die without exploring the gifts, abilities, and successes that lay hidden within us. Our thoughts, ideas, and possibilities are not used. We fail to realize the vast potential that is stored within us. We are like batteries in a radio that is never played—our potential is wasted.
SUPPOSE...
Suppose Shakespeare had died before he wrote his poems and plays—the potential of Macbeth would have been buried. Suppose Michelangelo had died before he painted the Sistine Chapel or DaVinci the Mona Lisa—the beauty of their paintings would have been lost. Suppose Mozart had died with all that music in his bosom.
Suppose Moses had died before he saw the burning bush...Paul before he met Yahusha on the Damascus Road...Abraham before Isaac was born. How different the pages of Scripture and history would be. Suppose Martin Luther had died without writing the thesis...Charles Wesley without penning the hymns...John Wycliffe without translating the Bible into English. How different the history of the Church might have been.
Can you imagine how many great works of art, music, and literature are buried in the graveyard near your house? Can you imagine how many solutions to the problems we face today are buried with someone you knew? People die without getting out their full potential. They fail to use all that was stored in them for the benefit of the world.
DON’T DIE WITH MY THINGS!
I wonder what would have happened if your father had died before you were conceived or your mother before you were born. What would the world have lost if you had not been born? What will the world lack because you fail to live out your potential? Will you carry songs, books, inventions, cures, or discoveries to your grave?
What would the world have lost if you had not been born?
Our teens are committing suicide. I wonder who they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to do that we will never know. Have we lost some great leaders? Was your grandchild’s professor or another Martin Luther King among them?
As the time for His crucifixion drew near, Yahusha spoke of the potential principle in terms of His life. He compared Himself to a kernel of wheat that falls into the ground and dies (John 12:23-24). A kernel of wheat, when planted, yields many more kernels. Within Yahusha was the potential to bring millions of people to Yah. Thank Yah Herod didn’t succeed when he tried to wipe out Yahusha. If he had, Yahusha would have died before He could offer Himself as our atonement. His great purpose in life would have been wasted. The seed of His life was much more than His disciples could see. That one seed had the potential to give life to many.
There was a time early in his ministry when the apostle Paul said, “I’d like to leave.” Though he preferred to die and be with Hamachiach, he knew his purpose in life had not been completely fulfilled. There was yet much fruitful labor for him to do. It was necessary for the Church that he continue to live. Thank Yah Paul did not die. The benefit of his wisdom would have been lost to the early Church and to us. His potential to write Colossians and Ephesians may have been forfeited.
Later, near his death, Paul wrote: “Timothy, I’ve run the race. I’ve finished the course. I’ve kept the faith. I’ve done the work. My award awaits me. I’m ready to die. Keep working after I’m gone” (see 2 Timothy 4:5-7). Everything in life has the potential to fulfill its purpose. People who die without achieving their full potential rob their generation of their latent ability. Many have robbed me—they’ve also robbed you. To die with ability is irresponsible.
Perhaps you are wasting your life doing nothing with all you have. Yah packaged some things in you for the good of the world—use them. We will never know the wealth Yah planted in you until you bring it up. There’s always something in you that we haven’t yet seen because that’s the way Yah thinks. Release your ability before you die. Use the power and strength within you for the good of yourself and others. I believe there are books, songs, art works, businesses, poems, inventions, and investments in you that Yah intended for my children to enjoy. Don’t give up until you have lived out the full extent of your potential, because you have no right to die with my things. Don’t rob the next generation of the wealth, treasure, and tremendous gifts buried deep within you.
If you want to succeed, strike out on new paths. Don’t travel the worn paths of accepted success.
No man can climb beyond the limitations of his own belief.
Every day sends to the grave obscure men and women whom fear prevented from realizing their true and full potential.
Failure is not the absence of success. Failure is the neglect of trying.
What you see is not all there is. There is something in everything.
What you have done is no longer your potential. Potential is what you can do but have not yet done.
PRINCIPLES
Yah created everything with potential.
Nothing in life is instant.
Everything in life has the potential to fulfill its purpose.
Don’t be satisfied with what you now are.
Don’t die without using your full potential.
The greatest threat to progress is your last successful accomplishment.
Saturday, September 16, 2023
THE FALL FEASTS OF ISRAEL YOM TERUAH
Leviticus chapter 23
Today we are walking in: The Fall Feasts Of Israel Yom Teruah
Ezra 3:11
And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted H7321 with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
SHOUT
Today we look to the word- SHOUT- H7321 ruwa'--to shout, raise a sound, cry out, give a blast
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 32:18
And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
Numbers 23:21
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
Leviticus 9:24
And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.
The prophets proclaim..................
1Samuel 4:5
And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted H7321 with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
Isaiah 42:11
Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Jeremiah 31:7
For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
The writings bear witness...........................
Joshua 6:5
And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout H7321 with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
Psalm 5:11
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
Psalm 132:16
I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
The Fall Feasts of Israel
Yom Teruah
"Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a holy convocation proclaimed with blowing of trumpets." Leviticus 23:24
"But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the malak (angels) of heaven, but my Father only." Matthew 24:36-37, Mark 13:32
"...well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, '...in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' You leave the commandment of Yah and hold to the tradition of men... thus making void the Word of Yah by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do." Mark 7:6-13
Many spend time each year celebrating the Feast of Rosh haShanah without realizing IT IS NOT A SCRIPTURAL FEAST!!Most are not aware that Rosh haShanah DOES NOT EXIST IN SCRIPTURE! It has been hijacked by the rabbinical religion of Judaism and changed from the scriptural Yom Teruah to accommodate their own agenda. In the same regard, Yah never declared the determination of the beginning of the month to be the sighting of the crescent moon. Many say it is found in scripture, but it is not. What they are parroting is the man-made tradition of the religion of Judaism. It is only decreed that certain days of the month were to be observed, and some observances are at the "middle" of the month, (i.e., centered on the full moon - the "sign" of the middle of the month); therefore, it becomes very important to determine when the month should begin so the proper day of the full moon can be observed in the middle of the month! Even the patriarchs were smart enough to determine when the new month began and the sighting of the first crescent was nothing more than a celebratory confirmation that it had happened . An actual lunar month is never exactly 29 or 30 days. It floats! So you will find a new moon always occurs sometime during the period between the last day of the month and the first day of the next month - whether the current month is 29 or 30 days or somewhere in between. To argue that the month cannot begin until a crescent is sighted, is to elevate the importance of the moon to an idol or a god instead of simply looking at the moon as a sign for the season (Genesis 1:14). Seeking only the new crescent leads people to revere the crescent above His instructions which Yah said do not do." Yom Teruah also goes by the name, "day that no man knows." While each of the other feasts listed in scripture can be known in advance because they all fall after the sighting of a new moon, the lone exception is Yom Teruah because this is the only feast that is determined by the actual sighting of the new moon - so "no man" can calculate the exact day when this feast day will begin. Thus, when we read Yahusha declaring that He would come at a time that "no man knows" above, how many of us understand that to be a Hebrew idiom referencing the events surrounding "Yom Teruah"? An idiom is an expression that does not make sense in any other language than the one being spoken. An idiom in English would be "It is raining cats and dogs outside!". This is a very confusing expression to someone not familiar with the culture associated with the English language. Such is the case with this Hebrew idiom Yahusha used for this Feast. Yom Teruah typology is found throughout the words of Yahusha haMashiach (the Hebrew Messiah of Israel).
In ancient Israel, the man-made religion of Judaism asserted that there would be "two witnesses" who would stand on the walls of Jerusalem and "watch" for the first sliver (crescent) of the new moon. Having "two witnesses" is derived from Deuteronomy 19:15 which says that everything will be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 2:5-6). When the new moon appeared in the sky then these "two witnesses" would sound the shophar (ram's horn trumpet) and all the people in the city would immediately drop what they were doing and they would begin to move towards the temple for the celebration of "The Day of an Awakening Blast" or in Hebrew, "Yom Teruw'ah." Since this feast was a convocation (not a Shabbat, but to be treated as a Shabbat), the doors to the city were only open for a short period of time after sundown (the beginning of the Hebrew "day") - so, since the temple was located within the city, anyone failing to make it to the temple before the "doors were shut" were left out of the feast because once they were shut, no one could get in (unless they humbled themselves). Because this feast began at sundown, oil lamps had to be full so that they could find their way in the dark towards the temple. In Matthew 25, we find our Messiah telling us a parable about ten virgins. Only five of these virgins were wise and had their oil lamps filled when the bridegroom came. But the other five foolish virgins had not prepared themselves by filling their lamps with oil. When the "Day That No Man Knows" had arrived, the two witnesses sounded the "trumpet" and the five wise virgins were ready to go into the feast - but the foolish virgins had no oil in their lamps, so they could not see their way around in the dark. The foolish virgins went to buy oil for their lamps causing them to be too late for the feast. When the temple doors were shut, the five foolish virgins were left out. Many of these inhabitants would also be working in the fields or grinding at the mill (Matthew 24:40-42). so that when they heard the sound of the shophar they knew that their work was finished. Our Messiah was also speaking in the language of Yom Teruah typology when he said that we must "work while it is yet day, for the night comes when no man can work" (John 9:4). Those who were working in the fields had to hasten toward the temple before the doors were shut. The person who was alert and listening for the sound of the shophar was "taken" by the sound of the trumpet; this was his signal to make haste towards the temple. But the person not alert and not watching would not hear the sound of the trumpet and they would be "left" in the field or still grinding at the mill - unaware the day had come.
While the man-made religion of Christianity has attempted to re-define it as the "Feast of Trumpets," one of the unique things about Yom Teruah is that the Torah does not say what the purpose of this holy day is. The Torah gives at least one reason for all the other holy days and two reasons for some but, in contrast to all these Torah festivals, Yom Teruah has no clear purpose other than that we are commended to rest on this day. Nevertheless, the name of Yom Teruah provides a clue as to its purpose. teruah literally means to make a loud noise. This word can describe the noise made by a trumpet but it also describes the noise made by a large gathering of people shouting in unison as seen in Joshua 6:5. In this verse the word "shout" appears twice, once as the verb form of teruah and a second time as the noun form of teruah. Although this verse mentions the sound of the shofar (ram’s horn); in fact, in this verse, the two instances of teruah do not refer to the shofar but, rather, refers to the shouting of the Israelites which was followed by the fall of the walls of Jericho. In Leviticus 23:24, Yom Teruah is also referred to as Zichron Teruah. The word Zichron is seen translated as "memorial" in most English versions, but this Hebrew word also means to "mention", often in reference to speaking the name of Yah (i.e., Exodus 3:15). The day of Zichron Teruah, the "Mentioning Shout", may refer to a day of gathering in public prayer in which the crowd of the faithful shouts the name of Yah in unison - thus, a time of gathering within the temple to praise His Name.
In Judaism Yom Teruah has come to be popularly known as Rosh haShanahbecause the Hebrew word Rosh means 'head' or 'beginning', ha means 'the' and Shanah means 'year' - thus, "the beginning of the year". However, scripture clearly gives the distinction of the beginning of the physical year to the same month that Pesach (Passover) is celebrated. Scripturally, the New Year begins on the 1st of Nisan (Leviticus 23:5) while Yom Teruah is celebrated on the 1st of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:24). Consequently, Rosh haShanahhas effectively replaced Yom Teruah to become the traditionally celebrated Hebrew "New Year" in an appeasement to other world cultures and thereby negating the Words of Yah - just as Yahusha said the tradition of men would do in the passage at the opening of this article. On the 1st day of the Seventh month (Tishrei) the Torah commands us to observe the holy day of Yom Teruah (Leviticus 23:24, Numbers 29:1-6). As mentioned earlier, one of the unique things about Yom Teruah is that the Torah does not say what the purpose of this holy day is - making it easier for the rabbis to write into it whatever they need to fit their tradition. But as we have seen, scripturally, Yom Teruah has nothing in common with the beginning of a physical "new year".
While Yom Teruah is considered a feast day in scripture, it is NOT considered a High Holy Day by Yah. In the traditional, orthodox religion of Judaism, however, Rosh haShanah has become such! Even though Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur are two very important holidays in the Hebrew calendar, modern Judaism attributes far more importance to both of them than is actually warranted, justifiable or even defensible. Modern Orthodox Judaism considers Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur (and the days between them) to be "THE" High Holy Days whereas this is not Yah's opinion - for He has NOT declared either Yom Teruah or Yom Kippur a High Holy Day. The three High Holy Days established by Yah are:
•1) The first day of Matzoh (renamed Unleavened Bread) on 15 Nisan - the day after Pesach (Passover).
