It's Not As You Perceive

Love That Pleases God -Lesson 12–Gospel of the Kingdom of God- Episode 84

Written By: Hilary - Dec• 17•16

“Love that Pleases God.” Before looking into love that pleases God, let’s review the previous lessons. In our most recent lessons we used scriptures to draw the following conclusions:

Yahovah decides who He chooses to be His sons (i.e. the sons of God).
Yahovah also decides who will receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire
When we receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire we receive the Spirit of Adoption
The Spirit of adoption is the Spirit of Yahoshua, His Son
We become part of God’s family when we receive the Spirit of Yahoshua
Yahoshua is the door and the way through which we enter into God’s family
Yahoshua baptizes with the Holy Spirit and Fire subject to His Father’s approval
Yahovah adopts His sons based on their love for His only begotten Son, Yahoshua.

Our focus in this lesson is #8:“Yahovah adopts His sons based on their love for His only begotten Son”, Yahoshua.

Let’s study the scriptures to find the Love that Pleases God.

Loving God is actionable-Actions over Emotional Feelings and Thoughts — Many believe simply announcing they love God pleases Father. But it is important to reciprocate the love He shows us.

We cannot out love Yahovah God. And we cannot out love His Son, Yahoshua Messiah. Yahovah has demonstrated His love towards us through many evidences and Yahoshua has testified about his Father’s love for us. The works of God and His Son bear witness of their love for us.

Yahovah’s Old covenant with Israel was a covenant of love. It was a marriage covenant. In Jeremiah 31:32 Yahovah said:

“Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Yahovah (Jer 31:32 KJV) ”

The Broken Marriage Covenant

They broke the marriage covenant when they turned away from Him to other gods; showing that they did not love Him. The adultery they committed against Him caused them to have no peace with Him. He had to separate them from Himself because they were defiled due to their uncleanness due to their adultery.

In Deut 5:29, we find that Yahovah saw that the children of Israel were unable to love Him. They could not obey his laws. He said:

“O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always. That it might be well with them, and with their children forever!”.

His statement about fear teaches us that loving Him is dependent on us fearing Him. Therefore the fear of God produces Love for Him; not anxiety, dread or fright.

The 10-Commandments is a Marriage Covenant Between Father and Us — The 10-commandments is a marriage covenant-a covenant of love

Knowing their condition, that they were helpless and could not change themselves, He showed them mercy. Thus Father withheld the punishment they deserved. Then He extended His grace (favor, blessing, or kindness) to them. He could have killed them for transgressing His laws because the wages of sin is death. Instead, He chose to give them a gift by making a change in them to enable them to fear Him. Because they did not fear Him, He decided to make a change inside of them. That change would give them the ability to fear Him.

He was in a marriage relationship with them (Jeremiah 31:32) but they could not reciprocate His love for them. A marriage without love does not engender peace. In this change he removed their stony heart and replaced it with circumcised heart; a heart of flesh with His law written on it. He also gave them a new spirit; and He wrote His law also on their mind. Finally He put His Spirit in them.

This change is what they needed to fear Him. Notice that He wrote His laws on their heart and mind. He did not give them a new heart and leave it there. But he wrote His laws on it. He wanted them to love Him but He knew that they needed to know Him before they could love Him. It is His laws that teach us about his ways and His holy character.

Therefore, in order to be compatible with Him we would desire to be holy like Him. In so doing, we can enter into His presence. We cannot love Him from a far because that kind of love does not engender intimacy in a marriage. When we are distant from Him He cannot reveal His mystery (secrets) to us. His character is not to yell and scream at us. His desire is for us to draw near to Him. James 4:8 tells us:

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

The Marriage Covenant Made New

He said in Jer 32:40:

“And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me”.

When we love someone it is natural to want to be in their presence, hear their voice, look in their eyes and touch them. But this type of interaction would be impossible when we stayed away from the person. The same way it is in our relationship with God. That is why He fixed the problem in our heart, mind and spirit by the kindness of His grace; then He added His laws not only to our heart but also to our mind. In case we are overcome by deception in our mind, we have a witness in our heart that will lead us back to Him. And the fear of God in us would renew our desire to love Him.

Yahoshua said, if you love me, you will love my Father also. He also said in John 14:15:

“If you love me keep my commands”. So Yahoshua has commanded us to keep/obey the Ten Commandments of his Father. It is Yahovah who judges our heart to see if we love His Son (John 14:23).”

If we love His Son, then we will keep the commands of His Son. Yahoshua has commanded us to keep the commandments of Yahovah. The commandments in question are the Ten Commandments of the Father. Our obedience is a demonstration of our love for Yahoshua and his Father.

John 14:21-23 ²¹ whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. ²² Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them”.

Yahoshua also said in John 14:24

“Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me”.
Num 15:40. “That ye may “Remember and do all my commandments and be holy unto your God”.
Lev. 22:31, Father says, “Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am Yahovah”.

Yahoshua sent letters with John to the seven assemblies (churches). John writes in Revelation 22:14

‘Happy are those doing His commands that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of the life, and by the gates they may enter into the city; (YLT).

Yahovah’s words do NOT expire and are NOT revocable not even by His Son, Yahoshua!!!!!

Deu 11:1 Therefore you shall love Yahovah your God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, always.
Deu 12:28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in the sight of Yahovah your God.
Deu 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of Yahovah your God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Yahovah your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth.
1Ki 3:14 And if thou will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David did walk, then I will lengthen your days.
Pro 13:13 Whosoever despises the word shall be destroyed: but he that fears the commandment shall be rewarded.
Luk 19:42 Saying, If you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things which belong unto your peace! But now they are hidden from thine eyes.

The Love that Pleases God

Therefore, the love that pleases God is love for His Son. We show that love by our obedience t o His Son’s commands /teachings. His Son commanded us to obey the commandments of His Father and love one another. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Yahoshua taught this in

Matthew 22:35-40, ³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

The Law and Prophets Hang Upon Love for God and Love for the Brethren — Lovie of the Father and Love for One Another embodies the Law and the Prophets

³⁶“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ Yahoshua replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (NIV)

The Ten Commandments teach us how to love God and how to love each other. So we see that when we obey the commands of the Son, his commands point us to the Ten Commandments of His Father. And this is the Love towards His Son that the Father is looking for in us, before He and His Son come to abide with us as seen in John 14:23NIV.

This tells us that the love of God IS conditional.

Receiving the Spirit of Adoption and the Spirit of God is also conditional. The Christian churches teach that God’s love is unconditional; but that is not true because all we have seen from all the scriptures both Old Testament, New Testament and the teachings of Yahoshua conclude with the same message as proof that God’s love IS Conditional. His love applies only to those who believe on His Son and obey the commands of His Son.

Father’s Expectations of us as the Bride of Messiah

Both Yahovah and Yahoshua have the expectation from us that we will obey the Ten Commandments of God in order to receive Yahovah’s promised blessings, the gift of eternal life and the Spirit of Yahoshua, (the Spirit of Adoption) and the Holy Spirit of Yahovah his Father coming to dwell with us.

Romans 8:9 tells us, “And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Messiah (the Spirit of Adoption), they do not belong to Messiah”.

