Becoming a Born-Again Believer in Messiah has been the greatest event in my life. It was truly as though I had finally come home, for the very first time!
Those who have received Yahushua Messiah [Jesus Christ] as their Saviour know how magnificent it is to finally know the peace of God that surpasses understanding, and to be forgiven of their sins!
For years, my husband and I, as non-denominatioal believers, studied the Scriptures. But then, something amazing began to happen. Little by little, the heavenly Father began removing from us the spiritual viewing galsses of established ‘Christian tradition and theology,’ which includes many man-made doctrines. The mainstream Christian theology had been fogging our spiritual vision, and confounding our understanding of God’s Word!
Oh what a change that took place when these glasses came off our spiritual understanding!
The frame and lens of those glasses fell apart and crumbled when the heavenly Father graciously showed us in the Scriptures, a little at a time, that His Law [the Torah] had NOT been ‘done away with,’ as claimed by established mainstream Christian theology!
It was so amazing and liberating for us to begin to understand that the Torah is God’s current and never-changing instructions for His people.
We are so grateful for the tools [the computer and Bible software] that enabled us to study the words of the Bible for ourselves. Little by little, we began to see with our spiritual eyes and understanding that much of what we had learned about the Scriptures had been presented to us in a ‘twisted’ manner.
Father God began to show us, through His Word, that the Bible is His-story, and we needed to embrace the Scriptures as a whole unit. We began to understand the Bible is the whole revealing of God’s Ways to His children, and is to be applied to our lives in our everyday lifestyle.
I want to share what happened as Father opened our eyes to see that His Torah is relevant and up-to-date. I would like to address the changes that began to unfold in our lives.
As our eyes were opened [slowly], we saw that all of Father’s Words [including the Words from Genesis through Malachi] are current, relevant, and for all of His children for all time — not just the verses written from Matthew to Revelation. [I have listed some links below that address the twisted Christian paradigm that we were taught.]
Five Major Changes
Both of us grew up in Christian homes, going to church on Sundays, singing the wonderful hymns of Christian composers from years gone by, and saying grace before meals — the typical, Amercian, social ‘religion’ of many families. However, things changed drastically for us, when it happened that we were Born-Again, each separately, before meeting one another.
At that time, both of us experienced a hunger to ‘follow Jesus’ – a hunger that was consuming. We fed on, and embraced, the modern Christian theology that is prevasive within evangelical circles.
But as the years went by, things began to change for us again, in a fresh way, when we began studying the Scriptures for ourselves.
There were several people that Father used to help us and to turn our hearts more fully unto obedience to His Word (see Ephesians 4). But it was the study of the Scriptures for ourselves that was the most powerful. The Scriptures themselves helped us to understand the relevance of the ‘Old’ Testament as a current, up-to-date book for the followers of Yahushua Messiah.
Slowly and determinedly, we began making changes in our family’s lifestyle and routine, so that we could be ‘in harmony’ with Father’s wishes as revealed in His Word.
Here are five of the major changes we made.
The first change we made was to begin to rightfully honour the seventh-day Sabbath.
We began to honour Father — according to what the Scriptures say — on that special day, and we began to truly cease our usual activities on the seventh day of the week. This change required some major adjustments for us because we had always considered Sunday to be the Sabbath day. Keeping the seventh-day as the Sabbath day caused some ‘turbulence’ among our families and friends. But honouring Father’s Word was worth every upheaval. This change gave our immediate family a more firm routine that had a settling effect for us. It also gave us a more definite schedule for reading and studying the Word together, bringing us closer together with our children. This new routine has become a huge benefit for our family!
The second change was to begin using the Name of the Father, and of our Saviour, as they were originally spoken, and are Hebrew in origin.
This change was very difficult at first, because it seemed so strange to stop using the Greek name ‘Jesus’ and the title ‘LORD,’ and start using the Hebrew names of the Father [Yahuwah] and of the Son [Yahushua]. It seemed as though we were betraying our sweet and dearest friend. But little by little, this change has become a glorious blessing (Psalms 72:17-19; 113:2; 145:21).