•2) Shavu'ot (renamed Pentecost) - very late in spring, fifty days from the first day following Pesach.
•3) The first day of Sukk'ot (renamed Tabernacles) on 15 Tishri - 5 days after Yom Kippur and 15 days after Yom Teruah.
These three Elohim-ordained High Holy Days are the ONLY ones on Yah's ecclesiastical calendar - there are NO OTHER High Holy Days listed anywhere! (Exodus 23:14-17, Deuteronomy 16:16). There actually are NO "Hebrew" Holy Days either, for there are only Yah's Holy Days which the Sons of Israel were commanded to faithfully observe as their form of worship of The Elohim of Abraham (Leviticus 23:1-2). The Holy Days spoken of in scripture were ordained by Yah as "Appointed Times" which He considers Holy unto Himself.
The following are modern Judaistic "BELIEFS" about Rosh haShanah, man-made traditions and customs that were not derived from the Torah and Tanakh (OT) but emerged during and have evolved since the Babylonian Diaspora - and have been greatly expanded upon in the Talmud (which are the oral Rabbinical commentaries). On Rosh haShanah, Hebrews from all over the world gather in synagogues to celebrate the day haShem (the Name) created Adam and Chavah. BUT, in the scriptures, Chavah (Eve) was created at some later date following the creation of Adam (the first Hebrew - not the first of mankind). Rosh haShanahstarts on the first day of Tishri and lasts two days which are the beginning of the Yamim Noraim, the ten days of atonement. BUT, in the scriptures, Yom Teruah lasts for only one day, and Yom Kippuris the only (solitary) day of atonement. According to the scriptures, there is NO special significance to the eight days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur.
Within the religion of Judaism, it is IMAGINED that on Rosh haShanah, all mankind is judged. That haShem (The God Of Abraham) writes the judgment for each person in the Book of Life. It is IMAGINED that this judgment is based on people's lives for the year before, and is the decision of what will happen to each person in the coming year. It is further IMAGINED that the judgment is not final. That the days between Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur give people a time to change the judgment for good. It is IMAGINEDthat each person is given the chance to improve their coming year through Teshuvah (asking forgiveness), Tefillah (prayer), and Tzedakah (charity). On Rosh haShanah it is customary to wish each other "L'Shanah Tovah Tikatevuh" - may you be written in for a good year. But, it is only IMAGINED that Rosh haShanah is not the end of the judgment, and it is further IMAGINED that only on Yom Kippur is that judgment is made final. These are ALL man-made practices, traditions and customs - but, they are NOTreflective of Yah's Words. These examples give cause to suspect that modern Orthodox rabbinical religious authorities have never even read their OWN scriptures because they give undue precedence to Rabbinical commentaries (Talmud, et al) while ignoring the Torah and the Tanakh.
So, how are the feasts contained in the 613 ordinances of the Torah to be kept? Are they to be observed by the legalistic tenets of the religion of Judaism? Or, should they be elevated to the higher level of Spirit Yahusha spoke of? I keep all the feasts - just not in the ritualistic manner to which most are accustomed. I worship the Father in Spirit and Truth - not substituting one for the other (John 4:23-24). He has become my Teruah because I am consistently listening for His trumpeting (voice); I don't live for a week out under the stars because Yah has become my Sukkot where I constantly abide; He is my Shavu'ot, daily filling me with His Spirit; He has become my Pesach (redemption); He is my Kippur(atonement); etc. So, while acknowledging these events by my elevation of them in Spirit in this generation (as with His Temple) and not abolishing them, I have found the ritualistic manner in which most celebrate the feasts to not be necessary.
Today we are walking in: The Fall Feasts Of Israel Yom Teruah
Ezra 3:11
And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted H7321 with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
SHOUT
Today we look to the word- SHOUT- H7321 ruwa'--to shout, raise a sound, cry out, give a blast
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 32:18
And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
Numbers 23:21
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
Leviticus 9:24
And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.
The prophets proclaim..................
1Samuel 4:5
And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted H7321 with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
Isaiah 42:11
Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Jeremiah 31:7
For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
The writings bear witness...........................
Joshua 6:5
And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout H7321 with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
Psalm 5:11
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
Psalm 132:16
I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
The Fall Feasts of Israel
Yom Teruah
"Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a holy convocation proclaimed with blowing of trumpets." Leviticus 23:24
"But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the malak (angels) of heaven, but my Father only." Matthew 24:36-37, Mark 13:32
"...well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, '...in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' You leave the commandment of Yah and hold to the tradition of men... thus making void the Word of Yah by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do." Mark 7:6-13
Many spend time each year celebrating the Feast of Rosh haShanah without realizing IT IS NOT A SCRIPTURAL FEAST!!Most are not aware that Rosh haShanah DOES NOT EXIST IN SCRIPTURE! It has been hijacked by the rabbinical religion of Judaism and changed from the scriptural Yom Teruah to accommodate their own agenda. In the same regard, Yah never declared the determination of the beginning of the month to be the sighting of the crescent moon. Many say it is found in scripture, but it is not. What they are parroting is the man-made tradition of the religion of Judaism. It is only decreed that certain days of the month were to be observed, and some observances are at the "middle" of the month, (i.e., centered on the full moon - the "sign" of the middle of the month); therefore, it becomes very important to determine when the month should begin so the proper day of the full moon can be observed in the middle of the month! Even the patriarchs were smart enough to determine when the new month began and the sighting of the first crescent was nothing more than a celebratory confirmation that it had happened . An actual lunar month is never exactly 29 or 30 days. It floats! So you will find a new moon always occurs sometime during the period between the last day of the month and the first day of the next month - whether the current month is 29 or 30 days or somewhere in between. To argue that the month cannot begin until a crescent is sighted, is to elevate the importance of the moon to an idol or a god instead of simply looking at the moon as a sign for the season (Genesis 1:14). Seeking only the new crescent leads people to revere the crescent above His instructions which Yah said do not do." Yom Teruah also goes by the name, "day that no man knows." While each of the other feasts listed in scripture can be known in advance because they all fall after the sighting of a new moon, the lone exception is Yom Teruah because this is the only feast that is determined by the actual sighting of the new moon - so "no man" can calculate the exact day when this feast day will begin. Thus, when we read Yahusha declaring that He would come at a time that "no man knows" above, how many of us understand that to be a Hebrew idiom referencing the events surrounding "Yom Teruah"? An idiom is an expression that does not make sense in any other language than the one being spoken. An idiom in English would be "It is raining cats and dogs outside!". This is a very confusing expression to someone not familiar with the culture associated with the English language. Such is the case with this Hebrew idiom Yahusha used for this Feast. Yom Teruah typology is found throughout the words of Yahusha haMashiach (the Hebrew Messiah of Israel).
In ancient Israel, the man-made religion of Judaism asserted that there would be "two witnesses" who would stand on the walls of Jerusalem and "watch" for the first sliver (crescent) of the new moon. Having "two witnesses" is derived from Deuteronomy 19:15 which says that everything will be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 2:5-6). When the new moon appeared in the sky then these "two witnesses" would sound the shophar (ram's horn trumpet) and all the people in the city would immediately drop what they were doing and they would begin to move towards the temple for the celebration of "The Day of an Awakening Blast" or in Hebrew, "Yom Teruw'ah." Since this feast was a convocation (not a Shabbat, but to be treated as a Shabbat), the doors to the city were only open for a short period of time after sundown (the beginning of the Hebrew "day") - so, since the temple was located within the city, anyone failing to make it to the temple before the "doors were shut" were left out of the feast because once they were shut, no one could get in (unless they humbled themselves). Because this feast began at sundown, oil lamps had to be full so that they could find their way in the dark towards the temple. In Matthew 25, we find our Messiah telling us a parable about ten virgins. Only five of these virgins were wise and had their oil lamps filled when the bridegroom came. But the other five foolish virgins had not prepared themselves by filling their lamps with oil. When the "Day That No Man Knows" had arrived, the two witnesses sounded the "trumpet" and the five wise virgins were ready to go into the feast - but the foolish virgins had no oil in their lamps, so they could not see their way around in the dark. The foolish virgins went to buy oil for their lamps causing them to be too late for the feast. When the temple doors were shut, the five foolish virgins were left out. Many of these inhabitants would also be working in the fields or grinding at the mill (Matthew 24:40-42). so that when they heard the sound of the shophar they knew that their work was finished. Our Messiah was also speaking in the language of Yom Teruah typology when he said that we must "work while it is yet day, for the night comes when no man can work" (John 9:4). Those who were working in the fields had to hasten toward the temple before the doors were shut. The person who was alert and listening for the sound of the shophar was "taken" by the sound of the trumpet; this was his signal to make haste towards the temple. But the person not alert and not watching would not hear the sound of the trumpet and they would be "left" in the field or still grinding at the mill - unaware the day had come.
While the man-made religion of Christianity has attempted to re-define it as the "Feast of Trumpets," one of the unique things about Yom Teruah is that the Torah does not say what the purpose of this holy day is. The Torah gives at least one reason for all the other holy days and two reasons for some but, in contrast to all these Torah festivals, Yom Teruah has no clear purpose other than that we are commended to rest on this day. Nevertheless, the name of Yom Teruah provides a clue as to its purpose. teruah literally means to make a loud noise. This word can describe the noise made by a trumpet but it also describes the noise made by a large gathering of people shouting in unison as seen in Joshua 6:5. In this verse the word "shout" appears twice, once as the verb form of teruah and a second time as the noun form of teruah. Although this verse mentions the sound of the shofar (ram’s horn); in fact, in this verse, the two instances of teruah do not refer to the shofar but, rather, refers to the shouting of the Israelites which was followed by the fall of the walls of Jericho. In Leviticus 23:24, Yom Teruah is also referred to as Zichron Teruah. The word Zichron is seen translated as "memorial" in most English versions, but this Hebrew word also means to "mention", often in reference to speaking the name of Yah (i.e., Exodus 3:15). The day of Zichron Teruah, the "Mentioning Shout", may refer to a day of gathering in public prayer in which the crowd of the faithful shouts the name of Yah in unison - thus, a time of gathering within the temple to praise His Name.
In Judaism Yom Teruah has come to be popularly known as Rosh haShanahbecause the Hebrew word Rosh means 'head' or 'beginning', ha means 'the' and Shanah means 'year' - thus, "the beginning of the year". However, scripture clearly gives the distinction of the beginning of the physical year to the same month that Pesach (Passover) is celebrated. Scripturally, the New Year begins on the 1st of Nisan (Leviticus 23:5) while Yom Teruah is celebrated on the 1st of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:24). Consequently, Rosh haShanahhas effectively replaced Yom Teruah to become the traditionally celebrated Hebrew "New Year" in an appeasement to other world cultures and thereby negating the Words of Yah - just as Yahusha said the tradition of men would do in the passage at the opening of this article. On the 1st day of the Seventh month (Tishrei) the Torah commands us to observe the holy day of Yom Teruah (Leviticus 23:24, Numbers 29:1-6). As mentioned earlier, one of the unique things about Yom Teruah is that the Torah does not say what the purpose of this holy day is - making it easier for the rabbis to write into it whatever they need to fit their tradition. But as we have seen, scripturally, Yom Teruah has nothing in common with the beginning of a physical "new year".
While Yom Teruah is considered a feast day in scripture, it is NOT considered a High Holy Day by Yah. In the traditional, orthodox religion of Judaism, however, Rosh haShanah has become such! Even though Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur are two very important holidays in the Hebrew calendar, modern Judaism attributes far more importance to both of them than is actually warranted, justifiable or even defensible. Modern Orthodox Judaism considers Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur (and the days between them) to be "THE" High Holy Days whereas this is not Yah's opinion - for He has NOT declared either Yom Teruah or Yom Kippur a High Holy Day. The three High Holy Days established by Yah are:
•1) The first day of Matzoh (renamed Unleavened Bread) on 15 Nisan - the day after Pesach (Passover).
•2) Shavu'ot (renamed Pentecost) - very late in spring, fifty days from the first day following Pesach.
•3) The first day of Sukk'ot (renamed Tabernacles) on 15 Tishri - 5 days after Yom Kippur and 15 days after Yom Teruah.
These three Elohim-ordained High Holy Days are the ONLY ones on Yah's ecclesiastical calendar - there are NO OTHER High Holy Days listed anywhere! (Exodus 23:14-17, Deuteronomy 16:16). There actually are NO "Hebrew" Holy Days either, for there are only Yah's Holy Days which the Sons of Israel were commanded to faithfully observe as their form of worship of The Elohim of Abraham (Leviticus 23:1-2). The Holy Days spoken of in scripture were ordained by Yah as "Appointed Times" which He considers Holy unto Himself.
