Category: Coffee with Jesus

These are morning devotionals, get your day started right motivation and inspiration.

Navigating Life with Zeal and Purpose

Navigating Life with Zeal and Purpose

I am a learner. When people are teaching or I think they have knowledge that will help me, I listen. I don’t pretend to have all the answers or that I know everything. I will challenge someone and their thoughts if they are using passages out of context or making arguments for something with no new information than I already have. But I am teachable, if you are right I will prayerfully change my mind with new understanding. However, I am not one to be whisked away, blown about by every wind of doctrine or “new revelation” someone one has.

When in a teaching service I take notes. I have always taken notes. Something I learned from my jr. high camp counselor. I don’t remember much about him but I do know that I looked up to him, I admired him. So much so that when I saw him taking notes during chapel, I took notes during chapel. One thing that he told me was “write questions” if you want to learn, write down questions that stir in your mind as you listen. Then after, find the answers. This is how you grow.

This past Sabbath while I sat and listened my mind was full of questions. The first question that I wrote down was given by the Pastor. “Who are you a hero to?” I need to be totally honest here, although I was listening and relating to the message, many of my thoughts and attention were drawn to more and more questions. Some admittedly prompted by the message others prompted by the questions themselves.

This post is going to be different than the majority of my posts because I am going to ask you the questions I was prompted to write. I will include the answers that I wrote, even the partial answers, if I have them. I am still working through these thoughts, after all this was just yesterday that I wrote them down.

The message text was the Torah portion Numbers 25-29. The hero in the text is Phineas. The prompt, “Who are you a hero to?” My next note was ‘who do I want to be a hero for/to?’ This resinated with me because I have for much of my life had a hero complex. I wanted to be the hero. I tried to fix problems even if the person didn’t want me doing anything. My desire to be needed and a hero won out every time and it killed many relationships. Passion and zeal are a double-edged sword. You will either be admired or despised because of it.

David was passionate in many areas some good and some not so good, depending on human nature. In the end king David was said to have a heart after Gods own heart. That’s pretty high praise. David writes in Psalm 119:57, “Indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked who forsake Your Torah!” The thing about David is in the end his desire was for what God desired. This puts into perspective the idea of being a hero and answers what being a hero looks like. The motivation is key, am I the motivation or is God the motivation?

What am I indignant about? Do I have a zeal and passion for Torah? Does it motivate me? Certainly, the majority of my posts since 2020 have revolved around being observant of Gods instruction rooted in the Tanakh. What stirs my passion and zeal in the Kingdom of God? Clearly, a desire for those who call themselves Christian to walk in the ancient paths. In life there are times when heroism is needed. A train is speeding down the rails and someone is stuck on the track. A hero is needed, get the person off the track! Someone is struggling in their understanding, struggling in a sin or rebellious spirit, instruct, persuade, but you cannot force someone. Let your own zeal and passion be a witness not the enforcer.

This begs the question: “What topics does one hear coming out of my mouth?” When in conversation am I joining in on the gossip? Am I adding to hurtful speech? What is my response to these things happening around me? It depends on the location, and the circumstances, as it does in most instances. In John 2 we read about Yahoshua’s visit to the Temple. “In the temple courts He found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves He said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning My Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.“

Time and place matter. Here in the above passage they are in the Temple. In the Torah, how we are to treat the Temple and use the Temple is explained in detail. They weren’t even close and Yahoshua acted on the zeal He had for His Father’s house. We read in Acts 21:20 that those coming to faith in Yahoshua, were, “all zealous for the Torah.” In a letter to Titus, Paul writes, “. . . who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every Torah-less deed, and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

So what keeps me from being zealous today? What keeps me from observing Torah? Is it temptation, surely, the temptation of the flesh. As the Scriptures say, our spirit and our flesh are at odds. Do we give into the flesh? We shouldn’t. In fact we should do what we can to die to ourselves and put on the new man. For we are new creations in Messiah Yahoshua. Does that mean temptations stop, that the great seducer just stops whispering in our ear? Absolutely not, if anything he fights even harder. Therefore we must fight harder by surrendering to the will of God in Messiah Yahoshua. “If you love Me, obey My commandments.” This can be a fearful thing which brings us to another question.

What fears are keeping me down? For me right now I would say, fear of failure, fear of other’s opinions, doubt in myself, in my knowledge and ability. Even fear of and in my past failures. Are these fears stronger than my Messiah? “Fear not for I am with you.” That’s what Yahoshua says. So why am I running from my fears rather than chasing them off? “I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me.”