If there is any confusion, then read the following passages where Yahoshua our Teacher, Messiah and coming Judge on the Last Day makes it very clear for us. He has given us the answer to this very important question: “What pleases God?” He wants us to know the answer so we will know what is expected of us, beyond the shadow of a doubt, when we stand before his judgment seat of Messiah on judgment Day.

1John 3:22-24. Says we will “²²receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Yahoshua Messiah, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ the one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (NIV)
1John 3:4 “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness”. (NIV)
1John 5:2-3 “²This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, (NIV).”
John 14:23 “Yahoshua answered and said unto him, if a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. ²⁴He that loves me and keeps not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me”.
1John 4:13 “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit”.
Revelation 22:14 ‘Happy are those doing His commands that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of the life, and by the gates they may enter into the city; (YLT)

To restore the marriage, Yahovah designed a covenant of peace to reconcile their relationship back to Him.

Yahovah realized that they did not love Him because they did not have the ability to know Him due to their stony heart. That is why He sent the prophet Jeremiah with a good news message to them while they were exiled in Babylon; saying that He would make a new covenant with them, not like the covenant he made with their Fathers when He brought them out of Egypt.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 He said:

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, says Yahovah, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahovah: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says Yahovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

This time He vowed to make some changes that would cause them to return to him and love Him.

How the New Covenant Works

Thus, in the new covenant the first thing he mentioned is that He would sprinkle them with water. Then He would cleanse them as the first step in the reconciliation process for peace. His ultimate goal is to reinstate their marriage to Him. But a marriage without love is not a healthy marriage. Therefore Yahovah, their faithful husband made a plan to cleanse them and give them the ability to love Him. Loving Him was very important to the marriage because He loves them and has many blessings to offer to them for loving Him in return. And if they do not love Him then they cannot receive the blessings He has to offer them.

Here Yahovah is expecting that once they have His laws in their inward parts and their heart, they will know Him and will be able to love Him because His law teaches us about His character, His likes and dislikes, and His ways. He understands that in spite of His mighty acts of protecting them, delivering them, saving them and defeating their enemy; they still did not know Him. He was their Savior with exceedingly awesome power and might, but they did not know Him and were unable to have a relationship with Him on His terms of holiness.

They were accustomed to having many gods; so being devoted to only one God, Yahovah was difficult for them in spite of all the miraculous works they witnessed He had done to protect, save and deliver them from Pharaoh their slave master and enemy. Yahovah was just another god added to their collection of gods; except He was the living and powerful God. Yet, it was easy for them to go off and worship their other gods with which they were already familiar, because of their stony heart. So, it was no wonder they found it difficult to remain true to their God, Yahovah.

They longed for the way of life they left behind in Egypt because that is all they knew. They were out of Egypt but Egypt was not out of them. It was hard for them to love a God with whom they not familiar and did not know. This is the why Yahovah’s plan of a new covenant included removing their stony heart, giving them a new heart, writing His law on their heart, writing His law on their mind, and giving them a new spirit. In addition, He would put His Spirit in them. By so doing, He would be their personal teacher, teaching them about Himself so they would get to know Him and His ways of holiness.

On an intimate level, He would reveal His secrets about Himself and His plans to them. This way they would get to know Him and learn to love Him. This new covenant was Yahovah’s reconciliation plan for His bride to re-establish the peace they had together when they first agreed to love and obey Him. He made this plan because of His love for Israel. By so doing, they would have all they needed to know Him and love Him so that they would receive the blessings of the inheritance He had in store for them. All He required from Israel is that they love Him and demonstrate that love by keep His commandments.

Jer 24:7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
Deu 30:6 And Yahovah thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou may live.
Exo 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am Yahovah that does sanctify you.
Lev 19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I Yahovah your God am holy.

The apostle Paul told the assembly in Rome:

Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

In Deut 5:10, Yahovah spoke with the children of Israel audibly and they heard His voice. He then wrote all he had said to them on two tablets of stone with His own finger. He gave the tablets to Moses to deliver it to His bride. These tablets were the Ten Commandments. Within a short time they broke the second commandment of the Ten Commandments:

Exodus 20:4-6 which says:

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, Yahovah your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments”. (NIV)

So here Yahovah equates breaking this commandment with hating Him. It is hate because it is adultery against Him, their husband. But out of His love for them, He made a new covenant, which is a covenant of peace (Ephesians 2:17-18).

A covenant is a strong binding agreement between two or more parties bound together by an understanding of benefits to each other. In this covenant of Peace Yahovah’s plan is to reconcile Israel to Himself; but He established this new covenant through His Son Yahoshua. When the leaders of the Jews lead the people to reject Yahoshua, they rejected the new covenant because the new covenant is sealed by his shed blood. They rejected him because they were spiritually blind. This gave Yahovah cause to open the door for the Gentiles to enter into His family through this new covenant.

In the Old covenant Yahovah had already revealed His love for Israel. But Israel had not reciprocated His love; also, under the old covenant, they couldn’t love him because their stony heart would not allow them to get to know Him. But under the new covenant, the changes He implemented gave them a heart that would allow them to get to know Him and love Him.

The Rules of the New Covenant

The conditions of the new Covenant were better than the old covenant because Yahovah implemented changes in the new covenant that were not present in the old covenant. The effect of the new covenant according to Jeremiah 31:29-30:

“²⁹ “In those days people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ ³⁰ Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes– their own teeth will be set on edge.”

Thus, He removed the punishment of children being punished for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations which was found in the second commandment.

The new covenant is a covenant of reconciliation. It establishes peace for the end result of reinstating love. This covenant is found in Jeremiah 31: 31-34. I says:

³¹ “The days are coming,” declares Yahovah, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. ³² It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, “declares Yahovah. ³³ “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares Yahovah. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ³⁴ No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know Yahovah,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares Yahovah. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

In the old covenant Yahovah offered them the following benefits for their obedience to His instructions. 1) He would be their God, 2) they would be His people, and 3) he would make them into a holy nation of kings and priest unto him.

All Israel had to do was obey His commandments. They promised to obey but the quickly broke the covenant because they could not obey due to a heart of stone.

Posted in Its Not As You Perceive Podcast Episodes , a heart to fear fod, Baptism of the holy spirit and fire, circumcised heart, covenant of peace, Deut 5, draw near to god and he will draw near to you, family of God, god's family, holy spirit baptism, how to love god, intimacy in marriage, It's not as you perceive, itsnotasyouperceive, James 4:8, Jer. 32:40, Jeremiah 31, John 14, John 14:15, love, Love that pleases God, new covenant, old covenant, sons of god, spirit of adoption, they broke the marriage covenant in the bible, what is god's grace | No Comments »

The Spirit of the Sons of God -Gospel of the Kingdom of God- Lesson 11

Written By: Hilary - Dec• 02•16

SPIRIT OF THE SONS OF GOD

In Today’s lesson, we will look at how our Father, Yahovah decides who He will choose to become His sons (the sons of God).

How Yahovah Chooses His Sons

We will start with Romans 8:29-30. In this passage Paul takes us into the mind of God and reveals His sovereignty! Paul said: “²⁹ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

In Gal 4:6 Paul said that once Yahovah accepts us as His sons, then He will do the following: “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father”.

