GO THROUGH THE COURSE

Proverbs 15:32
He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul:
But he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

The Hebrew text of this proverb reveals much more of its contrast. It tells us:

' He who negates discipline despises his soul; and he that heareth (obeys) reproof buys (values) an understanding heart.’

Life is a school. It is a school to prepare us for the World to Come. Courses are made available to us and we can sign up for them. We can sign up for them or we can let them go by. When we sign up for them, we can either apply ourselves to the lessons at hand, or we can be distracted by the many cares of this life. We are handled as mature free people but the cost of maturity and freedom is that we are and remain responsible for our own actions. We become the full result of the sum of our own decisions.

This proverb tells us that to refuse the discipline of life set in front of us by the Father is similar to despising our own soul. It is close to spiritual suicide. We sometimes cannot relate to people committing physical suicide, but what about people committing spiritual suicide? How many of us are guilty of knowing the discipline of life and yet despise it by excusing ourselves from it?

From the days of Moses we have been promised to become a nation of Priests and kings. Exodus and Leviticus teach us about the particular discipline of Hebrew kings and priests. They were held to different standards than that of the other people. The Mosaic promise is fulfilled in the Messiah. Anyone therefore under the atonement of Messiah has the potential to be a recipient of this promise. They can become a king or a priest among people, but they need to go through the course and learn the discipline.

The course is paid for in full. How would we feel now if we paid for our child the full price for the greatest of higher education in the grandest of all universities, but all he would do is waste his time partying? Wouldn’t he be despising his own soul? The same goes with us with the course the Messiah paid for us with His own blood at Calvary.

READ THE FULL STORY

Proverbs 15:31

The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.

We are all, each one of us prone to mistakes. It is normal for humans to err at times. In His great wisdom, our Creator Who certainly knows our frame, gave us one tongue to lead us, as the words of our tongue do lead us as the rudder of a ship. He gave us one tongue but two ears that we may do twice as much listening than talking. Yet, the great Almighty left it to us to decide who and what we listen to.

We have our destiny in our hands. Will we live among the wise? We must hear the reproof of life. And what are the reproofs of life? Our author wrote these proverbs to teach us about the life-giving virtues of the Word of Instruction contained in the Torah.

Our generation has concluded that the ancient words of the Torah are passé. That they have served their time and that now we are grown up. It is taught today by wise preachers that these ancient precepts have by some magic been written in our heart. We are taught that as in the famous movie The Matrix, we have been programmed, like a computer, with the Words of God inside of us and that now, we are wise. We have been given the Book, but we don’t need to study it. Lo and behold, we have been transubstantiated (sarcasm intended) If this idea were to objectively be judged by its results, it would come out as the greatest of all hoaxes.

I am a teacher of teenagers; I wish it were that easy but whereas we are given the Book, our God has desired for us to go through the full lesson. He wants our whole being, mind, soul, spirit and body to go though the learning process of each of His Word. We may have been given a ‘scholarship’ at the University of Wisdom, but we still need to go through the course if we want the diploma. We still need to learn if we want the privilege of hanging around with the wise.

Let us not fool ourselves. Let us apply ourselves to the study of the full Word of God. How can we come to the right conclusions of the lessons of a book if we only read the last chapter?

THE JOY OF GOOD NEWS

Proverbs 15:30

The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.

Incredulity is a plague of modern times. Everyone is a judge; everyone wants to establish truth. We deny what has already been found and proven; we do away with the milestone established by the ancient and boastfully pride of being wise. In the end, our eyes become dim of knowledge as we find ourselves doubting the very foundations of the world and of our lives.

The Word of God is said to be the Light (Psalms 119:105), The lack of It then is certainly darkness. As our spirit denies the Truths of the Word, our eyes dim of intelligent knowledge. This darkness of the eyes becomes the rot of our very bones. On the other hand, the Good News enlightens us again. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple (Psa 119:130) says this King’s father, and oh, how good news can put a new spring in our steps.

In this world where bad news seem to be more profitable to media corporations than good news, may our spirit never be darkened by their lack of proper ‘intelligence’.

May we not let their lack of Word-based knowledge pollute our spirit, darken our eyes, and rot our bones.

May we keep our eyes on Yeshua, the Light of our eyes, the glory of Israel.

He anoints our eyes and hearts with the oil of gladness that is the health of our bones.

