Prison Weekly Kislev 4,5770
Shalom
May YHWH open our eyes to see where we are in this winnowing process. Here is this week's teaching – There's a Great Winnowing Taking Place.
This week's Torah portion is Toldot, which is B'reshit (Genesis) 25:19-28:9. Haftorah Malachi 1:1-2:7 Brit hadasha Romans 9:6-13
תּוֹלְדֹת
Toldot (tole-dote) (generations)What Would You Sell Your Birthright For? B'reshit [Genesis] 25:19-28:9
30 And Esau said to Ya'aqov, "Feed me, with that red soup, for I am faint." Therefore was his name
called Edom. 31 And Ya'aqov said, "Sell me first your birthright."
32 And Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die. And what profit shall the birthright do to me?"
33 And Ya'aqov said, "Swear to me first." And he swore to him. And he sold his birthright to Ya'aqov.
34 And Ya'aqov gave Esau bread and soup of lentils. And he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went
his way. So Esau despised his birthright.
Even though the two sons of Yitzchak were twins, Esau was the firstborn son and as such had the right
to inherit according to the firstborn son. However, he did not really care about his birthright, and one
day when he came in from hunting he was very hungry. Ya'aqov had been cooking some soup, and
seeing an opportunity to gain something that he longed to have, struck a bargain with his brother. His
brother seems to have agreed to this deal with hardly a second thought. Thus the Scripture teaches us
that Esau despised his birthright. It is no wonder that he also later lost the blessing of his father so easily
as well. What this story is really about is the difference between the seen and the unseen. Or, what it means to
walk by faith (unseen) as opposed to walk by sight (seen). In this case, Esau could not see past the
hunger in his own stomach. He wanted to fulfill that base desire as soon as possible, regardless of what
the cost might be later on. This type of mindset is one of the essential attitudes of living in Babylon.
That is, when one craves something so much that the craving becomes the overriding drive in a person's
life, especially to the exclusion of any consideration to the spiritual dimension of his life.
Yochanan Aleph (1st John) 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is
not of the Father, but is of the world.
When it is the base desires of a person that is in control of what he does and how he lives his life, then
that person is locked solidly into a Babylonian way of life. Everything in this present world would have
one to believe that this is the only way to true fulfillment; that is, when one gives to oneself all those
things that pleases him so that he is running from the seeking of one pleasure to another. Such a one as
this is never satisfied and can never be satisfied with what YHWH has blessed him with. They live in a
constant mindset of "If only I had…." But the truth is that even when they get the material possession
which they wrongly believe would make them happy, their thoughts are already fleeting off to the next
thing to rush headlong after. They do this not realizing that they are actually rushing headlong into
judgment. Have you ever considered why there are so many different makes of cars? And why do they need to
change the design of a car every year? Or, consider why it is that they are always coming out with new
movies? Or, why it is that there is a constant influx of new upgrades to computer programs; or, the
drive to have the hottest and newest video game; or, the newest and improved ….? It is because it is the
seeking of these materialistic goods that drives a Babylonian based economy. An economy in which the
people are told that they cannot function without having certain things in their lives; thereby, they are
constantly being admonished to go out and buy this, that, or the other. It is an economy that cannot
sustain itself. Esau was in the pursuit of those things that were transitory and had no lasting value. He wanted what
he could see, and beyond that he gave no thought to his life. Ya'aqov, on the other hand, pursued those
things that he could not see and gave a lot of thought to those things that he could not see. Today let us
consider this carefully as we examine some other passages as well to help us focus in on the difference
between walking by sight and walking by faith.
Luqa (Luke) 14:16-20
16 But He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,
17 and he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all is now
ready.' 18 "But one by one they all began making excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I
need to go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.'
19 "And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you to
have me excused.'
20 "And another said, 'I have married a wife, and because of this I am unable to come.'"