The following are modern Judaistic "BELIEFS" about Rosh haShanah, man-made traditions and customs that were not derived from the Torah and Tanakh (OT) but emerged during and have evolved since the Babylonian Diaspora - and have been greatly expanded upon in the Talmud (which are the oral Rabbinical commentaries). On Rosh haShanah, Hebrews from all over the world gather in synagogues to celebrate the day haShem (the Name) created Adam and Chavah. BUT, in the scriptures, Chavah (Eve) was created at some later date following the creation of Adam (the first Hebrew - not the first of mankind). Rosh haShanahstarts on the first day of Tishri and lasts two days which are the beginning of the Yamim Noraim, the ten days of atonement. BUT, in the scriptures, Yom Teruah lasts for only one day, and Yom Kippuris the only (solitary) day of atonement. According to the scriptures, there is NO special significance to the eight days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur.
Within the religion of Judaism, it is IMAGINED that on Rosh haShanah, all mankind is judged. That haShem (The God Of Abraham) writes the judgment for each person in the Book of Life. It is IMAGINED that this judgment is based on people's lives for the year before, and is the decision of what will happen to each person in the coming year. It is further IMAGINED that the judgment is not final. That the days between Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur give people a time to change the judgment for good. It is IMAGINEDthat each person is given the chance to improve their coming year through Teshuvah (asking forgiveness), Tefillah (prayer), and Tzedakah (charity). On Rosh haShanah it is customary to wish each other "L'Shanah Tovah Tikatevuh" - may you be written in for a good year. But, it is only IMAGINED that Rosh haShanah is not the end of the judgment, and it is further IMAGINED that only on Yom Kippur is that judgment is made final. These are ALL man-made practices, traditions and customs - but, they are NOTreflective of Yah's Words. These examples give cause to suspect that modern Orthodox rabbinical religious authorities have never even read their OWN scriptures because they give undue precedence to Rabbinical commentaries (Talmud, et al) while ignoring the Torah and the Tanakh.
So, how are the feasts contained in the 613 ordinances of the Torah to be kept? Are they to be observed by the legalistic tenets of the religion of Judaism? Or, should they be elevated to the higher level of Spirit Yahusha spoke of? I keep all the feasts - just not in the ritualistic manner to which most are accustomed. I worship the Father in Spirit and Truth - not substituting one for the other (John 4:23-24). He has become my Teruah because I am consistently listening for His trumpeting (voice); I don't live for a week out under the stars because Yah has become my Sukkot where I constantly abide; He is my Shavu'ot, daily filling me with His Spirit; He has become my Pesach (redemption); He is my Kippur(atonement); etc. So, while acknowledging these events by my elevation of them in Spirit in this generation (as with His Temple) and not abolishing them, I have found the ritualistic manner in which most celebrate the feasts to not be necessary.
Friday, September 15, 2023
INTRODUCTION: UNDERSTANDING YOUR POTENTIAL
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Introduction: Understanding Your Potential
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Introduction
The brilliant summer sun poured its liquid heat on the windswept island of the Caribbean paradise as the old village sculptor made his way to his humble home outside the village center. On his way he passed by the great white mansion of the plantation owner who, with his field workers, was felling one of the age-old trees that for genera- tions had provided protection from the scorching sun. The old sculp- tor suddenly stopped and, with a twinkle in his eyes, called over the wall with a note of interest, “What will you do with those discarded stumps of wood?”
The owner replied, “These are good for nothing but firewood. I have no use for this junk.”
The old sculptor begged for a piece of the “junk” wood and with care lifted the knotted tree trunk to his shoulders. With a smile of grat- itude, he staggered into the distance carrying his burdensome treasure.
After entering his cottage, the old man placed the jagged piece of tree in the center of the floor. Then, in a seemingly mysterious and cer- emonious manner, he walked around what the plantation owner had called “useless junk.” As the old man picked up his hammer and chis- el, a strange smile pierced his leathered face. Attacking the wood, he worked as though under a mandate to set something free from the gnarled, weathered trunk.
The following morning, the sun found the sculptor asleep on the floor of his cottage, clutching a beautifully sculptured bird. He had freed the bird from the bondage of the junk wood. Later he placed the bird on the railing of his front porch and forgot it.
Weeks later the plantation owner came by to visit. When he saw the bird, he asked to buy it—offering whatever price the sculptor might name. Satisfied that he had made an excellent bargain, the gentleman walked away, hugging to his breast with great pride the newly acquired treasure. The old sculptor, sitting on the steps of his simple cottage, counted his spoil and thought, “Junk is in the eyes of the beholder. Some look, but others see.”
Today there are many individuals whose lives are like the old tree. Trapped within them is a beautiful bird of potential that may never fly. Society, like the plantation owner, sees nothing in them but a useless, worthless person on his way to the garbage heap of life. But we must remember that one man’s junk is another man’s jewel.
Scientists in the field of human potential have estimated that we use as little as ten percent of our abilities. Ninety percent of our capa- bilities lie dormant and wasted. It is sad that we use only a small part of our abilities and talents. Most of us have no idea how much talent and potential we possess.
Consider the life of Abraham Lincoln. His story is one of the most dramatic examples of a man struggling to release the wealth of poten- tial locked up inside him:
He lost his job in 1832.
He was elected to the legislature in 1834.
He suffered the death of his sweetheart in 1834.
He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836.
He was defeated for speaker of the State Legislature in 1838.
He was defeated for nomination for Congress in 1843.
He was elected to Congress in 1846.
He was rejected for the position of land officer in 1849.
He was defeated for the Senate in 1854.
He was defeated for the nomination for vice president of the United States in 1856.
He again was defeated for the Senate in 1858.
He was elected president of the United States in 1860.
Everything in life was created with potential and possesses the potential principle. In every seed there is a tree...in every bird a flock...in every fish a school...in every sheep a flock... in every cow a herd...in every boy a man...in every girl a woman...in every nation a generation. Tragedy strikes when a tree dies in a seed, a man in a boy, a woman in a girl, an idea in a mind. For untold millions, visions die unseen, songs die unsung, plans die unexecuted and futures die buried in the past. The problems of our world go unanswered because poten- tial remains buried.
The Bible tells a story about talents and potential. The talents in the story are symbols of the vast store of abilities our Creator has planted within us. In the story, the master of the estate entrusts some of his wealth to three of his servants. The first man invests his talent and doubles the wealth the master had entrusted to his care. The second servant also doubles what the master had given him. With them the master is very pleased. Finally the master turns to the third servant and asks, “What have you done with your talent?”
The servant answered, “I was afraid to misuse the talent, so I care- fully hid it. Here it is. I am giving it back to you in the same condition that I received it.”
In fury the master rebuked his servant, “You wicked and lazy servant. How dare you not use the gifts I gave to you?”
The master then said, “Take my money from him and throw this useless fellow into the street.”
We are responsible for the potential stored within us. We must learn to understand it and effectively use it. Too often our successes prevent us from seeking that which yet lies within us. Success becomes our enemy as we settle for what we have. Refuse to be satisfied with your last accomplishment, because potential never has a retirement plan. Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. In essence, what you see is not all there is.
Today we are walking in: Introduction: Understanding Your Potential
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Introduction
The brilliant summer sun poured its liquid heat on the windswept island of the Caribbean paradise as the old village sculptor made his way to his humble home outside the village center. On his way he passed by the great white mansion of the plantation owner who, with his field workers, was felling one of the age-old trees that for genera- tions had provided protection from the scorching sun. The old sculp- tor suddenly stopped and, with a twinkle in his eyes, called over the wall with a note of interest, “What will you do with those discarded stumps of wood?”
The owner replied, “These are good for nothing but firewood. I have no use for this junk.”
The old sculptor begged for a piece of the “junk” wood and with care lifted the knotted tree trunk to his shoulders. With a smile of grat- itude, he staggered into the distance carrying his burdensome treasure.
After entering his cottage, the old man placed the jagged piece of tree in the center of the floor. Then, in a seemingly mysterious and cer- emonious manner, he walked around what the plantation owner had called “useless junk.” As the old man picked up his hammer and chis- el, a strange smile pierced his leathered face. Attacking the wood, he worked as though under a mandate to set something free from the gnarled, weathered trunk.
The following morning, the sun found the sculptor asleep on the floor of his cottage, clutching a beautifully sculptured bird. He had freed the bird from the bondage of the junk wood. Later he placed the bird on the railing of his front porch and forgot it.
Weeks later the plantation owner came by to visit. When he saw the bird, he asked to buy it—offering whatever price the sculptor might name. Satisfied that he had made an excellent bargain, the gentleman walked away, hugging to his breast with great pride the newly acquired treasure. The old sculptor, sitting on the steps of his simple cottage, counted his spoil and thought, “Junk is in the eyes of the beholder. Some look, but others see.”
Today there are many individuals whose lives are like the old tree. Trapped within them is a beautiful bird of potential that may never fly. Society, like the plantation owner, sees nothing in them but a useless, worthless person on his way to the garbage heap of life. But we must remember that one man’s junk is another man’s jewel.
Scientists in the field of human potential have estimated that we use as little as ten percent of our abilities. Ninety percent of our capa- bilities lie dormant and wasted. It is sad that we use only a small part of our abilities and talents. Most of us have no idea how much talent and potential we possess.
Consider the life of Abraham Lincoln. His story is one of the most dramatic examples of a man struggling to release the wealth of poten- tial locked up inside him:
He lost his job in 1832.
He was elected to the legislature in 1834.
He suffered the death of his sweetheart in 1834.
He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836.
He was defeated for speaker of the State Legislature in 1838.
He was defeated for nomination for Congress in 1843.
He was elected to Congress in 1846.
He was rejected for the position of land officer in 1849.
He was defeated for the Senate in 1854.
He was defeated for the nomination for vice president of the United States in 1856.
He again was defeated for the Senate in 1858.
He was elected president of the United States in 1860.
Everything in life was created with potential and possesses the potential principle. In every seed there is a tree...in every bird a flock...in every fish a school...in every sheep a flock... in every cow a herd...in every boy a man...in every girl a woman...in every nation a generation. Tragedy strikes when a tree dies in a seed, a man in a boy, a woman in a girl, an idea in a mind. For untold millions, visions die unseen, songs die unsung, plans die unexecuted and futures die buried in the past. The problems of our world go unanswered because poten- tial remains buried.
The Bible tells a story about talents and potential. The talents in the story are symbols of the vast store of abilities our Creator has planted within us. In the story, the master of the estate entrusts some of his wealth to three of his servants. The first man invests his talent and doubles the wealth the master had entrusted to his care. The second servant also doubles what the master had given him. With them the master is very pleased. Finally the master turns to the third servant and asks, “What have you done with your talent?”
The servant answered, “I was afraid to misuse the talent, so I care- fully hid it. Here it is. I am giving it back to you in the same condition that I received it.”
In fury the master rebuked his servant, “You wicked and lazy servant. How dare you not use the gifts I gave to you?”
The master then said, “Take my money from him and throw this useless fellow into the street.”
We are responsible for the potential stored within us. We must learn to understand it and effectively use it. Too often our successes prevent us from seeking that which yet lies within us. Success becomes our enemy as we settle for what we have. Refuse to be satisfied with your last accomplishment, because potential never has a retirement plan. Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. In essence, what you see is not all there is.
Thursday, September 14, 2023
PREFACE: UNDERSTANDING YOUR POTENTIAL
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Preface: Understanding Your Potential
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
UNDERSTANDING YOUR POTENTIAL
The wealthiest spot on this planet is not the oil fields of Kuwait, Iraq or Saudi Arabia. Neither is it the gold and diamond mines of South Africa, the uranium mines of the Soviet Union, or the silver mines of Africa. Though it may surprise you, the richest deposits on our planet lie just a few blocks from your house. They rest in your local cemetery or graveyard. Buried beneath the soil within the walls of those sacred grounds are dreams that never came to pass, songs that were never sung, books that were never written, paintings that never filled a canvas, ideas that were never shared, visions that never became reality, inventions that were never designed, plans that never went beyond the drawing board of the mind, and purposes that were never fulfilled. Our graveyards are filled with potential that remained potential. What a tragedy!
As I walk the streets of our cities, my heart frequently weeps as I encounter and observe the wasted, broken, disoriented lives of individ- uals who, years before, were talented, intelligent, aspiring high-school classmates. During their youth they had dreams, desires, plans and aspirations. Today they are lost in a maze of substance abuse, alco- holism, purposelessness and poorly chosen friends. Their lives are aimless, their decisions haphazard. This enormous tragedy saddens me. What could have been has become what should have been. The wealth of dreams has been dashed into the poverty of discouragement.
