Your Daily Slice

 

NISAN 9

Unity of the Belief

“… until we all come to the unity of the BELIEF …” (Eph 4:11, 13, emphasis mine)

When I talk about the Westernized Church System, I am including all the many different denominations that profess to be ‘Christian,’ which number in the thousands. And there seems to be more being added almost on a daily basis^[1]. Differences in religious beliefs appears to be one of the greatest motivations for war and enmity throughout all of the ages.

Having said that, the war between Islam and those not of the Muslim faith pre-dates the time of Yeshua, all the way back to Jacob and Esau. Jihad is an important part of the Muslim doctrine, as is death to any ‘non-believers.’  Ireland has also been the home of an on-going religious and political war – the longest in the history of the ‘Christian church’^[2]. Protestants against Catholics, and vice versa, it seems that none of them can doctrinally agree, and probably never will. However, according to our opening verses, agreeing doctrinally is relatively unimportant; we are to unite according to our emunah, our trust, belief, and faith.

We can agree that we believe in the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He is the eternal, everlasting, and only true God. We can also agree in the belief that He is the Creator of everything there is, and that His Word is absolute truth. We can unite in our agreement of our Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth, and His finished work of redemption. And then we can come to an agreement concerning the future day of reckoning of all mankind, a day that is fast approaching.

It is not up to us, individually, to try to change someone’s doctrine, one that they have believed for their entire lives is the correct one. That is not our job description. Should someone ask, we should be able to answer – gently, kindly, and with love – why we believe the way that we do (see Col 4:5-6). We are called to be His light to a lost and dying world, and if it is at all possible, “let us pursue the things of peace, and the things for building up one another” (Rom 14:19).

©2025

---

[1] http://infomory.com/numbers/number-of-christian-denominations/

[2] https://whistlinginthewind.org/2012/05/23/religion-as-a-cause-of-war-in-ireland/

Your Daily Slice

 

NISAN 8

Built up               

 

“…to the work of service to a BUILDING UP of the body of the Messiah” (Eph 4:12, emphasis mine)

I always think of an athlete when I read this portion of Scripture. The path to becoming that successful athlete requires dedication and commitment, with no room for compromise. Many athletes will have one or more trainers, assisting him, or her, to reach the goal that is aimed at. These trainers are, in effect, ‘building up’ the athlete, all in preparation to be the best that one could possibly be.

The Greek word that is translated here is the word oikodomē (Strong’s G3619), and is also translated as edifying, or edification. Noah Webster, in his wonderful Dictionary, defines ‘edification’ as “a building up, in a moral and religious sense; instruction; improvement and progress of the mind, in knowledge, in morals, or in faith and holiness.”^[1]  It would appear that the mission of those anointed and appointed to any of the five-fold ministry gifts is that of instructing and improving all of us, in order that we might progressively grow in the knowledge and wisdom concerning the ways of our Creator. 

As stated by the Apostle Paul, those of us who claim to belong to the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all part and parcel of one another, and make up what is called “the body of Messiah” (see Rom 12:4-21). A body cannot be a functioning body if its members are all scattered off somewhere, playing Lone Ranger and running around with Tonto. Only as we come together, committed to the building up of one and another, will the body function as our Father has intended.

 

“For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of the body—

“But now God has placed the parts—each one of them—in the body just as He desired. 

 

“Those parts of the body that we think to be less honorable, we clothe with greater honor; and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty; but our presentable parts have no such need. Rather God assembled the body, giving more honor to those who are lacking, so that there may be no division in the body, but so that the parts may have the same care for one another.” (1Cor 12:12, 18, 24-25)

©2025

---

[1] American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828

 

NISAN 7

Service

 

“And He Himself gave some … to the work of SERVICE …” (Eph 4:11-12, emphasis mine)

“His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of MINISTERING …” (Eph 4:12 AMPC, emphasis mine)

 

When a young adult joins any branch of the armed forces, that individual is required to go through a period of training, where they are taught the basic skills needed for their time in the military. Those that qualify may go on to more intense training, further equipping them for the specialized positions they will be in. Additional in-depth knowledge of the ‘tools of their trade,’ the weapons required of them, etc. is also taught, and taught again, that each one of these enlisted persons has much more than a passing knowledge of which end of a rifle is which.

The same agenda applies with our different agencies of law enforcement. Most states in our nation have their own form of ‘Police Academy,’ where people learn from those with more knowledge and experience what is what. And let us never forget, regardless of the bad publicity law enforcement receives the motto of our police force: “To Protect and to Serve.”

As it is in the natural, so also it is in the spiritual:  for those of us who are walking this Torah walk, we too are learning from others with more knowledge and experience. Does this make our ‘instructors’ any better than we are? In one sense, it does, for they have already travelled this road upon which we are just embarking. The accumulation of all the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that those found in the five-fold ministries have stored up deserves all our respect and honor.