Who have we been made to be? Revelation 5:9-10 says; “. . . with Your blood You purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” We are in Messiah Yahoshua a kingdom of priests to serve our God! We are to lead others in honoring the Sabbath Day, the Feast Days, the Torah!

What legacy am I leaving for my children? What I hope is to leave them an example: Don’t be a simple follower of Yahoshua, but servant leaders. Love God, Love your neighbor. Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly. This is what I hope my kids see in me. When life knocks you down, when temptation grips your heart, when the spiritual battle around you seems too over whelming: “Trust in Adonai with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode: The Ancient Paths: Following God’s Word in Modern Times

Podcast Episode: The Ancient Paths: Following God’s Word in Modern Times

Pip: There is a woman in a crowd who interrupts a sermon to compliment the speaker's mother, and somehow that two-thousand-year-old moment becomes the sharpest possible diagnosis of where religious attention goes wrong. That is the kind of move cj makes on The Way of the Rabbi.

Mara: This episode follows one extended argument about obedience, distraction, and what it actually means to believe — tracing from the Gospels through the Torah and back to a crossroads in Jeremiah. Let's start with the ancient paths themselves.

The Ancient Paths: Hearing, Believing, Doing

Pip: The post opens with a scene most readers would gloss over — a woman in the crowd praising the mother of Yahoshua — and uses it to ask a harder question: what pulls our attention away from the instruction itself and toward the person delivering it?

Mara: The anchor is Luke 11:28, and the post frames it as a corrective: "blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it." That word "keep" is doing real work here, and the post unpacks exactly why.

Pip: The upshot is that hearing alone is not enough. The post argues that Yahoshua is consistently calling people back to active obedience — not passive acknowledgment — and that the distractions are everywhere, from elevated figures to misread letters.

Mara: The linguistic argument is where this gets precise. The Aramaic word for "believe" used by Yahoshua is "haymen," rooted in the Hebrew "aman" — the same root that gives us "amen." The post defines it plainly: "to support, prop up, or make firm. It is NOT passive, rather it is indeed, active."

Pip: So when Yahoshua says "believe," he is not describing a feeling. He is describing something you do with your feet.

Mara: Exactly, and the post applies that reading across several passages in John — 6:29, 6:38 through 40, and 6:47 — each time returning to the same Aramaic root to make the case consistent. The companion piece, Understanding Faith Beyond Faith and Action, develops this thread further for readers who want to stay in it.

Pip: The Jeremiah crossroads image is where it lands — stand at the ancient paths, ask which is the good way, take it. The post notes the answer given in Jeremiah is not a triumphant yes. It is "We will not take it."

Mara: And that refusal is what the post calls the real distraction: not wickedness in some dramatic sense, but simply declining to seek the instruction and walk in it.

Pip: A crowd shouts praise at the wrong thing, and the Teacher redirects to the Word. That tension has not resolved in two thousand years.

Mara: More to come from The Way of the Rabbi — same crossroads, next episode.

The Ancient Paths: Following God’s Word in Modern Times

The Ancient Paths: Following God’s Word in Modern Times

“. . . more than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” Luke 11:28

This short statement was made by Yahoshua. It was in response to a woman who essentially interrupted His teaching with her own statement. “As Yahoshua was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!” Recorded in the previous verse. This statement is clearly a distraction from the intention of the passage. It takes the eyes and ears off the intended purpose, “hear and obey,” and places them on a person.

This reminds me of when Yahoshua was taken into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Satan says, “if you bow down to me, all this can be yours.” The temptation to look away from the Father. Many have fallen for this distraction. As it is presented in many different ways today. Anything that keeps one from hearing the word of God and keeping it, is that distraction. Whether it be in the person of Mary; Yahoshua’s mother, as something otherworldly. Or Paul the Apostle, as somehow greater than Yahoshua, carrying in him greater authority. Elevating his words, twisting them, and holding those misinterpreted, above that of Gods instruction.

In John 5:24 Yahoshua is recorded as saying; “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” Yahoshua spoke Aramaic, it is rooted in the same Semitic language structure and meaning as Hebrew. The word ‘believe’ in Aramaic is ‘haymen’ ܗܝܡܢ which has its root in the Hebrew word ‘aman’ אָܡܢ. Where we get the word amen, said following a prayer or in agreement with a statement. It means, ‘so be it’ or ‘let it be’, the idea of putting action to the statement, in support, to prop up, to make firm. (i recently wrote some similar thoughts on faith here: Understanding Faith Beyond Faith and Action, or if you prefer to listen to an overview listen here: Podcast Episode).