Only a minute percentage of the five billion people on this planet will experience a significant portion of their true potential. Are you a candidate for contributing to the wealth of the cemetery? Ask yourself the following questions.
Who am I?
Why am I here?
How much potential do I have?
What am I capable of doing?
By what criteria should I measure my ability? Who sets the standards?
By what process can I maximize my ability? What are my limitations?
Within the answers to these questions lies the key to a fulfilled, effective life.
One of the greatest tragedies in life is to watch potential die untapped. Many potentially great men and women never realize their potential because they do not understand the nature and concept of the potential principle. As Yah has revealed to me the nature of potential, I have received a burden to teach others what I have learned.
There’s a wealth of potential in you. I know, because Yah has shown me the vast store He placed in me. My purpose is to help you understand that potential and get it out. You must decide if you are going to rob the world or bless it with the rich, valuable, potent, untapped resources locked away within you.
You are more than what you have done.
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
RESPONDING TO RESPONSIBILITY
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Responding To Responsibility
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Responding to Responsibility
The greatest need of ability is responsibility.
One of the most beautiful sounds to ever enter the human ear is the first cry of a newborn baby—the sound of life! Millions of people over the years have experienced much joy, elation, celebration, and relief at this sound. Yet, a newborn’s cry also signals the arrival of responsibility. Not only do the parents have the responsibility for the new infant but the child himself becomes accountable for the awesome potential he possesses at birth.
Responsibility is defined as a state of being reliable, dependable, accountable, answerable, and trustworthy. Responsibility also involves entering into a contract or an obligation. All of these indicate the transfer of something valuable, with the implication that the receiver of the trust is to achieve some positive result. Responsibility also embraces self-reliance, effectiveness, faithfulness, and capability. In essence, responsibility is simply the ability to respond.
All human beings come to this world pregnant with potential. Each person, like a computer, has a tremendous capacity to compute, analyze, assimilate, compare, and produce. But this ability is useless until it is programmed and demands are made on it. Your potential, ability, and natural talent were given by Divine Providence for the purpose of preparing the next generation to fulfill its potential. No one comes to this earth empty. Everyone comes with something. Just like a seed has a forest within it, so you have much more than was evident at your birth.
Unlike the seed, however, you are not dependent on a farmer to plant and cultivate your potential. You are accountable for the time you spend on this planet. The responsibility for activating, releasing, and maximizing this hidden, dormant ability is yours alone. The fact that you were born is evidence that you possess something that can benefit the world. No matter what you have done or accomplished, there is still much more inside you that needs to be released. Only you can release it.
You are accountable for the time you spend on this planet.
I am convinced that life was designed to create environments that make demands on our potential. Without these demands our potential would lie dormant. This thought is reflected in the saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” How true! Most of us respond to life creatively and innovatively only when circumstances demand that response. The many technological, medical, and social breakthroughs that have been achieved because problems or circumstances demanded a response vividly illustrate this truth. The Book of Genesis also clearly reveals this principle in the account of man’s first encounter with creation in the Garden of Eden.
Man, as Yah first created him, was one hundred percent unreleased potential. He was an adult with full capabilities, talents, and gifts. His physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual powers were fully developed. But man’s powers and abilities were totally unused, untapped, unmanifested, unchallenged, and unemployed. The Creator’s plan for releasing this hidden ability is recorded in Genesis 2:15,19-20:
The Lord Yah took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.... Now the Lord Yah had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
Yah’s first action after creating this totally new man—a man with muscles that had never been exercised, a brain that had never been stimulated, emotions that had never been aroused, an imagination that had never been ignited, and creativity that had never been explored— was to give him assignments that placed demands on his hidden abilities. By giving Adam’s ability responsibility, Yah placed demands on Adam’s potential. In a similar manner, your potential is released when demands to fulfill an assignment in Yah’s greater purpose for your life are placed on you. This is why work is called employment—it employs your abilities for the purpose of manifesting your potential.
Yah’s command to work required Adam to use his physical potential. Likewise, Yah’s commands to cultivate the garden and to name the animals activated his intellectual, mental, and creative potential. The demands Yah makes on you accomplish the same thing in your life. The release of your potential demands that you accept the responsibility to work, because the greatest need of ability is responsibility. You will never know the extent of your potential until you give it something to do. The greatest tragedy in your life will not be your death, but what dies with you at death. What a shame to waste what Yah gave you to use.
You will never know the extent of your potential until you give it something to do.
DYING EMPTY
Have you ever noticed the deep peace and contentment that come over you when you fulfill a responsibility? Nothing is more rewarding and personally satisfying than the successful completion of an assigned task. The joy and elation that fill you at such times are the fruit of achievement. The experience of fulfillment is directly related to this principle of finishing.
An old Chinese proverb says: “The end of a thing is greater than its beginning.” In other words, finishing is more important than starting. The beginning of a task may bring a degree of anxiety and apprehension, but the completing of a task usually yields a sense of relief, joy, and fulfillment.
Finishing is more important than starting.
History is filled with great starters who died unfinished. In fact, the majority of the five billion human beings who inhabit the earth will die unfinished. What a tragedy! What counts is not how much a person starts, but how much he or she finishes. The race is not to the swift, but to him that endures to the end.
Yahusha finished His task on earth. The words He spoke on the crucifixion stake clearly indicate that He fulfilled an assignment, completed a task and satisfied a requirement. They resonate with a deep sense of peace. In fact, they confirm that He was not killed but simply died.
When He had received the drink, Yahusha said, “It is finished.” With that He bowed His head and gave up the His spirit (John 19:30).
Because He had released and maximized His potential to successfully fulfill the purpose for which Yah had sent Him into the world, Yahusha saw death not as something to be feared, but as the natural next step. In other words, Yahusha went to the grave empty.
This principle of finishing is also expressed very clearly by the apostle Paul in his second letter to Timothy:
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:6-7).
Paul faced death with complete confidence and peace because he knew that he had fulfilled Yah’s purpose for his life. When he spoke of being “poured out,” which suggests emptying some contents from oneself, he pointed to an accurate and important concept that must be understood by all who would release their potential.
You, like Paul and our Lord Yahusha Hamachiach, were born for a purpose. The ability to fulfill that purpose resides deep inside you screaming to be released. Perhaps you yearn to write books, compose songs, scribe poetry, obtain an academic degree, paint on canvas, play music, open a business, serve in a political, civic or spiritual organization, visit other countries, or develop an invention. Think how long you’ve carried your dream. Recall how many times you have postponed satisfying your desire. Count the many times you began to realize your goal only to quit.
Yah did not intend that the cemetery would be the resting place of your potential. The grave irresponsibility of taking your precious dreams, visions, ideas, and plans to the grave is not part of His design. You have a responsibility to release your potential. Join Yahusha, Paul, and many others who robbed death of the pleasure of aborting their potential. Remember, the wealth of the cemetery is the potential of the unfinished.
The wealth of the cemetery is the potential of the unfinished.
POTENTIAL AND THE NEXT GENERATION
Yah designed everything not only to reproduce itself but also to transfer and transmit its life and treasure to the next generation. Consider a seed. Every seed comes into this world to deliver a tree, which in turn delivers more seeds, which produce more trees, and on and on it goes. All aspects of creation possess this generational principle.
In the biblical record, Yah continually stresses the generational principle in all His dealings with man. He instructed Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. He told Abraham that his “seed” would be great and bless the earth. He advised Moses to teach the people to pass on every law and experience to their children and their children’s children. He also expressed it through Solomon in the words: “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children...” (Proverbs 13:22).
If all the seeds in the world withheld the potential of the trees within them, a natural tragedy would be the result. The bees would suffer, the birds would die, and the animals would starve to death. The genocide of man would also occur as oxygen disappeared from the atmosphere. All this would occur because one element in nature refused to fulfill the purpose for which it was created.
No man is born to live or die unto himself. Yah gave you the wealth of your potential—your abilities, gifts, talents, energies, creativity, ideas, aspirations, and desires—for the blessing of future generations. You bear the responsibility to activate, release, and deposit them. This generational principle of Yah, the Father of creation, is crucial to your full appreciation of the principle of potential. Tragedy strikes whenever a person fails to die empty.
No man is born to live or die unto himself.
I wonder how many hundreds of people—perhaps thousands or millions— were born or are yet to be born who need to benefit from the books you have neglected to write, the songs you have failed to compose, or the invention you have continued to postpone. Perhaps there are millions who need the ministry you have yet to begin or the business venture you have not yet started.
The next generation needs the treasure of your potential. Think of the many inventions, books, songs, works of art, and great accomplishments others in past generations have left for you. Even as their treasures have become your blessings, so your treasures must become your children’s unborn children’s blessings. You must not die unfinished and let the grave steal the gems of the future. Deliver your potential to inspire the children of our world to release theirs.
The next generation needs the treasure of your potential.
A WORD TO THE THIRD WORLD MIND
History reveals the truth that any people who are robbed by oppression, suppression, depression, and subjugation of the opportunity to activate, release, and maximize their potential suffer from the loss of generational thinking. Their oppression forces them to think in terms of self-preservation and personal security with little thought for posterity and the future. This mentality pervades many Third World nations today, manifesting itself in an attitude and a lifestyle that encourages immediate gratification at the expense of the future. This mindset ultimately leads to fear, distrust, suspicion, and resentment among members of the same ethnic community.
This lack of generational consciousness traps individuals in a cycle of self- maintenance and retards creativity, inspiration, and innovation. Consequently, the release of the tremendous abilities that lie within every individual is forfeited. Third World people everywhere must be delivered from this mentality. It is essential that they understand the responsibility they have to their children and their children’s children. Until a man can see beyond his own loins, the future is in danger.
The essence of potential is not preservation but liberation. Although we cannot change the past, we have the potential to chart our destiny and arrange a better future for our children. The opportunity to blame others for the past is often before us; but we can never transfer responsibility for the future to others. You and I have been given by Yah all that we need to fulfill His purpose for our lives. We possess the ability to impact our homes, our communities, our cities, our nations, and perhaps the world if we dare to challenge ourselves and place demands on the vast wealth of potential buried deep within us.
Decide today to do something with your dreams. Disappoint procrastination and commit yourself to releasing your potential. Stop wishing and start willing. Stop proposing and start purposing. Stop procrastinating and start planning. Determine to die empty and leave the earth an inheritance that gives life to others. Remember, few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed by perseverance.
PRINCIPLES
1. The fact that you were born is evidence that you possess something that can benefit the world.
2. Yah gave you potential for the blessing of future generations.
3. The greatest need of ability is responsibility.
4. Yah places demands on your potential by giving your ability responsibility.
5. Fulfillment is directly related to the successful completion of a task.
6. Yah has given you everything you need to fulfill His purpose for your life.
Today we are walking in: Responding To Responsibility
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Responding to Responsibility
The greatest need of ability is responsibility.
One of the most beautiful sounds to ever enter the human ear is the first cry of a newborn baby—the sound of life! Millions of people over the years have experienced much joy, elation, celebration, and relief at this sound. Yet, a newborn’s cry also signals the arrival of responsibility. Not only do the parents have the responsibility for the new infant but the child himself becomes accountable for the awesome potential he possesses at birth.
Responsibility is defined as a state of being reliable, dependable, accountable, answerable, and trustworthy. Responsibility also involves entering into a contract or an obligation. All of these indicate the transfer of something valuable, with the implication that the receiver of the trust is to achieve some positive result. Responsibility also embraces self-reliance, effectiveness, faithfulness, and capability. In essence, responsibility is simply the ability to respond.
All human beings come to this world pregnant with potential. Each person, like a computer, has a tremendous capacity to compute, analyze, assimilate, compare, and produce. But this ability is useless until it is programmed and demands are made on it. Your potential, ability, and natural talent were given by Divine Providence for the purpose of preparing the next generation to fulfill its potential. No one comes to this earth empty. Everyone comes with something. Just like a seed has a forest within it, so you have much more than was evident at your birth.
Unlike the seed, however, you are not dependent on a farmer to plant and cultivate your potential. You are accountable for the time you spend on this planet. The responsibility for activating, releasing, and maximizing this hidden, dormant ability is yours alone. The fact that you were born is evidence that you possess something that can benefit the world. No matter what you have done or accomplished, there is still much more inside you that needs to be released. Only you can release it.
You are accountable for the time you spend on this planet.