PATIENCE IN JUDGMENT

Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked:
But he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

I have a believer friend who is very confused at the present seeming reality of answered and unanswered prayers. He sees people who really love God in all sincerity and truth, people who put themselves out for His name, and yet seem to be denied the realization of deep yearnings or even of daily needs. On the other hand, he sees people who don’t seem to care about God spread themselves like a green bay tree and seeming successful in every way.

My friend has a hard time realizing that the blessings of God are not measured in dollars and cents but even more, I would say he is guilty of impatience. In the early chapters of the book of Revelations we are shown the martyred people of the Almighty tucked under His altar pleading with Him for the vindication of their lives and for the vengeance of their spilled blood. He told them to wait. The Father of all those who live in Him told them to wait until all is done, suggesting that soon though there will be a time of universal retribution.

It is like in court: the sentence is not given until the sentence is given. In our case, the final and ultimate answering of all our prayers will also be accomplished at the sound of the gavel, at the time of His return. Some things He accords us now as an earnest of His Goodness towards us, but the bulk of answers to our prayers is reserved for the Word to come.

Then and only then we will be able to see with our eyes who God vindicates and who He rejects and I, for one, think that many of us will be surprised. Those whom we say He rejected in this age (and He may have in times past) may be found near His bosom if not but for the sole sake of the promises He made to their fathers; while those whom seeming acceptance led to arrogance towards the first, may find themselves with the judgment with which they judged others meted unto them.

Whereas we certainly are meant to assess each other if not we would not be able to exhort each other, Yeshua advised us not to judge (condemn with final sentencing) each other. He knows that our means of judgment are incomplete and that we need to wait for the world to come for all things to be established.

In the meantime, we still know that,

Adonai is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

Psalms 145:18

HE ALWAYS HAS THE LAST WORD

Proverbs 15:28
The heart of the righteous studieth to answer:
But the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.

I think it is important to notice the contrast properties of this proverb:

Heart versus mouth;

Righteous versus wicked;

Studieth (waiting) versus poureth.

In such an information age as we presently live in, we need all the help we can get to sift through the spiritual, theological, philosophical and spiritual garbage that is constantly poured upon us through the airwaves. The contrasts in this proverb provide us with useful evaluation guidelines.

These guidelines are very simple: righteous Godly wisdom requires deliberation before deciding whether to speak and even what to say; while ignorant foolishness spouts slander and heresy without control.

This proverb therefore teaches how to easily spot those who speak when spoken ‘through’ from the Godly abundance of their heart, from those who just ‘speak’, from an uncontrolled over-active brain, who wants to make sure to have the first word before God has a chance to do it. Sadly though for these latter ones, they may have the first word, but God always has the last one.

A WISE PRAYER

Proverbs 15:27
He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.

Oh, the deceitfulness of riches. While they promise rest, peace and quiet, they bring trouble arrogance and vexation of spirit. He who sings, ‘If I were a rich man’, does not know that his penury is the spiritual lifeline of his sanity.

Wealth can be the result of God’s blessing, but it is also part and parcel with worry, troubles, buy-ness and corruption of character. Jabez (The Devil and Daniel Webster) who prayed for prosperity was not able to handle the blessing of wealth and almost lost everything. In the end, he wished his former poverty over his present wealth.

For the poor, the only way is up, so the outlook is always bright. The rich live near the precipice and live in the constant fear of falling. Let us therefore pray the following wise prayer: God, supply all my needs according to your marvelous bounty. 'Keep from me extreme poverty that I may not blaspheme your name, and from the deceit of riches that I may not curse those made in your image.'

ADONAI; OR GOLDEN CALF? CHOOSE YE.

Proverbs 15:26
The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord:
But the words of the pure are pleasant words.

I would like to present here a vernacular literal translation of this proverb. ‘The abomination of God is thoughts of evil; words of pleasantness should be pure’. This proverbs tries to point out the evil of clothing ungodly ideas in mellow seemingly spiritual language. This is an abomination to God because the righteous, who is sometimes simple, often falls for the deception.

This age of relativism is dangerous. In ancient cultures, faith was more easily defined. You believed in the God who made the Heavens and the earth, or you believed in some idol. The two represented opposite concepts; it was one or the other and never the twain shall meet. (There was no such thing as ‘atheism’. Even today, atheism is really only the creed of man worshipping himself called: humanism)

Today we live in different times. The devil has used the Almighty’s seeming invisibility and muteness to be a sight and voice for Him. For now about two centuries, we have taken upon ourselves the liberty to define the Creator. Modern preachers tell us what He likes and doesn’t like. They establish on Him a character according to ‘modern’ man’s own definition of righteousness. What our ‘modern’ civilization has done is akin to Aaron in the desert who formed and carved a golden calf and called it by the Name of the Almighty. Today, we don’t need a golden calf; all we need is smart semantics.