Here is the idea, we are called by Yahoshua to both hear and obey, believe, do, the Word of God. The Word of God whenever referenced in Scripture by Yahoshua or even Paul, is the Tanakh, with emphasis on the Torah. The title most have come to know is “the law.” In the gospels it is repeatedly called the “Law of Moses,” or referenced, “Moses wrote.” In the Gospels, if one reads them with this understanding it becomes clear that Yahoshua not only was the Word made flesh. He was calling Israel back to it, the Word, and therefore to Himself.

Luke chapter eleven is all about stepping into covenant, guarding your house, hearing Gods word and obeying it. Standing in the ancient path. Jeremiah 6:16 says, “Here is what Yahweh says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask about the ancient paths, ‘which one is the good way?’ Take it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not take it.”” The distraction comes from the world crying out, blessed is this thing or that thing, rather than Blessed be the One from Whom it was created.

In the Luke 11 Yahoshua had just finished talking about cleaning your house, and warning that if it isn’t filled with the Light of the Word but only swept out. The demon which was cast out may return with others and the state of that man will be worse than it was at first. Right here is where the woman cries out, “Blessed is the womb . . .”. Immediately, Yahoshua states, “blessed are those who hear the Word, and keep it.” The focus of Yahoshua’s teachings has always been obedience to Gods Word, nothing more and certainly nothing less.

Clearly, Paul, understood this for he wrote to the Thessalonians, “When this man who avoids Torah (Lawless One, Torahless One) comes, the Adversary will gibe him the power to work all kinds of false miracles, signs and wonders. He will enable him to deceive, in all kinds of wicked ways, those who are headed for destruction because they would not receive the love of the truth that could have saved them. This is why God is causing them to go astray, so that they will believe the Lie. The result will be that all who have not believed the truth, but have taken their pleasure in wickedness (lawlessness), will be condemned.”

The mark of those in darkness is that they practice lawlessness, in other words they do not practice, the Torah. They refuse to walk on the ancient paths; “But they said, ‘We will not take it.'” It really boils down to whether or not one is willing to seek out the instruction of God, believe it and thereby keep it. In so doing they put that belief into action, supporting the Scriptures through their daily walk. Propping the Word up, not tearing it down and calling it “Old” or “obsolete.” They indeed make firm the covenant by walking in its statutes and commands. Seeking with their whole heart the Father and His Kingdom, becoming ambassadors to the King in a fallen world.

Let me wrap this up by looking at a couple verses in the Gospel of John. (John 6:29, 38-40, and 47) –

29 Yahoshua answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” Again Yahoshua speaking Aramaic would have used the word ‘haymen’ ܗܝܡܢ which again has its root in the Hebrew word ‘aman’ אָܡܢ. Simply, it means to support, prop up, or make firm. It is NOT passive, rather it is indeed, active.

38 For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” Again Yahoshua speaking Aramaic would have used the word ‘haymen’ ܗܝܡܢ which again has its root in the Hebrew word ‘aman’ אָܡܢ. Simply, it means to support, prop up, or make firm. It is NOT passive, rather it is indeed, active.

47 “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.” Again Yahoshua speaking Aramaic would have used the word ‘haymen’ ܗܝܡܢ which again has its root in the Hebrew word ‘aman’ אָܡܢ. Simply, it means to support, prop up, or make firm. It is NOT passive, rather it is indeed, active.

A calling to seek with your whole heart the Father and His Kingdom, becoming an ambassador to the King in a fallen world. The question, is will you listen and obey? Will you hear the word, and keep it? Will you sweep out the old life and fill the house with light of the world?

You are loved,
cj

Reflections on Family and Faith in Daily Life

Reflections on Family and Faith in Daily Life

Quick life update before we dive into the current post. i took a vacation. A much needed visit to see two out of my three adult sons. As well, their amazing wives and my now three grandchildren, with a fourth on the way. It was an amazing week in a beautiful part of the world. The grandkids are growing like weeds. my boys continue to make me proud, as they have grown into great men, husbands, and fathers. They help each other out on projects as they live 15 minutes apart. While i was there my middle son helped by oldest put up a new stove pipe for a wood stove and my oldest son helped my middle son with some landscaping work, putting in a pad for a fifth wheel trailer with full hookups. The way they worked together, communicated, asked questions, gave advice, and sought outside input from others was so impressive and inspiring to me.

The earliest “Christians” as you may know were not call themselves Christians. Although, the term Christian means “little christ” it was used as a mocking term. An insult. Believers, were known in Judaism as the Sect of the Nazarene. “Followers of the Way”, was another name in which one would be known by within the early Church. It was a family. Sabbaths, began with a meal at sundown on Friday, known then as the “day of preparation.” These meals were in homes with like minded family, friends, and neighbors. They then would attend Synagogue on the Sabbath day, we call Saturday. This was the custom. It didn’t stop there as they were all excited for life in Messiah they met as often as they could.