In my house my family often hears me say, "When a person needs an excuse, anything will do." I'm sure
if you think about it you have heard some pretty amazing excuses as to why someone does or does not
do something. Perhaps you have even given some pretty good ones in the past yourself. Yet, we are
taught in the word of YHWH that we are to let our "yes be yes," and our "no be no." Anything beyond
this is evil. Yet, how many of us don't follow this very simple instruction to us?
The bottom line of this passage is this: are we making excuses as to why it is that we cannot follow
YHWH/Yeshua in the manner that He desires for us to follow Him? Do we see our excuses as being
legitimate as those did in the passage above? Is there actually a legitimate excuse for not following
YHWH/Yeshua in the manner that He has commanded us to follow Him? Or, are these excuses just a
disguise for selling one's birthright for a bowl of soup?
Ivrim (Hebrews) 12:16-17
16 lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own
birthright. 17 For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he
found no place for a change of mind in his father, though he sought it diligently with tears.
There are some decisions that a person makes that simply cannot be undone. There are things in this
life that cannot be reversed. This Esau found out, but only too late. Let us diligently watch over
ourselves and our fellow brethren with love and care to make sure that this type of mindset is not
present in any one of us. Brethren, the time grows ever shorter that we must walk fully with YHWH our
Elohim without reservation or consideration to what this present world thinks or does. It is time that we
stop making excuses as to why we have to work on Shabbat. It is time to stop making excuses as to why
we cannot wear tzitziot (tassels). It is time to stop making excuses as to why we will not keep His whole
Torah! It is time to stop selling our birthright and grab firmly onto that birthright and never let go.
Mishle (Proverbs) 1:24-32
24 Because I have called, and you have refused;I have stretched out my hand, and no man has regarded;
25 But you have neglected all My counsel,And did not want any of My reproof;
26 I also will laugh in the day of your calamity;I will mock when your fear comes;
27 When your fear comes as a storm,And your calamity comes on as a whirlwind;When distress and anguish come upon you. 28 Then will they call upon Me, but I will not answer;They will seek Me diligently, but they shall not find Me; 29 For that they hated knowledge,And did not choose the fear of YHWH;
30 They did not want any of My counsel;They despised all My reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,And be filled with their own devices.
32 For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them,And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.
YHWH has clearly warned us ahead of time that we need to seek Him when He speaks to us. There may
come a time when He stops speaking to us and leaves us to our own devices. What a sad state a man
would be in if that happens. He would be just like Esau, who even though he sought the blessing of his
father with tears, his own father would not be moved by those tears. Esau despised his birthright and
lost the blessing as well. Likewise, there will be those who attempt to move YHWH with their tears, but
the day of salvation will have passed them by.
Philippians 3:18-19
18 For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the
enemies of the cross of Mashiach; 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
To sum up this matter of having this type of Babylonian mindset, the final end of such a person is
destruction. We need to take a good honest look at our lives and see where it is that we are living. If we
are living in Babylon with a Babylonian mindset, then it is time that we come out of that mindset and
out of that way of life. It is time that we fully embrace Yeshua as our Mashiach and return to our
Father's house to obey His Torah commandments.
Qorintyah Bet (2nd Corinthians) 6:2 for He says "At an acceptable time I listened to you,
And in a day of salvation did I help you;Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation!"
Today is the acceptable time according to YHWH to come fully to Him and to listen to His Voice and obey
Him in all things great and small.
Ivrim (Hebrews) 3:15 While it is said,"Today if you shall hear His voice,Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation."
We need to come completely out of the Babylonian way of life in which we have all been raised. We
need to turn fully to YHWH and commit all our ways to Him so that when it is time to separate the sheep
and the goats, we will be standing with the sheep and not standing with the goats; for we would not
desire to hear these words from our Master:
Matithyah (Matthew) 7:22-23
22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by Your name, and by Your
name cast out demons, and by Your name do many mighty works?'
