, Yahweh makes it very clear that our final exaltation and glory exists only as His uniplural wife, the collective Bride of Messiah. Our future glory lies in the redeemed nation of which we are called to be a part. We are both individuals and a community but the redeemed community lies at the apex of Yahweh's heart. That is why we are also subject to global judgment as well as to national and family judgments.
Familial Blessings and Cursings
Ever heard of familial or generational blessings and curses? Oh yes, we love to inherit the blessings of our ancestors but we balk at their curses. You do, however, have a choice: you can walk the high road with the greater communal blessings and the take risks of failure or you can walk the low road single and alone with only an inferior resurrection awaiting you and eternity as a single. That's basically the choice. That's why marriage is so sacred and why it is so important to get it right. That is why good husbands bring blessings to their wives and children and why bad ones lead onto to misery for them. I am sorry, but there is no way these truths can be avoided. And you can complain to Yahweh about His set-up until the cows come home but it won't change anything. It's time for people to wake up and to know who our Elohim really is, His loving kindness and grace, and why His set-up is the only good one.
The Fairness of Yahweh
In case you think Yahweh is unjust on an individual basis I do want to assure you - once again - that those who are cut short in this life because of the sins of others are brought back in the Millennium and complete the lives that were denied them in this life. This goes for all ages, from aborted babies to young children and adults. This life is not just about learning individual salvation but communal salvation too. It's the same when we join any kind of group of people. Good men and women died under the Hitlerite and Stalin régimes of the last century. Good people are perishing spiritually today in bad churches and messianic assemblies. If we are in the wrong place, we need to get out.
All Who Try Fail
Now we have so far looked upon only one kind of failure - the failure that comes from willful sin. But there are other failures that we need to consider seriously here. The fact of the matter is that it is not a great or unredeemable shame if we fail because everybody fails. Failure happens to everyone who tries. Theodore Rossevelt rightly observed:
"The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything".
Identifying with Failure
No one, I repeat, no one is immune from failure. What therefore we must work with today is to understand how failure is used by Yahweh to build our character, how to avoid failing in certain areas and how to deal with failure in those areas in which failure is unavoidable. The fear of failure is strong in man, along with the fear of criticism, the fear of rejection, the fear of pain, and the fear of loss. I think you will find that it is universally true that whilst it is often hard to identify with success everyone can identify with failure. There is no one in this life who has not failed at something - therefore in this we can all identify with one another.
People Who Failed
Many of the people in the Bible whom we identify with success also knew major failure:
- 1. Moses - he fled to the wilderness of Midian for 40 years after killing an Egyptian;
- 2. John Mark - he was rejected by Paul;
- 3. Simon Peter - he denied Yah'shua three times;
- 4. Abraham - he lied about his wife Sarah;
- 5. Isaac - he lied about his wife Rebekah;
- 6. David - committed adultery and muder; and
- 7. Samson - fell in love with and married a pagan woman, Delilah
I am sure you can think of more:
- 8. Adam and Eve broke the only commandment in the Garden of Eden;
- 9. Hezekiah thought he could buy-off his enemies;
- 10. Elijah ran away from Jezebel;
- 11. Jeremiah persuaded almost no one to repent;
- 12. Jacob resorted to trickery to be successful; and
- 13. Solomon the wise became stupid, married pagan wives and lost everything;
Everyone Fails
So if you think you're someone special because you've failed, think again - join the club called fallen humanity. We have all failed. Not only that, but most of Yahweh's most faithful servants also knew failure and still do.
Famous Failures
In the natural world, famous people have known failure too. Charles Schultz was rejected by Walt Disney, Albert Einstein was kicked out of school, Thomas Eddison failed 10,000 times before he succeeded in creating the first incandescent lightbulb, and James Lord Pierpont, who wrote Jingle Bells, failed in practically everything he did in his life, yet we all know his famous song. Abraham Lincoln lost seven elections and failed in business twice. But failure is also a matter of perspective. It's what we have accomplished at the end that matters, not all the mistakes we made a long the way. What is important is whether we are IN Messiah at the end of our life and have allowed Him to do something in us in spite of our own self-efforts.What we need to address now is how we deal with failure because there's a right way and a wrong way.