Paul advised his leaders to speak as the ‘Oracles’ of the God; meaning, ‘don’t speak unless you are spoken through’. It is blasphemous to say that God doesn’t mind that we do or don’t do certain things about which he was very specific in His Words about. It is lie and deceit to cloak Him with a cover of free everlasting forgiveness that does not involve any retribution for sin.

The character of the Father is easily revealed to us though His deeds. It is by His story in His Book that we know how He is. Let us therefore be true and pure in our presentation of Him to others, to our children, and most importantly, to ourselves.

JERUSALEM: THE FIRST WIDOW

Proverbs 15:25
The Lord will destroy the house of the proud:
But he will establish the border of the widow.

As a believer in the Creator of Heaven and earth and in His Mashiach, I have noticed that, whoever is the perpetrator of evil, the Almighty is on the side of the victim. The problem is that His version of who is the victim may be different than ours.

The civilizations of every generation seem to always be thoroughly entrenched in their own world. They sadly make all political and financial decisions according to the selfish concerns of their time. Doing so, they omit to fully weigh the consequences their actions will have on the world of their children. It is the same today as it has always been.

The Divine Author of the Holy Book knows how to get mileage out of His Words. Each Oracle from the Father deserves Pandora’s box of limitless possibilities to be opened. There is more to this proverb than a sound bite to plead the case of poor widows.

I personally like to judge the dynamics of history as per the Word of God. Our present time is witnessing the dawning of the shadows of a new age. Changes are is in the air. Economic and political realities are shifting to bring the world to its final pre-arranged state. In our times, in front of our eyes the Father, the Creator and Perpetrator of history, brings the world to labor and contractions. The proud nations of the world who have oppressed the poor for hundreds of years receive their due, while the borders of the widow are being established. The establishing of the widows though starts with the First Widow, the Widow of all Widows: Jerusalem. How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!Lamentations 1:1

OF LIFE AND DEATH

Proverbs 15:24
The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.

The sheol (the Hebrew word used for ‘hell’ in this text) is the appointed final place for all those made of flesh. Even Yeshua did not escape passing through it, ever so quickly, as He did not see corruption.

Death did not have any hold on the Master. As soon as it hit Him, the Master’s body, revived in incorruptibility by the Spirit of Life. He became life in the very corners of sheol and preached salvation to the spirits in disobedience from the days of Noah. Like Joseph in his Egyptian prison, the Master was elevated to the care of the prisoners and eventually became their Master, even above the jailer. When the devil thought that he had caught the ‘catch’ of his ‘death’ (not to say life), he actually 'shot himself in the foot' and lost all his captives.

The Master is resurrection and life; He is the Firstfruit of all those who rise from the dead. Such is the way of the followers of Messiah; the sheol cannot hold them. It is a known fact that the ungodly die in fear and agony while those who have a connection with the Creator of their soul die more peacefully. As an unbeliever, it must be a fearful thing to be suddenly faced with death; to feel taken, beyond your control, to an entirely unknown and fearful future.

Believers do not have to worry about that for their way is above.

Their way escapes the sheol beneath; it does not even have a chance to touch them.

Praise the Son and blessed be the Father.

GOOD ADVICE

Proverbs 15:23

A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

I heard it said once, ‘do not speak unless spoken through’. When we are asked for godly counsel, it is very important that we speak ‘as the Oracle of God’, (emphasis mine), meaning through the inspiration of the Spirit of the Creator which will then make us speak in the same Words in the same perspective as the already given Word.

One thing particular to the written Word is that it does not speak to us unless we are ready to receive it. The minute we begin to listen to Adonai’s already recorded Words, immediately we put ourselves in the position of being willing to listen. We actually, have to make all the steps towards it if we want to hear it. First, we have to determine in our hearts to read it. We also have to schedule a priority, (sometimes against other ‘priorities’) to read it. Then we go and open the book and even choose what we will read. Once we read it, it never changes its tone of voice nor alters what it said. It is just there available to us whenever we are ready for it. There are times though when The Almighty may also barge into our busy un-prioritized lives though a Scripture on a billboard at a cross-road, but we still decided to read that billboard

This is an example of how to have joy, and not grief by the answer of our mouth, of how we should communicate and offer counsel to others as a word spoken in ‘due season’: Godly counsel should only be given when someone is ready to listen to it. Somewhere else, our author compares unsolicited advice to ‘pearls cast before swines’.

