Tag: The Lord’s Prayer

Thy WILL be done

Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me ‘Adonai Adonai,’ but not do what I say?”What is the Will of Elohim? Yahoshua when asked what the greatest commandment was, responded, “To love your Elohim with all your heart, soul, and mind; and the second, love your neighbor as yourself.” Many take this to mean Yahoshua was setting aside the 10 Commandments, yet that couldn’t be further from the truth. Some will assign the first of the greatest to the first 4 or 5 depending on how you see honoring your father and mother. Likewise, assigning the second of the greatest to the latter half of the 10 Commandments. This i would say is the most accurate of the two. However, going a bit further what if Yahoshua was saying the greatest is and the second is like it . . . The Whole of the 10 Commandants are essentially one. To disobey one is to disobey all; Thereby sinning and to obey one is to honor all. But is this fulfilling the Will of Elohim?

As many of you already know my go to verse in life is Micah 6:8 “. . . Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with Elohim.” Is this fulfilling the Will of Elohim? James (1:27) writes: “Pure and undefiled religion before Elohim and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their tribulation; to keep oneself untainted from the world.”

Who was Yahoshua teaching this prayer to? In the account found in Matthew Yahoshua presents it as part of His sermon on the mount, Matthew 5-7. In Luke however it appears that the disciples went to Yahoshua and asked Him, “Adonai, teach us to pray . . .” Some argue this is a contradiction, some will just brush it off with some sort of slight of hand answer. What if Yahoshua taught it in His sermon on the mount and then later when asked by His disciples He simply stated the same prayer? Wouldn’t that then also lend more to its purpose then merely an outline? That aside, (although food for thought) in the sermon on the mount He was teaching His disciples specifically (see Matthew 5:1) and by proximity those that gathered unto him, a mixed multitude probably made up of mostly Jews. In Luke He was teaching His disciples during a personal time of prayer (see Luke 11:1). So the question should be how would the Jews interpret, “Thy Will be done”?

Is this a point of order to draw the Hebrew nation back to the Torah? What about the Church. Many believe that the Church is on a different track than the Jews. Yet, we are grafted in. See Romans 11:11-31 for full context. Let me point out; “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in (speaking of gentiles) among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.” Romans 11:17-20

We are told to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is Elohim who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” What was the purpose of the chosen people? Exodus gives us a snapshot, “‘Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” Exodus 19:5-6. Has that changed with gentiles being grafted in? No it has not. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Mashiah Yahoshua.” Galatians 3:28

Peter writes: “But you are a chosen people, a holy nation, royal priests, a people of Elohim’s own possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1Peter 2:9) Paul writes to the Corinthians: “Therefore we are ambassadors for ha’Mashiah as though Elohim were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Mashiah: Be reconciled to Elohim.” (2 Corinthians 5:20

Should we not then as a chosen people, or as one grafted in, seek to know and do; Thy WILL be done? Not to blend into the world but to be that city on a hill? We will be hated for the name of YWHW and His Son Yahoshua we cannot allow that to stop us from doing the Will of the Father. Thy WIll be done.

You are loved,
cj

Thy Kingdom come

When we pray The Lord’s Prayer, who’s kingdom is Thy? Of course, Thy is YHWH. We are making a proclamation that we desire that Yahweh’s Kingdom come. Not our kingdom, or what we think His Kingdom should be it is His and we, if we truly desire it to come, shouldn’t we do our best to understand what that means? i will be digging into this over the next couple of posts but first we need to go back to the beginning.

Yahoshua said, “This, then, is the way you should pray: Our Father . . .” Yahoshua is the King but the Kingdom is of the Father. Yahoshua is the revelation of the Father, the Word made flesh. Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore YHWH Himself gives you a sign: Look, the maiden conceives and gives birth to a Son, and shall call His Name Immanuel.” Emmanuel means, Elohim with us. You see the Kingdom was present in that moment and the Kingdom dwells in the people of Elohim.

And having been asked by the Pharisees when the reign of Elohim would come, He answered them and said, “The reign of Elohim does not come with intent watching, nor shall they say, ‘Look here!’ Or ‘Look there!’ For look, the reign of Elohim is within you!” Luke 17:20-21

“And what union has the temple of Elohim with idols? For you are a temple of the living Elohim, as Yahweh has said, ‘I shall dwell in them and walk among them, and I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore, ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says Yahweh, and do not touch what is unclean, and I shall receive you. And I shall be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says Yahweh El Shaddai.’” 2 Corinthians 6:16-18

Given the times in which we live, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes in diverse places, famines, disease etc. i hear and see lots of posts about wanting the Kingdom of Elohim to come or as one post i saw earlier, “Whoa! Scary stuff. It can’t be much longer before our Lord Jesus rescues us!” It is this sort of thought pattern that is so prevalent within the Church today. What i believe we fail to understand is that the Kingdom is within us as the Spirit dwells within the believer. And that Kingdom will remain until the King comes on the clouds to sit on His throne and reign for a thousand years. If one believes and lives like the Kingdom is yet coming, VS the Kingdom within us, do you see how one might live in fear and anxiety?

Thy Kingdom come, is a call to action, to faith, to love, to grace, to mercy, to living not for ourselves but for the King!