23 And then will I say to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you that work iniquity.'"
To those of us who claim to know Yeshua as our Master, we need to be sure of one thing, that He knows
us! If we want Him to know us, then we had better come to Him on His terms and come to Him in His
name, and not in some substitute name that does not belong to Him. I did not change the verse above
where it reads in most English versions as "Lord, Lord" because it is quite possible that many on that day
will actually use that title. But lest you look down on those who do unknowingly use this title, let us be
sure that we who do call Him "Adonai Yeshua Mashiach", are doing so because we live as if this is true in
our lives each and every day. For the use of His Hebrew name alone does not insure that one is saved
any more that the lack of usage does not insure a lack of salvation. Let us commit our lives to Him
without reservation. Let us adopt the fear of YHWH in our daily living knowing that it is to Him who we
will one day answer for all we have done or not done.
Yochanan (John) 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
Do you know the Voice of your Master?
Do you obey the Voice of your Master?
ABBA YHWH, open our ears that we may hear your Voice and obey You so that You will be our Master,
that we may not sell our birthright for a bowl of soup; in the name of Yeshua our Mashiach. Amein.
Shabbat Shalom Zerubbabel ben Emunah
MISSION UPDATES:
Greetings Saints, First I will you about a man whom I prayed for; last week he came to the window of the bus when I was picking people up. He wanted to pray for me so I said okay, after he was done I prayed for him to have an increase in finances. Today he told me after the prayer he walked down the street and got a job for $12 and hour! A real praise report, he said that the Lord had told him I had a real calling on my life and to keep doing what I am doing……..We see miracle prayers like this all the time.I think we can breath now that we have been able to pay up the currant bills including what we owed the food bank. Two weeks ago we were just hours away from actually shutting down for the first time in 10 years. Bills had doubled and then we missed the shut off dates anyone of a number of things could have been shut off at anytime, but at the very last moments our Father saved us, as normal he uses people to do so. So if I missed thanking you saints for donating and saying prayers for us from the bottom of my heart I thank you.This year has been a funny year for finances, mostly we would have to get desperate, with this time being the very worst, then people would bail us out. When we have shut off's and things it always costs more as most of you know, I just pray that people would donate before we get desperate. Right now we have NO money for Thanksgiving, mom told me she might have $30 left after paying the bills, I have gas money and that is it, I am not complaining but we really need to pray in money for Thanksgiving dinner, paper products, Bibles, shoe money, medication money, and the bus to get fixed. Yes I am broke, but a preacher should be the brokest guy around right? I want you to pray that the people of Wichita really look at what we are doing for their poor and see the truth. We do things that no other ministry in this city does for them, we fill a large gap in services and we live 60 miles away. I do not want their thanks I just think Wichita should donate to help their poor, supporting what we have been doing without their support for 10 years. There are good people in this city that would help if somehow they knew what all we do. So take this to prayer, the Father can do anything! So please lift us to prayer and see if you are led to become a monthly supporter or weekly? Anything will help, people do not understand that a $10 a $25, etc donation adds up. And yes you can mail if you so chose. But really consider a donation towards Thanksgiving please do not wait until the last minute.Have a great Sabbath and remember all things come by Faith! RADIO By the way Tom Horn will be doing a program with me that will air on Thanksgiving, it will be a do not miss program!
Proverbs 14:21 He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.
Shalom In Yeshua Our Messiah, Wow can you believe thansgiving is next week? I'm going to be blessed this year with my daughters all helping as well as my sister-in-law. I have five turkeys and am praying for another four or five. I should have enough help in the kitchen I just may need a few more deserts made an donated. We are planning a sleepover Thanksgiving if we can get blankets. Please lift us in prayer that we get the person in charge of the blankets to give us another 100 or so the people really need blankets even if we don't have a sleepover. I have been busy this past week trying to get all my ministry work caught up. Kinda hard to do while playing with my grandbabies Haha! I should have the mailing list back to normal and if your getting more than one newsletter a month PLEASE let me know or if your addy is wrong please send me corrections. The bills are all paid up to the 26th and Decembers have begun coming in. I'm tired it's late an today's a feed day so goodnite to you all.
Please pray about being a vessel in these works we love you all Shabbat shalom sisterlinda