The third change was to begin observing Father’s Feasts Days, the Feasts of Yahuwah Elohim [the LORD God], as stated in Leviticus 23.
This change was a gradual addition to our family routine, because we were so unfamiliar with what to do, and how to do it. However, little by little, we began to learn Father’s Ways regarding the special, High Sabbath Days. Now we observe Father’s calendar dates, observing them each year as they come around. Theses Feats Days have been a source of much joy and gladness!
The fourth change was to begin eliminating the ‘unclean’ foods from our diet.
We began to learn what was considered food and what was considered not food, according to Father’s guidelines as stated in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.
The fifth change, and a very significant change, was ‘moving out’ of what I call the ‘Christian theology FOG’!
When we began to receive, and obey the Torah as personal instructions for Born-Again Believers, something wonderful happened to us. We began to see and understand the Scriptures, in a way we had never experienced!
What we experienced was like being on a ship at sea and coming out of a thick and blinding fog-bank — and coming into the freshness of a cool, gentle breeze on a clear, fresh, sunny day!
After we came out of our foggy and unstable ‘Christian tradition’ paradigm of Scripture, we no longer questioned many Biblical issues.
No longer did we have to struggle with questions like:
- “What does it really mean to “Be set free in Christ?”
- “What is Father’s purpose for setting us free? What are we to do after being set free?”
- “How do we walk in this freedom?”
- “If we are ‘free from God’s Laws,’ then can we pick-and-choose what suits us since being ‘led by the Spirit’ is all up to us?”
- “Are there any un-changing standards that the Holy Spirit follows, to give us assurance that ‘being led by the Spirit’ is not just our ‘wishful thinking?!'”
- “Why does King David say the Word of God is true from the beginning (Psalms 119:160), if the Old Testament Laws are ‘done away with?'”
- “Did Father’s Truth, and His Instructions and Guidelines for His children, end with Jesus?”
- “And why does the apostle Peter warn us against ‘the error of the lawless’ if God’s Law is ‘done away with?'” (2Peter 3:17)
- “If the Torah is eternal, and we will be practicing Torah in the [future] Kingdom of Messiah, how can it be ‘done away with’ now?”
These kind of questions, and many more, kept us in a constant fog-bank of confusion, with no solid anchor.
Once we understood the importance of the ‘House-Rules’ that Father gave to His children ‘from the beginning’, then walking with God became so much more understandable – and, the New Testament writings became so much more understandable.
For example, notice what the apostle Paul tells us:
But this I confess to you, that after the Way, which they call a sect, so I serve the God of our fathers, believing all things which are according to the law [Torah], and which are written in the prophets. (Acts 24:14)
Paul tells us that he himself believed, meaning he was a DO-er of, all the law [Torah] and the prophets.
Now notice what else Paul tells us:
Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers [imitators] of me. (1Corinthians 4:16)
Be ye followers [imitators] of me, even as I also am of Messiah. (1Corinthians 11:1)
Once we began to follow the apostle Paul’s advice, the fog began to clear from our spiritual understanding, and the Scriptures became more understandable (John 7:17).
Walking In Torah
Yes, there are plenty of New Testament Scriptures that kept us ‘in the ship’ – that is, kept us within Father’s instructions for His children’s salvation through Messiah Yahushua [Christ Jesus].
We were committed to following Messiah and keeping His Word, but there was so much in the paradigm of Christian tradition that seemed to be left to our own discretion!
We knew Father was not going to ‘control’ us, or fence us in with a demanding spirit. Yet we sensed that He still required us, to this day, to seek His Word, and not be ignorant of His Ways. We needed to grow up and learn to make decisions about how to live before Him, based on every Word that proceeds out of His mouth, and not just the Words at the end of the book! We needed our lives to be in agreement with His complete Word!