I am convinced that life was designed to create environments that make demands on our potential. Without these demands our potential would lie dormant. This thought is reflected in the saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” How true! Most of us respond to life creatively and innovatively only when circumstances demand that response. The many technological, medical, and social breakthroughs that have been achieved because problems or circumstances demanded a response vividly illustrate this truth. The Book of Genesis also clearly reveals this principle in the account of man’s first encounter with creation in the Garden of Eden.
Man, as Yah first created him, was one hundred percent unreleased potential. He was an adult with full capabilities, talents, and gifts. His physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual powers were fully developed. But man’s powers and abilities were totally unused, untapped, unmanifested, unchallenged, and unemployed. The Creator’s plan for releasing this hidden ability is recorded in Genesis 2:15,19-20:
The Lord Yah took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.... Now the Lord Yah had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
Yah’s first action after creating this totally new man—a man with muscles that had never been exercised, a brain that had never been stimulated, emotions that had never been aroused, an imagination that had never been ignited, and creativity that had never been explored— was to give him assignments that placed demands on his hidden abilities. By giving Adam’s ability responsibility, Yah placed demands on Adam’s potential. In a similar manner, your potential is released when demands to fulfill an assignment in Yah’s greater purpose for your life are placed on you. This is why work is called employment—it employs your abilities for the purpose of manifesting your potential.
Yah’s command to work required Adam to use his physical potential. Likewise, Yah’s commands to cultivate the garden and to name the animals activated his intellectual, mental, and creative potential. The demands Yah makes on you accomplish the same thing in your life. The release of your potential demands that you accept the responsibility to work, because the greatest need of ability is responsibility. You will never know the extent of your potential until you give it something to do. The greatest tragedy in your life will not be your death, but what dies with you at death. What a shame to waste what Yah gave you to use.
You will never know the extent of your potential until you give it something to do.
DYING EMPTY
Have you ever noticed the deep peace and contentment that come over you when you fulfill a responsibility? Nothing is more rewarding and personally satisfying than the successful completion of an assigned task. The joy and elation that fill you at such times are the fruit of achievement. The experience of fulfillment is directly related to this principle of finishing.
An old Chinese proverb says: “The end of a thing is greater than its beginning.” In other words, finishing is more important than starting. The beginning of a task may bring a degree of anxiety and apprehension, but the completing of a task usually yields a sense of relief, joy, and fulfillment.
Finishing is more important than starting.
History is filled with great starters who died unfinished. In fact, the majority of the five billion human beings who inhabit the earth will die unfinished. What a tragedy! What counts is not how much a person starts, but how much he or she finishes. The race is not to the swift, but to him that endures to the end.
Yahusha finished His task on earth. The words He spoke on the crucifixion stake clearly indicate that He fulfilled an assignment, completed a task and satisfied a requirement. They resonate with a deep sense of peace. In fact, they confirm that He was not killed but simply died.
When He had received the drink, Yahusha said, “It is finished.” With that He bowed His head and gave up the His spirit (John 19:30).
Because He had released and maximized His potential to successfully fulfill the purpose for which Yah had sent Him into the world, Yahusha saw death not as something to be feared, but as the natural next step. In other words, Yahusha went to the grave empty.
This principle of finishing is also expressed very clearly by the apostle Paul in his second letter to Timothy:
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:6-7).
Paul faced death with complete confidence and peace because he knew that he had fulfilled Yah’s purpose for his life. When he spoke of being “poured out,” which suggests emptying some contents from oneself, he pointed to an accurate and important concept that must be understood by all who would release their potential.
You, like Paul and our Lord Yahusha Hamachiach, were born for a purpose. The ability to fulfill that purpose resides deep inside you screaming to be released. Perhaps you yearn to write books, compose songs, scribe poetry, obtain an academic degree, paint on canvas, play music, open a business, serve in a political, civic or spiritual organization, visit other countries, or develop an invention. Think how long you’ve carried your dream. Recall how many times you have postponed satisfying your desire. Count the many times you began to realize your goal only to quit.
Yah did not intend that the cemetery would be the resting place of your potential. The grave irresponsibility of taking your precious dreams, visions, ideas, and plans to the grave is not part of His design. You have a responsibility to release your potential. Join Yahusha, Paul, and many others who robbed death of the pleasure of aborting their potential. Remember, the wealth of the cemetery is the potential of the unfinished.
The wealth of the cemetery is the potential of the unfinished.
POTENTIAL AND THE NEXT GENERATION
Yah designed everything not only to reproduce itself but also to transfer and transmit its life and treasure to the next generation. Consider a seed. Every seed comes into this world to deliver a tree, which in turn delivers more seeds, which produce more trees, and on and on it goes. All aspects of creation possess this generational principle.
In the biblical record, Yah continually stresses the generational principle in all His dealings with man. He instructed Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. He told Abraham that his “seed” would be great and bless the earth. He advised Moses to teach the people to pass on every law and experience to their children and their children’s children. He also expressed it through Solomon in the words: “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children...” (Proverbs 13:22).
If all the seeds in the world withheld the potential of the trees within them, a natural tragedy would be the result. The bees would suffer, the birds would die, and the animals would starve to death. The genocide of man would also occur as oxygen disappeared from the atmosphere. All this would occur because one element in nature refused to fulfill the purpose for which it was created.
No man is born to live or die unto himself. Yah gave you the wealth of your potential—your abilities, gifts, talents, energies, creativity, ideas, aspirations, and desires—for the blessing of future generations. You bear the responsibility to activate, release, and deposit them. This generational principle of Yah, the Father of creation, is crucial to your full appreciation of the principle of potential. Tragedy strikes whenever a person fails to die empty.
No man is born to live or die unto himself.
I wonder how many hundreds of people—perhaps thousands or millions— were born or are yet to be born who need to benefit from the books you have neglected to write, the songs you have failed to compose, or the invention you have continued to postpone. Perhaps there are millions who need the ministry you have yet to begin or the business venture you have not yet started.
The next generation needs the treasure of your potential. Think of the many inventions, books, songs, works of art, and great accomplishments others in past generations have left for you. Even as their treasures have become your blessings, so your treasures must become your children’s unborn children’s blessings. You must not die unfinished and let the grave steal the gems of the future. Deliver your potential to inspire the children of our world to release theirs.
The next generation needs the treasure of your potential.
A WORD TO THE THIRD WORLD MIND
History reveals the truth that any people who are robbed by oppression, suppression, depression, and subjugation of the opportunity to activate, release, and maximize their potential suffer from the loss of generational thinking. Their oppression forces them to think in terms of self-preservation and personal security with little thought for posterity and the future. This mentality pervades many Third World nations today, manifesting itself in an attitude and a lifestyle that encourages immediate gratification at the expense of the future. This mindset ultimately leads to fear, distrust, suspicion, and resentment among members of the same ethnic community.
This lack of generational consciousness traps individuals in a cycle of self- maintenance and retards creativity, inspiration, and innovation. Consequently, the release of the tremendous abilities that lie within every individual is forfeited. Third World people everywhere must be delivered from this mentality. It is essential that they understand the responsibility they have to their children and their children’s children. Until a man can see beyond his own loins, the future is in danger.
The essence of potential is not preservation but liberation. Although we cannot change the past, we have the potential to chart our destiny and arrange a better future for our children. The opportunity to blame others for the past is often before us; but we can never transfer responsibility for the future to others. You and I have been given by Yah all that we need to fulfill His purpose for our lives. We possess the ability to impact our homes, our communities, our cities, our nations, and perhaps the world if we dare to challenge ourselves and place demands on the vast wealth of potential buried deep within us.
Decide today to do something with your dreams. Disappoint procrastination and commit yourself to releasing your potential. Stop wishing and start willing. Stop proposing and start purposing. Stop procrastinating and start planning. Determine to die empty and leave the earth an inheritance that gives life to others. Remember, few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed by perseverance.
PRINCIPLES
1. The fact that you were born is evidence that you possess something that can benefit the world.
2. Yah gave you potential for the blessing of future generations.
3. The greatest need of ability is responsibility.
4. Yah places demands on your potential by giving your ability responsibility.
5. Fulfillment is directly related to the successful completion of a task.
6. Yah has given you everything you need to fulfill His purpose for your life.
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
UNDERSTANDING WORK
Exodus chapter 5
Today we are walking in: Understanding Work
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Understanding Work
Working for fulfillment is better than working for money. The purpose of a job is work, not money.
A study of history reveals that all great empires were built on the sweat and blood of a labor force, whether the energy of the workers was given voluntarily or through force. The civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Assyria were built on the backs of subjugated peoples. The United States was built on slavery. No matter how the workers are motivated, there must be work to achieve greatness.
The power of productivity is evident today in the influence of labor unions. Because unions control the workers, who control the productivity, they can cripple a country, destroy an economy and control a government. And once you control productivity, you control wealth.
Do you know how countries measure their strength and wealth? They measure it not by the money they have in their treasury, but by their GNP, which means Gross National Product. Thus, the relative strength or weakness of a country is measured by the level of employment and productivity. The power of productivity is work. You can’t run a country where the people aren’t working because you can’t force people to work. Governments can’t legislate obedience, nor can they force people to cooperate without question. Everybody has rights, a will and a conscience. Sooner or later, workers will rebel if they feel they are working for nothing. Out of sheer desperation they will try to control their own destiny. There’s power in work—much more power than churches, governments, or other social organizations have— because the workers control productivity and, therefore, the destiny of the nation.
The story of Moses and the Pharaoh of Egypt illustrates this truth. Pharaoh wasn’t threatened by the person of Moses, or even by the Yah of the Israelites. He was threatened by the loss of a major work force. Thus, when Moses proposed a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to Yah, the king of Egypt replied:
“Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!. Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.” That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks... They are lazy; that is why they are crying out,
‘Let us go and sacrifice to our Yah.’ Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies” (Exodus 5:4-9).
When people decide they aren’t going to work, the back of a nation is broken. We have seen this in the recent past as the former Soviet Union and other countries have changed dramatically through the power of the worker.
Thus, the demise of world-class companies is not the fault of the board or the president. The cause rests with the little guys who push wheels on a plane or weld car parts together. Our countries are falling apart because our people are refusing to work, and work well. We must change our attitudes toward work. Our only hope is to rediscover Yah’s definition of work and the benefits He intends work to bring to our lives.
Yah’S DEFINITION OF WORK
Our definition of work and Yah’s are very different. Work is not the same as a job. Work releases potential; a job provides a paycheck. While you may work at your job, work does not always result in a financial reward. Work arises out of a desire to contribute to the world’s wealth and well-being by giving of yourself. It moves beyond effort under the force of another and avoids the “I’m not going to work because you can’t make me work” mentality.
Work releases potential; a job provides a paycheck.
Frequently we make work overly sophisticated. We need to get labor back into work. We need to labor in the office, not just go to the office. Yah didn’t say, “Six days you shall go to your job,” but “six days you shall work.” Until we change our attitude toward work we will not obey this commandment.
Labor isn’t so much doing things as delivering hidden stuff. It’s delivering the babies you will die with if you don’t work them into sight. It doesn’t matter what kind of job you have, whether you are an executive, a salesman, a factory worker, or a housewife. Work as though your life depended on it, because it does.
Yahusha commanded us to pray for laborers. This term is also used to describe the process of a woman in childbearing. The process of delivering the pride and joy of a new baby—the hidden potential—involves conception, time, development, adjustments, labor, pain, and cooperation. All are necessary for the manifestion of a child. This process is the same for all humanity. Labor delivers!
Work is Yah’s way of revealing your talents, abilities, and capabilities. It helps you to discover the satisfaction of accomplishment and the results of perseverance. Without work you’ll never see the results of your potential. Without effort you’ll never feel the satisfaction of accomplishment.
WORK IS ACTIVATED STRENGTH AND ENERGY
Yahusha worked while He was on the earth. He gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. He caused the lame to walk and the leper to be clean. He preached the good news of Yah’s coming Kingdom and welcomed sinners into Yah’s family. Again and again He called on His strength and energy to meet the demands of lonely, harried, fearful, needy people. Had He chosen to withhold the potential He possessed to better the lives of those He met, His power would have remained hidden and His purpose would have been lost. But Yahusha knew that He had been sent to redeem a suffering, dying world. He accepted the task Yah gave Him and worked to change the course of history. Indeed, the results of His work were the clues Yahusha pointed to when He was questioned whether He was the One to be sent from Yah.
Yahusha said to them, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (John 5:17).
You have a similar responsibility to release the strength and energy Yah gave you for the good of the world. You can accomplish this through work. The Greek word ergon, which means “to activate,” is often translated work. From ergon comes our word “energy.” Thus, work is the activation of stored energy. If a car is parked, it is inoperative. But the minute you start the engine, the pistons begin working and the car has the power to move. Work is the Yah-given method that empowers you to operate. Through work you can do and become all that Yah intended for your life.
