A Murder of Crows Salvation Download the first chapter by clicking on here
Brother Ray has continued to expand his earlier look at Scriptural "genealogies". We have regrouped them in sequence. As he says, it is an ongoing study, a work inj progress. If you haven't look at the "genealogy" article lately, there is more there now. It's good stuff.
I am the real vine and my Father is the gardener. Every branch which is part of ME
but fails to bear fruit HE cuts off- and every branch that does bear fruit HE prunes
so that it may bear more fruit.
This is clearly definitive scripture on what is salvation. Couple this with Lord
Yeshua’ command (not a suggestion but a command) to go forth and teach all nations
and we see what is our purpose on this earth while it still is under the dominion of
the evil one.
These verses seem to us a much clearer definition of salvation than the man made
teaching of "once saved,always saved". To us, the word of the Lord,the
living Word, trumps man's ideas every time.
There are and have been millions upon millions of "Christians" since the
time of the Cross and before who believe that since they have recognized the creator,
who love the Lord, yet who have done nothing at all other than occupy a pew Passively
Sunday after Sunday and who have done precious little if anything at all TO BEAR
FRUIT. Are they "saved"? What does the Lord say? In John 1, the Word
clearly says those who fail to bear fruit are PRUNED. Pruned surely is different
than saved.
Each day, we try to remind ourselves to stop and look and take stock. What did we do
this day to bear fruit for the Lord? What do we plan to do today? Have we done enough
fruit bearing to avoid or escape pruning? Of what value have I been to the Lord?
This is why we love our brothers and sisters in Bulgaria. Each in his or own humble
way tries to bear fruit daily. Our brothers and sisters sometimes are contentious
amongst themselves. We are all human. But in the case of our Bulgarian brothers and
sisters, each picks himself or herself up daily,looks to the Lord first and only, and
goes on about the fruit business.
We are frequently asked is we are "saved". Are we assured or guaranteed of
being saved NOW. We think the better question is are we bearing fruit.
Frankly, we can not think of a single day when we have done as much as we could have.
Or very much at all.
When asked if we are saved, we first try to say that we hope we are on the way to
being saved. Salvation is not a one time insurance policy that begins and ends when
we submit to the Lord, it merely,to us, begins or starts there. We are on the way,we
hope and pray. When will we know we have reached the finish line? God knows. But to
us, when we receive our heavenly bodies (the sinless bodies we will be given in order
to be able to enter the presence of the Lord (no old sinful earthly bodies allowed),
what a joy that will be.
What's the best thing,perhaps the only thing, one might do to place order for our
heavenly sinless bodies? Trying to bear fruit every day surely is near the top of any
such list.
BIBLE TIPS: HEAR MY PEOPLE
by Ray LeRoux
We continue to be perplexed and mystified daily when "Christians" tend to
separate the old and new testaments, to distinguish between "Israel" and
"the 'church age'", to separate the Word into different categories.
In Revelation 22, we are commanded not to add to the Word or take away from it.
Deuteronomy 4:2,very early in the Torah, says the exact same thing. We have ONE
creator, ONE saviour, ONE word - not TWO.
Our beloved David Stern defines Israel as.
(1) the physical descendants of Jacob,
(2) the residents of the Land God has clearly set aside for Himself,i.e., Israel,
(3) those descendants of Jacob/Israel who are righteous and
(4) those gentiles,pagans and heathens who have submitted to the Lord and thus are grafted into Israel. It is one of these four categories but ALL OF THEM. One family,one people of God.
Parse the original Hebrew for "Israel" and you find all people gifted by
God's grace and righteous in he Lord. We are ALL God's people,one new man. We, IF we observe God's mitzvot and IF we do as commanded and try to bear fruit daily, will live in the physical land of Israel one day.
Our discernment of the Word is that we former gentiles will be apportioned or
assigned as grafted in branches of the one true and real vine (Lord Yeshua) when
Yeshua returns for the millennium to one of the 12 tribes. We don’t know to which tribe and designated area we will be,or have already been assigned,but we do know who does know and that is the Lord and we will ever so joyfully be happy with HIS choice for us.
Perhaps you might want to do what we have done in studying the Word, that is
every place we find the word "Israel" try using the words MY PEOPLE. It has
helped us immeasurably to have done so.
We have written earlier about PARDES,the fourfold method of approaching the Word.
(1) what is the simple meaning,
(2) what is the message for us today (and
tomorrow)
(3) what is the secondary (and equally valid) meaning and.
(4) what is the hidden or mysterious meaning (yet to be unveiled). As we attempt to bear fruits,it is not only wise but imperative that we seek out ALL the meanings in the Word.
While we all struggle mightily to bear fruit, we are not left empty handed. The
Hebrew word PARDES means orchard and God has given us HIS fruits so we in turn will be able to bear fruits for HIM.
Yes the native branches of the vine and the grafted in branches are different, BUT we are all part of the one vine.
If you are able,buy the most inexpensive copy of the Word you can find. Make sure it is the complete Word,not just one testament. Then get a marker. The word IF occurs over 1,550 in English. The word DO occurs over 1,400 times. Circle or underline or highlight those words in your inexpensive bible. Where the word LAW occurs in English, try writing in TORAH. Where ISRAEL is written, write in MY PEOPLE.
Every since YAHWEH told Moses that YAHWEH was to given for HIS name,our native
branch Hebrew brothers and sisters have refrained from using God's name or even parts thereof for fear of doing it wrong. What this means is that you have to look long and hard to find any righteous person using the words I AM. When the prophets spoke, they credited the WORD to its author. That is until Rabbi Yeshua ha Nazrit came along and from the very beginning of HIS ministry HE used God's name for Himself.
This was a signal to every Hebrew that HE was either a blasphemer, crazy, ignorant OR that HE was and is exactly who HE said HE was. So it might not be a bad idea, when you read, study and mark up your inexpensive (in worldly terms) scripture to highlight the words I AM when they occur (in BOTH testaments). You will be blessed.
When you read the SHEMA (Deut 5:4-6) HEAR O ISRAEL, THE LORD THY GOD IS ONE.LOVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART,ALL YOUR SOUL AND ALL YOUR POWER, there is almost incalculable profundity here. Hear is not a suggestion. It is a command. Hear can mean PAY ATTENTION,LISTEN TO ME, YOUR CREATOR. When the SHEMA says ISRAEL, consider yourself part of Israel. Read it as MY PEOPLE. I am one, our creator tells us. That means NO others, no dead man made gods,NO idols (not football, not money, not the nation you live in, nothing. ALL is the operative word. ALL your love. ALL your soul, ALL your
heart, ALL your power. Not 85 of 90 or 95 or even 99 per cent for HIM and that last tad for your family or anything else. ALL.
We've heard well intentioned and well meaning brothers say there will be one bride for the Father (Israel) and another for Yeshua (the church). We believe there is ONE god and can only be ONE bride and all else is as much that is man made is utter nonsense. ONE God,ONE word, ONE family,ONE bride.
