A Bridge Builder

I was very honored and blessed to hear a wonderful teaching at Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles) that I attended with my family, in the fall, about a particular Jewish tradition. I won't even come close to doing it justice, but in Jewish culture, a young man, chosen out of many candidates, to become an apprentice to a Rabbi, (Rabbi means "teacher") will follow His Rabbi so closely and imitate everything he does to the degree that he practically "eats" the dust of the sandals of his Rabbi! We are told in scripture to be imitators of Elohim. (Ephesians 5:1-2, 1 Corinthians 1:11) He is our Teacher. We are to do as He does, just like the apprentice eating their Rabbi's dust!

Yahshua Ha'Mashiach (a.k.a. Jesus the Christ) was a bridge builder, but that being said Yahshua was not one to compromise His Word. He extended a hand to the whole world but communicated truth at the same time. How did He manage that?! It is our tendency to either cave to pressure, compromising what we know to be the truth (i.e. go along to get along) or stand our ground to such a degree that we alienate and offend others and eventually become offended ourselves. Somehow Yahshua managed to keep connection with people yet not become offended when they did not agree with His message. His peace was never contingent on whether people liked Him or what he had to say and He NEVER changed His message. He changes not!(Malachi 3:6, Numbers 23:19) He never opposed the Father as they are one, Echad. (John 10:30) The only time connection was lost was when the person involved walked away from Him....and even when that happened He would have happily welcomed such a one back (Luke 15:11-32) as that is His character. One could say, "Well, He is G-d, it's easy for Him." That is a bit of a cop out. Somehow we think that gets us all off the hook for not extending a hand when someone doesn't agree with us or comes against us. It doesn't. And, dying on a tree was no easy thing. It was the ultimate painful, torturous and very costly bridge built for all of mankind should they choose it. Yahshua looked down from the tree, bleeding and bruised and asked Abba (Father) to forgive those whom pierced Him (Luke 23:34). He had compassion on those that had been torturing Him and were killing Him! Yet, somehow there is a part of us that feels that we have a "right" to become offended, hold a grudge or possibly get even. If Yahshua is the example to those of us that profess we are believers in Him, we do not posses such a "right". May I be so bold to say, that if we call Yahshua (Jesus) our Teacher, His character should be our character!

Yahshua, in my humble opinion, is probably returning soon. I could be wrong. However, if that be the case, scripture states He is coming back for a pure bride without spot. (Ephesians 1:4, Ephesians 5:27) If the church, if fellowships, if congregations, if friends, if spouses, if siblings, if children are continually wrestling with offense, how spotless is that? Who exactly will that Bride be then? To simply state that we, as Torah observant believers, are qualified, if we hate and despise our neighbor, is unacceptable and is very questionable to say the least. To say that if we are born again and covered by the blood and therefore fit to be that bride, but yet we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts towards another, is again a stretch. (Mathew 6:14-15) The Father is not blind and He sees our hearts. If our Savior and our Groom was willing to die, so that mankind would have the opportunity to obtain forgiveness and reconcile with the living Elohim then why in the world would we even entertain the idea that petty offenses are pleasing to Him? Why would we think that ANY offense is pleasing to Him? Don't get me wrong, I am not judging or qualifying or disqualifying any individual by any means, but hopefully, if anything, stimulating all of us to continually examine our hearts and to maintain a broken spirit and contrite heart which is pleasing to Elohim. (Psalm 51:17)

Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18) We need to check ourselves. How can we be effective, like Yahshua was, in revealing YHVH's love to the world, if we are behaving nothing like Him? We need to "eat" His dust. We need to walk as He walked. As far as it is up to us, division should never be an option, because it never was for Him. Division occurred because of mankind's inability to have humility and recognise his own sin and the Truth of the Word of YHVH, but Yahshua himself was never divisive. Did He bring division? You bet your life He did! However, that division was the natural consequence and result of the fallen, sinful, stubborn, wicked state of the hearts of mankind and NOT the character of our Savior.

Romans 12:18 reads, "If possible, and to the extent that it depends on you, live in peace with all people." It is OK to stand up and be firm about what is right and true, but we must extend a hand at the same time. We must operate in respect and love towards others (1 Peter 3:15). This is what our Rabbi did and this is what we must do if we are to walk in His shoes. Love, patience and kindness must prevail. Even in the midst of persecution and suffering, love, His love, must be our daily decision towards others. I do not state this lightly or in any confidence that we can do this on our own. Much is impossible with man, but nothing is impossible with Elohim. (Luke 1:37) You may also have noticed that He didn't waste time trying to get a point across to those that do not hear. (Matthew 11:15, Revelation 2:7, Proverbs 20:12) If they don't hear what you have to say, the Truth, just love them, pray for them and give them to the Father, but don't spend time trying to give something valuable to those that won't receive. Maybe, in time, they will.

We cannot control what others do or the choices they make and sometimes quite frankly we may need to create a period of time or a little space so as to not be tempted to become offended by those whom we know push our buttons and those who refuse to live in peace with us. Those situations do occur and they are not at all easy. We should only do this when specifically led by Him and His Word, not out of a desire to inflict pain upon another. We should never close the door to a repentant and broken heart that seeks reconciliation, nor should we stop desiring and being open to reconciliation with others. To do such a thing would be out of character for our Rabbi and should be out of character for us.

Lets seek to be a "bridge builder", just as He was and is and EAT THE DUST OF OUR RABBI!!!!!























LOVE AND SHALOM, MORE THAN A CONQUEROR.