Keeping Some Perspective

Every morning, I'm hopeful to see something different, but until we at least get some rain, I fear we will have more of the same. We are thankful that we have an air purifier and not much requiring us to be outside.

It was sad, though, to check the update and learn the confirmed death toll has been raised to 12. What we formerly called The Bear Fire, now referred to as “The West Zone of the North Complex” has burned 72,500 acres with 7% containment. The larger North Complex has burned 252,313 acres at 21% contained across multiple counties.

I’m not sure that living in another state is necessarily the answer. The latest statistics I can find for Hurricane Laura in the Gulf States put the fatalities at 14 and estimates up to $12 Billion in damages. Last year, flooding in the Midwest caused upwards of $1.3 Billion in damages in Iowa and Nebraska, with 3/4 of the state of Nebraska being declared a disaster area, and with 3 deaths. And that’s just a few of the recent natural disasters in the continental US.

Earthquakes, tornadoes, cyclones, volcanoes, famine around the globe means that there is really no place on Earth that is exempt from what the Bible refers to as “the Earth groaning.”

Not to be a pessimist here, I prefer to think I’m a realist. But it helps me keep in perspective that we are not the only place experiencing suffering. It doesn’t make the suffering less real, but it certainly helps me adjust my focus away from myself.

*cross posted from my photo blog

44084 :: States Aflame

It could be tempting to default to complaining about the smell of smoke in the air and ash covering every surface. But when I think of the people who are evacuated or even have lost their homes, it is almost like a slap in the face.

There are so many directions my mind goes in these situations. Part of me is angry and would love to see domestic terrorists who are starting so many of these fires tried for treason and yes, even put in front of a firing squad. In my mind, they deserve no less.

Another part of me ponders the enormous loss of property and life and I think of how we bring nothing into this world and we take nothing out of it. Having lost several friends and family (not fire related) in the last month, I am reminded again of just how transitory this life is. That allows me to adjust my focus and say with Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

So, wearing a mask and hosing off the patio and car seems like a drop in the bucket.

Cross posted from my daily photo project 

What is a "Torah Observant Believer"?

-adapted from Katie Hirn at Hirn Homeschoolers *

I think the easiest way to explain what a Torah observant Believer is to define each of the words in the name:

A Believer is a follower/believer in Yeshua as the Messiah.  Yeshua (often called Jesus in mainstream Christianity) was a man who lived, died, and rose from the dead over 2000 years ago.  The story of his birth, life, death, and resurrection is told in the Bible.  The first four books of the New Testament are called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and they are the story of Yeshua’s life as told by four different men who were eye-witnesses to his life and ministry.  Believers are people who believe that this man, Yeshua was the promised Messiah of the God of Israel, YHVH.

A believer is someone who accepts that Yeshua is the promised Messiah (Savior), and that He lived a sinless life and died and rose again to prove that He conquered sin and death.  Sin is anything we think, say, or do that deviates from God’s Instructions on how to live a life set apart to Him which effectively separates us from fellowship or a relationship with God.  A believer knows that through the sacrificial death of Yeshua, our sins were paid for.  A believer knows that all people are sinners and can only be saved from the penalty of death, which is eternal separation from God, through the sacrificial blood of Yeshua.  A believer is someone who, once they admit they are a sinner and accepts the gift of God’s gracious forgiveness, then commits to live their life to glorify Yeshua.  A true believer turns from their life of sin to a life of obedience to YHVH (the name of God in the Bible).

The Torah is the name of the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  The word Torah means “law, instruction, teaching, Word, writings, and/or commands.”  The first five books of the Bible are made up of all the instructions YHVH God gave to His people, the Israelites (which also included a "mixed multitude" of non-Israelite followers of YHVH.)  These instructions were given to them to bless them, benefit them, and guide them in the Way of YHVH.

The word Observant can mean different things, but in this situation it is best defined as “to see or recognize something as beneficial and blessed and set apart by YHVH, and therefore to keep that thing set apart in one’s life and home.”

A Torah Observant believer therefore is a believer and follower of Yeshua Messiah, who believes that the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, have blessing, beneficial, and sacred instructions for life, and therefore they apply those instructions to their own life and homes as best they can in this day and culture.  There are only four obvious differences between most evangelical Christians and most Torah Observant believers. 

1.  Most Torah observant believers keep Saturday, the Sabbath day, set apart and often worship on this day instead of Sunday, and they try not to work or cause others to work on it. 

2.  Most Torah Observant believers celebrate the Biblical feasts for their holidays, as found in Leviticus 23.  These are often referred to as “Jewish holidays”, when in reality Scripture calls them “The Lord’s Appointed Festivals.”

3.  Most Torah observant Christians don’t eat pork or shellfish or any of the other unclean animals listed in Leviticus 11. 

4.  Lastly, many Torah Observant believers wear tzitzit on their clothes as reminder to walk in the Ways of  YHVH, as commanded in Numbers 15 – much like a married person wears a wedding band as a symbol of their marriage.

None of these things is required for salvation: they are how we walk out our beliefs, how we respond to YHVH and His gift of salvation through our Messiah, Yeshua.

A Torah observant believer is a person who knows that they are a sinner saved by the gracious love of the Savior (Messiah) Yeshua, through His sacrificial death.  They are a believer who knows they do not deserve the forgiveness of a Savior.  They love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and choose to walk out their faith in accordance to the Instructions YHVH has revealed in the Torah every day, until their Lord and Savior returns.

* I have edited and inserted a few of my own comments into Katie's original post.