Where You Die I Will Die

 "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and do so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."  Ruth 1:17

The finality and the commitment implied in these words is incredibly powerful.

This is Love.

"Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end."  John 13:1b

"Love...endures all things."  1 Corinthians 13:6

This is the commitment of brotherly love that a true brother speaks to his brother.

Gentiles are grafted into their vine and get to have the same Father.

Seeing ourselves as separate with a separate destiny is a doctrine of hell.  It would have made Ruth's speech sound something like this.  "Where you go, I will go, unless it gets tough and then I'll get pulled out by God because He loves me and you are on your own to pay for all the times you let God down." 

 Doesn't sound nearly as inspirational does it?!

Oh God helps us take up the grace to love to the very end!

George Warnock - Get READY

 http://followthelamb.net/29/SID29849.mp3

This teaching by George Warnock is so true, because it is so simple.

The Loving relationship between Yeshua and the Father

and

Yeshua and us

and

us and each other

is the simple key to it all.

But we resist because our self-life senses that this is a call

to the cross, and our self-life will look for absolutely anything 

else but that.

George Warnock Time of Preparation

STAY

 Religion has many places of refuge, "good" works, tithing, evangelizing, defending the truth, pointing out lies, pointing out sins, etc.  

Following the Messiah, has one place of refuge, the Messiah!

The Lord is doing a good and deep work in my wife, and this is some of that fruit.

 

 This morning she shared that she "saw" herself held by Jesus with His arm wrapped around her and satan and his forces had one object to goad,

 and prod 

and entertain 

and amuse 

and tempt

 (and whatever else you can think of) 

her in such a way as to get her to come out of that embrace

 in her own power  

with her self 

defending herself,

 protecting herself, 

relying on anything other than His life. She said, "He didn't show us a way, He is the Way, He didn't tell us a truth, He is the truth." 

 

Galatians 2:20 TLV  "and it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me. And the life I now live in the body, I live by trusting in Ben-Elohim—who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

What Does Faith Look Like? Go Back to Genesis!

 Galatians 3:6-9 "⁶ So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” ⁷ Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. ⁸ Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith."

Both here and more extensively in Hebrews 11, and again in Romans 4 we are given one consistent example of faith.  The faith that God credits as righteousness, and that faith is in Abraham in the book of Genesis.  

Hopefully now you are beginning to see why I so often emphasize, one book, one story and why I really do not like the two added pages in your Bible that are not inspired, one says Old Testament and one says New Testament, they are worthless and misleading and highly detrimental to the purpose that a merciful God has for the community of Messiah that is on the earth in these last days before the great Day of the Lord.  We are to be brother to the most hated and violently opposed people group on the planet, the Jewish people.  If we know God has an unchanging purpose for this ethnic nation in that specific geographical land we will be wise and willing and useful, if not we are Nabal or Haman, period.

Abraham Rejoiced to See My Day

 John 8:56  "Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day, and he saw it and rejoiced.”

One book, one story, one way of salvation.  Abraham saw it by faith. He was overjoyed by what he saw.  The law and Moses come later and they have their purpose, but the faith of Abraham the faith of the Jewish people was firmly planted in the coming of Messiah, period.

The Day of the Lord and Steadfast Perseverance

 2nd Peter chapter 3 has a section that makes it clear that discipleship is tied to a proper understanding of the day of the Lord.  The section begins by speaking of the certainty of the Day of the Lord and has a couple uses of the word therefore that tie it into our being steadfast followers of the Messiah.

"14Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation..."

A true God given understanding that this age and this world system has an end breaks the hold it has on us off of us.  Then we live as strangers and pilgrims, not as people who put our hope and happiness in this world system.  Our peace is settled in His plan and His plan is only extending the time of this world system so that more can be shown mercy. Our peace is not dependent on anything in this world system.  So when everything is shaken if we truly know this, we will not be shaken.

 
"17You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; "  Our knowing of the ultimate truth of the Day of the Lord, of Him putting everything right, of the destruction of this world system will keep us steadfast.  

Lastly James chapter 5 illustrates the point that the Day of the Lord is a strong foundation for the believer and for living properly. The chapter starts out making it clear we should not be storing up treasures in the last days and we should be treating others fairly, then he moves to verse 7.  "Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

9Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!"

By faith we know that this world system is coming to a close.  We trust, we wait knowing that God cannot lie. We establish our hearts, which other translations say is take courage, keep hoping, stay energized and firmly committed based on the fact that the Day of the Lord is coming.  And verse 9 makes it clear that this knowledge is powerful in helping us walk out our lives in the Spirit, we don't grumble against one another, because the Judge is at the door!  A true and right understanding of the Day of the Lord will keep us in a place of trusting and waiting and living by the Holy Spirit until that great Day.

The Judge On the Last Day

 "The one who rejects Me and doesn’t accept My sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day."  John 12:48

Clearly it is the rejection of the Messiah and His good news that will be the judge of the last day, the day of the Lord.

The Messiah has come, salvation has been completely paid for and accomplished.  God lowered Himself and became a man.  Rejecting that is the unforgivable sin, because rejecting that is rejecting the only payment for sin.  Rejecting that is rejecting the testimony of the Holy Spirit that Yeshua is the Messiah and His death and resurrection are the only way to be made right with God.

Our hearts cry is for fairness and justice and on the Last Day that cry will be answered by the one, true God.