The apostle John said, “¹³ hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. (1Jo 4:13 KJV)

Yahoshua also said “If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him”. (John 14:23 KJV)

The condition that must first exist for the Father and the Son to come and make their abode in that person is LOVE for Yahoshua. We find this in the first part of the verse 23, which says: “If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him,”

²⁴ He that loves me not, keep not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. (Joh 14:24 KJV)

The apostle Paul said, “²¹ Now He which establishes us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; ²² Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest (deposit or guarantee) of the Spirit in our hearts. (2Cor 1:21-22 KJV). The word earnest refers to a deposit (like earnest money) which is a guarantee that you will deliver the balance later.

⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved ⁷ in whom (ie Yahoshua) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; (Eph 1:5-7 KJV).

These verses are talking about the works of Yahovah and Yahoshua working together to accomplish the Father’s purpose in us.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit--The Sons of God — The Baptism of the Holy Spirit–The Sons of God

Eph 1:14 Paul also said this a different way, “Which is the earnest (guarantee, deposit, down payment on) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

So far we have established that the Father is judging the hearts of those who say they love His Son. If He judges and does not find the love for His Son, which He is looking for; and that the love is not present, then He will not give the earnest (deposit) of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of His Son) in that person’s heart. Thus He and Yahoshua will not make their abode in the heart of that person. And the Father will not seal that person unto redemption, because it is the receiving of the Holy Spirit of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire, which Yahoshua gives, that seals us as the sons of God unto redemption.

The key then is to establish our love relationship with Yahoshua. Not Love from the mouth but love from the heart, which leads to obedience. And the prescribed way to do this is to keep the commandments of God, which Yahoshua taught.

In Rev 12:17 we read: And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Yahoshua, Messiah.

Coming of the Holy Spirit

When Yahoshua told his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit. He said,

Yahoshua also said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; ¹⁷ Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but ye know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. (Joh 14:15-17 KJV).

²⁶ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: ²⁷ And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. (Joh 15:26-16:1 KJV)

Yahoshua explains what to expect when you receive the Holy Spirit: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (Joh 14:26 KJV)

John 16:13 However, when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own initiative but will say only what he hears. He will also announce to you the events of the future (prophecy).

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”. (Act 1:8 KJV)

But as many as received him (Yahoshua), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (Joh 1:12 KJV).

On the day of Pentecost, Peter delivered the gospel message with power. So did Steven and Paul. As a result, they were told to stop preaching in the name of Yahoshua, and as more people believed, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire from Yahoshua with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and more miracles were done through the name of Yahoshua, their persecution increased and became more severe unto death.

Here they received the spirit of Yahoshua through the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Yahovah sealed them to become sons of God. Then they received power to be witnesses for Yahoshua with courage, knowledge, wisdom, understanding and boldness. the Holy Spirit brought back everything to their remembrance as they recalled Yahoshua’s teachings, miraculous works, his mission and who he is. They preached of their witness to his suffering, his death, the purpose 0f his ministry, his resurrection, and the commission he gave them. they were empowered to obey and fear God.

Act 4:33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

Act 5:30-32 ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. ³¹Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. ³² And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Acts 10:39-42 ³⁹ And we are witnesses of 3) all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: ⁴⁰ Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; ⁴¹ Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, 4) who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.⁴² And he 5) commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick (or the living) and dead.

1Pe 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and 6) a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were 6) eye witnesses of his majesty.

Gal 4:4-7 ⁴ But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, ⁵ To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. ⁶ And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. ⁷ Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Yahoshua Messiah.

Q: How does He discover from their heart that they love His Son?

A: They show it by their obedience to His commandments that are written in the heart and mind of men. If He doesn’t find this, then they are not worthy to be His sons.

Posted in Its Not As You Perceive Podcast Episodes , abba father, God, gospel of the kingdom of god, hilary, Holy Spirit, holy spirit baptism, It's not as you perceive, Jesus, Paul, Pentecost, predestinate, ruach hakodesh, sealed by the holy spirit, sons, sons of god, spirit of yeshua, Yahovah, Yeshua | No Comments »

Pentecost and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God-Part 10

Written By: Hilary - Oct• 26•16

Recap of last lesson

Our last lesson covered the Feast of Firstfruits for the barley harvest where we are commanded to bring a Wave Sheaf of barley for the priest to wave before Yahovah to be accepted for us. This sheaf is the first cut sheaf from the firstfruit harvest and represents the unleavened bread of life which is the body of Yahoshua; it is the Wave Sheaf offering. This day occurred on the first day of the week, the day after the Sabbath that falls within the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

According to the law, the priest must also present a Heave offering as a gift to Yahovah, on behalf of the children of Israel. The gift must be offered with the Wave Sheaf offering. Now, as priest of Yahovah in his high priestly capacity, Yahoshua took a heave or gift offering on behalf of the children of Israel. This heave offering that Yahoshua presented to the Father, was the resurrected saints of old, the people who got up out of their graves and walked towards the holy city, Jerusalem. Many people saw and recognized them.

Torah commands that no male must appear before Yahovah empty handed at the feast of Unleavened Bread: “Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.” (Deut 16:16-17 KJV). The three times in a year mentioned in this passage are the three pilgrimage feasts.

Here Yahoshua’s actions teach us that even as High Priest and in his glorified body after his death, burial and resurrection, Yahoshua continued to obey the law as stated in Deut. 16:16-17. This confirms that he never abolished the law of Yahovah but fulfill it. He fulfilled Yahovah’s instructions by being obedient to his Father in life unto death; and even after his resurrection from the dead.

How does the Gospel of the Kingdom of God relate to Pentecost

How does Pentecost relate to the Gospel of the Kingdom?

Today’s lesson focuses on how the Gospel of the Kingdom of God relates to the Day of Pentecost. We will complete today’s lesson in two parts.

The feast of Pentecost is also known as the Feast of Weeks, Feast of Firstfruits, Feast of Harvests, and Shavuot. The name Pentecost is derived from the Greek word Pentekoste, which refers to the fiftieth day, in the count starting with the first day being the Wave Sheaf Day, to the fiftieth day being the Feast of Weeks. We are instructed by Yahovah on how to count these fifty days in Lev. 23:10-11, 15-17.

Lev 23:15-17 tells us how to count fifty days to Pentecost starting with Wave Sheaf Day: “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: ¹⁶ Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.” (Lev 23:15-17 KJV)

This tells us that, Pentecost, is to be the day after the seventh Sabbath (verses 15–16), which would be the 49 days plus 1 day making fifty consecutive days after Firstfruits; and this too will fall on the first day of the week, Sunday.

It was on the Day of Pentecost that the nation of Israel was birthed at the foot of Mount Sinai. This day marks the day they received the Ten Commandments verbally from the mouth of Yahovah. On this day they all heard the voice of Yahovah as He introduced Himself to them and told them His name is Yahovah. This is the day they heard for the first time, the Ten Commandments spoken from the mouth of Yahovah in an audible voice. After hearing Yahovah’s voice, the leaders of the tribes of Israel went to Moses and vowed that they would obey all of Yahovah’s commandments and everything He said they must do; if only, He would speak to them through Moses, because they were frightened that they would die if they continued to hear His voice. (Exodus 20)

They had entered into a blood covenant with Yahovah to obey His voice and do whatever He commands. Yet, they quickly broke His commandments within days after their covenant with Him, qualifying them for the death penalty. At this point Israel had no peace with Yahovah.

