Chapter 2 - Truth: Hear and Heed

Truth!  Where are you?  Where can truth be found?  Iran’s leader says the Holocaust did not happen!  Palestine wants a peace agreement with you.  True or false?  “It is better to take refuge in ADONAI than to trust in human beings; better to take refuge in ADONAI than to put one’s trust in princes.” TEHILLIM (Psalms) 118:8   This powerful verse is the very center of the Holy Bible.

“Thus justice is repelled, righteousness stands apart, at a distance; for truth stumbles in the public court, and uprightness cannot enter.  Honesty is lacking, he who leaves evil becomes a target.  ADONAI saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice.” TEHILLIM (Psalms) 59: 14-15


The very foundations of our nations are crumbling, for man is looking for truth according to his ways, which lead to destruction.  Nations have turned their back on the only real, complete, truth given by God in His Word, the Holy Bible.
          
Do you ever wonder how one book, written almost six thousand years ago and having been passed from one generation to the next, is still the #1 best seller of all books?  Another amazing fact is this same book is as applicable today as it was when it was written.  Truth can be examined and denied, but truth stands alone when all else fails.  Truth does not compromise, for if it does, it is no longer truth. 


GOD, the author of truth and the great “I AM”, gave us His instruction book to live by and to die by.  The great assurance is to know that God is the One true God and cannot lie.  O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known TODAY that you are God of Isra’el.                        

There was an international book fair held in Red Square, Moscow in the 1980’s.  Some Bibles were being given away.  A man waited anxiously in line to receive his first copy.  A woman bent over the box and then came the words “I’m sorry sir, the Bibles are all gone.”  The man sadly replied, “Then may I please have the box they came in?” He disappeared into the crowd clutching the box.

The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we give account.  The person who follows the teachings of this Book receives freedom from the bondage of sin and death.  Along with freedom comes peace, a joy within, a true love and a stamped decree upon our hearts which reads “PARDONED-PAID IN FULL.”


Why does this Book have all of the answers to life and death?  Who wrote this Book which has a library of 66 books, covers a span of over 1500 years with 35 different authors and all in harmony? Amazing! How has this one Book survived with so many countries wanting to destroy it?  The answers are all in one: above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation, for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. King David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me and His Word was on my tongue.”   God and only God could have made this possible.


Another important question ask is “Why does the world not accept this Book and the ways of God?  Simply put, a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Holy Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.               


Within the framework of this one true and holy Book lies man’s past, present and future.  The past is to know of man’s beginning in perfect surroundings until the sin of disobedience was introduced, causing separation from the very God who created him.  From that time until this very day, every person is born with the sin nature of Adam.


To live only in the past leaves the present empty and our future with no hope.  We should see the past and learn from those who have gone before us.  In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets many times and in many ways, but in these last days, He has spoken to us through His Son, Yeshua, whom He appointed heir to all things, and through whom He made the universe.
                                                       
The Son, Yeshua, “The Word became a human being and lived with us, and we saw His Sh ‘khinah, the Sh ‘khinah of the Father’s only Son, full grace and truth.” YOCHANAN (John) 1:14  This is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word.  After Yeshua had provided purification for sins, by His death, burial and resurrection, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven.
                                                     
Yeshua said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law but to fulfill it.”  The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe the Gospel. This is the Gospel message; redemption from sin by the One who knew no sin is available to whosoever repents and believes in Him.


Those who choose salvation through Messiah will receive God’s Holy Spirit within their heart as a teacher to direct them in God’s wisdom and ways through His Word.  “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against God.” The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times.  “Your word is a lamp for my feet and light on my path.”  TEHILLIM (Psalms) 119:105


Living only for today and making no plans for our tomorrows leave us without a future. The ant works and prepares while the grasshopper plays and ignores the signs of the times.  The Bible is our instruction book for life and our only hope for the future.
                                                       
The Bible is the most quoted, most published and most translated book in all of history.  Only in its totality is it complete truth. We cannot pick and choose what to believe and what to ignore.  God would not have written what we did not want us to know! As we need food for the body, we also need spiritual food for the soul.


The search for complete truth is found in the Bible: God’s love letter to man. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in Him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but rather so that through Him, the world might be saved.  Those who trust in Him are not judged; those who do not trust have been judged already, in that they have not trusted in the One who is God’s only and unique Son.” 

YOCHANAN (John) 3:16-18 

To those who hear and heed, HE offers a personal relationship with Himself, the Almighty God, through His Son, Yeshua the Messiah, through faith by believing and trusting in Him for eternal life. 


         
The HOLY BIBLE


By: D.E. Howard


The Bible is well worn
With pages bent and torn.
Many verses are underlined
To recall in a moment of time.
Precious instructions for the day
Are laid out to obey.
It is a joy, not a burden
To heed to the Masters plan,

"Come, follow Me
And you can have it all."
"All?"  I ask.  "What is all?"
Could it be the peace within
When I receive forgiveness of sin?
Or could it be the love I found
When I said yes to the Master’s call?
Or maybe the joy in helping others
To make it through another day?
I know now why the Book is so worn
With the pages bent and torn.
Now I know when I answered the call
"Come, follow Me," I truly have it all.

07 January 2007    
              

“Give ear to my words, ADONAI, consider my inmost thoughts. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to you.” TEHILLIM (Psalms) 5:1-2

If they have ears that do not hear and eyes that do not see, then how can they understand?  Helen Keller was born blind and deaf, but with continuous repetition, beginning with simple routine understandings, she began to communicate with others.  The road was hard and the days were long.  There were disappointments and setbacks but through perseverance, the results were miraculous.
  
There is a world of people on planet earth that are in the same situation as Helen Keller.  No, they are not physically blind and deaf, but spiritually blind and deaf by their own choosing.  The spiritually blind and deaf are as a ship without a rudder, lost and floundering in seas of darkness. In the darkness we cannot see nor can one reach his destination without directions.

The lost man is blinded by the deception of Satan believing that he has control over his own destiny.  He is given sight only when he chooses God’s way over his own.  God is for you – Satan is against you – you cast the deciding vote.

There is one way to have real life, love, and purpose. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in Him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed.”  YOCHANAN (John) 3:16 

All you need has been written in one Jewish Holy Bible containing your past, present and future.  Be willing to accept complete truth from B’RESHEET (Genesis) to REVELATION.  Truth is truth and cannot be denied.  Just because you don’t believe something does not change the fact that it is true.