A MAN AND HIS WIFE

Proverbs 15:22
Without counsel purposes are disappointed:
But in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Due to carnal pride, it is easy for a man (or a woman for that matter) to feel sufficient in himself. God, in His great wisdom, has seen to perfectly balance each of His creatures. He blessed each one of them with some sort of handicap, ballast, a weakness or oppositional force which bring them to a more humble perspective about themselves.

In the case of man, God gave him a wife.

It is easy to point out certain verses in the Bible that lead a man to become the little dictator of his household. The favorites are that it is woman who initiated sin in Eden, another one is Proverbs 31, which some use to reduce the wife status as that of a servant. All these are twisted perspective of Scriptures. The story outlined in the Bible is of a Bridegroom who rescues is beloved beautiful but at times foolish Bride from the clutches of a demonic dragon by utterly humbling Himself to the lowest of level. The story is of a man who decks his wife with all honor and glory; of a man who respects his wife too much to accept her mere servitude, and who will be satisfied with nothing less than her sincere loving devotion. This is mystery, but I speak of Messiah and His Bride. As far as Proverbs 31, it’s author’s analogy is of the same caliber as Paul’s in Ephesians 5: 21-32: he uses marriage to teach about the ideal attitude of the Church in the world (Church: the corporate body of believers).

The Hebrew wording of Genesis gives us a clue of the wife’s role. The text literally says, ‘ . . . it is not good for man to be by himself; I will make him a helper to be AGAINST him’ (emphasis mine). Here we have the ballast of a man. As a result, Jewish sages taught not to trust the counsel of a man who is not married, because he does not have a wife at home to argue with him and ‘balance’ him in his opinions. A good and wise woman will learn how to do that without ‘vexing’ the masculinity of her husband.

A man who uses his masculine position to dominate his wife is ungodly, and a woman who uses her position as counselor to divert her husband to do her bidding instead of God’s is blasphemous. A godly man wants to serve God and he does it in harmony with his wife. A godly woman helps her husband to find what it is God’s wants him to do and helps him to refine the idea.

I will end this devotional with an old Jewish legend which says that when God wanted to choose a bone from Adam to create his future wife,. He did not take it from the head so he would not dominate her; He did not take it from the foot so he would not trample her, but he took a rib, near to the heart, so he would love her.

MIND OVER MATTER

Proverbs 15:21
Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom:
But a man of understanding walketh uprightly.

I heard it said once that we can tell much about people in what gives them pleasure, what makes them laugh, by what they like to do with their free time, and how they spend their money.

An abundance of time and money are the test of man’s character; they try the soul of humankind. Money corrupts and idleness is the devil’s workshop. These two proverbs are so true, not that money and time are evil in themselves, but because they provoke the inner corruption of our sinful state.

“A man of understanding’ walks uprightly. Notice that the author did not say ‘a man of faith’. That is because faith comes from the heart. Our human nature is such that the free will of our mind is stronger than the loyalties of heart. It is good because our heart can be easily influenced and the enemy knows it. It is therefore by the strength of our intellect, our mind that we compel our heart to submit to the right path, but our mind must be given to understanding. This is why the main prayer in Judaism is the ‘Shema’ from Deuteronomy 6:4 which quotes, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is One, . . . And thou shalt love the Lord with all thine heart …’ Love cannot be commanded, but if we ‘shema’ (hear), the Words of God in our mind will cause us to love Him from our hearts.

Understanding though is something obtained through inquisitiveness of spirit, through a haunting desire to completely know, which of course can never be achieved. That is why Yeshua says, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

Foolishness is the devil’s counterfeit for the joy of Adonai.

Let us therefore vehemently discard the fake joy that is obtained through foolishness.

Let us desire to know and properly understand Him, so we can love Him in the way that He desires.

A FATHER’S DREAM

Proverbs 15:20
A wise son maketh a glad father:
But a foolish man despiseth his mother.