After 40 years of traveling through the wilderness in temporary dwellings, under the protection and teachings of Yahovah, the nation of Israel took possession of the Promised Land. They lived in accordance to His Laws for a period but returned to disobedience after the death of Joshua and the Elders. Eventually, their sins had defiled the holy land and Yahovah had to exile them to Babylon in order to restore the holiness of the land in their absence. While in exile, they complained that Yahovah was unjust because they were being punished for the sins of their parents even though they were as guilty as their parents.

In His grace, Yahovah sent encouraging words through the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, to them. He promised that He would make a new covenant with them, a covenant that would help them to obey Him. Through this new covenant, He would remove their old heart of stone and give them a new heart of flesh. He would also give them a new spirit; He would put His Spirit within them, and write His laws on their new heart of flesh and in their mind. No longer would they look to the tablets of stone for His laws because it would be within them. His Spirit in them would help them to obey. This new covenant would re-establish peace between Israel and their God, Yahovah. It would also provide them with the grace they needed to be able to respond to His love towards them.

After the destruction of the Temple that Solomon built, Yahovah made arrangements for the King of Babylon to be gracious to the Israelites, release them from their bondage and to return to their land. The King was instructed by Yahovah to rebuild the Temple unto Yahovah, so he gave time off and authority to Nehemiah and Ezra to receive resources, manpower, resources, safe passage and freed all Israelites to go home and join the workforce to build the Temple of Yahovah. He returned full inventory of all the temple furnishings to the Israelites for the furnishing of the Temple.

Through the instructions of the building of the Temple, the furnishings of the Temple and the ceremonies to be carried out in the Temple on His Feast Days; and on a daily basis, Yahovah taught the children of Israel about His new covenant that He planned to make with them. His lesson Plan had symbols and exercises pertaining to each symbol, to teach them about the New Covenant He would make with them. But their hearts were dull and they did not have eyes to see or ears to hear; so they did perceive the lessons they were being taught on a daily basis through their services in the temple.

Instead, they latched on to the steps of the process without understanding the significance of the meaning of each step and the symbols used in the process. The symbols were meant to be a shadow of the new covenant to come but they regarded the symbols as the reality instead of the shadow.

But, at His appointed time, he delivered on His promise of the new covenant to them. It was in the year 28 AD, at Pentecost, the last spring feast after the death, burial, resurrection, and final ascension of Yahoshua that Yahovah fulfilled his promise of the new covenant. Acts 2 records the event of when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples and those who believed the gospel of the Kingdom of God. This outpouring was the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire. Those who received this baptism received the new covenant which Yahovah had promised. This covenant was fulfilled through Yahoshua who told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem. In Luke 24:49 Yahoshua said, “And behold I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” So, the prophecies of the new covenant were fulfilled as the Holy Spirit was poured out on those who believed, repented and were baptized in the name of Yahoshua. On that day, the body of Messiah received an additional 3000 believers.

Pentecost and the Gospel of the Kingdom requires the infilling of the Holy Spirit as was given on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

The change in each person’s heart, mind and spirit happens after they receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The following scriptures describe the change that happens:

Ezekiel 36:26-28 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Jer 31:31-32 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: ³² Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: (KJV)

Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jer 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

Jer 33:14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

Heb 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Luke 24:49 Yahoshua said, “And behold I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

I hope you were blessed with this lesson. We will complete this topic at a deeper level in our next lesson. Please feel free to leave me a comment. Shalom.

Posted in Its Not As You Perceive Podcast Episodes , 15-17, Acts 2, Baptism of the holy spirit and fire, behold I send the promise of my father, blood covenant, day of pentecost, exodus 20, Ezekiel 36:26-28, feast of firstfruits, feast of harvest, feast of pentecost, Feast of Tabernacles, feast of unleavened bread, Feast of Weeks, firstfruit harvest, furnishing of the temple, gospel of the kingdom of god, heart of stone, Heave offering, Heb 10: 16-17, Heb 8:10, holy city, holy city Jerusalem, Israelites, Jer 31:33, Jer 33:14, Jer. 32:40, Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 31:31, Lev. 23:10-11, Luke 24:49, males appear before the Lord, morrow after the sabbath, new covenant, new spirit, Pentecost, pilgrimage feast, promise of the new covenant, put my spirit within them, resurrected saints, Sabbath, saints of old, Shavuot, wave sheaf day, wave sheaf offering, Yahoshua priest of Yahovah, Yahovah, year 28AD at pentecost, Yeshua High priest | No Comments »

Wave Sheaf and the Gospel of the Kingdom, Part 9

Written By: Hilary - Oct• 02•16

In Leviticus 23:10-14 we find the instructions for the Wave Sheaf offering that Yahovah requires from the spring barley harvest to be waved before Him on the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in the month of Aviv, the first month of the year. This tells us that the week of Unleavened Bread is significant; and the Wave Sheaf offering is also unleavened.

At the beginning of the harvest, the Israelites are commanded to select the first and best sheaf of the barley crop and take it to the temple where the priest will offer it to Him for acceptance. If He accepts the offering then the people can then reap the harvest. They can expect that the harvest for the rest of its duration will be blessed and the nation can expect a healthy and bountiful harvest. This command for Wave Sheaf offering is found in Leviticus 23:10-14 and it says,

“When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf (single bundle) of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before Yahovah so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering unto Yahovah, a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two tenth of an ephah (35 liters or 1 bushel) of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made to Yahovah by fire- a pleasing aroma, and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin (6 liters) of wine. You must not eat any bread or any new grain until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come wherever you live.”

From the barley harvest, Yahovah requires that the priest bring one sheaf of barley from the first fruit of the harvest and wave it before His altar for his acceptance, first thing in the morning on the Wave Sheaf Day. This is done on Wave Sheaf Day. This day must fall on the first day of the week within the seven days of Unleavened Bread. Therefore there are 4 criteria which the day must meet 1) it must fall within the week of unleavened bread 2) it must fall on the first day of the week 3) it must came after Passover 4)it must fall on the day after the weekly Sabbath.