Dealing with Failure the Wrong Way: "It's Your Fault, Yahweh!"
The fourth character test we call the Failure Test and it has absolutely nothing to do with whether you have succeeded or failed - it's all about how you handle failure. Before we look at the proper response, let's look at some biblical examples of how not to respond to failure - you'll be surprised just how many 'greats' did it wrong initially:
Joshua Blames Yahweh
"And Joshua said, 'Alas, Yahweh-Elohim, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all -- to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!" (Josh.7:7, NKJV).
Can you believe that Joshua said that? These words are reminiscent of the Israelites who complained and perished under Moses! What was the context? Defeat at the Battle of Ai! What on earth was he thinking of when he said these words?
"O Yahweh, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great Name?" (Josh.7:8-9, NKJV).
So who was Joshua blaming for Israel's failure? YAHWEH! Oh yes, how often we blame Yahweh for our own difficulties and our own self-inflicted wounds! Joshua made a wrong - a blasphemous - assumption and instead of by default assuming that the fault lay with Israel somewhere, shifted the blame back on Elohim. Somewhere in us is the 'Aachan factor' which is responsible for our reversals but we refuse to admit it's there. Our first parents also did this:
Adam Blames His Wife
"Then the man (Adam) said, 'The woman whom You gave to be with me (Eve), she gave me of the tree, and I ate.' And Yahweh-Elohim said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate'" (Gen.3:12-13, NKJV).
Eve had indeed committed the first sin but Adam was entirely responsible for following her and committing the same one. So what did he do? Blame Eve and blame Yahweh for giving him a 'defective product'! He could have said 'No!' to the temptation, unlike Eve, but he chose to follow her in rebellion instead of following Yahweh and insisting the woman follow him! Eve rebelled against Yahweh and Adam but Adam rebelled against his patriarchal responsibilities and therefore against Yahweh. He should have said 'No!' to his wife and 'Yes!' to Yahweh.
Judah Blames Circumstances
So here are two ways of shifting blame - blaming Yahweh and blaming others - but there's a third common one too - blaming less easily definable circumstances:
"Then Judah said, 'The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall'" (Neh.4:10, NKJV).
The Three Excuses for Failure
These are the three most common excuses offered for failure. As you can well imagine, Yahweh takes a dim view of all of them because these are just exercises in avoiding responsibility and blame-shifting: 'It wasn't my fault!' Indeed, is this not pretty much society's catch phrase these days? It's hard to find people who will exercise any sort of responsibility.
Five Signs of Impending Failure
Now clearly blame-shifting serves no one's interest save Satan's so it behooves us to watch out for any signs that we me might suddenly be on the devil's highway that leads to destruction (Mt.7:13). We need to nip any signs of blameshifting in the bud by recognising them for what they are when they first start manifesting. I am going to suggest to you that there are five vital signs that we need to be on the look out for that things are going wrong.
1. A Loss of Focus
"And they returned to Joshua and said to him, 'Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few'" (Josh.7:3, NKJV).
What do you suppose the mistake was that was made here? What was the first immenent sign of failure in this attitude of the people? They were thinking in terms of the flesh again having totally forgotten the odds that were against them at Jericho and how Yahweh hasd personally defeated the city without thekm lifting a single belligerent finger! They were thinking like men waging traditional war again! They had lost their focus - they were using the weights and measures of the flesh.
2. Over-Confidence
"So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water" (Josh 7:4-5, NKJV).
Having shifted their focus away from Yahweh and onto the methods of the flesh, the people got over-confident. Ai was a a mere village so, they rationalised, no need to send the whole army - 3,000 soldiers would be enough! But disaster struck and their faith collapsed. Naturally. If you do things in the flesh, what can you expect?
3. Ethics Slip
"Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff" (Josh.7:11, NKJV).