Once he was in control of his kingdom having conquered Jerusalem, David, the Father of our author, spent the rest of his life preparing for his greatest ambition: the building of the first Jewish Temple. He designed the building plans, wrote the liturgy, organized the priesthood and even financed the whole project. Before he died, David merely passed everything on to his wise son Solomon. The building of this temple was David’s dream and passion. It was the physical expression of his love for God. As a father of five sons, I can understand the peace and gladness of heart David must have experienced at the moment of death, knowing that his own son would bring to fruition the passion of his life’s efforts.

A wayward child can never imagine nor understand the grief he causes to his parents. They invest years in the building of his character and in his education without getting any dividends. A father cannot find more pride anywhere or in anything else than in the knowledge that his children walk in his footsteps. Such is our inborn nature given to us by the God who also enjoyed His Own Son executing His good pleasure. A mother trains her child to be a support to the household and to her husband, so when that child become a lazy game-playing loafer, she feels despised; she feels all her good words of wisdom washed away by a flood of indifference.

We have a spiritual heritage today because for 6,000 years of generations, children have endorsed the dreams of the promises God made to their fathers. Today, we have a generation that seems to rejects the steady ancient faith and wisdom paths of their fathers; a generation that prefers to look forward[1] into the uncertain future of novel ideas.

Will faith die with this generation?

Is it what the Master meant when he said,

. . . Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Luke 18:8


[1] In our Greek mind, we say that we look ‘forward’ into the future, and ‘backward’ into the past. The ancient Semites knew that what we see in front of us is ‘forward’. What we don’t see, is what’s behind us. Because in life we can only see our past, which helps us in turn define our future steps, the ancients understood that therefore, it is the past that is in front of us and that we can see; the future is behind us because we cannot see it.

FIND YOUR CALLING

Proverbs 15:19
The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns:
But the way of the righteous is made plain.

The contrast property of Proverbs should help us again clarify this saying. If ‘sluggard’ is to contrast with ‘righteous’, ‘sluggard’ is defined as one who is too lethargic, passive, and lazy to fulfill his godly destiny. He makes excuses for himself. Obstacles surround him like a thorny hedge. On the other hand, one who is diligent to want to accomplish his calling in life seems to be totally oblivious to any obstacles. His way is as paved before him. Then, a literal Hebrew reading would say: The way of the sluggard is as hedged with thorns, but the path of the upright is paved.

How many reach their prime and have not found what their true calling is. How many die without fulfilling their mission. It is pathetic to see the potential of a God-given life wasted on ‘husky’ excuses. It is hard to lead an accomplished life. It requires sacrifices; but it is a lot easier than experiencing the depressive state of mind, and even the addictions that come as a result of frustration.

The Almighty Creator of our soul has given us so much potential. So much is in our power to make positive changes around us, if only we would stop believing the thorny hedges the devil lets us imagine are around us.

They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy,

the fleeing prophet said.

Jonas 2:8.

Yes, the world is getting darker and darker and it is ordained to do so. There is nothing we can do to change that. It is God’s plan to let us know that we cannot run our own world; that we need His Messiah to help us get back to His original plan. What we can do though, is to be faithful to find our calling from Him so we can shine His Light around us, a light that which will shine brighter and brighter as the darkness sets in.

With that said, may we live each day as if it were the last one.

Who knows; it may be . . .

THE ROADMAP TO PEACE IN THE M.E.

Proverbs 15:18
A wrathful man stirreth up strife:
But he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

There is a man in the Bible who is described as an angry man. Here what was is said about him from the womb of his conception, And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren (Genesis 16:12).

His name?

Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn.

How would you deal with such a man in your midst? His very nature is commanded by God to be wild and adversarial. In the Bible, the children of Ishmael inter-marry with the children of Esau, Jacob’s brother and archenemy. They all also intermarried with the Canaanites, the cursed section of the sons of Ham, son of Noah. God had told Abraham to favor his second-born Isaac. God also tells Rebecca to favor her second-born Jacob. Later, Ishmael and Esau, the two ignored brothers, along with the Canaanites, compound into a synergy of hatred for the other side of their family.

When Jacob uses deception to obtain the birthright already given to him from the womb, Esau’s passions lashed out against his brother and he desire to kill him. Jacob therefore flees the country of Canaan for 21 years and gives birth to the tribes that would later consist of the nation of Israel established in Canaan.