This concept of becoming is further clarified in another Greek word for work, energia, which means “to become.” No matter what Yah requires of you, if you don’t do it, you can’t become what He sees in you. Potential is the existence of possibilities. Work is the activation of possibilities. Potential without work remains potential—untapped, untouched, untested!
Yah created you to be a genius. He endowed you with enough thoughts, ideas and desires to fulfill every expectation He has for your life. But the presence of potential does not make you a genius. You are not born a genius. You become one by working to release what you have. Geniuses are people who work relentlessly to accomplish what they believe can be done. They try again and again until they receive in the physical what they see in their imaginations. They activate their hidden strength and energy to become what they are and to accomplish what they already possess. Geniuses use Yah’s gift of work to achieve what no one else has done. Yah planned for you to be a genius. Remember, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent perspiration.”
Potential is what you have. Work is what you do. What you do with what you have makes the difference between a life of strength and energy, and a life of weakness and defeat. Yah gives you work to activate your power. Through work you become what you are.
Through work you become what you are.
WORK IS BRINGING SOMETHING TO PASS
A fantasy is a dream without labor. It is also a vision without a mission. When Yah gives the potential for something, He also demands that it be worked out. The story of Abraham is a good example of this principle.
One day when Yah and Abraham were on top of a mountain, Yah told Abraham that He would give him everything as far as he could see to the north, south, east, and west. Then Yah told him to walk the length and breadth of the land to receive what he had been promised (Genesis 13:14-17). Along with the promise came the command to work. Before Abraham could take possession of his inheritance, he had to fight those who lived in the land. The promise would not be possession without effort.
The same is true for you. Every time Yah gives you a promise, He also gives you the command to work to receive what He has promised.
Yah doesn’t just deliver like Santa Claus. You have to fight to get what is yours. The potential to possess what Yah has given is within you, but you will not obtain the promise until you put forth the effort to claim it.
So if you need money to pay your bills, don’t wait for someone to drop the dollars into your hand. Get up and take the job Yah sends.
Every job, no matter how much you dislike it, is working for you. If you can educate yourself to work no matter what the conditions are, you will learn discipline, because the work is more important than the conditions. Work is also more important than the job. If a child always gets what he wants, he learns to expect his wants to be met without any effort on his part. Our world is full of adults who act like spoiled children. They never learned the value of work.
We do well when we learn the lesson early in life that Yah requires us to work for what we want. One of the greatest things parents can do for their children is to demand that they learn the responsibility of work at an early age. If your child has to work for his spending money, he will soon learn that he can’t get something for nothing. Work brings potential to pass. Without work, all you have is potential.
WORK IS USING YOUR ABILITIES AND FACULTIES TO DO OR PERFORM SOMETHING
When Yah wanted a place to live, He could have created a magnificent dwelling by speaking it into place. But He chose to have man build the house for Him. Thus, Yah instructed Moses to gather offerings for the Tabernacle and to employ skilled craftsmen to create its various parts. After Moses had collected the materials and the workers, the work began. Silversmiths, goldsmiths, carpenters, glass cutters, weavers, embroiderers, and gem cutters all contributed their skills until the dwelling place of Yah was completed. Then the Lord, through His presence in the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, entered and filled the Tabernacle they had prepared.
Yah has given you a wealth of skills, talents, and abilities. Work is the means to discovering those resources. Persistent, consistent effort polishes the gems within you, making your life a suitable dwelling place for our holy Yah. It activates your potential and enables you to share your expertise and proficiency. The release of your gifts will benefit the world for generations to come.
WORK IS THE MEANS TO PRODUCE A DESIRED RESULT
When the Israelites returned from exile in Babylon, Nehemiah, the governor of Jerusalem, led the people in repairing the walls of the city. Because he had a burden to repair the gates destroyed by fire and to rebuild the
buildings that lay in rubble, he toured the ruins and asked the officials of Jerusalem to work with him. When scoffers ridiculed them, Nehemiah replied, “The Yah of heaven will give us success” (Nehemiah 2:20). He believed that the dream was from Yah and, therefore, trusted Him for the attainment of his goal. His efforts were aided by those who “worked with all their heart” (Nehemiah 4:6). Time and again Yah frustrated the plots of those who would have threatened Nehemiah’s dream, thus proving that He will fight for those who undertake to fulfill His purposes.
Work coupled with a mind to do what Yah desired brought victory for the Israelites who were committed to the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. Committed work toward a desired result is also a key to your success.
POTENTIAL AND THE BENEFITS OF WORK
Work provides the means through which the knowledge you gained through the study of the other keys can be activated. It takes you from knowing that you must live by faith to acting on what you know. The same is true for your, purpose, resources, and environment.
Knowledge is not profitable until it is translated into action. Work is the translator Yah has provided.
WORK GIVES FLESH TO FAITH
Yah has given you many dreams. He’s planted seeds in your imagination and supplied you with goals you’d like to meet. Indeed, you may be pregnant with answers to some of the world’s great problems. If you are going to realize those dreams, you’d better be ready to work. Until you start working, your power to benefit mankind will remain untapped.
Until you start working, your power to benefit mankind will remain untapped.
A fantasy is a dream without work. It is also a vision without a mission. You can have all the vision you want, but until you get a mission, your vision will be no more than a wishful thought. I love missionaries because they are willing to take the vision and make it a reality. Visionaries, on the other hand, disturb me because they are not willing to put forth the effort to accomplish their dreams. If you don’t work, you are fantasizing. You are wasting your time on worthless ideas. Work is the means to make what you see into what you receive. Visionaries must become missionaries to be effective and successful.
WORK PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITIES TO FULFILL PURPOSE
Work is part of your design. If you’re not working, you’re not fulfilling your purpose. Most of the people who are burdens on society— those who are on welfare or receive some other social services—are not part of the work force. The food stamps, medical assistance, and rent assistance they receive come from the pockets of those who work and pay taxes. Thus, everyone who asks the government to pay their bills is living out of your pocket if you are working. Those who live on welfare are deficits to the country.
In Yah’s system, everyone needs to work. You need to work. Your ability to dominate and subdue the earth is related to the effort you put forth to accomplish the tasks Yah gives you. If you refuse to work, your potential to express Yah’s image and to bear fruit are sealed inside you, dormant and useless. Without labor there is no fruit, and the blessings Yah wants to give you are forfeited. Your refusal to work destroys the possibilities you possess to cooperate with Yah’s work of creation.
WORK EXPANDS YOUR RESOURCES
It’s not how many resources you have but how much work you generate with those resources that will control your poverty or wealth. Potential without work is poverty because your willingness to work is the key to the realization of your potential. The real question isn’t how much potential you have but how much potential you will work to show. Everybody has potential—which is dormant ability, hidden strength, untapped strength and unused resources—but not everybody works to release what they have.
Work is crucial to the care and multiplication of your resources. If you are faithful over little, Yah will make you ruler over much. But He can only give as much as you are willing to accept. Faithfulness over little things brings larger responsibilities and more work, which brings more resources and larger responsibilities and so on. Well done is always better than well said. Work is the means to multiply what Yah has already entrusted into your care, be it great or small.
WORK RELEASES AND MAINTAINS YOUR ENVIRONMENT
People tend to gravitate to those who think and act like they do. This is certainly true of those who avoid work. Lazy people don’t like to be in the company of diligent people because their nonproductivity is readily visible.
Thus, work is the key to establishing a positive environment. Your devotion and persistence in accomplishing the tasks of job, ministry, family, etc. will attract the company of others who like to work. Likewise, idleness will draw to your side people who are not interested in working. If you choose to be lazy, the penalties of laziness will overcome you as you become ensnared by a crowd that scorns effort and diligence. The very environment that snuffed out your desire to work in the first place will continue to stunt your development. Devote yourself to work and avoid all who do not share your devotion. The company you share will soon reflect and encourage your desire to work.
HOW TO WORK OUT YOUR POTENTIAL
Are you hungry to accomplish something? Are you so committed to a vision that you will do anything to see that vision come to life? Then make plans and follow them.
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty (Proverbs 21:5).
There’s a difference between plans and haste. Haste is trying to get something for nothing. Haste leads to poverty. But the hard worker make plans and expends the effort to see those plans pay off.
Do you want to be a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, a carpenter, a policeman, a minister, a secretary, an accountant, or a politician? Put some work behind that dream. Burn the midnight oil and study. Make the acquaintance of a person who is working in your chosen field and work with him to learn the trade, business, or profession. The completion of your plans is related to your willingness to work, as is your prosperity. Likewise, the release of your potential is dependent upon your expenditure of the necessary effort to change your thoughts into visible realities. Work of your own intiative. Don’t wait for life to force you to work.
Work is the key to your personal progress, productivity, and fulfillment. Without work you can accomplish nothing.
Yah assigns you work so you can release your possibilities and abilities by putting forth the effort to accomplish each task. A pessimistic attitude toward work breeds dissatisfaction and unhappiness. A healthy perspective builds self-esteem and nurtures a positive, confident outlook on life. The responsibilities Yah gives you are presented to provoke your potential and to challenge you to try new things. Until you stop being a relucant worker, you will miss the vitality and meaning that Yah intended work to bring to your life.
Work is the key to your personal progress, productivity, and fulfillment.
Accept today Yah’s gracious gift of work. Refuse to allow a pessimistic attitude toward work to rob you of your potential. Then look forward to the joy of accomplishment and the delight of discovering all Yah put in you for the world. You will truly find that work is a blessing.
PRINCIPLES
1. The achievement of greatness requires work.
2. Labor delivers your potential.
3. Work is... activated strength and energy, the effort required to bring something to pass, the use of your abilities and faculties to do or perform something, and the means to produce a desired result.
4. Faith without work is unproductive.
5. Yah designed you to fulfill your purpose by working.
6. Work multiplies your resources, be they large or small.
7. Idleness invites the company of lazy people.
8. The release of your potential is dependent upon your expenditure of the necessary effort to change your thoughts into visible realities.
Today we are walking in: Understanding Work
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Understanding Work
Working for fulfillment is better than working for money. The purpose of a job is work, not money.
A study of history reveals that all great empires were built on the sweat and blood of a labor force, whether the energy of the workers was given voluntarily or through force. The civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Assyria were built on the backs of subjugated peoples. The United States was built on slavery. No matter how the workers are motivated, there must be work to achieve greatness.
The power of productivity is evident today in the influence of labor unions. Because unions control the workers, who control the productivity, they can cripple a country, destroy an economy and control a government. And once you control productivity, you control wealth.
Do you know how countries measure their strength and wealth? They measure it not by the money they have in their treasury, but by their GNP, which means Gross National Product. Thus, the relative strength or weakness of a country is measured by the level of employment and productivity. The power of productivity is work. You can’t run a country where the people aren’t working because you can’t force people to work. Governments can’t legislate obedience, nor can they force people to cooperate without question. Everybody has rights, a will and a conscience. Sooner or later, workers will rebel if they feel they are working for nothing. Out of sheer desperation they will try to control their own destiny. There’s power in work—much more power than churches, governments, or other social organizations have— because the workers control productivity and, therefore, the destiny of the nation.
The story of Moses and the Pharaoh of Egypt illustrates this truth. Pharaoh wasn’t threatened by the person of Moses, or even by the Yah of the Israelites. He was threatened by the loss of a major work force. Thus, when Moses proposed a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to Yah, the king of Egypt replied:
“Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!. Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.” That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks... They are lazy; that is why they are crying out,
‘Let us go and sacrifice to our Yah.’ Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies” (Exodus 5:4-9).
When people decide they aren’t going to work, the back of a nation is broken. We have seen this in the recent past as the former Soviet Union and other countries have changed dramatically through the power of the worker.
Thus, the demise of world-class companies is not the fault of the board or the president. The cause rests with the little guys who push wheels on a plane or weld car parts together. Our countries are falling apart because our people are refusing to work, and work well. We must change our attitudes toward work. Our only hope is to rediscover Yah’s definition of work and the benefits He intends work to bring to our lives.
Yah’S DEFINITION OF WORK
Our definition of work and Yah’s are very different. Work is not the same as a job. Work releases potential; a job provides a paycheck. While you may work at your job, work does not always result in a financial reward. Work arises out of a desire to contribute to the world’s wealth and well-being by giving of yourself. It moves beyond effort under the force of another and avoids the “I’m not going to work because you can’t make me work” mentality.
Work releases potential; a job provides a paycheck.