If our instructors are doing THEIR job, then we too are being taught to ‘protect and serve.’  Torah is all about the sanctity and preservation of life and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Lev 19:18). Only as we absorb the instruction and teachings that are needed will we be able to go and DO what our Creator desires for us to do:

“Clean and undefiled religion before the Elohim and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (Jam 1:27)

©2025 

Your Daily Slice

 

NISAN 6

For the Perfecting

 

“And He Himself gave some as emissaries, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers FOR THE PERFECTING of the set-apart ones …” (Eph 4:12-13, emphasis mine)

It is not my purpose, in this essay, to examine and define what each one of the five-fold ministries are; there are, literally, volumes written about each one of these ministry gifts, and no, not everything that is written is accurate. Rather, I wish to examine what is the purpose of these ministry gifts, what is their function, what are they to accomplish – what is their reason for being part of the body of Messiah. And contrary to what many have been taught, these ‘giftings’ are not for self-exaltation.

Many translations read – in our opening verses – ‘equipping’ instead of ‘perfecting,’ and both words are acceptable. When we have all the equipment that is needed, we are complete, lacking nothing. The same is true of the state of being perfect:  nothing can be done to improve that which is perfect and complete. And I would venture to say that none of us are there yet.

How do we reach this place of being fully equipped and perfect? We can only do so by submitting to those ‘anointed and appointed’ ministers that our Creator has placed in our lives, and by absorbing their teachings and instructions. Have we reached the place of completion yet? I know that I have not. If that is the case with all of us, then I would suggest that those who minister in these positions still have a very important function within the assembly of Messiah.

Or perhaps we have reached the place where we feel that we no longer need a certain teacher or minister. A phrase that has always been popular is the one where “the Ruach (the Spirit) is my teacher; I have no need for any other.”  Aaaaah, but one of the lessons to be learned here is how to live in a covenant community, submitting one to another – a lesson that can never be walked out in a ‘Lone Ranger’ setting.

As we approach this time of Passover/Unleavened Bread, it may be an ideal occasion to examine the relationships we have with those in leadership. Are we learning and gleaning all that they have to offer, or are we letting it go in one ear and out the other? Are we truly striving for perfection with what we are learning, or are we so callous as to believe we have already arrived? Are we studying to show ourselves approved (2Tim 2:15), or are we finding fault with everything that is being presented to us?

 

“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Messiah, greets you, always wrestling for you in prayers, so that you stand perfect and complete in all the desire of Elohim.” (Col 4:12)

 

©2025

Your Daily Slice

 

NISAN 5

Quick to Forgive

 

“For You, my Lord, are good, and ready to forgive and full of mercy to all who call upon You.” (Ps 86:5 TLV)

 

The mother of my first husband was a very bitter, vindictive, unforgiving woman. When I met my future in-laws for the first time, the two of them had not spoken to each other in over a year, all the while residing within the same house. This sad state of affairs was all because the husband had said (or done) something that had made the wife angry. And from what I was told, this was not the first time she had imposed this type of punishment on her husband. When my then mother-in-law died, some years later, she was all but confined to a wheelchair from arthritis, and with other physical problems involved as well. Yet the things she held close to her heart were the many ‘grudges’ she held against people that had ‘done her wrong,’ and she took these grudges with her into the grave.

Bitterness and resentment are a cancer that will eat you alive, both physically and spiritually. Brethren, when it comes right down to the brass tacks, bitterness has its root in pride, and this is something our Elohim cannot tolerate in His kingdom. When we choose to constantly remember and rehearse past offenses, wrongs that were done, or a hurt suffered, we set ourselves up as judge, jury, and executioner of whoever did the wrong to us, and that is a position reserved for our Creator. Basically, we are pushing Elohim off His throne, saying “I will handle this one …”

Has someone done something to you as horrible as what people have done to the Father, in that they tortured and executed Yeshua, the Son of Elohim? Are we not continually, in our self-sovereignty, rejecting the love and care of our Elohim, believing that we can tend to ourselves better than He can? And yet, our Father chooses to have compassion on us, and forgive us. Are we so much better and bigger than our Elohim that we cannot (or will not) forgive another that is made in His image? Our Elohim knows the bondage of bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness; it is one of the reasons for our Messiah’s death, to free us from this bondage (see Acts 5:30-31; Acts 26:18). The key, however, to receiving our own forgiveness from the Father, is first to forgive and release others from what they have done.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father shall also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither shall your Father forgive your trespasses.”  (Mat 6:14-15)

Once we choose to release all these negative harmful emotions to our Creator and ask Him for His healing touch in those raw areas, then we are well on our way to walking in shalom, His peace that surpasses all understanding (Phi 4:7). As we persevere in this walk – and it may not be easy – it will allow Elohim to act in our behalf, because now our heart is in right relationship with Him. In this case, I do know what I am talking about:  I had to learn to walk in forgiveness toward this mother-in-law, and her son, the one that I called ‘husband.’  My first husband was extremely abusive, even tried to kill me several times, but my Abba was faithful, and delivered my children and I out of the lion’s mouth. But first, I had to walk in the shalom that my Father gave to me before I was delivered.