If Aviv 14, falls on a Sunday then Wave sheaf offering Day would fall on Sunday, the 7th day of ULB

If Aviv 14 falls on a Monday, then Wave Sheaf offering Day would fall on Sunday the 6^th day of ULB

If Aviv 14 falls on a Tuesday, then Wave Sheaf offering Day would fall on Sunday the 5^th day of ULB

If Aviv 14 falls on a Wednesday, then Wave Sheaf offering Day would fall on Sunday the 4^th day of ULB

If Aviv 14 falls on a Thursday, then Wave Sheaf offering Day would fall on Sunday the 3rd^th day of ULB

If Aviv 14 falls on a Friday, then Wave Sheaf offering Day would fall on Sunday, the 2^nd day of ULB

If Aviv 14 falls on a Saturday, then Wave Sheaf offering Day would fall on Sunday the 1st^th day of ULB

Posted in Its Not As You Perceive Podcast Episodes , barley harvest, children of Israel, Deut 16:16, empty handed, feast of unleavened bread, feast of Yahovah, First Fruits, first of the firstfruits, gospel, gospel of the kingdom of god, Heave offering, justification, Kingdom of God, Lamb of God, Lev 23:10-14, none shall appear before me empty handed, Numbers 15:18-25, Pentecost, Resurrection, righeousness, ruler of earth, ruler of heaven, unleavened bread, wave offering, wave sheaf offering, wheat harvest, Yahoshua | 1 Comment »

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God Part 8–The Feast of Unleavened Bread Relative to the Gospel of the Kingdom of God

Written By: Hilary - Sep• 07•16

As disciples of Yahoshua, we are commissioned to go out and make disciples of all nations, preaching the gospel that Yahoshua taught. To do this we must return to the teachings of Yahoshua in order to deliver the pure message of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. This is the same gospel that the apostles received from Yahoshua and preached to the first century believers. Any other teaching that does not conform to his teaching is corrupted with leaven.

In Luke 12 and Matthew 16, Yahoshua commanded his disciples to avoid or beware of the leaven of Herod, the Pharisees and Sadducees. That leaven he spoke of is their teachings, laws and doctrines? Yahoshua who came to fulfill (make plain) the Torah and the Prophets, addressed in his teachings, the issues of the day affecting the people’s walk with God. He targeted the leaven of the religious leaders of the Jews and labeled them hypocrites, brood of vipers, children of the devil and seed of the devil.

There are different types of leaven spoken about in the Bible and in general, leaven represents sin and corrupt influence. However, there is one instance where he used leaven in a parable and it represented something good. This was the parable of the “Woman who hid a small amount of leaven in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened” (Matthew 13:33).

This lesson focuses on the Feast of Unleavened Bread and how it relates to the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Leaven here represents sin and corrupt influences. Our Father in heaven wants us to remove the bad leaven because it disqualifies us from the first resurrection, from entering the Kingdom of God, and from being the bride of Messiah.

He described the leaven-free lifestyle, in Matthew 5 and Matthew 6 and finally he described the rewards of living a leaven-free life and the consequences of not avoiding the leaven. His goal was to educate us on what is acceptable to Yahovah, since Yahovah requires us to be perfect as He is perfect.

As a result, Yahoshua said, “You be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect”. The natural mind tells us that it is impossible for us to be perfect because we live in this carnal body. However, Yahovah has not asked us to do the impossible. The problem we face is that those of us, who came out of the Christian church, are filled with the leaven (teachings, doctrine) that misinterprets the grace of God.

What is the relationship between the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God?

The Bible lists Yahovah’s grace (Hebrew: Chen) and mercy to help us meet the holiness criteria. The Hebrew meaning of the word for grace is ‘favor, charm’. In Hebrew root word ‘chanan’ (khaw-nan) meaning to bend or stoop in kindness to another as a superior to an inferior; favor, to bestow (Strongs# 2603). His grace bestows his love and mercy towards us to HELP us in the areas of our needs.
His has given us the greatest miracle of His grace through His Son, because of His love. Through Yahoshua we have received Father’s grace of sanctification, salvation, redemption, purification and justification. This is the greatest miracle of grace we have received but we overlook it and stand in jeopardy of losing eternal life, ignoring so great a salvation, knowing that His grace is greater than all our sins.

Posted in Its Not As You Perceive Podcast Episodes , believer in Messiah, bread, bride of christ, Doctrine, Father, feast of, feast of first fruit, Feast of the Lord, feast of Yahovah, festival, First Fruits, grace, holy, imputed, It's not as you perceive, Jesus, Keep teh sabbath holy, leaven, love of god, Messiah, passover, Passover lamb, perceive, perfect, Pharisees, Resurrection, righteousness., teachings, three days and three nights, transfiguration, unleavened, unleavened bread, wedding garment, wicked and adulterous generation, Yahoshua, Yahovah Observing the sabbath | No Comments »

Gospel of the Kingdom of God and the Feast of Passover Part 7

Written By: Hilary - Aug• 31•16

Our Father in heaven, Yahovah, made the perfect redemption plan and set it up in the perfect order. He gave us perfect instructions to participate in His Salvation plan and if we could only follow it perfectly, then everything with us would be good. In His perfect plan, Father made Yahoshua the focal point of His whole salvation plan and the Kingdom of God.

To help us follow his instructions, He gave us a hand and by opening His treasure to us. He gave us His most valued treasure, His only begotten son to shed all his blood on the crucifixion cross in our place because we had no hope of paying the debt we owed, which is the death penalty. So Yahoshua paid it for us with his perfect, holy and righteous life.

Father determined that every aspect of the Kingdom of God will revolve around His Son, Yahoshua. So that the qualification to enter the Kingdom of God, is that we all enter through Yahoshua because He is the door. He came to earth and covertly accomplished this assignment.

And without Yahoshua there is no Passover because he was the only perfect righteous man to meet the qualifications of the Lamb of God. He is holy and perfect just like his father; because of his live for us he gave his life freely to redeem us and deliver us from pending eternal death. He was the only human being to meet Yahovah’s standard of righteousness needed for the Passover sacrifice.

Passover is the first pilgrimage feast of Yahovah for the Kingdom of God and without it, the other Spring feasts and Fall feasts are non existent. this Feast commemorates the death of Yahoshua. And every time we do this we do it in remembrance of his death until he comes.

Posted in Its Not As You Perceive Podcast Episodes , crucifixion, crucifixion cross, death of Yahoshua, death of yeshua, death penalty, deliverance, delivered from eternal death, eternal death, feast of unleavened bread, first pilgrimage feast, god's standard of righteousness, gospelofthekingdomofgod, hilary, It's not as you perceive, itsnotasyouperceive, Kingdom of God, Lamb of God, passover, Passover sacrifice, Passover week is the first pilgrimage feast, perfect Lamb of God, perfect righteous man, plan of salvation, redeem, redemption plan, relationship between the Passover and the Gospel of the kingdom of God, salvation plan, spring feast, the begotten son of God, the Father gave his only son, the Kingdom of God, what is the true gospel of the Kingdom of God, without Yeshua there is no Passover, Yahoshua, Yahoshua is the Passover Lamb, Yahoshua paid the death penalty for sinners, Yeshua | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Sabbaths and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, Part 6

Written By: Hilary - Aug• 21•16

Weekly Feast of Yahovah: Seventh day Sabbath

Moses received instructions on all the holy feasts of Yahovah. It was on a Sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread of Yahovah’s feast day, that He brought Israel out of the bondage of slavery of Egypt on eagle’s wings. Yahovah commanded Moses in Leviticus 23, to proclaim His feasts to the children of Israel. Proclaim them to be holy convocations. The word proclaim in Hebrew is ‘qara’ (kaw-raw), which means to cry out. So Moses must use a loud voice when he delivers this teaching. The impact of crying out is to get their full attention, take it seriously, marks this lesson as one that is very important and to be remembered to observe them as holy convocations.