Just because a new generation had arisen out of the desert free of the old Egyptian paganism didn't mean that the potential for sin was not lurking in their own flesh still. And although Aachan was apparently the only one who looted Jericho, I would not be at all surprised if the thoughts which he translated into action hadn't crossed the minds of more than just him. The difference between Aachan and any others who might have been tempted was that Aachan succummbed to the temptation but the others did not. If Aachan had not been found out and punished others would almost certainly have followed suit. That is why discipline has to be swift and effective so that justice and holiness prevails and preserves the echad unity of the Body. You may think the punishment for Aachan was harsh but think of the consequences for the nation had that punishment not been meeted out. Sin is always lurkings, the devil is relentless, and he will seek to erode the Torah hedge of protection by causing us to weaken our ethical resolve. We must be strict to keep ourselves, our families and our nation safe. If ethics are not strictly enforced, the whole Body rapidly gets infected. Do you not suppose that when Yah'shua returns that the Torah will be maintained strictly? Hoe else will there be a thousand years of justice and peace?
4. Poor Self-Management or Self-Control
"Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you" (Josh.7:12, NKJV).
It is tough being a leader but those who are led always think it is tougher for them. If you are balking at the strictness or apparent harshness of Yahweh all you are demonstrating is poor self-control on your part. The issue is not, in any case, the nature of the punishment meeted out by Yahweh because by default Yahweh is always right and therefroe always righteous. The problem, once again, is blameshifting - when you respond negatively to Yahweh's judgment what you are doing is saying that you know better, that your judgment is better than His. Why not own up to the truth, before you fail, by admitting that the problem is your own lack of self-discipline? Why learn the lesson the hard way by failing? Discern the symptoms of what's going on here! The issue is not Yahweh's judgment but your poor self-management: that's the problem. So do something about it!
5. Lost Love
"Get up, sanctify the people, and say, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says Yahweh-Elohim of Israel: 'There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you'" (Josh.7:13, NKJV).
Please especially notice that Yahweh is holding everyone to account for one man's sin! The fact that one covenant-breaker is being tolerated by them, even in ignorance, means that they are under a curse. Because this sin is in their midst, they are cut off from Yahweh's love and protection - 35 men paid with their lives for this sin. But, as we have seen, it was not just Aachan's fault - he was not the only sinner among them because they were already thinking carnally - many had already proven that had lost their focus. So in reality Aachan was but the next step in the slide into sin that the people were already falling into because they had lost their Yahweh-focus! They were already Aachans-in-the-making and the fiasco at Ai was a wake-up call. They were already forgetting their "first love" (Rev.2:4).
The Dangers of Failure
We are beginning to see now what it is that lays the ground for failure. Foreomost of these is a loss of Yahweh-focus. And this is a very common problem. When, under Sarah's insistance, Abraham took Hagar to try and 'hurry Yahweh long' in bringing forth the promised seed, the patriatrch was setting himself up for failure. For the seed that he brought forth turned out to be hostile to, and jealous of, the promised seed. Sarah's solution to losing focus and stopping to trust in Yahweh was to find a fleshy resolution - she gave her handmaid to Abraham. This is the problem of the Jacob-nature, the nature that tries to do things apart from Yahweh, seeking earthly solutions to spiritual problems. Yahweh had already said He was going to bring forth the promised seed through his first wife and all Abraham needed to do was trust that Word.
Forgetting that Yah'shua is IN us leads to our downfall - always. Failure is inevitable. This attitude leads to the four other signs of immiment failure: over-confidence, slips in ethics, a loss of self-control and lost love. At the end of the chain of events is a diminution of love.
The flesh has a battery of excuses to justify this loss. But the truth remains: once we are on this course, failure always follows.
The Dangers of Failure
Failure has its consequences which we must carefully note so as to alert ourselves to the kinds of issues that may set us on the slide toward it in the first place.
1. Exaggerating Reality
"For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great Name?" (Josh.7:9, NKJV).