Jacob knew that eventually he needed to return from exile. His home was not Mesopotamia, but the Promised Land of Canaan. He also knew that he would have to face Esau who had sworn to kill him, but nothing could keep Jacob from performing his destiny. Upon entering the eastern borders of the Land, Esau, armed with 400 men, set himself to pursue Jacob’s traveling family of nomads. Jacob then started a piece of diplomatic strategy which I believe is going to be the blue-print for the road-map to peace in the M.E. Today, the story is very similar: Jacob (the Jews) has to return home, but Esau (the Arab world) is antagonistic to the idea.

Jacob sent seven caravans of gifts to Esau to appease his wrath. On the night before Jacob met Esau, Jacob had a wrestling match, but with an angel. This angel was the spirit of Messiah with whom Jacob had to struggle. At the end of the strife, Messiah blesses Jacob and changes his name to: Israel. Only after Jacob reckons with his Messiah does he receive his new name of Israel. The next day he meets with Esau and both are changed people. They kiss and each one goes to the inheritance given to them by their grandfather Abraham. Today, only after the people of Israel reckons with their Messiah, will their inherit the Promised Land in peace.

Peace will only be accomplished through universal forgiveness.

The Master taught us to pray:

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

The Messiah will come back and forgive the world who, by God’s own permission sent Him to a cruel death.

Like Joseph of old, Messiah will not blame His brothers for what they did to him, but He expects us also to forgive also those who, also by God’s permission caused us the anguish and pain of a long exile.

The only ‘roadmap to peace’ for the M.E. is the returning of Messiah.

May He return soon!
.

DID HE TAKE YOU CAMPING?

Proverbs 15:17
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

A teacher friend of mine related the counsel she gave a young wealthy man in trying to prove the sincerity of the many girls who wanted to marry him. My friend told him, “Take them for a week-end of wild hiking and camping; once away from the wining and dining paint-deep glitter of city-life, you will see their true motives, and mainly, their personality.” This actually proved to be good counsel as several girls only wanted to be with him only to enjoy the benefit of his wealth. I think he married the girl who went camping with him, the girl who was happy to enjoy a simple ‘dinner of herb’, such a dinner as is eaten on the road somewhere when traveling, with the sole joy of being in the presence of the person she loved.

In the same manner, we are traveling. We are ‘camping on this earth as ‘pilgrims and strangers’ the Bible says. During our earthly travels, Yeshua, our traveling companion and leader sometimes takes us to a restaurant, but most often we have to make-do with simple sandwiches or a pre-made camping dish warmed up on a camping stove. We do not mind though, because the foundation of the joy and fulfillment of our souls is solely to be with our Beloved Messiah: Yeshua.

Yeshua is the owner of everything. He can lavish wealth upon wealth on our lives and this He will do in the world to come. For now, we need to be content with what He has, in His great wisdom, chosen to give us. We need to be content when in need the same we are when we are in abundance. It shouldn’t matter. Some think it unfair and the devil knows it, so he tempts people with the wealth of this world. He tries to make them think that they are an absolute and inherent sign of God’s blessing and thereby deceives them.

Are our times of distress, poverty and need His way to test the motives of our relationship with Him? Do we only want Him for the provision and protection he can give us? Do we only want Him for what we can get out of Him, or do we truly love Him for Him, even if it involves only a ‘dinner of herb’ sitting on log in a forest with clouds warning of rain, but in His blessed Presence?

TRAINING FOR THE NEXT LIFE

Proverbs 15:16
Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

Earth’s wealth lies before mankind to gather into treasure. The Father has also put within man the desire to always better himself, to strive and be more prominent than his fellow earthlings.

Our Creator has set all wealth in front of us and He said to Himself, “I know that man is not able to resist His carnal instincts, but this makes for a good trial run.” He has promised us all wealth and every desire of our hearts, but before this is to be accomplished in the millennium, he wants to train our hearts. Our Heavenly Trainer may ask Himself the following questions, “Will man just go and grab these riches instead of waiting for Me, their actual Owner, to give them to Him? Will man become an animal and trample others on his way to this wealth? Will he blotch his soul by using unrighteous means to obtain them? Will he neglect Me, the Word, and even his social obligations in gathering them?

All of the above?"

Many promises of wealth and comfort are made to the righteous, but their fulfillment is mostly reserved for the messianic age. Talmudic sages have often imagined God asking Himself,

“ So many wonderful things are reserved for the righteous in the world to come; how is it that he also complains about the problems of life on earth?"

Teaching His disciples about the uses and misuses of earthly wealth, the Master told a parable and asked the rhetorical question that should also confront our soul today:

If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

Luke 16:11.