Sabbath Day Does Relate to The Gospel of the Kingdom of God

The word holy in Hebrew is qodesh (ko-desh), which means it is a sacred, set apart and separated time unto Yahovah. All these words tell me “do not disturb” or “do not be distracted”. Holiness comes from Yahovah and without our acknowledgement and honoring of His presence for the whole time; we stand the chance to become distracted with the stresses and cares of life that takes us away from the focus and mindset He is expecting from us.

For this reason we must develop our attention span. Babies and children have very short attention spans. As they grow and mature, their attention span will increase with their development. In the classroom, we plan our lessons to accommodate their attention span. As we approach high school we are able to focus much longer and take less breaks. The materials we must focus on become more complex because the chains of events that relate to each other are longer and we will miss the relationship of each chain if we break our focus before we get to the end of the chain. The ability to do this marks our growth towards maturity. Therefore, holiness requires us to grow in spiritual maturity.

The word convocation in Hebrew is miqra (mik-raw), which means assembling or calling together for a specific purpose. Therefore, when the children of Israel assembled in the house of YHVH, to attend His feasts they found it to be a repetitive process with many fine details requiring precision, their focus and attention. The tasks were in service to Yahovah who is holy and so required each Israelite in the service of the assembly to meet the standard of holiness set by Yahovah himself.

These holy assemblies were rehearsal events or drills where each servant in the Temple of Yahovah learned his holy duty part and practice it until he could recount the steps involved until his delivery was flawless. The people were also included in the rehearsal because they brought the sacrifice that was to be offered on their behalf as the sin offering, the thanksgiving offering, the first fruits offering, the atonement offerings, etc. And at their time of presenting their offering they were given what to say in order to present it correctly to the priest. So though the masses were not called to be servants in temple, they all took part in the rehearsals because of what they provided, what they had to recite at the time of presenting their offering, and the manner in which they were prescribed to offer it. After receiving the instructions, mastering their part or getting it right, required them to practice on their own time. Also, they were responsible to teach these things to their children.

Our Father gave us to Yahoshua so we can become His new creation. His plans for us are better than we can think. They are plans for peace, hope, and a future of joy and prosperity. May be draw closer to him sowe can see ourselves in a clearer light; and experience his loving presence. There is no greater love than the love he has poured out on us through sacrificial offering of the life blood of His son, Yahoshua.

May you have a blessed and prosperous week!

Posted in Its Not As You Perceive Podcast Episodes , a weekly podcast show taking you through the Torah and providing you with thought provoking insights and tools to live righteously in the power and might of Yeshua (aka: Jesus) and the Ruach Kodesh (a, Feasts, feastsofthelord, gospelofthekingdomofgod, hilarythomas, holy assemblies, Holy Convocations, Holy sabbath day, itsnotasyouperceive, mik-raw, qodesh, rehearsal events, Sabbath, Sabbath is set apart to worship God, Seventh Day Sabbath, thanksgiving offering, weekly Feast of the Lord, weekly feast of yahovah, Yahoshua, Yeshua | 1 Comment »

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God–Part 5

Written By: Hilary - Aug• 09•16

How Do The Feasts of the Lord Relate to the Gospel of the Kingdom of God?

So far we have defined the Kingdom of God as a real Kingdom, which Yahovah has set up in the hearts of His children who love Him, the sons of God. His Kingdom will be established as a physical kingdom on earth with a government operated by His sons under the rulership of His first begotten Son, Yahoshua. Yahovah is the King of this Kingdom; the Torah is the body of laws which will be used for ruling the Kingdom with justice under Yahoshua, according to the order of Melchizadeck; The mountain of God, Jerusalem will be the throne of the Messiah as he sits on the throne of King David and the territory and the subjects will be the promised land which he covenanted to the children of Israel, and the kingdoms of this world.

Currently, all of creation is eagerly waiting for the revealing of the sons of God (Romans 8:19). Why, because they are the servants who will work under Yahoshua, in the government of the Kingdom. Where are these sons of God today? Many are awaiting the first resurrection, some are not yet born, and some have not yet answered the call, while the rest of us are currently in training: learning and practicing the renewing of our minds, so we may conform to the image of Yahoshua.

What is the Gospel? The gospel is a series of messages Yahoshua preached over a period of 70 weeks to the Jews, and the lost sheep of Israel in the presence of Gentiles and wicked men. The apostles continued to preach the same message after Yahoshua baptized them with the Holy Spirit baptism at Shavuot a few days after his ascension to heaven.

This gospel of the Kingdom of God is currently being preached to the whole world to give everyone an opportunity to respond to it and save their life. By repenting, believing it and obeying the steps required to leave the Kingdom of darkness and enter into the kingdom of light they can be saved from the pending destruction.

In Eze 18:21-24 This is what Yahovah says: “²¹ “However, if the wicked person repents of all the sins he committed, keeps my laws and does what is lawful and right; then he will certainly live, he will not die. ²² None of the transgressions he has committed will be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done, he will live. ²³ Do I take any pleasure at all in having the wicked person die?” asks Yahovah ELOHIM. “Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live? ²⁴ “On the other hand, when the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness by acting in accordance with all the disgusting practices that the wicked person does, will he live? None of the righteous deeds he has done will be remembered; for the trespasses and sins he has committed, he will die. (CJB)

In Eze 33:11-16 this is what Yahovah says, “¹¹ Say to them, ‘As I live,’ swears Yahovah ELOHIM, ‘I take no pleasure in having the wicked person die, but in having the wicked person turn from his way and live. So repent! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, house of Isra’el?’ ¹² “Next, you, human being, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous person will not save him, once he starts committing crimes; and likewise, the wickedness of the wicked person will not cause him to fall, once he turns from his wickedness. No, the righteous person cannot live by virtue of [his former righteousness], once he starts sinning. ¹³ So if, after I tell the righteous person that he will surely live, he begins trusting in his own [former] righteousness and starts committing crimes; then none of his [former] righteous actions will be remembered; on the contrary, he will die for the evil deeds he has committed. ¹⁴ Likewise, if, after I tell the wicked person, “You must die,” he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right- ¹⁵ if the wicked person restores pledged property and returns what he stole, so that he lives by the laws that give life and does not commit evil deeds; then he will live, he will not die. ¹⁶ None of the sins he committed will be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he will surely live.’ (Eze 33:11-16 CJB)

This Gospel of the Kingdom series is designed and intends to share the complete gospel of the kingdom because it cannot be placed in a nutshell without omitting important parts. And one of those important parts is Yahovah’s calendar, which we are studying today.

Therefore, if you have not been following this teaching from the start, then you are welcome to freely download the previous podcast episodes from any of the social media to which you subscribe or visit this website www.itsnotasyouperceive.com and click on the radio button to listen and get caught up. But you are welcome to continue in this episode with us and follow along in our studies. Also, please leave your comments and questions below or send me an email and I will respond to you.

The believer, who is diligently and fervently searching for the narrow way, will find it. However, it is like searching for a needle in a haystack. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Yahoshua is the Master Teacher. His teachings were organized around seven annual celebrations of the Hebrew culture. This organization was efficient and effective because it calls attention to the Law (Torah), the Prophets, the Psalms and the covenants in one curriculum.