Entering into the life of accepting and following Torah, gave us a new confidence with Abba Father!! We entered into a more solid basis for how to live out our commitment to Him! Torah gave us a clearer understanding of the truly separated-from-the-world life of obedience that Father calls all His children to walk in.
Understanding what Yahushua did when He was on the earth, that He walked according to ‘Torah’ — He walked in all that Father instructs and commands His people to walk in — this gave us the confidence to follow our Saviour’s example more diligently and more confidently [of course, with the merciful help of the Holy Spirit]: “To walk, even as He walked” (1John 2:6).
Following Torah – Father’s House Rules
At last, we truly came home into the loving arms of our Heavenly Father, when we began to observe and obey Father’s ‘House-Rules,’ as my husband came to coin the phrase for explaining Torah to our children.
Oh what loving ‘House Rules’ the Torah is!!! And Father’s presence became so much more real to both of us once we began to enter into the realm of obedience to Father’s loving House Rules. And, as I said, Father’s Word, and especially the New Testament, became so much more understandable!
As we have walked in the pathway of Father’s Torah now for more than 20 years, we are seeing, as the verse in Proverbs 4:18 says, that our path is steadily becoming “… as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day.”
We are completely relieved, blessed, humbled, and honoured that Yahuwah had mercy on us, and gave us salvation and entrance into His family through our Saviour, Yahushua Messiah, through His precious blood shed for our sins. HalleluYAH!
We give thanks to Father, for His Holy Spirit, who leads His people into all Truth!
We give thanks to Father, for His Grace to walk with Him, and to stay near Him!
And oh how much we give thanks to Him for the loving instructions of His Torah!
Coming home is wonderful! There no place like Abba Father’s loving home!
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Here are some links to see Scripture verses explained regarding the modern Christian paradigm tradition, and its opposition to the plain and simple truth of Fathers’ Word:
- 10 Paradigm-Shifting New Testament Verses
- Things Your Pastor Never Told You About the Early Church Fathers
- Doctrine of Balaam Today: A Warning To The Bride
- My Path To Torah – a fellow blogger’s personal testimony
- The Torah: The Key to Unlocking God’s Word
- What Is The Purpose of The Torah?
- Jesus. False Messiah.
- The Wedding of the King’s Son (A Parable)
- 119 Ministries – multiple teaching videos; a Hebrew Roots resource
- EliYah.com – many excellent articles and teaching videos examining the Hebraic roots from a Biblical persepctive
- The Way Prepared – practical teachings for Believers, exhorting them to ‘choose wisely’ and prepare themselves for the Bridegroom’s soon return
- Seven Biblical Guidelines for Studying the Bible – excellent guidelines for learning how to study the Scriptures for ourselves
- What Is the Hebrew Roots? – 65 minute YouTube video
- The Word – or The Spirit
- Obeying Torah is Not About Salvation
- Hebrew vs Greek Thought – approx. 10 minute teaching video
- Do You Love God? – approx. 12 minute teaching video
- Hebrew Roots Resource – great list of Hebrew Roots Resources
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Cold Waters to a Thirsty Soul
Cold Waters to a Thirsty Soul 
Reblogged this on natsab and commented:
Always a blessing to read the testimony/journey of others.
When Abba Father began to open our eyes, we thought we were the only ones and questioned what we were seeing continually! Then as He showed us, He also began to lead us to others and eventually we found that literally, tens of thousands of people across the planet have gone through the same ‘lifting of the fog,’ here described by Deborah. And, ‘fog’ is an apt metaphor!
Enjoy!
Thanks Pete, for the reblog! :)
Most of my life I have been seeking to keep God’s Law, yet this Spring with encouragement of a friend, I began following the Parshah [Torah portion readings], and it came to LIFE. I had understood that God’s Word was God Breathed, but now I find it to be more accurately stated as: God Breathes [it is alive and dynamic].
Vince