One of the first dangers of failure is that we not only lose credibility for ourselves but, as representatives of Yahweh, we lose credibility for Him! We set a bad example to unbelievers. However, in this particular instance Joshua was exaggerating. He was panicking, losing perspective and missing his grip on reality. All that was required was that the cause of the failure at Ai be removed and then everything would return to normal. Israel would again be victorious and her enemies would still remember all the great things Yahweh had done for them. And under the New Covenant, what Aachan would have been required to do was bed for forgiveness from Yah'shua and make restitution (by returning the stolen loot), for under this greater covenant Yah'shua becomes our death-sentence.
We tend to make mountains out of molehills. It's another carnal device for running away from the truth. 'O woe is me, and as a result woe is You, Yahweh, because I am so important to Your succeeding!'. But Yahweh is not in such a bad position as we may think. Molehills, unless taken care of, do become mountains for sure. The important thing is taking care of the molehill when it first appears - it's easier to remove that than a mountain. And that is what Israel did, and moved on. Aachan was despatched, and Ai was forgotten. The reality was not as exaggerated as Joshua thought it was. Satan wants us to exaggerate and totally lose perspective. That way we will make many more silly mistakes.
2. Wanting to Give Up
"So when [Paul] would not be persuaded, we ceased (we gave up), saying, 'The will of Yahweh be done'" (Acts 21:14, NKJV).
Paul had received a prophetic warning not to go to Jerusalem because if he did, he would be killed. This was a message of Yahweh from Agabus the prophet at Caesarea. Paul's stubborness had a negative impact on the believers at Caesarea who just gave up trying to persuade him not to go.
3. Hesitating to Risk Again
"So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel" (1 Sam.7:13, NKJV).
Failure has a way of stopping us from trying again. In the case of the Philistines, it worked for the good. However, as the servants of Yahweh we must not hestitate to try again if we fail. 'Once bitten, twice shy' is understandable but in Yahweh's service we must be more optimistic.
"For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity" (Prov.24:16, NKJV).
We must, if we fail, keep getting up and trying again. And the fact that we rise again after failure is proof that we are being animated by the true Elohim.
4. Failure Causes Some to Prevent Others from Trying
Those who have failed and refuse to rise up and risk again will seek to influence others who have failed, to imitate them. We must not follow them. Here a little righteous stubbornness is required - Yahweh's children don't give up because they have the Ruach haQodesh encouraging them to once more have a go. So don't listen to the negative testimony of other failed people and certainly not the accusations of their demons who are doomed to ultimate failure no matter what they do. You will hear the voices of many people who want you to give up - don't listen to them!
5. Failure Causes Some to be Resentful of Those Who Do Succeed
"Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, 'Give me children, or else I die!'" (Gen.30:1, NKJV).
Resentfulness is a wicked child of pride and it is easy to be intimidated by it unless we are IN Messiah who is strengthening us. Resentfulness arises when we refuse to have another go and we see others having another go and succeeding. Get away from such people! Rebuke them if necessary but do not be intimidated by them. They are hardly positive rôle models, are they?
Ten Fruits of Failure, Five Good and Five Bad
Brethren and sisters, we all fail, however there is a way to deal with failure and there is a way not to deal with failure. Those who deal with it wrongly tend to remain failures. Exaggerating reality, wanting to give up, hestitating to try again, influencing others not to try because we refuse to ourselves try again, and resenting those who do try again and succeed are major risks we take. Fight those five negative tendencies! They are the fruits of the demonic, not of the Ruach! Keep things in proper perspective, refuse to give up, don't hestitate to try again, encourage others who have failed to try again, and be encouraged by the successes of others who have failed and tried again! These are five fruits of the Ruach haQodesh, the five things the Ruach will press you to do.
Four Things You Need to Know About Failure
There are four important things you need to know about failure:
- 1. Failure does not have to be final - you can try again!
- 2. Failure does not have to be fatal - you can be bigger than your failure!
- 3. Failure does not have to be fruitless - you can learn from your failure!
- 4. Failure does not have to produce fear - the world will not end because you failed!