Frequently we make work overly sophisticated. We need to get labor back into work. We need to labor in the office, not just go to the office. Yah didn’t say, “Six days you shall go to your job,” but “six days you shall work.” Until we change our attitude toward work we will not obey this commandment.
Labor isn’t so much doing things as delivering hidden stuff. It’s delivering the babies you will die with if you don’t work them into sight. It doesn’t matter what kind of job you have, whether you are an executive, a salesman, a factory worker, or a housewife. Work as though your life depended on it, because it does.
Yahusha commanded us to pray for laborers. This term is also used to describe the process of a woman in childbearing. The process of delivering the pride and joy of a new baby—the hidden potential—involves conception, time, development, adjustments, labor, pain, and cooperation. All are necessary for the manifestion of a child. This process is the same for all humanity. Labor delivers!
Work is Yah’s way of revealing your talents, abilities, and capabilities. It helps you to discover the satisfaction of accomplishment and the results of perseverance. Without work you’ll never see the results of your potential. Without effort you’ll never feel the satisfaction of accomplishment.
WORK IS ACTIVATED STRENGTH AND ENERGY
Yahusha worked while He was on the earth. He gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. He caused the lame to walk and the leper to be clean. He preached the good news of Yah’s coming Kingdom and welcomed sinners into Yah’s family. Again and again He called on His strength and energy to meet the demands of lonely, harried, fearful, needy people. Had He chosen to withhold the potential He possessed to better the lives of those He met, His power would have remained hidden and His purpose would have been lost. But Yahusha knew that He had been sent to redeem a suffering, dying world. He accepted the task Yah gave Him and worked to change the course of history. Indeed, the results of His work were the clues Yahusha pointed to when He was questioned whether He was the One to be sent from Yah.
Yahusha said to them, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (John 5:17).
You have a similar responsibility to release the strength and energy Yah gave you for the good of the world. You can accomplish this through work. The Greek word ergon, which means “to activate,” is often translated work. From ergon comes our word “energy.” Thus, work is the activation of stored energy. If a car is parked, it is inoperative. But the minute you start the engine, the pistons begin working and the car has the power to move. Work is the Yah-given method that empowers you to operate. Through work you can do and become all that Yah intended for your life.
This concept of becoming is further clarified in another Greek word for work, energia, which means “to become.” No matter what Yah requires of you, if you don’t do it, you can’t become what He sees in you. Potential is the existence of possibilities. Work is the activation of possibilities. Potential without work remains potential—untapped, untouched, untested!
Yah created you to be a genius. He endowed you with enough thoughts, ideas and desires to fulfill every expectation He has for your life. But the presence of potential does not make you a genius. You are not born a genius. You become one by working to release what you have. Geniuses are people who work relentlessly to accomplish what they believe can be done. They try again and again until they receive in the physical what they see in their imaginations. They activate their hidden strength and energy to become what they are and to accomplish what they already possess. Geniuses use Yah’s gift of work to achieve what no one else has done. Yah planned for you to be a genius. Remember, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent perspiration.”
Potential is what you have. Work is what you do. What you do with what you have makes the difference between a life of strength and energy, and a life of weakness and defeat. Yah gives you work to activate your power. Through work you become what you are.
Through work you become what you are.
WORK IS BRINGING SOMETHING TO PASS
A fantasy is a dream without labor. It is also a vision without a mission. When Yah gives the potential for something, He also demands that it be worked out. The story of Abraham is a good example of this principle.
One day when Yah and Abraham were on top of a mountain, Yah told Abraham that He would give him everything as far as he could see to the north, south, east, and west. Then Yah told him to walk the length and breadth of the land to receive what he had been promised (Genesis 13:14-17). Along with the promise came the command to work. Before Abraham could take possession of his inheritance, he had to fight those who lived in the land. The promise would not be possession without effort.
The same is true for you. Every time Yah gives you a promise, He also gives you the command to work to receive what He has promised.
Yah doesn’t just deliver like Santa Claus. You have to fight to get what is yours. The potential to possess what Yah has given is within you, but you will not obtain the promise until you put forth the effort to claim it.
So if you need money to pay your bills, don’t wait for someone to drop the dollars into your hand. Get up and take the job Yah sends.
Every job, no matter how much you dislike it, is working for you. If you can educate yourself to work no matter what the conditions are, you will learn discipline, because the work is more important than the conditions. Work is also more important than the job. If a child always gets what he wants, he learns to expect his wants to be met without any effort on his part. Our world is full of adults who act like spoiled children. They never learned the value of work.
We do well when we learn the lesson early in life that Yah requires us to work for what we want. One of the greatest things parents can do for their children is to demand that they learn the responsibility of work at an early age. If your child has to work for his spending money, he will soon learn that he can’t get something for nothing. Work brings potential to pass. Without work, all you have is potential.
WORK IS USING YOUR ABILITIES AND FACULTIES TO DO OR PERFORM SOMETHING
When Yah wanted a place to live, He could have created a magnificent dwelling by speaking it into place. But He chose to have man build the house for Him. Thus, Yah instructed Moses to gather offerings for the Tabernacle and to employ skilled craftsmen to create its various parts. After Moses had collected the materials and the workers, the work began. Silversmiths, goldsmiths, carpenters, glass cutters, weavers, embroiderers, and gem cutters all contributed their skills until the dwelling place of Yah was completed. Then the Lord, through His presence in the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, entered and filled the Tabernacle they had prepared.
Yah has given you a wealth of skills, talents, and abilities. Work is the means to discovering those resources. Persistent, consistent effort polishes the gems within you, making your life a suitable dwelling place for our holy Yah. It activates your potential and enables you to share your expertise and proficiency. The release of your gifts will benefit the world for generations to come.
WORK IS THE MEANS TO PRODUCE A DESIRED RESULT
When the Israelites returned from exile in Babylon, Nehemiah, the governor of Jerusalem, led the people in repairing the walls of the city. Because he had a burden to repair the gates destroyed by fire and to rebuild the
buildings that lay in rubble, he toured the ruins and asked the officials of Jerusalem to work with him. When scoffers ridiculed them, Nehemiah replied, “The Yah of heaven will give us success” (Nehemiah 2:20). He believed that the dream was from Yah and, therefore, trusted Him for the attainment of his goal. His efforts were aided by those who “worked with all their heart” (Nehemiah 4:6). Time and again Yah frustrated the plots of those who would have threatened Nehemiah’s dream, thus proving that He will fight for those who undertake to fulfill His purposes.
Work coupled with a mind to do what Yah desired brought victory for the Israelites who were committed to the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. Committed work toward a desired result is also a key to your success.
POTENTIAL AND THE BENEFITS OF WORK
Work provides the means through which the knowledge you gained through the study of the other keys can be activated. It takes you from knowing that you must live by faith to acting on what you know. The same is true for your, purpose, resources, and environment.
Knowledge is not profitable until it is translated into action. Work is the translator Yah has provided.
WORK GIVES FLESH TO FAITH
Yah has given you many dreams. He’s planted seeds in your imagination and supplied you with goals you’d like to meet. Indeed, you may be pregnant with answers to some of the world’s great problems. If you are going to realize those dreams, you’d better be ready to work. Until you start working, your power to benefit mankind will remain untapped.
Until you start working, your power to benefit mankind will remain untapped.
A fantasy is a dream without work. It is also a vision without a mission. You can have all the vision you want, but until you get a mission, your vision will be no more than a wishful thought. I love missionaries because they are willing to take the vision and make it a reality. Visionaries, on the other hand, disturb me because they are not willing to put forth the effort to accomplish their dreams. If you don’t work, you are fantasizing. You are wasting your time on worthless ideas. Work is the means to make what you see into what you receive. Visionaries must become missionaries to be effective and successful.
WORK PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITIES TO FULFILL PURPOSE
Work is part of your design. If you’re not working, you’re not fulfilling your purpose. Most of the people who are burdens on society— those who are on welfare or receive some other social services—are not part of the work force. The food stamps, medical assistance, and rent assistance they receive come from the pockets of those who work and pay taxes. Thus, everyone who asks the government to pay their bills is living out of your pocket if you are working. Those who live on welfare are deficits to the country.
In Yah’s system, everyone needs to work. You need to work. Your ability to dominate and subdue the earth is related to the effort you put forth to accomplish the tasks Yah gives you. If you refuse to work, your potential to express Yah’s image and to bear fruit are sealed inside you, dormant and useless. Without labor there is no fruit, and the blessings Yah wants to give you are forfeited. Your refusal to work destroys the possibilities you possess to cooperate with Yah’s work of creation.
WORK EXPANDS YOUR RESOURCES
It’s not how many resources you have but how much work you generate with those resources that will control your poverty or wealth. Potential without work is poverty because your willingness to work is the key to the realization of your potential. The real question isn’t how much potential you have but how much potential you will work to show. Everybody has potential—which is dormant ability, hidden strength, untapped strength and unused resources—but not everybody works to release what they have.
Work is crucial to the care and multiplication of your resources. If you are faithful over little, Yah will make you ruler over much. But He can only give as much as you are willing to accept. Faithfulness over little things brings larger responsibilities and more work, which brings more resources and larger responsibilities and so on. Well done is always better than well said. Work is the means to multiply what Yah has already entrusted into your care, be it great or small.
WORK RELEASES AND MAINTAINS YOUR ENVIRONMENT
People tend to gravitate to those who think and act like they do. This is certainly true of those who avoid work. Lazy people don’t like to be in the company of diligent people because their nonproductivity is readily visible.
Thus, work is the key to establishing a positive environment. Your devotion and persistence in accomplishing the tasks of job, ministry, family, etc. will attract the company of others who like to work. Likewise, idleness will draw to your side people who are not interested in working. If you choose to be lazy, the penalties of laziness will overcome you as you become ensnared by a crowd that scorns effort and diligence. The very environment that snuffed out your desire to work in the first place will continue to stunt your development. Devote yourself to work and avoid all who do not share your devotion. The company you share will soon reflect and encourage your desire to work.
HOW TO WORK OUT YOUR POTENTIAL
Are you hungry to accomplish something? Are you so committed to a vision that you will do anything to see that vision come to life? Then make plans and follow them.
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty (Proverbs 21:5).
There’s a difference between plans and haste. Haste is trying to get something for nothing. Haste leads to poverty. But the hard worker make plans and expends the effort to see those plans pay off.
Do you want to be a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, a carpenter, a policeman, a minister, a secretary, an accountant, or a politician? Put some work behind that dream. Burn the midnight oil and study. Make the acquaintance of a person who is working in your chosen field and work with him to learn the trade, business, or profession. The completion of your plans is related to your willingness to work, as is your prosperity. Likewise, the release of your potential is dependent upon your expenditure of the necessary effort to change your thoughts into visible realities. Work of your own intiative. Don’t wait for life to force you to work.
Work is the key to your personal progress, productivity, and fulfillment. Without work you can accomplish nothing.
Yah assigns you work so you can release your possibilities and abilities by putting forth the effort to accomplish each task. A pessimistic attitude toward work breeds dissatisfaction and unhappiness. A healthy perspective builds self-esteem and nurtures a positive, confident outlook on life. The responsibilities Yah gives you are presented to provoke your potential and to challenge you to try new things. Until you stop being a relucant worker, you will miss the vitality and meaning that Yah intended work to bring to your life.
Work is the key to your personal progress, productivity, and fulfillment.
Accept today Yah’s gracious gift of work. Refuse to allow a pessimistic attitude toward work to rob you of your potential. Then look forward to the joy of accomplishment and the delight of discovering all Yah put in you for the world. You will truly find that work is a blessing.
PRINCIPLES
1. The achievement of greatness requires work.
2. Labor delivers your potential.
3. Work is... activated strength and energy, the effort required to bring something to pass, the use of your abilities and faculties to do or perform something, and the means to produce a desired result.
4. Faith without work is unproductive.
5. Yah designed you to fulfill your purpose by working.
6. Work multiplies your resources, be they large or small.
7. Idleness invites the company of lazy people.
8. The release of your potential is dependent upon your expenditure of the necessary effort to change your thoughts into visible realities.
Monday, September 11, 2023
Matthew chapter 9
Today we are walking in: Potential and Priority Of Work
Job 34:16
If now thou hast understanding, hear H8085 this: hearken to the voice of my words.
UNDERSTAND
Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9
Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Potential and the Priority of Work
Potential is never realized without work.
Have you ever noticed who Yah uses? Yah uses busy people. Truly Yah loves busy people because their busyness shows that they are willing to work. Yahusha’ preference for busy people is evident in His choice of four fishermen who were preparing their nets, to be His first followers.
