The Christian Letter, Volume One: Chapter 36
What a journey we’ve had. We have placed our feet in His footsteps, we have held His scared hand, and we have supped with Him a meal undreamed of before. Dreams surface, and deep studies linger, but I find myself at the beginning, at an afterthought placed in the Introduction.
You may assume the things I am speaking on is done behind a door with a sign telling you it is for Jews only, but it isn’t—this is Biblical. But how do we see, how do we hear? I have gone back to that early Letter hundreds of times. It not only contains moments that have helped me tremendously, it itself has done likewise. Returning to wisdom is wise, after all. Pondering understanding, though, is difficult to explain.
I hope you, too, have also returned to the Letter To See, To Hear often. Therein is the following list of questions. Before we dive once more into the Christian Letter, I urge you to read over them, and to discuss what these questions mean to you, as you ponder what they mean to me.
Metaphorically standing by His side in His Kingdom, yearning to show Him love, worship, and praise, we ask again and again:
1. Who is in charge, and how much? Is it the world, the church, and myself, or is the Master of Heaven and Earth, Yahoweh Almighty, 100% in charge, 100% of the time?
2. I admit that I may be mistaken, as I have certainly been wrong in the past. I desire the truth. Considering this, what evidence am I willing to accept as sufficient reason to change, and to what end? What about the evidence of His Footsteps?
3. By doing so, am I more of a mirror image of the Messiah, thereby giving glory to Elohim? Is this mirror the right one? There is the Catholic Messiah, the Jehovah’s Witness Messiah, and various religions with their image of Him, but these are not the images I desire. Am I seeing and hearing Him, or a brand name’s version?
4. Having prayed for His Holy Spirit and about this matter, what is the Holy Spirit putting on my heart, and does it line up with the Word as a whole, spanning from Creation to Heaven, from Genesis to Revelations?
5. There are many doors before me. Some are labeled welcome, but are unwelcoming. Some are labeled welcome, and are indeed welcoming. Before me are many doors. Some doors have signs that say they are Christian. Some that say they are Jewish. Can I honestly claim to be a follower of the Jewish Messiah if I do not go where He goes, even if the Door reads: Jewish—even if the Door reads: Christian—even if the Door reads: Orphanage?
6. Am I asking the right question? Should I ask, “Do I have to?” or “May I, please?” Is it right to deny the possibility of being wrong by means of the question itself? No. The only way to win an argument is to not be afraid of losing, as only the one who loses gains any wisdom. Am I asking the right questions?
7. Am I making the right statements? How long have I said, “Well, I am a believer in Jesus.” when the true statement is that, “While not perfect as I am only justified by His grace, I am a follower of Yahoshuah.” Have I believed my own lies … no: Have I have followed my own lies through unrefined statements? What have I said that has gone unnoticed, yet changed my course?
8. Am I really reading what is said, as it was written, and intended to be read, to the point where I understand this from a Hebraic and Jewish perspective of those times, including their idioms and culture, without being bound by them or any other physical or traditional philosophical interpretation?
9. What is the foundation? Is it His Word or the world’s traditions? How far back, and indeed how far forward, can we trace this? Our Saviour is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change, and He does not lie. If it was not His desire in the Garden of Eden, and is not in His Kingdom, then it cannot be His desire for our lives today. I know the first line of Scripture is “In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth.” Since that is the first line of Scripture, the page that only reads, “The Old Testament,” is not Scripture. What happens if I place His Word above tradition?
10. In seeking first His Kingdom, I ask: Does this action display what He is against, what He allows, or what He desires? Yet, what am I really seeking? Is it His Kingdom, or is that just what I’m supposed to say? What is my true answer when I look at how I spend my time, or where I spend my money, compared to His Kingdom?
11. Am I being consistent, or am I only following part of what He says? After all, why would I be opposed to walking as He walked? What is the opposite of this, and is that what is leading me away from His teachings?
12. We can race, while carrying our cross and looking right at Him, yet run in the wrong direction, just like we can walk north, but look to the east. What is this step in His walk, in comparison to the last step, as well as the next? Am I truly following the only Rabbi, the Jewish Messiah Yahoshuah?
1. Some of us may be tempted to say that Yahoweh is in charge, and while that is good, we need another question to get to the answer: How much of the time? Sometimes He is in charge when we see people in need, or when we are in church, but who is in charge when we are alone and our favorite sin is right beside us?
While we may say that Yahoweh is in charge, it is often our wife, or children, or boss, or best friend, we go to for answers. If a bottle is in charge, then whiskey is where the answer is found. If a certain brand of church is in charge, then that is where the answer is found. If the Jewish Saviour is in charge, then He is the Door that opens for us.