We read in Acts 2 this description; “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. A sense of awe came over everyone, and the apostles performed many wonders and signs. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts/ and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And Adonai added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

This eagerness to be apart and to learn and grow in Messiah was infectious. As we read, “And Adonai added to their number daily those who were being saved.” A desire to be like Messiah was the heart of those in Berea, as we read in Act 17 (which I have shared numerous times over the past few posts) “Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.”

This is what i was reminded of this past week and a half. i watched my boys (now men), live out early Ekklesia life. Throughout history, culture, and community, there have been pockets that mirror this life. There is a glimmer of The Way. It sparks a desire within those partaking to commitment, one to one another, as a collective. While simultaneously sparking the interest of those on the outside looking in.

They say old habits die hard. It isn’t because there isn’t a desire for change, but routine is comfortable. Braking out of routine was the problem the Pharisee’s and the Religious leaders had. Their way of life was being challenged, their understanding was being challenged, their traditions were being challenged. When Yahoshua (Jesus) was talking about why His disciples didn’t fast He says this in particular to make His point: “Besides that, after drinking old wine, people don’t want new: because they say, ‘The old is better.'”

This is true with many things in life. Recently, the company that I work for as means to pay bills has been updating their computer system. With every update it will be heard, “I liked it better the old way!” I have probably said it a time or two. Yet, the more I use the new system the less I feel that way. The Pharisee’s had been doing things one way their whole lives, and in so doing adding more and more man made traditions. It is the same with the Church today, they have been doing things one way their entire lives, and following the traditions of man in the process.

my desire has always been to strip away the pomp and circumstance for simplicity. To look beyond the torn veil into the perfect instruction of God. To test what I have been taught and to seek Gods truth above all else. And to do it in community with other Followers of the Way, the sect of the Nazarene. To mirror the early Ekklesia, in fellowship and in attractiveness. So that those who see from the outside, see a group of people, loving God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. And likewise, loving their neighbor as themselves. Seeking to live lives pleasing to the Father by imitating the Son.

What is your desire? How do you want to be seen? And who do you want others to see in you?
For me– simplicity, just, loving, humble, a reflection of my Messiah.

You are loved,
cj

Embracing a Lifestyle Beyond Religion

Embracing a Lifestyle Beyond Religion

Religion, relationship, or lifestyle? The motto for many Christians is; “Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship.” And they get this idea from Jesus Himself. He calls His followers, friends and brothers. The “Church” is described as the “Bride of Christ.” So there is good reason to use a motto that pulls on the idea of relationship. Religion in our culture has become a byword for rigidity, ritual, rules and regulations, requiring strict adherence. So yes when you put the two side-by-side, relationship is far more appealing than religion.

The definition of religion is: a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs; the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith; strict faithfulness; devotion.

The definition of relationship is: a connection, association, or involvement; connection between persons by blood or marriage; an emotional or other connection between people.

When one reads John 15:15; “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” It is easy to see the idea of relationship. Also, the idea of relationship makes it feel like a partnership. In a partnership there are two-sides, generally equal and therefore autonomous, moving freely, within the relationship.

Two friends are having a conversation, “What are you doing tonight?” friend one asks friend two. “I don’t have any plans, just gonna go home and watch TV, maybe get takeout on my way.” Friend two reply’s. “You want to grab a bite together and then hit up downtown, there’s a block party tonight?” He asks, adding, “And I don’t want to go alone.” Friend two hesitates, “Come on, it will be fun.” Friend one pushes. Finally, friend two relents, “Ok, I’ll go.” Regardless of how this conversation ends up it is two individuals, making individual decisions.

Religion is as defined a rigid devotion to the rules. If the religious leader says, do this, a good devout religious person, will do it. Wash your hands this way, before eating. In order to join our order you must do this or that in this order, no exception. You must follow these rules precisely or you will need to ritually cleanse yourself. It is focused and it is one-way. One is simply an observer in a collective observance of said religious practices. A participant in the pre-ordained ritualistic rites. No conversation, no friendship, just instruction.

But what does Scripture teach us about the dynamics of this faith that we have? In the beginning, we read that there was a relationship so close-knit that Adam recognized the footsteps of God in the garden. We see the Angel of the God having a meal with Abraham. Even disclosing what was about to take place, the judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah. We see a burning bush and Moses, then later a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. We see a covenant established between God and the people of Israel. A set of instructions given that if they obeyed them they would be blessed. But, if they did not obey them they would be cursed.