The priority Yahusha put on work is also evident later in His ministry as He went through the towns and villages of Galilee and Judea, teaching in the synagogues and healing the sick. He saw there many people who were so helpless and harassed that He likened them to sheep without a shepherd. With compassion, He instructed His disciples to pray for workers to meet their needs:
Then [Yahusha] said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers [laborers] are few. Ask the Most High of the harvest, therefore, to send workers [laborers] into His harvest field” (Matthew 9:37-38).
Yahusha needed workers. He needed people who would give their best to bring others into the Kingdom of Yah. He told His disciples to pray that Yah would send somebody to work.
Yah hasn’t changed. Work is still a priority for Him. Nor have the needs of our world changed. Helpless, harassed people still need what Yah stored in us for them.
But we don’t appreciate Yah’s ways. We want results without the process. We seek promotion without responsibility. We desire pay without work. You will not participate in the creative power of the One who says, “I’ve given you the ability to produce. Now work to see what you can do” until you cease to be a reluctant worker. You must stop refusing to work, unless someone is standing over you, giving you the work, and making sure that you do it. When Yah commanded Adam to work in the garden, there was no supervisor, manager, or time clock to motivate Adam or to force him to work.
Yah expects us to understand our natural need to work. The world at large, must recover Yah’s principle of work because there can be no greatness without work. We must accept the truth that we need to work because Yah worked and He created us to work.
YAH WORKED
Yah set the priority of work when He called the invisible world into view.
Before there was anything, there was Yah. Everything we now see existed first in Yah, but it was invisible. If Yah had done nothing to get started, the world we know would not exist. The universe would have stayed inside Him. But Yah chose to deliver His babies by working. He took His potential and, through effort, changed it from potential to experience.
Yah’s efforts in making the world are noteworthy. He determined the number of stars and called them by name (see Psalm 147:4). He covered the sky with clouds, supplied the earth with rain, and made grass to grow on the hills (see Psalm 147:8). He formed the mountains by His power see (see Psalm 65:6) and set the foundations of the earth (see Psalm 104:4). The moon marks the seasons by His decree and the sun sets at the appointed time (see Psalm 104:19). So vast and marvelous are Yah’s works in creation that He pronounced them good when He stopped and looked at what He had made. He savored the joy of seeing the wondrous beauty He had brought forth.
Yah saw all that He had made, and it was very good... Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day Yah had finished the work He had been doing (Genesis 1:31;2:2a).
Yah didn’t create the world by dreaming, wishing, or imagining. He created it by working. Indeed, Yah worked so hard that He had to rest.
So on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And Yah blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done (Genesis 2:2b-3).
Rest is needed after a long, laborious experience, not a tiny task that requires little effort. Yah’s effort in creation was so extensive that He rested.
Too often we think that coming back to Yah means we don’t have to work anymore. How wrong we are! Yah loves to work. He delights in pulling new things from His Omnipotent Self. He also requires you to work.
Yah CREATED YOU TO WORK
After Yah finished creating the world and planting and organizing the garden, He put Adam in the garden and gave him work to do. Indeed, Yah had work on His mind before He even created human beings.
When the Most High Yah made the earth and the heavens—and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Most High Yah had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground—the Most High Yah formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Genesis 2:4b-7).
When Yah created Adam, He gave him dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the living creatures that move on the ground. Although we understand dominion to be sitting on a throne while others obey our every command, that is not Yah’s intent. Yah equates dominion with work. Every assignment Yah gave Adam required work. The care and protection of the garden required work. The naming of the animals required work. The subduing of the earth required work. Work was an essential part of Adam’s life.
The same is true for you. Yah created you to work. He didn’t create you to rest or retire or go on vacation. He didn’t create you to punch a time card or to stand under the eagle eye of a boss or supervisor. He gave you birth to experience fulfillment by completing tasks through effort.
Yah gave you birth to experience fulfillment by completing tasks through effort.
Work is a gift from Yah. Every assignment Yah has ever given required work. Noah worked to build the ark (see Genesis 6). Joseph worked to provide for the Egyptians during a seven-year famine (see Genesis 41:41ff). Solomon worked to build the Temple (see 2 Chronicles 2-4). As each accomplished what Yah asked of him, he fulfilled Yah’s purpose for his life. His willingness to do the work Yah gave him blessed himself and others. Through work these people and many others have met the various responsibilities of their lives.
YOU NEED TO WORK
Work is honorable. Yah designed you to meet the needs of your life through work. When you refuse to work, you deny yourself the opportunity to fulfill your purpose, because Yah created you to act like He acts, and Yah worked. The release of your potential demands that you admit that you need work.
Work Profits the Worker
All hard work brings a profit... (Proverbs 14:23).
The plans of the diligent lead to profit... (Proverbs 21:5).
..by providing for physical needs.
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands.so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).
Work profits the worker by allowing him to meet his financial responsibilities. The apostle Paul provided for his own needs by making tents (see 1 Thessalonians 2:6-9). He did not rely on the provisions of others, but whenever possible, worked for his living.
The same is required of you. Don’t become a burden on others. Work to provide for yourself and your family. Settle down and get a job. Put your roots down and do not allow yourself to be easily deterred from your responsibilities.
Yah gave you work to earn the bread you eat.
..by revealing potential.
Yah also ordained that work would show you your potential. Although all work brings profit, the reward is not always a financial one. You may feel like you are working hard but you’re not getting paid what you are worth. Keep working so you can reap the profits of your work. Yah does not lie. Even if no one ever pays you, your work profits you because you discover what you can do. It is better to deserve an honor and not receive it than to receive an honor and not deserve it.
...by unveiling the blessings of work.
Work is much more important than honor because it brings the learning that releases your talents, abilities, and capabilities. It is also more valuable than a paycheck. When you stop working for money, you’ll discover the blessing of work.
The laborer’s appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on (Proverbs 16:26).
...by giving the opportunity to rejoice in achievement.
A commitment to work will also permit you to develop a perspective that rejoices in achievement more than pay. Then you can find happiness in your work even when the pay is less than what you expect or deserve. Administrators give those who are busy more to do because they know the busy people are willing to work. If you want to be promoted, get busy. Become productive. Refuse to live for coffee breaks, lunch hours, and quitting time. Take your tasks and do them well. When you work, work because you want to know what you can do, not because you are trying to get paid. You may not be noticed immediately, but your promotion will come. Excellent work always profits the worker.
...by building self-esteem.
Finally, work profits you by enhancing your self-esteem. If you feel worthless, find some work. Get busy. When you have something to do, your ability to feel good about yourself can change overnight. As you take the opportunity to focus on the results of your labor instead of the losses in your life that tempt you to feel unloveable and incapable, your estimation of yourself will grow. Work keeps you healthy, physically and emotionally.
Work Blesses Others
Share with Yah’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality (Romans 12:13).
Work affords the opportunity to help others. Indeed, the Gospel of Matthew records a parable in which our willingness to help meet the needs of others is the basis on which our faithfulness or unfaithfulness to Hamachiach is judged (see Matthew 25:31-46). The apostle Paul notes the benefits of sharing when he commends the Corinthian church for their willingness to help those in need (see 2 Corinthians 8-9). He advises them to give generously, not grudgingly, with the promise that what they give and more will be returned to them:
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for Yah loves a cheerful giver.. Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion... (2 Corinthians 9:6-7,10-11a).
SO WHO’S STEALING?
If I were to ask you to describe a thief, you would probably talk about someone who entered your home and took your possessions. This is certainly a legitimate definition, but the thief doesn’t always have to sneak in and out to take what isn’t his.
Many of us go to work and steal from our bosses. We come to work late, take extra long lunch hours, and go home early. Or we take home the pencils, paper, pens, and paper clips that belong to the company, we make private copies on the boss’s copy machine, and we conduct personal business on company time. These actions are no better than those of a thief who enters your home and takes your possessions because both result in the loss of goods that someone else worked to provide.
In an even broader sense, a thief is anyone who relies on the productiveness of another to provide for his needs because he is too lazy to meet them himself. If you are able to work and you’re not working, you are stealing from those who are working. You’re requiring them to provide what you could get for yourself if you would work. If you are eating but not working, or you are living in a house but not working, you are a thief. Taking the benefits of work without participating in the effort is theft.
If you are able to work and you’re not working, you are stealing from those who are working.
Thus, a son who plays baseball all day then comes in and messes up the house his mother spent all day cleaning is a thief. He has stolen her energy. Likewise, an adult child who is out of school, but lives at home, steals from his parents if he goes into the kitchen and eats from the pot that is on the stove without helping to provide what’s in the pot.
Theft goes even farther than relying on another’s effort. You are pregnant with babies that need to be born. You have talents, abilities, and capabilities that Yah wants you to share with the world. But you will never see them unless you begin to understand Yah’s definition of work and His purpose for giving you the opportunity to share His creative powers. Your potential is dying while you are sitting around doing nothing.
If you steal something, you don’t stop and look at it. Instead of admiring your efforts, you worry about who’s going to take your things from you. Or you are so busy seeing how little work you can do without being caught that you have accomplished nothing at the end of the day that merits the pride of accomplishment. The absence of work is stealing. Likewise, the cure for stealing is work—doing something useful with your hands.
He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands... (Ephesians 4:28).
Usefulness is more than a job. It’s making a profitable contribution to the world. It’s gaining so you can give. It’s finding wholesome, legal work that helps and blesses another, instead of immoral degrading behavior that harms and destroys. Usefulness recognizes the accomplishments of others and tries to complement them.
THE PENALITIES OF LAZINESS
Sitting around is no more acceptable to Yah than taking what does not belong to you. You rob yourself and others when you are lazy. Like any theft, laziness carries many penalties. The first of these is hunger:
The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied (Proverbs 13:4).
Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry (Proverbs 19:15).
Even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
A second penality of laziness is isolation and shame:
In the name of the Most High Yahusha Hamachiach, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle.. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed (2 Thessalonians 3:6,14b).
A poor man is shunned by all his relatives—how much more do his friends avoid him! (Proverbs 19:7)
A third penalty of laziness is others’ reluctance to take you seriously, because lazy people always have an excuse why they aren’t working.
The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!” or, “I will be murdered in the streets!” (Proverbs 22:13)
A fourth penalty of laziness is lost opportunities for advancement because jealousy and overconcern for the progress of others prevents you from doing your work.
Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men (Proverbs 22:29).
Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herd; for riches do not endure forever and a crown is not secure for all generations (Proverbs 27:23-24).
A fifth penalty of laziness is the inability to see your own need to get up and work:
The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly
(Proverbs 26:16).
A sixth penalty of laziness is an increasing loss of ambition:
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth (Proverbs 26:15).
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers it food at harvest (Proverbs 6:6-7).
A seventh penalty of laziness is the desire to sleep:
As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed (Proverbs 26:14).
An eighth penalty of laziness is the inability to take pride in what you have accomplished because you haven’t accomplished anything.
The lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions (Proverbs 12:27).
A ninth penalty of laziness is slavery:
Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor (Proverbs 12:24). An tenth penalty of laziness, and the most severe, is poverty. Poverty is the
cumulative result of all the other penalities.
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty (Proverbs 14:23).
How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man (Proverbs 6:9-11).
Lazy hands make a man poor... (Proverbs 10:4).
A sluggard is a lazy bum—my mother used to call them “grassy bellies.” When I was young I didn’t understand what my mom meant. But one day when I was sitting in the library at the university I realized that Mom called sluggards grassy bellies because they lay on their bellies long enough for grass to grow on them. The Greek word for poor, as used by Yahusha, is poucos, which means “nonproductivity.” That’s what poverty is. To be poor doesn’t mean you don’t have anything. It means you aren’t doing anything.
Poverty is cured by hard work. If you don’t work you will end up begging. Or you’ll become a slave to your boss because you refuse to work for your own satisfaction in completing the job and wait for him to force you to work.
Poverty is cured by hard work.
Look at the birds. Yah provides food for them, but they have to go and look for it. They have to dig and pull it out of the ground. So it is with you. Yah has given you many talents and ambitions to bring satisfaction and fulfillment into your life. But you have to go and look for that fulfillment. You can’t sit back and wait for it to come to you, because it will never come. Work is Yah’s path to an abundant, fulfilling life that reveals the wealth of your potential. Yah established your need to work when He worked out His potential in creation and demanded the same of Adam.
PRINCIPLES
1. Yah worked, and He created you to work.
2. Subduing and dominating the earth requires work.
3. When you refuse to work, you deny yourself the opportunity to fulfill your potential.
4. The absence of work is stealing.
5. You rob yourself and others when you are lazy.
6. Poverty is cured by hard work.
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