The purpose of coming back to this question when I, your minister, your brother, your mother, or even yourself, tells you something, is to make sure that the Master of Heaven and Earth, Yahoweh Almighty, is 100% in charge, 100% of the time. The world, the church,nor I, haveany say. At that point, His Footsteps become where you go for the answers to how to live your life, whether their traditional or not.
2. We all desire to be right. We yearn for the truth. … We are also smart enough to know that we have made more than our share of mistakes in the past. Considering this, it is imperative to realize that in ten years you will look back to today and realize you were wrong about many things; therefore, to hasten understanding one should realize that he or she is presently in unknown error.
When someone proves me wrong, I am immediately right, as I now know the truth. It is when one is assuming that he or she feels the strongest urge to fight for what was said; however, I have found it is not painful at all to say, “Oh, I did not know that.Very interesting.Perhaps I was mistaken. What else did He say concerning this path He Himself walked?” That is much better than, “Oh, yeah! Well I still feel I’m right, even though that Book says otherwise!” … However, if you are right, then stay strong in the truth you have. Let us, in love, be willing to walk as the Messiah walked—not just in what we know as doctrines, but also in caring for those in need.
Without knowing where to get the answers (question one), you will not know whether you are receiving good advice or not. Many people can make it seem like Elohim agrees, but does He? If the One Who loved us first is in charge—His footsteps are enough. Need more proof than His Word? Well, then you need more faith in His Word. If the church is 50% in charge, then you will ride the fence, being neither in or out. If the church says follow us, and the Messiah says follow Me, well, we have to make that first decision, followed closely by this, the second. What evidence is enough? While some answer that they do not know, or will know it when they see it, these are foolish excuses. If we do not know the answer to this, then pray tell how did we come to the conclusion we have today? We had, whether we knew it or not, a set standard of evidence we would consider conclusive. May the evidence you accept, and require, always be the Whole of His Ageless Word.
… Ah, but to what end? If you have no place to go, expect where your belief already is, then it is doubtful you will ever leave, as, to you—there is no other place to go. Is the Way of Heaven … enough? Debating with those who do not know what evidence they require, or to what end, is like playing ping-pong without keeping score, but you are playing until someone wins. Well, I’m smarter than that, and so are you. Each person in a discussion must know—and does know—the answers to this imperative question; he or she, has but to accept it. What evidence are you willing to accept—and to what end?
3. What is the greatest kind of love? It is not church attendance, or bowing down, it is not song or dance, nor is it found solely is study—it is emulation. To act like the One you love more than all else is love.
When a person likes a football team, it is common for that person, not just to watch the games, but also to wear a jersey and emulate the players … or at least the fans. We, too, are often emulating the fans (the church) rather than the Rabbi Yahoshuah, our Messiah. You see, when a boy respects his dad, really looking up to him, then that child will often seek to be as tough as dad, a farmer like dad, or drink like dad. When we love the ways of the world, we will emulate the world. When we love the Messiah, then we will emulate the Messiah.
If a person worships Buddha, then they search for ways to behave as he taught. When a person worships an Atheist, then they search for ways to emulate hate-fueled arguments. If a person worships the Jewish Rabbi, Yahoshuah the Messiah, then they will inquire the most daring question of all: “If the Messiah is a Jew, then why aren’t I?”
4. Most of us have a favourite passage, inasmuch as we have a favourite book of the Bible, but, to truly see, we must turn the page, to truly hear, then no verse can be ignored. With an Ageless King, none of His Words are old. Genesis One is just as pure and new today as the last sentence of Revelation.
The Messiah has told us we will face troubles in this life, but He has also promised a great gift—One greater than life itself—the Holy Spirit. Seek Him. Pray for His Spirit in earnest love, but do not expect a booming voice. The Creator cannot make someone love Him, and so we have choice. Yahoweh has given us His Word admonishing us to never lie, and if we will not listen to the Word of His Spirit on the pages of Elohim, then why would we listen to the Word of His Spirit in our hearts, His temple? Pray for His Spirit—just know that His Spirit is not a warm fuzzy feeling telling us to live in sin. He hath said that His Spirit will guide us—move us—to keep His Commandments. Know ye of a person who says he has the Holy Spirit, but also speaks against the Commandments of Elohim? Know ye a liar.
Elohim cannot lie. He cannot say, “Do not lie.” only to later say, “Lie your head off.” We must check the Word of His Spirit in our hearts, with the Word of His Spirit on His pages … all of them. Therefore, when told to, “Go ye.” we do not ask if we should go. When He says to go, we do. We pray instead, “Here I am!”
5. I remember being lost. One time my wife, friend, and I, came to a clearing in the woods where the road divided into five other roads. We stopped the car, got out, and picked up the signpost that had fallen down, and tried like mad to guess which way to go. It was covered in moss, the signs could swing around the post, and the timber was rotted. After choosing the best we could, we almost got stuck, the road was so steep we could barely climb it in our car, but we did see a moose talking to a dear and fox heading home for dinner. It was a fun journey … after it happened.