Israel was to be the Nation to the nations, a city set on a hill that drew all nations to God. A priestly nation, each with a particular part based on the tribe they were from. Yet, even it what appears to be the establishment of Religion we see that it was still wrapped in a fundamental desire to have a relationship. David, who is said, “a man after God’s own heart,” writes in Psalm 4 a plea.

“O God, my vindicator! Answer me when I call! When I was distressed, you set me free; now have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.” This is not the cry of religion this is the cry of a relationship. He continues, “Men of rank, how long will you shame my honor, love what is vain, case after lies? Understand that Adonai sets apart the godly person for Himself; Adonai will hear when I call to Him. You can be angry, but do not sin! Think about this as you lie in bed, and calm down. Offer sacrifices rightly, and put your trust in Adonai.”

This reminds me of what the Prophet Micah wrote; “With what can I come before Adonai to bow down before God on high? Should I come before Him with burnt offerings? with calves in their first year? Would Adonai take delight in thousand of rams with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Could I give my firstborn to pay for my sin, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? O man, you have already been told what is good, what Adonai requires of you – no more than to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”

David finishes Psalm 4 with this: “Many ask, ‘Who can show us some good?’ Adonai, lift the light of Your face over us! You have filled my heart with more joy than all their grain and new wine. I will lie down and sleep in peace; for, Adonai, you alone make me live securely.“

Adonai Elohim, has always desired relationship with His creation. He does however do so with a purpose. There is order, there is righteousness, there is Holiness. He being loving, made away for Israel and later to all the world through Messiah Yahoshua. So this beings us back to the religion or relationship? And to that I say, yes! We began with John 15:15 “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” However, just before this He says, “You are my friends if you do what I command.“

If we take religion and relationship we get a lifestyle. The definition of lifestyle is: the habits, attitudes, tastes, moral standards, economic level, etc., that together constitute the mode of living of an individual or group.

This is why I have chosen “a lifestyle not a religion” over the common catchphrase, “not religion but a relationship.” Some would say this is simply semantics, and they wouldn’t be entirely wrong. However, like the conversation between two individual friends, there is autonomy. However, when we enter into covenant with the Father we are agreeing to live by a set standard. We are taking on the lifestyle of Yahoshua, “fixing our eyes on the Initiator and Completer of that Faith, Yahoshua – who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before Him, endured death on a tree as a criminal, scorning the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of Elohim.”

It is His lifestyle that we are to carry. We are called to be Ambassadors of the Kingdom. Living in the world but not of the world. We are to be the shining city on a hill, that beacon of light that draws the nations back to Elohim. We are His chosen people, a royal priesthood, ministering to the poor and needy, the nobles and the kings. Living set apart lives as Adonai instructed in His Word. That same Word taught by the Apostles. One continuous letter to humanity, from the Creator of all things. His call for us to return to His Way. Dying to ourselves we put on the new self, the lifestyle of our King Yahoshua, that is marked by obedience.

John 15:9-14 –
“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”

The way of the Rabbi, a lifestyle not a religion, for a lifestyle outlives every label.

You are loved,
cj

Understanding Faith: Beyond Belief and Action

Understanding Faith: Beyond Belief and Action

What does it mean to have faith, to truly have faith? Often faith and belief are incorrectly considered interchangeable. Belief, is intellectual. It is said, “that even the demons believe and tremble.” Belief isn’t the problem. Many say they believe in an afterlife, even belief in a higher power. That belief gets you nowhere if it is not active. That is where faith comes in. When I enter a room I can believe the lights work, that the switch works, that if I flip the switch it will turn on the light; But, if I don’t actually flip the switch nothing will happen. Or the oven, I know that the oven will cook my food but if I do not turn it on nothing will happen.

When we read about faith in the Tanakh, (Old Testament) we see it as active obedience. Hebrews 11 gives us a quick account of the pillars of Faith. The writer makes it a point to say, by Faith, “By Faith, Noah . . . in reverent fear constructed”, “By Faith, Abraham, obeyed . . .”. The word Faith in Hebrew is אֱמוּנָה – Emunah. It means a steadiness, as in a steady walk of obedience. A steadfastness, faithfulness in keeping the ordinances of God.

The Greek counterpart is πίστις – pistis. The Greek culture was known and is still known for its philosophers, and artisans of various types and skill. Just take a look at any capital city and for the most part you will see a Greco-Roman influence. Rome simply adopted the majority of Greek culture. So when the Apostles wrote their letters, mostly in Greek the word they had for faith was pistis. Having no other real viable choice. Pistis, is faith without power, faith without substance, a mental understanding without an outward expression.

Perhaps this is why James writes pistis, without works is dead. Works in this greek context is Ergon and it means occupation, employment, undertaking. So James is combining two Greek words in order to present one Hebrew truth, Faith is active, it requires action, one cannot say they believe and not show it by their undertakings.