“Be forebearing one to another, and be forgiving one to another, and if a man has concerning his neighbor a complaint, as the Messiah forgave you, thus also YOU FORGIVE.” (Col 3:13 HRVS, emphasis mine)

  

©2025

Your Daily Slice

 

NISAN 2

Real versus Counterfeit

 

“For false Messiahs and lying prophets will arise and will give signs and wonders and will deceive, if it is possible, even the chosen. But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.”  (Mark 13:22-23 HRVS, emphasis mine)

 

End-time prophecies have become increasingly more common as the time for the return of our Messiah Yeshua draws closer. Amazingly, the mainstream Westernized Christian Church community has suddenly become over-populated with a rapid rise of those ‘called’ to the prophetic ministry. I am not here to dispute the ‘calling;’ however, it is Adonai our Elohim who sets up, and it is also Him who tears down (Job 34:24; Dan 2:21).

 

The Word of Elohim does, however, give us some very strict criteria for determining the validity of a prophet. Just like the combination on a bank safe, all three of these criteria must be simultaneously met and fulfilled in an individual – not even one of them can be omitted – or, like the combination for the safe in question, the prophet (and his/her prophecy) will be very wrong …

 

The first criterion which must be met is ‘fulfillment’ (see Deu 18:22). If the prophet prophesies an event in the future, and it fails to come to pass, it was not from our Elohim. Presumptuous prophecies are self-glorifying, and seldom bear fruit. ‘Presume’ is defined as “to venture without positive permission; to form confident or arrogant opinions”[1]. ‘Presuming’ to prophecy is dangerous ground …

 

However, it is possible for someone to give a prophecy, have it come to pass, and it not come from our Elohim. The scriptural reference for this is Deuteronomy 13:2-6, and should be carefully studied.

 

It is in those verses we find the remaining two criteria that a prophet appointed and anointed by Elohim will fulfill. Such a person will NEVER speak in the name of any other god except the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nor will a true, anointed, man/woman of Adonai our Elohim speak against keeping the commandments of Torah. Signs and wonders are not the true test or proof of prophecy, or of a prophet, for we can see that it is possible for them to be duplicated and fulfilled. Yeshua Himself said that we shall know them by their fruit (Mat 7:15-20).

 

All three of these criteria (1. the prophecy will come to pass; 2. the individual will always reflect a life of loving our Creator with everything in them, loving their neighbor as themselves, and of a lifestyle of keeping the commandments of Torah, and 3. the prophet does not ever speak in the name of any god but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)  - all of these MUST be fulfilled before the individual will pass the test, and can be accepted …

 

Increasingly, the smell of rotten fruit is lingering in the air. Upon my own extensive research, I discovered that the early, first century congregations had added a further ‘test’ for discerning between a true or false prophet. If a prophet, while prophesying, asked for food, money, or any kind of a gift, he/she was labeled a false prophet, and not of Elohim. Now, I wonder how this ‘test’ would separate the wheat from the tares in the modern, westernized church system?

 

A true prophet of Elohim will ALWAYS lead Adonai’s people back to the Torah covenant.

  

“But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast.”  (1The 5:21 AMPC)

 

 ©2025

---

[1] American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828

YOUR DAILY SLICE

 

ADAR 25

Maturity

 

“Therefore YOU shall be PERFECT, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  (Mat 5:48 NKJV, emphasis mine)

The word translated as ‘perfect’ in the above verse (this final verse of Matthew chapter 5) is from the Greek word teleios (Strong’s G5046), and refers to that which is finished, complete, perfect. When applied to people, it signifies a total soundness, and includes the idea of being whole and mature.

One of the definitions Mr. Webster uses for the word ‘therefore’ is “for that or this reason, referring to something previously stated.”^[1] Using this definition, we can surmise that the entire chapter five of Matthew leading up to this verse is the “something previously stated.” I also believe it to be correct if we were to take ALL the instructions given to us throughout this chapter as the means for us to reach maturity, or ‘perfection.’  However, we will never be successful in this endeavor if we only hear, but never obey.

The Torah walk is just that:  a walk, a way of life, it is the actions we DO. We are accountable for how we live our lives, for all we say, and all our conduct and behavior. We can no longer afford to act like young, spoiled children, throwing ‘temper-tantrums’ when we do not get our own way. As the Apostle Paul said, we know in what hour of history we stand (Rom 13:11), and we no longer may play trivial games with our Elohim. We need to clothe ourselves with Messiah Yeshua (Rom 13:14) and be the light that He has called us to be.

“Now may the God of shalom, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood of an everlasting covenant, our Lord Yeshua, MAKE YOU COMPLETE in every good thing to do His will, accomplishing in us WHAT IS PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT, through Messiah Yeshua. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”   (Heb 13:20-21, TLV, emphasis mine)

  

Abba Father, we thank You. We thank You that You are faithful to teach us, to perfect everything that concerns us. We know that we are Your workmanship, created in Messiah Yeshua for good works, and that You will complete that which You began in us. Abba, help us to remain pliable on the potter’s wheel, as You continue to shape us into the image of the Beloved, of Your Son, of Yeshua. May we always remember that it is Your hand on the wheel, loving and caring, and always faithful. Amein.

©2025

---

[1] American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828