In Deut 18:15-19 Moses told the children of Israel, “¹⁵ The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; ¹⁶ According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. ¹⁷ And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. ¹⁹ And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” (KJV)

So Yahoshua was that Prophet and he taught the gospel based on what Yahovah commanded in Torah through Moses.

There are eight celebrations of the Feasts of Yahovah, described in detail in Leviticus 23. The first four Feasts occur in the Spring and the last four Feasts occur in the Fall. So the organization of Yahoshua’s teachings made it easy for the Jews to follow and understand because the Feasts are native to their Hebrew culture.

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John detail how the Messiah fulfilled the Spring Feasts of Yahovah as the Suffering Servant, seen in his role as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. By studying the Spring Feasts, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God comes alive in 3D image.

After Yahoshua returned to his Father, he gave the book of the Revelation to his servant John while John was exiled on the isle of Patmos. Most people find this book to be difficult to understand and some declare it to be a metaphor which cannot be understood. However, this book is the script of how the Messiah will fulfill the Fall Feasts of Yahovah when he returns as the Almighty Judge, to rule the earth with justice, abiding by the Laws of Yahovah. As a result, the book of Revelation is Yahoshua’s continuation of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Like the first four gospels, this gospel of the Book of Revelation is the fifth gospel book and is written to the sons of God.

In John 6:44 Yahoshua said, “⁴⁴ No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day”. (KJV)

In John 6:37-40 He also said, “³⁷ All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. ³⁸ For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. ³⁹ And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. ⁴⁰ And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (KJV)

Today we use a calendar and a clock to organize our appointments and plan our schedule. The calendar we use is the Gregorian calendar is based on the cycle of the sun; and the time clock we use is based on a 24 hr day, which begins immediately after midnight and ends just before midnight at 11:59pm. Our week starts with the first day of the week, Sunday and ends on the seventh day of the week, Saturday. The first day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar begins on the first day of January and ends on the thirty-first day of December. All these calculations are based on the cycle of the sun. As a result, these calculations are projected and published decades at a time. For more information about the Gregorian calendar, click the following link: http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-gregorian-switch.html

In contrast, Yahovah our creator, bases His calendar on the cycle of the moon. His weekly calendar, starts with the first day of the week and ends on the seventh day of the week, just like the Gregorian calendar, except that each day starts at sunset and ends the next day just before sunset. So when we contrast man’s time keeping and scheduling, to Yahovah’s time keeping and scheduling, can you see how we could easily miss the appointments He has set on His calendar for us to meet with Him throughout the year? That is why it is so important to have a calendar that is synchronized with the creator’s calendar. And to do this, we must keep up with the cycles of the moon.

Did You Miss Your Divine Appointment?

Consider this: When we set an appointment with the dentist, the contractor, or the employer we take the time to input the date and time and place for the meeting on our calendar. We have calendars on the wall, on our phone, on our computer, in our Daily Planner, because of the consequence of what a missed appointment could cost us. Therefore, we do our best to keep our appointments because we deem them important for our health, safety, independence and financial well being. When we establish our priorities we tend to reschedule and move less important obligations and commitments towards the bottom of our priority list and move more important items towards the top of our priority list. The importance of each priority is usually weighed based on value and flexibility. In this way we are able to honor our responsibilities and maintain a balanced life.

Yahovah’s Calendar

On the fourth day of creation Yahovah created the sun, moon and stars. Their purpose is outlined in Genesis 1:14-19, “¹⁴Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. ¹⁷God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”

Here, we see that Yahovah’s calendar is written in the sky. When we look at man’s calendar, we see the things that are important to us and so we plan ahead and set appointments dates months in advance for birthday celebrations, anniversaries, holidays, vacation etc. But, when we look at Yahovah’s calendar, we see the events that are important to Him like sunset, sunrise, Sabbath Day, phases of the moon, appointed times, beginning of the month, beginning of the year, number of days in each month, and we also see data on the stars. This is the data that the prophet Daniel and the Chaldean astronomers were skilled at reading. Based on that data they knew that the Messiah was born because they saw his star in the sky.

So whereas man’s calendar has some basic information and our clocks have three hands: hour, minute and seconds, it differs greatly from the creator’s calendar, which is too vast and intricate to be captured in one computer file. Now, because I am focusing this blog on “why we celebrate the passover”, I will now call your attention to the second part of verse 14, “and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and for years.

Appointed Times or Seasons (Hebrew- Mo’ed)
The word “seasons” found in verse 14, is the Hebrew word, mo’ed, which means, an appointment. Specifically, this word means festival or feast; and by application it means an assembly for a definite purpose.

In Leviticus 23, Yahovah lists all His feasts to Moses and instructed him to speak to the children of Israel concerning the feasts of Yahovah. He told Moses, “proclaim them to be holy convocations”.
Weekly Feast – Shabbat or Sabbath Day (24 hours starting sundown Friday to sundown Saturday)

Shabbat literally means “to cease.” In 321 A.D. Constantine (the Great) who was the first Emperor of Rome, changed the day Shabbat is celebrated from the 7^th day of the week to the Sunday the first day of the week, when he created the Christian religion as an amalgamation of paganism sprinkled with a little truth mixed together.

Annual Feasts of Yahovah

Please note that these feasts are also incorrectly referred to as the feast of the Jews; but they are the Feasts of Yahovah. The first four annual Spring Feasts were fulfilled by Yahoshua when he came the first time. Nonetheless, Yahovah has commanded us to keep them throughout all our generations. He said in Leviticus 23:14, “It shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations in your dwellings”. Again, in Leviticus 23:21, Yahovah commands that these feasts shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. Here is a list of His Feasts.
Spring Feasts

Feast #1 – Passover (14th of Aviv)
Feast #2 – Unleavened Bread (15th of Aviv)
Feast #3 – First Fruits
Feast #4- Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)

The Fall Feasts are revealed in the book of Revelation and will be fulfilled when Yahoshua returns. However, we continue to rehears them.
Feast #5 – Trumpets
Feast #6 – Atonement
Feast #7 – Tabernacles

Feast #8 – Last Day

Torah commands us in Exodus 12:21 that in preparation for the Feast of Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, we must remove all leaven from our homes. And we are commanded in Leviticus 23:6 to not eat any foods with leaven in it for these feasts. Instead, we must eat unleavened bread every day.

This physical rehearsal exercise is a command from Yahovah for us to keep for all our generations. This celebration reinforces our spiritual commitment and teaches us lessons about the Kingdom of God and the holy characteristics of the Kingdom. The exercise keeps us focused on constantly examining our mind, heart, thoughts, and words, to judge ourselves to produce fruits of the spirit and overcome fruits of the flesh. The element of leaven would not be considered outside of this exercise. At this appointed time, the teaching about Leaven and the different forms of leaven opens our physical and spiritual eyes to what it means to guard our hearts and minds and how to wrestle with the enemy and win. I encourage you to do a more in depth study on this topic for yourself”. Thus, we learn to sanctify ourselves unto Yahovah.