Paul is recorded in Acts as telling those in Ephesus about being watchful for ravenous wolves coming into the flock and deceiving many. Just before that warning he talks about his lifestyle, how he conducted himself and told those under his care to do likewise. He said that he was instructed both the Jew and the Greek (gentile). Now what do you think ravenous wolves would look like? Would you say that they would draw men unto themselves to practice ways foreign to God or do you think ravenous wolves would teach obedience to God?

Before you answer Pharisee, remember Yahoshua (Jesus) called out the Pharisees for teaching the doctrines of man. The message has always been one of repentance, a turning from disobedience to obedience. Turning from the ways of man to the instruction of Elohim. Some will point out Colossians 2:16 and say they aren’t required to keep the ordinances of God any longer. They do so without considering the culture in which this letter was being written. It was a Greek philosophical culture mixed with a sect of Judaism bound in mans traditions. Both equally astray from אֱמוּנָה – Emunah, Faith in YHWH.

Just look at Pauls warning earlier in that same chapter. “Therefore, as you received Messiah Yahoshua your Adonai, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the Faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to the human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Messiah.”

So when Paul is talking about food and drink, or festivals and new moons or Sabbaths he is drawing a contrast between the culture and God’s instruction. He is actually calling on those who would be otherwise chastised for keeping them to do so without condemnation. The Pharisees who were surely to judge the gentile for keeping them and the pagan culture around them for keeping what was considered a “Jewish thing”. Sound familiar? It should because it is the same argument being made today. Sadly, the greek influenced church is the pagan voice today.

Think about it, Paul warns not to be taken captive by philosophy, a major part of Greek culture. Deceit, something Yahoshua also warned about in Matthew 24:4 essentially saying, “Don’t let anyone deceive you.” According to human tradition, now let me ask you, are Christmas, Easter, Sunday, a human tradition or a Scriptural one? In contrast are the Feasts of Elohim; Passover, First Fruits, Pentecost, Atonement, Trumpets, Tabernacles, Sabbath, are they God’s instruction? The Church will fight tooth and nail for human tradition while calling God’s Feasts a thing of the past. Do you think that is according to the elemental spirits of the world?

Certainly not according to Messiah who was the Passover Lamb, the Word (Torah) made flesh, Adonai of the Sabbath, Light of the World, The Way, The Truth and The Life . . . all of which the Torah is described. He is the First Fruits, He is both the Torah revealed to Moses at Mt. Sinai on the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost as well, through Him the gift of the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost, a.k.a. Feast of Weeks. He is our Atonement, He is coming with a Trumpet blast, He is coming to Tabernacle with us for a Millenia. Are you seeing a pattern?

The devil is a copycat. He has mimicked and attempted to mirror celebrations but he cannot duplicate perfection which is what Torah is. God’s Word is true and He calls us to walk in its light. It isn’t about perfection it is about Faith, Emunah. A steadiness, as in a steady walk of obedience. A steadfastness, faithfulness in keeping the ordinances of God. Do you want human tradition or God’s perfect instruction? Only you can answer that question.

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode: Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey

Podcast Episode: Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey

Pip: There is a particular kind of morning ritual that starts with Scripture and ends with a question you cannot easily shake — and cj has been living inside one of those.

Mara: This episode follows a single extended meditation on what it actually means to live by God’s instructions — the tension between hearing and doing, between belief and action, and what Ezekiel and James have to say about where loyalty really lies.

Pip: Let’s get into the faith journey itself.

Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey

Mara: The question at the center of this post is whether faith is something you hold or something you do — and whether the two can come apart without consequence.

Pip: The post opens with a daily recitation cj has built into morning Scripture reading, and the passage from Ezekiel 33 that it unlocked: “Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?”

Mara: That imperative is the hinge. Ezekiel’s point, and the post’s point, is that past righteousness does not bank credit against future sin — and past wickedness does not foreclose future restoration. The ledger resets on the direction you are currently moving.

Pip: Which is either deeply liberating or deeply unsettling, depending on which direction you thought you had locked in.

Mara: The post is careful to distinguish obedience from performance. The framing is direct: “Obedience isn’t works, it’s covenant.” Forgiveness is a promise, but it is tied to the orientation of the heart, not the accumulation of good deeds done while continuing to do as you please.

Mara: James gets quoted at length on exactly this point — the mirror illustration, where a hearer of the word walks away and forgets his own face. The post identifies the “perfect law of liberty” James names as Torah, God’s instruction in righteousness, and cites Strong’s definition of liberty as freedom from corrupt desires so that the soul acts freely in alignment with God’s will.

