Month 11:17, Week 3:2 (Shanee/Matzah), Year 5935:304 AM
Gregorian Calendar: Thursday 9 February 2012
A Living Epistle
Be Careful to Whom You Commit
"You are our epistle written in our levim (hearts), known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Messiah, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Ruach (Spirit) of the living Elohim (God), not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the lev (heart)" (2 Cor.3:2-3, NKJV).
When your soul is on fire for Yahweh, you'll know it and others will know it. They will know it because they will notice a change in personality in you and want to know what's going on; and you'll know it because all your priorities will shift: suddenly Yah'shua (Jesus) and the Kingdom become the all-consuming priority, displacing fleshy things which you once thought were important.
I myself was 'lit' on 30 March 1977 when I was born again; and though I have burned with varying degrees of intensity, for various reasons, the flame has always been there, ready to flare up at a moment's notice. In those apparent lulls, we are in truth just 'on hold' awaiting specific commissions.
"Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Yah'shua (Jesus) did not commit Himself (put His trust/confidence in) to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man" (John 2:23-25, NKJV).
This warning made by the Master we should make especial note of. There will be times when people will pour out their praises for the ministry that we do which, however sincere, can, if we are not careful, have the disasterous effect of appealing to our vanity. When someone tells you how great or fantastic you are because the power of Yahweh is manifesting through you in witnessing, preaching, or any kind of ministry, do not necessarily commit yourself to such people, because you should know, as the mortal Messiah knew, that what is in man which is not Elohim (God) is not good, and is in no need of elevation in the eyes of others. We do not need the praises of others for the work being done by Yahweh in us and should not put our trust or confidence in such people for they will simply cause us to change our focus away from the Most High.
It is therefore important that we do not seek the approval of men for the works that Yahweh alone deserves the credit for. I am always personally very wary of people who overly compliment or flatter me. Such people in any case typically vacillate - one moment they are heaping praises on you and the next minute they think you are the devil-incarnate.
I knew one such man from South Africa. He told me once that I was the most anointed minister he had ever met and that he was overwhelmed by the depth of my sermons. And then when he came across a biblical teaching of mine that he was either not ready or unwilling to accept yet, he started warning others about how dangerous I was and to stay clear of me! Suddenly, I had no longer been 'anointed'! I was right to be wary of him. He spread all kinds of lashon hara and refused to repent when I confronted him. Had I put my trust and confidence in him, as I have done before in the days when I was more naïve about such things, he might have done my ministry considerable harm. As it was, he just moved on, demonstrating that his earlier words were vaccuous.
We are to serve Yahweh and love people but we are not to allow the enemy to control our destiny. Not infrequently we must stand alone in order to see His will done:
"At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But Yahweh stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And Yahweh will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!" (2 Tim.4:16-18, NKJV).
Now, of course, if we have so departed from the emet (truth) and are preaching "another gospel" and everyone departs from us, then that is another matter altogether. There are plenty of those men about who plead victim when people flee from their wackey teachings because they aren't clever enough to deceive people like, for example, the leader of the Heaven's Gate cult. But I am not talking about such people, who range from the nutty to the extremely dangerous. I speak of those who truly do walk in pure scriptural emet (truth). And when these servants of Yahweh are forsaken by men, they are never alone, and are always protected against those who rise up against them, preserving them blameless until He comes or takes them home.
The moment a minister starts sounding like he is a used car salesman or starts threatening those who do not give him unconditional allegiance, you know it is time to leave him. Equally, a true minister of Elohim (God) will not be phased by either those who try to manipulate him by flattery or threaten him when he refuses to abandon the pure emet (truth) of the Everlasting Besorah (Gospel) for their false traditions that give them but fleeting comfort. He would rather stand alone and continue to be the "living epistle" that Paul speaks of in today's passage.
Make sure you're popular with Heaven. Popularity down here is often a recipe for spiritual ruination. Be that living epistle Yahweh has called you to be. I'd hate anyone to become a useless dead letter.
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