Yahoshua and the Apostles kept the feasts

When we study Paul’s missionary journeys we see that he timed the logistics of his travels around the feasts of Yahovah, always making sure that he leaves each missionary location allowing him enough time to get to Jerusalem to attend the Feasts.

The following New Testament Bible passages, Matthew 26:17, Acts 20:6 and 1Corinthians 5:6-8 all show that Yahoshua, and His disciples all kept the feasts of Yahovah; and the apostle Paul encourages us to keep the Feast in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, “⁶Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. ⁸therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Posted in Its Not As You Perceive Podcast Episodes , Appointed Feasts of the Lord, feast, Feast of the Lord, Feasts, feastsofthelord, God, gospel, gospelofthekingdom, Kingdom of God, Yahoshua | 2 Comments »

Gospel of the Kingdom of God Part 4

Written By: Hilary - Aug• 02•16

In this episode of It’s Not As You Perceive, Hilary discusses what it takes to become a son of God in this 4th installment of the multi-episode series on The Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

They will be a holy nation and a royal priesthood unto God when Yahoshua returns to set up the Kingdom of God on earth and rule over the earth. This holy nation is Spiritual Israel. They were chosen by Yahovah from the beginning of the world to be the servants of God. They were sealed from the beginning of the world (age) to be joint heirs with Yahoshua and serve Yahoshua in the coming Kingdom of God on the earth. ² “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. (Deu 14:2 NAS)

The apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 3:29, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are the spiritual seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise.” The heirs and joint heirs are the elect. They are spiritual Israel because they are the spiritual children f Abraham. The Father foreknew them and predestined them to be heirs and joint heirs; He knows them by name. The members of this group came from both the physical Israelites and physical Gentiles who love, follow and believe in Yahoshua, the Son of God and believe the Gospel of the Kingdom of God message that Yahoshua preached.

The prophet Jeremiah was sent with a comforting message to Israel in Jeremiah 31:31,33 so they would know Yahovah had not forgotten them:

³¹ “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, (Jer 31:31 NAS)

³³ “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jer 31:33 NAS)

Revelation 7:4-8 tells us, “⁴ And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. ⁵ Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. ⁶ Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. ⁷ Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. ⁸ Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. (Rev 7:4-8 KJV)

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,³ Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Rev 7:2-3 KJV)

He came to his own (the house of Judah) and they rejected and killed him because they hated him. He tells us that they will hate us too because they hated him; and the disciple is not greater than his master; whatever they did to him, they will do to his disciples. When the Father who is King deemed them not worthy, He turned his attention to the gentiles.

At the wedding banquet, when all the guests were seated, the King saw that one of the guests was not dressed in wedding garment. In the parable of the Wedding Banquet, Yahoshua said many are called but few are chosen.

Posted in Its Not As You Perceive Podcast Episodes , bible, gospel of the kingdom, hilary thomas, It's not as you perceive, Kingdom of God, sons of god | 1 Comment »

Gospel of the Kingdom of God, Part 3

Written By: Hilary - Jul• 26•16

Who Are the Sons of God

If you’ve not already done so, before you listen to this episode, please listen to “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God, Part 1. and Part 2 so you can get caught up and get a better grasp of the material being covered today.

The apostle Paul admonished us in Ephesians 6:13-18, saying:

¹³Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.¹⁴Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;¹⁵And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;¹⁶Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:¹⁸Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

So in this series on The Gospel of the Kingdom of God, we are putting on the whole armor of God.

Today, in Part 3, we will answer the question: “Who are the Sons of God?”

The material in this section is will run longer than the previous sections. Therefore I will complete it in about two or more sessions so that it will not be too much information to digest in one sitting.

On planet earth, There are 3 groups of people: 1) the Children of God who are sealed unto redemption; 2) the marked people of God who will be sealed later and 3) the children of Satan (the devil).

The children of God are His elect. These are the disciples and friends of Yahoshua (John 15:14). Some followed and obeyed him in person when he was on earth and the others have been following him by faith from the time he returned to heaven and will continue until he returns to earth. They obey his commandments (John 15:10). His commandments are the same as his Father’s commandments: Love God and Love your neighbor; these are the two commandments on which the Ten commandments hang. Yahoshua regards these people as his friends. He said, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (John 15:14) All the disciples of Yahoshua from the time of his ministry, all the way to the time of his second coming, are given to him by his Father, Yahovah.

The elect is sealed unto redemption. They have submitted their lives to the authority of Yahovah, they abide in Yahoshua according to John 15:5-8; and they believe the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Yahoshua has baptized them with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in Romans 8:13-14, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. ¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

Also, ²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30 ) However, ³⁰ “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption”. (Ephesians 4:30) Peter encourages us to grow in the fruit of the spirit, ¹⁰ “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: (2Pe 1:10). Yahoshua prayed for his disciples before he left saying: “⁹ I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. (John 17:9)

The marked people of God are not yet sealed, and may or may not be currently submitted to the authority of God at this time; but they are marked to be sealed at a later date; because Yahovah knows them that are His. (2 Timothy 2:19) ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.(Matt 22:14)

The Children of Satan are the unrighteous people who have not submitted to the authority of God and they do not believe the gospel of the kingdom of God. In John 8:44-47 Yahoshua said the Pharisee leaders of the Sanhedrin: ⁴⁴ “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

⁴⁵ And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? ⁴⁷ He that is of God hears God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. (John 8:44-47)

These children of Satan are Not marked to be sealed unto redemption. John 3:19 tells us, “¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

Yahoshua, the final judge of the world, made the legal declaration: ¹⁵ “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel”. (Mar 1:15) John the Immerser, also counseled us to repent and believe the gospel of the kingdom of God. John 3:18 tells us that anyone who does not believe the gospel of the kingdom of God does not have everlasting life and is condemned already. Also, ³⁶ He that believes on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36)

In Matthew 22:2-14, Yahoshua used a parable to teach about the Kingdom of God. This is the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. He said, ² “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, ³ And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. ⁴ Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. ⁵ But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: ⁶ And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. ⁷ But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. ⁸ Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. ⁹ Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. ¹⁰ So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. ¹¹ And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: ¹² And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.¹³ Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen. (Mat 22:2-14 )

God’s Elect

God’s Elect are God’s chosen nation. These are the people that He foreknew, and predestined to be the Sons of God. ⁸ “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. ⁹ “For Yahovah’s portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. (Deuteronomy 32:8-9 )

³ For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. ⁴ For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. (1John 5:3-4 )

Posted in Its Not As You Perceive Podcast Episodes , 1 John 5:3-4, 2 Peter 1:10, 2 Timothy 2:19, children of God, children of the devil, Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Deuteronomy 32:8-9, Ephesians 4:30, eternal life, father of lies, few are chosen, foreknew, gospel, gospel of the kingdom of god, hilary thomas, It's not as you perceive, John 15, John 15:10, John 15:14, John 17:9, John 3:19, John 3:36, John 8:44-47, Kingdom of God, many are called, mark 1:15, Matthew 22:14, Matthew 22:2-14, predestinate, righteousness., Romans 8, Romans 8:13-14, Romans 8:28-30, sealed unto redemption, sons of god, the Elect, Who are the sons of God, Yahoshua, Yahovah | 1 Comment »

<<1 2 3 4 5 >>