“For the love of Mashiah compels us, having judged this: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them, and was. Raised. So from now onwards we know no one according to the flesh. And if we have known Mashiah according to the flesh, yet now we no longer know. Therefore, if anyone is in Mashiah, he is a new creation – the old has passed away, see, all have become new! And all is from Yahweh, who has restored us to favour with Himself through Yahoshua ha’Mashiah, and has given us the service of restoration, that is, that Elohim was in Mashiah restoring the world to favour unto Himself, not reckoning their sins to them, and has committed to us the word of restoration. Now then, we are ambassadors for Mashiah, as though Elohim were pleading through us: we implore you on Mashiah’s behalf, be reconciled to Elohim. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of Elohim.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

In the Yahoshua’s prayer recorded in John 17:14-19 He says, “I have given them Your Word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do NOT pray that You should TAKE THEM OUT of the world, but that You should keep them fro the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”

Do you pray for the Kingdom to come? The Kingdom is within you and you have arrived.

You are loved,
cj

Hallowed be THY name

“Thou shalt not take the name of Yahweh thy Elohim in vain; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” Exodus 20:7

“I am Yahweh, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise unto graven images.” Isaiah 42:8

“Let them know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the MOST HIGH over all the earth.” Psalm 83:18

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Hallowed means; holy, consecrated, sacred, revered, sanctified — set apart. To set something apart in a way that is Hallowed is to show honor. We are instructed over and over in Scripture to revere the name of Elohim, to set it apart, for there is no other god but Yahweh. i have written about this before, see links here: “What’s in a name”, “You shall have no other gods”, and “You shall have no other gods (part 2)”. Now as i am set to write on what we know today as the Lord’s Prayer, this causes me to pause even more . . . What does it mean for us to honor this: Hallowed be thy name.

There is no other god but Yahweh. He chose to reveal Himself through the Hebrews. And we know that in Scripture He is understood to be the Elohim of Israel. He is also the Elohim of all who call upon the name of His Son Yahoshua. In fact, no one comes to the Father except through Yahoshua, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Yet, we have so set apart the name of Elohim that we are using a translation 3 times removed for His Son by calling Him Jesus. Did you know there was no letter “J” until 1524? How honoring. Not only do we not use His name we don’t even call His Son by name, we basically made a name for Him and have said, you will take this name and like it. Prove me wrong. Outside of the name Jesus, we don’t use names only titles. We say, “god” and “lord”, putting titles for names.

His name is used by many. When showbiz people say they want to “thank god” who are they talking about? Can you tell? When you look at their lives, their music, their movies and tv shows, can you tell whom they worship? What about us? When we speak, when we talk about God, when people see us, do they know which God we worship? i have gone back to the Hebrew because i don’t want there to be any confusion that i am following the Elohim of Israel. That i have put my faith in the Way, the Truth and the Life, the only begotten Son of the Elohim of Israel, Yahoshua. In a time such as we live with so much confusion, and misrepresentation, itching ears, and false doctrines, let there be NO mistake about whom you worship.

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve Yahweh, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.” Joshua 24:15

You are loved,
cj

Which art in heaven

Titles are all around us and we use them on a daily bases. Simple titles like sir, ma’am, Mr. Mrs. are to show respect. Mr. President, shows honor to a position as do military rank. i am sure you can think of dozens of examples where you use a title to show respect to someone’s position or authority and in normal day to day we use them without even thinking about. Elohim is the greatest title there is and we often use it without blinking. Today i want us to blink.

“In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

One can reason from this first line in Elohim’s book to His creation that there are levels or layers to what we see around us. Yahoshua in teaching His disciples/us to pray begins; “Our Father which art in heaven . . .”. Which heaven? Where did Yahweh exist before creating the heavens and the earth? The simple answer and really the only one we have is beyond, He lived beyond.

There is no place we can go to escape His presence. “Where would I go from Your Spirit? Or where would I flee from Your face? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; If I make my bed in the grave, see, You are there. I take the wings of the morning, I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, there too, Your hand would lead me, and Your right hand hold me.” Psalm 139:7-10 It seems like a cheap answer, an easy out, to say that Elohim existed beyond. But if He is truly Elohim with no beginning and no end then there is no other way for us to describe it, Elohim lived beyond.

This is something we have to believe simply by faith. We can see throughout Scripture that faith is a necessary part of our relationship with the Father. Yes, we have Yahoshua who reveals Yahweh. Clear history, written eyewitness accounts, and a constant reminder; “The heavens are proclaiming the esteem of El; And the expanse is declaring the work of His hand.” Psalm 19:1

i am sure we will get this answer when we see Yahoshua face to face. We will get understanding. But for now we have; “Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, ‘Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man, and I ask you, and you answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding. Who appointed its measurements, if you know? Or who stretched the line upon it? Upon what were its foundations sunk? Or who laid its corner-stone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of Elohim shouted for joy?’” Job 38:1-7

The point, Yahweh, El Shaddai (God Almighty) is above, is beyond, is under and is through, He is the creator of the universe. And when we pray we are to begin by reminding ourselves of this fact. Elohim is El Shaddai; “Let them be ashamed and alarmed forever; and let them become abashed and perish, and let them know that You, Whose name is Yahweh; You alone are the Most High over all the earth.” Psalm 83:17-18

This is the perspective Yahoshua is presenting. “Our Father which art in heaven . . .” El Shaddai is above us and He is worthy of our trust, love, and respect. “He has declared to you, O man, what is good. And what does Yahweh require of you but to do right, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your Elohim.” Micah 6:8

Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly . . . What better way to enter into prayer than to recognize the one to Whom you are speaking?

You are loved,
cj