Pip: So liberty, in this reading, is not freedom from the law — it is freedom through it.

Mara: The post also draws on Acts 15, where the Jerusalem council’s guidance to gentile believers is framed as a beginning, not a ceiling — a first set of steps into a process of ongoing instruction read every Sabbath. Faith here is explicitly described as progressive, growing, active.

Pip: The closing question lands without softening: how are you seeking, how are you growing — because faith, the post says, is not stagnant, not passive, and not finished.

Mara: The through-line is that hearing and doing are not the same thing, and the gap between them is where the real work of faith lives.

Pip: The kind of work that apparently starts before breakfast, with a statement that challenges you before the day has a chance to.

Mara: Read the post in its entirety: Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey at thewayoftherabbi.com

Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey

Living by God’s Instructions: A Faith Journey

A statement that I have begun to recite after my morning Scripture reading has both challenged me and encouraged me. The statement goes like this: “The reading of the Word of Yahweh. Blessed be the Name of Adonai and the Word made flesh Yahoshua Messiah. Blessed be the hearer and the doer of His Word.” In this statement I give praise and honor to the Father, and His Son, as well, I challenge myself to not be a hearer only but a doer of His Word. When passages are read that challenge me, this statement, challenges me. When passages are read that encourage me, this statement, encourages me. For example today as I read Ezekiel 33 I was both challenged and encouraged. Let me explain.

First let’s look at the passage I want to highlight. It is Ezekiel 33:10-20 and 30-33.
“Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’ Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares Adonai Elohim, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ Therefore, son of man, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression; neither will the wickedness of the wicked man cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. Nor will the righteous man be able to survive by his righteousness on the day he sins.’ If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but he then trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, then none of his righteous works will be remembered; he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.

But if I tell the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right— if he restores a pledge, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity—then he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be held against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live. Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this. Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.””

30-33 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One speaks to another, each saying to his brother, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from Yahweh!’ So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain. Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice. So when it comes to pass—and surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Within the spaces, between the lines, in the sound of each letter, i am challenged to repent and to seek truth and righteousness in my life. i am equally encouraged. In this that IF one repents of any wickedness, sin, forgiveness is a promise. It isn’t based on the amount of works one can do or how good a performance one puts on. It is about the heart and where loyalty lies. Will you choose your way, saying to yourself, “I am good, because I believe, so my deeds do not matter therefore I will do as I please.” Or, will you choose His Way, the Father’s Instruction, saying, “Oh Adonai Elohim, forgive me of my sin and hear my prayer, that I may walk according to Your Instruction. Write Your Torah on my heart and my mind that I can walk in the light of Your righteousness.”

This message is woven into the fabric of the Apostles letters. Forgiveness, repentance, faith, righteousness, sin, living in instruction. Obedience isn’t works, its covenant. Paul writes to the Philippians, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Messiah Yahoshua has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Messiah Yahoshua. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

This is a progressive faith, a growing faith, an active faith. It is what the Apostles were getting at in Acts when they talked about the gentile coming to faith in Messiah. What is it they were to do? How were they to assimilate? Well, it is a process, one taken in steps through instruction. “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

James writes, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” The perfect law, is Torah, God’s Instructions in righteousness.

Strongs makes this statement regarding ‘Liberty’; “freedom from the dominion of corrupt desires, so that we do by the free impulse of the soul what the will of God requires”. This is liberty, liberty from the fruitless acts of humanity into the fruitful works of righteousness. As the world seems increasingly out of wack, bizarre events happening in increasing measure, it is vitally important that you align yourself on the side of Yahoshua, the King of kings. As we pray, “Our Father in Heaven, Holy is Your Name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. . .” This is the Way.

Growing in faith isn’t finding loopholes and ways to continue in sin. Rather, growing in righteousness is seeking with your whole heart, how to Love Adonai with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. How are you seeking? How are you growing? Faith isn’t stagnant, it isn’t passive, it isn’t perfect, it is growing.

This is the way of the Rabbi, will you walk in it?

You are loved,
cj

Podcast Episode: The One Story: God’s Covenant and Instructions

Podcast Episode: The One Story: God’s Covenant and Instructions

Pip: One book, not two — and apparently that page between Malachi and Matthew has a lot to answer for.

Mara: cj’s recent writing on The Way of the Rabbi goes deep into what holds scripture together as a single story, and what that means for how we live inside it. Let’s start with the covenant itself — and what the text actually says about sin, Torah, and obedience.

The One Story: God’s Covenant and Instructions

Pip: The central claim here is that the Bible was never meant to be read in two halves — and that the dividing line most readers take for granted has quietly done real damage to how people understand who they are and what they’re called to do.

