Who is this righteous man? The one who is justified by God in the Messiah Yeshua, the one who believes and trusts in Him with all his heart, the one who listens to Him and does His will, the one who waits for Him and His guidance, the one who obeys His word and the one who holds faith to the end… He is the one who will live eternal life. Yes, only true faith in Him, gives us eternal life. And who is the one who draws back? The one who trusts himself, justifies himself, pities himself, takes care of himself more than others. In short – puts himself at the center instead of putting the Lord there. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).
What does God require of us? Treat the unbelievers (and the believers too) the right way: “If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul”. Then the reword will come: “Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail”. And the result: God will use us with the gospel and with prayers and intercession for the humanity at this time: “Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In” (Isa. 58:9-12).
We all live today in challenging times. The lie spreads through the media and many people (even believers) are misled by it. The illusions that it will be better, also mislead people. Darkness covers the earth more and more day by day, and in these times we, the believers, are in harder tests of faith than ever! This is the time that the light of Messiah must show over us, in order to pass it on to others, so they will see and will fear Him (Isa. 60:1-2). At this time we see the differences between us, the true believers and the people of the world more and more …
This is the time we must show the world the goodness of God over us, His protection, His concern, His blessing and His love for us, His children: “Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, That they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed” (Isa. 61:9). It does not mean that we are immune to the ravages of life and diseases, but that we understand what He does in our lives. We understand that He wants to aware our attention for ourselves and fight against our fleshly deeds. If necessary we confess our sins and repent to God, to the right relationship with Him.
God has placed His Spirit in us, so that we will be a testimony to the glory of Messiah. God mocks the proud and gives grace and wisdom to the humble: “Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble” (Jas. 4:5-6). Grace is also the wisdom of God, which is given only to the humble ones. But, what do people want from God? The Jews ask for a sign from God and the Greeks ask for wisdom – but, we the true believers preach the Messiah who was crucified for us… which is the spiritual wisdom of God in its embodiment.. “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:22-24).
Through our fear of God and our true faith, we receive the wisdom of God and the power of God. God respects and gives wisdom to those who walk humbly: “The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility” (Prob. 15:33).
Our brother Paul teaches us out of his experience: “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory” (1 Cor. 2:4-7).
The power of God is given to believers who are faithful to the Lord. It is strong and has a tremendous influence on those around us. When God’s power reigns over us, we have the strength and courage to go against the flow, get out of the camp (as Yeshua did), and be different from those around us and even give our lives for the sake and honor of the Lord. It is not easy, but God by His grace helps and gives us the power when needed.
And again – God wants us – to be a testimony through our spiritual lifestyle, to be different from others thanks to Messiah who was crucified for us. He Himself went out the camp, was different, spoke differently and taught differently from the scribes and teachers of His time, but most of the people went against Him, because they could not contain His radical teaching… yes He was radical and He also teaches us to be radical… he taught us in His word about the narrow way that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven… “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt. 7:13-14). Who are the few? These are the believers that Yeshua speaks of in the sermon on the mountain: they are the poor of the spirit, the humble, the hungry and thirsty for righteousness, the merciful, the uprights, the pursuers of peace (Matt. 5: 3-9).
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom” (Jas. 3:13), this is the wisdom that comes from above. We all know this, but it is worth remembering every day: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (Jas. 3:17-18).
All the honor to the Lord Yeshua, for the guidance for real life that He has given us!!!