Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el!

Yahweh has spoken to people throughout history and He has done so in many ways. Sometimes He communicated in supernatural ways, like the burning bush that Moses saw, or the Voice that the boy Samuel heard; or the light that blinded the young zealous Pharisee who later became the apostle Paul. In revivals of emunah (faith) down through the centuries, there have been recurring instances of guidance like this. And as Yahweh has done this before with His men and women talmidim (disciples), so He may also guide you in the same way today. But on the daily pathway of life, you can expect that more special form of guidance that Elijah knew - the "still, small voice":

"Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before Yahweh, but Yahweh was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but Yahweh was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice" (1 Kings 19:11-12, NKJV).

I'd like now to spend some time looking at the most common forms of spiritual guidance we can expect from Yahweh throughout life which I am calling 'The Three C's':

1. CONVICTION. A deep-down sense of the right thing to do that comes from the guidance of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) and a clear conscience. From reading Yahweh's Davar (Word), from prayer, and working for Yahweh from day to day. Yahweh will surely and steadily make clear what He wants you to do. Never act out of doubt. If you are unsure that this is the right step, don't move until you feel clear before Elohim (God). The Bible says:

"Whatever is not from emunah (faith) is sin" (Rom.14:23, NKJV).

Yah'shua (Jesus) said:

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27, NKJV).

2. CIRCUMSTANCE. Yahweh will often close or open doors to help you see what His will is. You may set out to do something and find out that everything falls apart; it doesn't 'hang together', or go right, even when you pray about it. This may be Yahweh blocking a wrong path when you have missed His directions. On the other hand, after you feel something in your lev (heart) that you believe might be Yahweh's direction, an opportunity may occur in the most unexpected place. If you are trying to follow Yahweh's will as honestly as you know how, don't be afraid that you will make an irrepairable mistake. Sometimes it will be a little hard to determine exactly what Yahweh is saying to you; and many times, doing what He seems to be saying involves a risk to your reputation, your pride, or your popularity. But if we really love Him and walk in the light of His Davar (Word), He will go before us to prepare the way.

'Circumstance' guidance is like walking up to the door of a big supermarket or department store with automatic doors; you walk up to the door, and just as you think you are going to hit the glass, the door swings aside and you go through. This is what I commonly call one of Yahweh's 'last minute' actions. Push forwards, and let Yahweh swing open the doors of circumstance as a help in confirmation of His will.

3. CONFIRMATION. Yahweh may find other ways to confirm to you what He wants done. Sometimes this may come in the form of a dream or a vision or a sign of some kind. Gideon used the "fleece" before Yahweh because he was afraid and unsure of His voice:

"So Gideon said to Elohim (God), If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said -- look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.' '' And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to Elohim (God), 'Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew. And Elohim (God) did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground" (Judg.6:36-40, NKJV).

One other thing - don't expect Him to tell you in the same way He told someone else. He delights in using different ways to guide His children. Let it be a special surprise to you; don't tell Him how you want Him to guide you. Just wait His time.

I thought I would finish today with a special word for new believers and for teenagers who are seeking to know their purpose for the first time. Don't be worried if you don't immediately know the night after you gave your life to Yah'shua (Jesus) what Yahweh wants you to do! Sometimes He puts us through training to see if He can trust us before he will make clear what he has on His lev (heart) for us. Use the years of your early conversion to learn discipline and obedience from Him, and expect that He will open up the derech (pathway) for you.

In the meantime I have five general words of counsel that will see you right if you are a young person:

1. Follow your INTERESTS and ABILITIES. Find out what you can do well, and what you can't. Sometimes our backgrounds are part of Yahweh's purpose for us; the lessons we have learned from life, the responses and the choices we have made in the past are all used by Him and woven into His ultimate purposes. Yahweh wants to use us - as we are. You are different from anyone else in the world. Find out what makes you special. Sometimes Yahweh may use your talents; sometimes it is your very lack of talents that make you very special to Him. Hudson Taylor said:

"When [Elohim] (God) wanted to evangelize China, He looked for a man weak enough to use."

2. Have MANY INTERESTS, especially in your teenage years. Learn to do a lot of things, and be interested in more than just a few things you have already done. Try your hand out in different sports, for instance; they may help you develop your body in different ways that will make it stronger and more serviceable for Yah'shua (Jesus) in the years ahead. Keep fit. Don't, as Paul Washer once warned, throw away the metaphorical 'horse' (your body) that will convey your spirit in Yahweh's service - in other words, don't only not abuse it but make sure you do all you can to keep it healthy through proper eating and exercise so that it can go where Yahweh wants you to go. Develop that discipline while you are young and set a standard for the rest of your life. It's the temple of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) (1 Cor.6:19) - it's only on loan, so look after it.