Mara: The post frames the whole of scripture this way: “It should be read as if it was written to you and your family from your dad. Because, every word of it, was inspired by your Heavenly Father.”

Pip: That reframe matters practically. If it’s a letter from a father, you don’t skip chapters or treat half of it as superseded fine print. The whole thing carries weight, and you read it looking for coherence, not contradiction.

Mara: And the coherence the post argues for runs straight through the question of sin. John’s definition from 1 John 3:4 is quoted directly: “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” The post is careful to note that the word translated as law is better rendered Torah — instruction.

Pip: So lawlessness isn’t just moral chaos in the abstract. It’s specifically being without God’s instruction — which reframes repentance too.

Mara: Exactly. Repentance, the post argues, has always meant returning to the Father’s ways. Not a one-time transaction, but an ongoing orientation. Romans 6 gets quoted at length on this point — the logic that dying to sin means you can no longer live in it.

Pip: There’s a pointed moment where the Pharisees come up — not as rule-obsessives, but as people who added to and subtracted from Torah while performing compliance. That’s the irony the post lands on: the accusation of legalism often comes from people who also claim you should obey God.

Mara: The post closes with a direct question to the reader — what exactly are you practicing? It’s less a rhetorical flourish and more a genuine diagnostic. The instruction, the covenant, the door — all one continuous thing.

Pip: One story, one covenant, one set of questions you actually have to answer for yourself.

Mara: The kind of reading that doesn’t let you stay comfortable at the page break. More of that territory next time.

Read the whole post here: The One Story: God’s Covenant and Instructions

Podcast Episode: Peter’s Three Little Pigs

Podcast Episode: Peter’s Three Little Pigs

Pip: Peter had a vision involving a sheet full of animals, and somehow it became the most consequential real-estate dispute between clean and unclean in all of scripture.

Mara: Today we’re looking at a piece from cj that works through Acts 10 — Peter’s rooftop vision, what it actually meant, and what Israel had quietly forgotten about its own calling to the nations.

Pip: Let’s start with the vision, the pigs, and what Peter finally understood.

Peter’s Vision and the Nations

Mara: The post opens with a question that Acts 10 has been answering for centuries: what does it mean for something — or someone — to be called unclean, and who gets to decide?

Pip: And the anchor is Peter’s own words, once the vision lands. The setup is Acts 10:28-29, where Peter explains himself to Cornelius’s household: “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for.”

Mara: So the vision was never about dietary law. The sheet full of animals was a teaching tool — the real subject was the Gentiles standing at Peter’s door.

Pip: The post takes care to show how Israel arrived at this moment. The Torah was clear about welcoming the stranger — Leviticus 19:34 says to treat the foreigner as a native and love him as yourself. Exodus 12:49 and Numbers 15:16 both establish one law for native and stranger alike.

Mara: But somewhere between Sinai and the first century, a protective instinct calcified into total separation. Contact with Gentiles became a purity issue requiring Temple sacrifice and ritual cleansing. That’s the tradition Peter is carrying when the vision hits.

Pip: Which is why the Spirit’s staging is so deliberate — three times the sheet descends, three times Peter refuses, and then three Gentile men knock on the door. The number isn’t coincidence; it’s the lesson repeating until it sticks.

Mara: The post traces the original purpose back to Exodus 19:5-6, where Israel is called “a kingdom of priests” — priests exist to mediate between God and others, not to wall themselves off. Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6 frame the Messiah as the fulfillment of that priestly, outward-facing calling.

Pip: So Yahoshua isn’t dismantling Israel’s structure — he’s restoring what Israel was always supposed to be doing.

Mara: Peter’s conclusion in Acts 10:34-35 makes it explicit: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” The apostles in Jerusalem respond: God has granted the Gentiles “the repentance that leads to life.”

Pip: A kingdom of priests that forgot it had a congregation — and needed a rooftop vision to remember.

Mara: The post is careful to note what the vision does not revise. The animals on that sheet were still unclean as food — the point was the people at the door, not the menu.

Pip: Isaiah 66:17 gets cited as a prophetic bookend: judgment still falls on those who eat swine’s flesh. The dietary instructions, the post argues, were not the thing being cleansed.

Mara: What shifts is the wall between peoples. What stays is the Torah’s instruction — and the post frames both as consistent expressions of the same God calling humanity back to His ways.

Pip: One vision, one sheet, one centurion — and the whole architecture of who belongs gets reexamined.

Mara: The thread from Sinai to Acts to Isaiah 66 is longer than it looks. There’s more to follow here.

Read the full post here: Peter’s Three Little Pigs