This means, quite simply, that in every failure there are possibilities for success. Think about it, if you trip over something and fall flat on your face, do you just remain there on the ground thinking you'll never be able to walk again, that you're finished as a walker, that there's no point getting up because you might fall again, or that life has no meaning anymore? Of course not! You get up! Well, life is a walk too. True, going bust, getting divorced, being put in prison or getting seriously ill can seem like the end of the world but they are not. You can still go on and do something useful.
The Purpose of the Failure Test
I suggested, when we began, that failure can also be a test from Yahweh. That's why we call it the 'Failure Test'. What did Yahweh have in mind? What is it they we are being tested for?
- 1. Failure reveals our need for Yahweh;
- 2. Failure reveals our limitations;
- 3. Failure can reveal a sinful nature that needs dealing with;
- 4. Failure maintains us in humility; and
- 5. Failure makes us value mercy and forgiveness.
Learning from Failure
No one is saying that failure is fun but we can say that failure is not failure if we learn from it. Failure that is learned from becomes success. Thus the failure that we profit by is a function, ultimately, of success.
I remember after I finished school in England that I attempted to get into Reading University. They refused to have me. My house master told my parents that I was not university material. I refused to be daunted by my failure to get admission to Reading University and instead set myself an even higher target: I applied for entry into one of the two top universities in Great Britain. After a lot of hard work and steely determnination, I took the challenging entrance examinations was finally admitted to Oxford University. I refused to give up!
RAF pilot Douglas Bader lost both of his legs when he tried to pull off a stupid aerobatic stunt in front of his friends and crashed his plane. He was told he would never fly again. He refused to give up and ended up doing the impossible as the first and only legless RAF figher ace in the Second World War. 10
I have known failures in the ministry more than once. I have been threatened with imprisonment, job loss, explusion from my adopted homeland and even annihilation by enemies if I ever dared preach again. There have been times I have wanted to give up but I have said 'No!' and got back into the work. I am here still. I have known failures in marriage and it has looked deathly bleak at times. I have wanted to give up. But I am still married and still doing by best to raise my children in the way I know Yahweh would have me raise them. I have lost children and known the heart-break of separation but I have fought for them and always got them back because I have trusted in Yahweh. I have learned that faith and steely determination work.
Have I succumbed to the risks of failure? Yes, briefly. I admit it. I have wrongly advised people not to stick their necks out as leaders and to stay single to avoid the heartbreak of marriage failure. However, I know I have been wrong in that. My counsel now is: try again! Is it hard to do that? Oh yes, exceedingly hard at times because the enemy is relentlessly onto you, trying to wear you down, guilt you, and make you believe that you are of no worth. But it's not true: you are of worth and you have an important labour to perform. Never believe otherwise. Get back into the fray! Do what is right - get back to where you were always supposed to be.
Overcoming Failure
Since everyone fails sometime, everyone must face up to the responsibility and effort overcoming failure. There are five things you must do (and you can't avoid them so get stuck in):
- 1. Seek Yahweh for Divine Direction - He'll give it to you;
- 2. Get to the Root of the Failure - find out why you failed;
- 3. View Failure as a Learning Process - that way you'll transform it into a success;
- 4. Be Prepared to Change Strategies - the old ways were the cause of your failure; and
Never Surrender...Except to Yahweh
I am fond of quoting Winston Churchill to my children because he both knew what failure was like and how to turn it round into victory. We, like the French, were defeated badly in 1940 in the Battle of France. But Churchill never allowed the dark clouds of despondency to obscure his judgment or quench his hope. He told the British people that we would never give up. We remember him for those words. But he said more, things we need to remember, that give an intelligent complexion to the mechanics of defeat and how to turn it round and make a success of it:
"Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race." 11
Be Stern
We shall not minimise the seriousness of defeat - I certainly do not want you to think it is 'nothing'. The impact of defeat is no small thing. It can be devastating. However, what I do want to encourage you to do is not to give up, to listen to Yahweh's instruction, and to sternly turn that defeat around into victory. Churchill used the word 'stern' with deliberation and I agree with him. What do I mean by it? The same, I believe, as Yahweh had when He instructed Joshua to cut out the malignancy in Israel. To be stern means to show uncompromising, firm, authoritarian, austere, relentless, unyielding and inflexible resolve. In other words, demonstrate leadership in your life. Give your soul notice what you mean to do and plough through the ice of opposition like an icebreaker ship.