Signs are all around us, telling us which way to go, and, quite often, they are right even when we think they are wrong. Why? Because sometimes, even when we think we are right, we are wrong. We hold firmly that the door that reads, “Catholic,” is wrong, but I have learned many things, Biblical things, from behind such doors.
The Way, the Truth, and the Light, is the Door Named Yahoshuah. To go through that Passover Door is to flee from sin, and in doing so we will face trials and tribulations. Yet, a wonder fills me: How many Israelites stayed behind in Egypt, pretending to be of the world? Are as many who fled, are as many as those who returned? Through the Door we can enter into His presence … and we can leave, too. What doors have we traded Yahoshuah for?
6. The trite saying, “There are no stupid questions.” is false. Almost all questions are foolish, for reasons ranging from assumptions inhibiting a true answer, to the question’s direction.
All of us have blundered our words on accident, but what we so often fail to realize is that we fail to realize, and in that lies the truth: We do not often realize we have blundered. To ask why the law was done away with is to assume the Word is dead, but to ask, “How can I follow the Messiah in love?” will lead you not only to the footsteps of the Messiah (Torah), but to the bedside of the sick, the bars of a prison, and indeed to the cross (Grace).
We have all had this lesson before, back when we were young and learning this language. We would ask, “Can I eat a slice of bread?” and someone would lean down to ask, “I don’t know … can you?” The proper question is, “May I eat a slice of bread?” as it is obvious that you can eat. “May we follow the Messiah?” Yes … yes you may.
7. From the wonderful word “love,” to the sharp word “hate,” many nuances producing magnitude evade and eradicate our language. Do we really love or hate said item or person? Oh, deeper and darker still: Do we really belong to that church?
Over a mere misuse of a word, I have lost a friend. After finding a word was never in that verse, all that was said changed before my eyes. With a mere wonder, my entire day’s course can change for the better, or for the worse. Indeed, in writing, a comma, and in speech, as music, a mere pause, can change everything; a moment of silence can be more sweet than embrace, or more wicked than vulgarity. What we say, including the tone and pauses, is what we are judged by, for it is the mortar of our very soul.
You say you are a certain title, but are you—indeed, should you even be? Often we look to questions only, but the answers are also powerful. Adding the word “father,” “master,” or, “rabbi,” before a man’s name, makes him more important to you than the Words of the Messiah. Adding the word “well,” before your statement can make it seem uncertain to even yourself, or can be a prelude to continuous disrespect. Let us watch what we say much more carefully than we ever have, and as we do, we will see a shift greater than imagined. We think in language, therefore, let us refine, and be refined.
8. The Messiah is a Jew. Paul announced he is a Jew. Jeremiah, Moses, David, Peter, John, Stephen, and Nicolas from Antioch (a gentile who was filled with the Holy Spirit and converted to the Jewish faith), are Jews. The Scriptures, however, have gone from Paleo Hebrew, to Babylon Hebrew, to Aramaic, to Greek, to Latin, to Old English, to English, to broken American, to various commentaries, to devotions, to the Internet, to ministers, to your grandparents and your parents, and then to you. Are you sure you understand the idioms of thousands of years ago in a different culture? Consider if someone uttered this sentence, “My friend and I are gay.” Now just a few years ago this would mean, “My friend and I are happy.” But at the time of writing it means, “My friend and I are homosexuals.” This is a matter of a few decades. We’re talking thousands of years, a different language, and a different culture. Maybe, just maybe, we don’t have it all figured out.
When we accept the footsteps of the Messiah, then we find ourselves at the waters of baptism, but it doesn’t stop there, does it? There are a lot more steps to make to continue following Him with our cross—and many of those steps have been labeled as Jewish. The word “Jews” is Yahudim, but do we understand what we reject if we do not know what this word means? If we deny part of the Messiah—have we accepted Him at all? If we reject the Jewishness of the Word—would there even be a word left?
Traditions of man need not bind us! We do not owe it to our forefathers to continue in what we have found to be lies. We owe it to no one. What we do owe is love returned to the One Who loved us while we were yet sinners. Yet? Sinners? If before you were a tradition of Christianity, and a different tradition of the Messiah, which one would you chose? That is whom, or Whom, you worship. … Ah, but His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge—do we know what the difference is between Christian and Biblical, between Jewish and Biblical, and also between being trapped by nuances and accepting the Word? My dear brothers and my sweet sisters, study the Scriptures and show thyself approved by Him.
9. The foundation needs to be the Bible, and not just the announcement of the Bible. People have used Scriptures to justify many atrocities, but they did not accept His living Word, they simply used their idea of Him for their own greed. Therefore, when searching, don’t just look for one verse that might at first seem to allow, but look to the Garden of Eden, look to the Words Moses penned, look to the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, and look at the Footsteps of the Messiah, along with the cautions of Peter, as well as the prophets pointing to His Kingdom. Yes, we can find verses supporting many things—but can we find that the Whole Ageless Word lines up?