Experiment with different hobbies - some of the things you learn in recreation times will become valuable tools in the future; especially ones like radio, electronics, computing, photography, animals, horticulture, survival, mechanics, cooking, art or crafts. Try to devlop the capabilities Elohim (God) has entrusted to you. Be enthusiastic about what you do! Really get into it, and get an interest in as many things as you can so that you can be self-sufficient enough to take care of your future family and others when the times get really tough, as they will and already are. Be prepared for a changing world that is becoming more and more hostile to the Besorah (Gospel). The more things you know a little about, the more people you may be able to reach for Yah'shua (Jesus). I have constantly been surprised how every piece of knowledge and how every skill I have acquired has helped me at some time or another in the Kingdom mandate.

3. READ ABOUT the things you'd like to do. If you think Yahweh might be calling you into some form of missionary work or evangelism, read biographies of, or watch movies about, famous missionaries. If you think Yahweh has called you to be a Christian or Messianic artist, or a mechanic, or a scientist, read books about art, mechanics and science. If you learn to like books, you'll have a wider picture of the world Yahweh wants to reach.

4. Get some PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE early. Take a part-time job in the area of your interest. During vaccations and holidays, ask if you can do some off job around the place you would like to work in, and talk to others already on the job. In spare time, ask a lot of questions. Do they find it interesting? What does it cost in terms of time, study and commitment? Can you advance in it? Will it take care of your financial needs? Of course, all jobs must be those that honour Yahweh and help forward His creation; anything else that is shady or morally tainted is totally off-limits to the child of Elohim (God).

5. STUDY Yahweh's Davar (Word). Even secular jobs will benefit from a year or so in a good part-time Bible school or correspondence course in Scripture, or working with an evangelist or pastor. And PRAY; talk over new developments and disappointments with Yah'shua (Jesus).

From my interests as a teenager, which were principally science, politics and history, I knew pretty much which direction I was going in early on. When at college I met Yah'shua (Jesus), I knew pretty much from the beginning that I was going to be a teacher professionally, and then in the Besorah (Gospel). Practically every single interest I have ever had has been useful to me in some way or another, and most I have been able to press into service for the Kingdom. I regret some of the hobbies that I turned down which have left be lacking in some areas of my life, like mechanics, for instance, which I could have learned from my father who was very good at this. Boys and girls in particular need to learn the skills they will need to fulfil their rôles as adult men and women in a world where basic services may either be unavailable or unaffordable.

Whether we like it or not, you are now living in the most decisive and challenging years of the world's history. There has never been a more strategic hour. Never has complete dedication to Yah'shua (Jesus) been more important that it is for you today! You need to be a rock-solid believer for the simple reason you must learn to thrive in a world that is hardened in sin and wickedness. Lukewarm and half-hearted believers simply aren't going to make it. Longfellow, prophetically it seems, wrote:

"Humanity with all its fears - with all its hopes for future years - is hanging, breathless on YOUR fate"!

A sixteen-year old boy named Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov saw soldiers hang his younger brother Alexandr for treason (he was part of a conspiracy to assassinate the Czar) and banish his sister Anna, and made up his mind to change the world. Because of that decision, over a hundren million people have died, tens of millions have been tortured, and nearly a billion have been enslaved. As he stood there in hurt and anger, he bitterly said:

"I'll make them pay for it. I swear I'll make them pay!"

Now is the time for Yahweh to find the set-apart, holy rebels, the radicals for righteousness. Your degree of dedication or set-apartness (holiness), your willingness to sacrifice for Yahweh's glory, your availability for service - these are the weapons which alone will decide whether your generation - the last generation - will be marked by the Sign of the Cross or the Slash of the Sword.

Only the dedicated will win. True Christianity or Messianism is all-out commitment to Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ). A critical world is watching our conduct and by some strange instinct it knows that authentic believers deserve everything or nothing. It responds to us - to our failure to live up to the high ideals of our Master by persecuting us, or by our success to live in emunah (faith) and obedience to Torah by first begrudgingly respecting us and then - sometimes - listening to us and responding to the call of salvation. One thing I am 100% convinced about is that to yield to sin in any degree is to guarantee our failure in witnessing - to be moderate in sin is no more possible than to be moderate in death:

"Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Col.3:5, NKJV).

"Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My talmid (disciple). And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My talmid (disciple)" (Luke 14:25-33, NKJV).