A Recipe for Righteousness

September 27, 2018

From the teaching Psalm 18

Greetings all! It's always a blessing to hear the messages that come through the House of Israel London each week and I enjoy the encouragement I receive from Pastor Marcus and Sister Juliet. I can tell her love for the way the Psalmist glorifies our Father in heaven and the teachings from this book really help bring them to life in magnificent fashion.

I titled this blog, "A Recipe for Righteousness" because Sister Juliet lays out the formula by which we walk righteously before our Father. It is important that we know why we want to be in relationship with God. Why do we do the things we do? Are we following in the footsteps of our parents or do we really want to have a relationship with Yehovah? Initially, I followed in the footsteps of my parents. I was taught about our Creator at home and it was a natural part of my life, but when I grew older it was something that was simply a part of my upbringing and not organic. I am beyond thankful that Yehovah placed me with parents that taught me about Him and I believe that my lack of interest in the inner workings of Church doctrine and decorum shielded me from stubborn dogma taking root in my mind. I don't believe that puts me in a better position than anyone else however, it was just one hurdle that was much smaller for me. Once the Father started drawing me towards him, having a relationship with Him was no longer identifiable by my upbringing or defined by a religious label, but by how my heart and behavior began to change. I began to want to know Him more and conviction lead me to change some behaviors. The more I learned , the more I began implementing these new insights into my life and the more I desired to love and worship Him. I have by no means arrived, but I praise and thank Him for guiding me.

In Psalms 18, we see how David exalts Yehovah and praises Him for deliverance in His time of need. For me, verses 6-15 paint a picture of a child being mistreated calling out for help and then with more fierceness than a momma bear, Yehovah leaps into action to protect His cub. It's a bit frightening to imagine being the target of Yehovah if you violate His children! You definitely DO NOT want to be on that side of the fence! Like Yeshua (Jesus) said in Matthew 18:6-7, "...woe unto that man by whom offences come". So, the question then becomes, what side of the fence are we on? Are we on the Creator's side or are we on the other side? At this point in David's life, he was definitely on Yehovah's side. David even points to the fact that Yehovah rewarded him according the his righteousness. Even though David lived pre-Messiah in the flesh, he understands that his faith, love, and obedience to the Father are important for walking in right standing before Him. It is the same today as we realize that none of us has a righteousness of our own, but it comes from Messiah, however, this does not negate walking in obedience to Him and knowing that it is righteous to do so. Messiah, the Word made flesh, was there from the beginning and was that same Word that David obeyed.

What really stuck out to me in this teaching was the statement Juliet made about evangelizing. We can't go around proclaiming that the promises Father has for His servants are for people that are not following Him. Father can deliver whom He pleases, but His promises for blessings and the crown of life are for His servants. He can deliver the sinner from death, but it's to bring that sinner out of sin and into a loving, obedient, relationship with Him. A relationship where that person repents, is born again, and walks in love of the Father and in His commandments. We really have to be careful that we paint the correct picture when evangelizing to others about the recipe for righteousness because it includes Father's commandments. Many believers will agree with this statement, the issue is usually which commandments apply today. His commandments are perpetual throughout our generations however, we need the Spirit of the Most High to interpret how we apply them in 2018 and in our homelands.

Sister Juliet also highlighted the need to determine where our hearts are in relation to the parable of the sower that Yeshua taught in the Gospels. Do we have wayside, stony, thorny, or fertile hearts? When I think about the examples Yeshua gave, there is a 75% chance that the seed Father wants to sow in our hearts will not produce fruit. That leaves a slim 25% opportunity that it will. This shows me that we have to fight for that Word to take root because it's more likely that it won't if we don't work to make our hearts fertile. I know this all too well. I can get so "busy" that I am not paying attention to allow the Word to produce fruit. The cares of this world are unquestionably a clear and present danger.

In conclusion, the picture painted by Psalms 18 shows that David walked with the Father in a loving and obedient way. As a result of being a servant of Yehovah, Yehovah rewarded David in his time of need through deliverance from his enemies. The Bible is filled with many examples of human beings walking in tune with Yehovah, but they also portray the human capacity to fail. Like when David stepped into all that Yehovah had for him, he allowed his flesh to be exalted and ended up committing horrible crimes. This demonstrates that not only do we need to fight to create fertile soil in our hearts, but we have to fight even harder to maintain its fertileness. No, you have not arrived. This is a life of endurance to the very end and it requires constant attention to detail through the help of His Holy Spirit. Just like David, Father can deliver us from our enemies; our jobs are to walk in the Spirit just like our example Yeshua and wait for our deliverer!

Cassandra