One of the greatest fears of modern Christian theology is that Elohim is not a liar. They want Him to be—they need Him to be! For if the Saviour does not change, that means our traditions have no value at the best, and are abominations at the worst. In the Garden of Eden there was no eating of flesh, and in His Kingdom there is no eating of flesh. Since the Almighty is perfect, why would He change? If we alter perfection, then is it any longer perfection? The Creator states that He does not change; therefore, to say anything else is to call Him a liar, which He also said He was not. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not lie, He does not change, and it high time we accept this as absolute fact.
From slavery to tithing, from divorce to gluttony, doctrines of the moral life need bear no confusion. I have walked overtop great chasms, but I always checked the bridge. I have climbed tall ladders, but I have always made sure it was secure. If beneath us is hell, would we not test the foundation? There is no greater foundation than accepting His Word, not as Old, but as Ageless. If we stand on Genesis, and seek His Kingdom, we will, indeed, follow our Saviour all the way to the cross, and beyond. If we stand on traditions not His, and seek our church, we will, indeed, follow the devil all the way to cross, and beyond.
10. Why? Why would we seek first His Kingdom? Is it to be saved? Is it in want of eternal life? Or is it because that is where the Messiah is? If there was no eternal life, no paradise, and the Messiah resided in Death Valley, I would seek first Death Valley, for the whole definition of Heaven is that He is there.
Ah, but what else is there in His Kingdom, and what is not there? Is there greed? Is there death? If not, then do we seek it here, for by seeking it we must place it above that of the Kingdom and the souls of those who we would yearn to attend. There is, in all matters, what is absolutely forbidden, as well as what is allowed, and most importantly what is desired. It is forbidden for us to murder our brother, we are allowed to avoid him, but it is His desire that we love and care for our family!
Many faiths, and many in your faith, have many different ideas of what heaven will be like, but what does the Word say about His Kingdom? If we worship Him, then we emulate Yahoshuah the Messiah. If we seek first His Kingdom then we do not seek the abominations of the world, nor do we wallow in allowances, but we seek the purity of His Desire found in the places apart from sin: His Kingdom, as well as the Garden of Eden where man tended what was given him, and fell only by the greed of what was not.
11. Consistency is rare. I have heard many lectures against me by men and women who used part of the Word, but none by those who use the Whole Word. It is common for men to tell people they do not need to walk as the Messiah walked because of a passage here, or part of a sentence there, but none who can say the same thing while pointing to the Words of the Messiah.
A gross inconsistency is when a man beats and beats his son for the slightest backtalk, but then calls his wife the boss and submits to her uncouth behaviour of demeaning backtalk. The man should instead rely on the real Rod, the Word of Elohim, and share with his son that he, too, falters, but that we must always strive in love to live a righteous life, and the same for his wife, and the same for himself, for any different treatment is a gross inconsistency.
When we do not want to have righteous speech, we must ask ourselves why we desire the opposite. Why do we seek to berate instead of uplift? Often you will find the enemy engaged in a spiritual attack you were unaware of, but one of the enemy’s first attacks is to cause you to believe it is not an attack at all. We must engage in the Teachings of Yahoweh, His Kingdom’s desires, not our eagerness to rationalize and justify our sinful behaviour.
12. Many of these questions and points are potent, and some require diligent work, but this one remains simple, and yet it is immeasurable in value: Watch where you are going.
If we do not keep our eyes on Him—and the path—and our ears on His Word, then we will never see or hear. We will instead follow Satan right off a cliff, thinking we are following the Messiah the whole time! Oh, and while that freefall might bring a sense of freedom, it comes with a swift cost that is always the same. Indeed, it is true: If the last step was obedience, and the next step is disobedience, you better not take that step, for it is without doubt the wrong step to take. The Messiah was baptized, and told us to be immersed, and to baptize others as well. The Messiah wore Tzitzit, thereby preaching the whole Torah every day, in every verse. What then, would our next step be?
Are we following the only Rabbi, the Jewish Messiah Yahoshuah? Or are we following the world, the church, or ideas masquerading as the self? The questions have come full circle … Who is in charge, and how much? What is His Name, and the Name of His Son—tell me if you know!
Ah, but do we truly see what we see? Can we clearly hear from behind the noise? Is this what our heart actually feels, or is this what it is told to feel? … Will we forsake the Door … for but a sign?
May Yahoshuah guide you as we continue in The Christian Letter.
Be Blessed and be a Blessing
Shalom
-Valentine Thalken Billingsley
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Additional Scripture References:
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22, 1 Peter 3:15