Will I Succeed?
Will you succeed? If you are in the will of Yah'shua, yes. If not, well, you may succeed for a while, but the end will be failure again. Did you know that Adolf Hitler also gave a "We shall never surrender!" speech in Danzig similar to the one Churchill gave in Harrow? He applied the sternness principle too and had success for a while but we all know the final outcome for his cause was not a righteous one. In fact he was the first of the two statesmen to indicate his resolve.
The Right Course and Inflexible Resolve
The failures that I overcame were accomplished by an inflexible resolve once I knew the right course of action to take. And failures that I am presently seeking to turn around I am pursuing with the same sternness. I do have to tell you that once you get into this mode that you will likely be misunderstood by those of a less determined disposition. You may likely be opposed by them too. I know I have been. But once you know what it is you must do, because Yahweh has told you to, you will launch yourself in the direction you have been shown with sternness and resolve until the sweet taste of victory is on your tongue! Yahweh is likely waiting for you to make your mind up finally so that He can act finally for you.
Returning to Ai
"Now Yahweh said to Joshua: 'Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it'... Then Yahweh said to Joshua, 'Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.' And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city. So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to set the city on fire'...Then the others came out of the city against them; so they were caught in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them down, so that they let none of them remain or escape" (Josh.8:1-2,18-19,22, NKJV).
How does that sound to you, after the first failure at Ai? It sounds good to me! Actually, it tastes wonderful. Yahweh gave Israel the Failure Test, just as He does to us, to remind Israel that they could not afford to trust in their own abilities, strengths and gifts. To succedd they needed Yahweh's favour and His divine help. Failure caused Israel to see their need for Yahweh once again, it caused them to realise their need for mercy, and it caused them to realise their need to both receive and give grace.
Conclusion
Brethren and sisters, the world is entering a time of ever greater evil that will require stern resolve on our part not to neither get sucked into the system or surrender to it in any way. Our enemies have won a number of first Ai battles but now we are coming to the rematch. Oh yes, we're back, and we're going to smash them this time because Yahweh will be directing us, not our flesh. We have, I hope, learned from our mistakes. I am sharpening my sword and lifting my spear. Are you? I am sure the inhabitants of Ai were amazed at the first victory and never dreamed that they would suffer defeat a second time - they must have been encouraged for a while. Hitler was certainly encouraged by his initial successes. But the tide turned for him, as it must for our enemies too. How do we know that? Because Yahweh has said so: "Your enemies will perish and those who love you will be like the sun when it rises in its strength". So come and make peace with us before Yahweh does what He said He would.
I pray that you have been encouraged today. If you have suffered some failure, know that Yahweh has a plan for you to get out of it and turn it into success. I have shared with you the steps that must be taken for you to do so. I urge you to soberly consider them and get the wheels of change and redemption rolling. I am doing so my end. Swallow your pride and beg Yahweh for a way out. And remember this: nemo prodiget quod mendicat - no one will squander what he begs!
Next week we will look at the Self-Will Test. In the meantime, grace and peace be upon you all in Yah'shua's Name. Amen.
Click here for Part 5
Acknowledgements
[1] Michael Wiltcher, Nine Tests Every Christian Must Face
Endnotes
1
See The Nine Character Tests - Part 1: The Widlerness Test
2
See The Nine Character Tests - Part 2: The Time Test
3
See The Nine Character Tests - Part 3: The Motivation Test
4
See Shabbat Shuvah and the Rahab Choice
5
See Sukkot
6
See Shavu'ot and the sermon, Shavuot 2009: The Mystery of the Two Wave Loaves
7
See Pesach
8
See Chag haMatzah
9
See Yom haBikkurim
10
See Wikipedia, Douglas Bader
11
Winston Churchill, Never Give In, 29 October 1941, speech delivered at Harrow School.
Author: Lev-Tsiyon