MAY ARTICLES 2023
DISAPOINTMENT
Can you name a single group that Yeshua did not disappoint? The Zionists and some of His disciples wanted Him to kick out Rome and take the earthly throne. The Saducies and Helenists wanted Him to leave well enough alone. The Essenes wanted Him to initiate Temple reform and remove the Saducian mob from power. Pilate wanted Him to submit to him and cooperate.
One day, Yeshua announced to His disciples that He was about to be handed over to the authorities to be crucified. Peter, who had just been admonished for declaring Yeshua to be Messiah, started rebuking Yeshua. Can you imagine how hurt, frustrated and scared he must have been? "What do You mean they are going to kill You? You are our rabbi! You're the Messiah for whom we have been waiting generations! You can't surrender to them! You have to save Israel!"
Yeshua seemed to have no problem rebuking him for this. But what was the rebuke specifically? "You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of men."
We are called to disappoint people. When someone wants something of us, for us, or from us but it isn't what Adonai wants of, for, or from us, we should be perfectly content telling them "no."
Practice praying something like this: "Adonai, please help me disappoint people the way You want me to disappoint them, the way Yeshua modeled for me."
Matt
Messianic Pastor
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tOO GOOD FOR SALVATION???
There is a scripture that really stands out to me; Ephesians TLV 2:1-10. I encourage everyone to read it and absorb it. The bottom line was that as believers we were destined for wrath and saved only by grace.
When Yeshua was here on this earth, He was constantly rejected by one particular group of people – the Pharisees. The most seemingly righteous or honest people of that day didn’t or couldn’t see themselves as sinners. These religious leaders made an assumption that they had
no need for Yeshua, when He said “10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10 TLV).”
There are a lot of people today that think the same thing. That they’re good enough to get to heaven on their own. They don’t gamble, smoke, etc. and think they are basically good people. Surely, their good manners and deeds must outweigh their bad ones. Are they right? WRONG! In the Almighty Father’s eyes, we are ALL spiritually dead.
Ephesians 2:1-3 TLV tells us; You were dead in your trespasses and sins. 2 At that time, you walked in the way of this world, in conformity to the ruler of the domain of the
air the ruler of the spirit who is now operating in the sons of disobedience. 3 We too all lived among them in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and
the mind. By nature, we were children of wrath, just like the others.
Pride, the killer, often keeps us from understanding the extent of our guilt. Remember sin led to HaSatan’s downfall and has infected the whole human race since Adam and Eve. We often think there is something good in us to please Adonai, but the WORD teaches us we can only be saved by Adonai’s grace.
Salvation is a gift received only through faith in Yeshua HaMachiach. There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn it because any good thing we do is poisoned and defiled by the sin that is in us. Our only hope is to look to Yeshua, our Messiah, to save us.
2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us; 17 Therefore if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Al
Messianic Founding Pastor
APRIL ARTICLES 2023
Anointing of Matt
Shalom My Mispache (family),
There is an old saying that, "One person cannot do it all!" To expand a future vision and growth within our congregation at Ahava, on Sabbath, Saturday 3/11/2023, Paul Aldridge, Lee Tidwell (Elders) and myself anointed Matt Croswhite as Pastor for Ahava B'Shem Yeshua Messianic Congregation.
Matt has shown exceptional spiritual and leadership qualities with new ideas and visions, which I have felt was needed today to forge ahead. Both Matt and I have agreed to be open to all suggestions and ideas brought to us by congregants. Everyday operations will remain the same.
There have been concerns by some that I am retiring. This is not so! I will remain as Founding Pastor.
Pray for Matt and Ahava. Luke 10:2 tells us “The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few.”
Blessings in His holy Name,
Al Rodriguez, Founding Pastor
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How Do YOU Think of GOD?
"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."
- A.W. Tozer
When you think of God, what is He like? Do you imagine Him to be the Cosmos Watchmaker who set everything in place with meticulous detail and released it to see what would happen? Or perhaps the Angry Tyrant looking for any reason to be angry and disappointed with you? Or how about the Kindly Old Man who is friendly and wants the best for you but can't provide any practical help? Maybe the Neighborhood Super-Dad who plays ball with his kids, pushes them on the swings, and takes them to the movies, but you know you can't have that kind of relationship with him since he isn't your father?
Most of us don't spend much time assessing how we perceive God and whether our views line up with what Scripture says, but it is vital to our growth and health. How we imagine Him in our mind/heart has a profound impact on how we relate to Him. If we think of Him as distant and uncaring, we likely won't spent time in prayer or trying to pursue intimacy with Him. The Angry Guy in the Sky doesn't make us excited to run up and jump into His arms.
So who is God really? What does He think of you? We can know the answer definitively. That is the primary question the Scriptures answer for us. So dig in and challenge your assumptions and preconceptions about Him!
Matt Croswhite, Pastor
March Article 2023
Praying in faith
James 1:5-8 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,[a] who gives to all without hesitation and without reproach; and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, without any doubting—for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord— 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
To trust Biblical promises are true requires faith. Now Hebrews 11:1 says: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of realities not seen. At salvation, we believe through faith that we are saved by Adonai through the sacrifice of His Son Yeshua.
Since many of us have from time to time struggled to believe that Adonai’s promises are true --- or that they apply to us. Our faith has been mixed with, if I may, doubt. Sometimes we feel unsure of the Father’s love of forgiveness. Other times when things get tough, we question if we have been given all we need. If prayers are not answered as WE expect, we wonder whether our Lord really cares about us. In situations such as these our feeling and circumstances cloud what we truly believe.
The good news is that the word, the bible or a scripture can help us gain confidence in times of uncertainty. It can be trusted because the author --- the Almighty Father Himself, is trustworthy. As we study the pages, the Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit works through our doubts and the promises of Adonai
begins to sink in.
Remember, Yeshua himself asks us and invites us to bring our burden of doubt to Him. We can trust that He will give us rest as Matthew 11:28 says: "Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
February Article 2023
“ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD”
When we look at Romans 3:23, "All Have Sinned and Fall Short of the Glory of God," this is the general character of all mankind. So, what does this verse actually mean to us? The first word I would like us to focus on is “All.” This means there is no one left out. Right before this verse, Paul states there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. This means that every person ever born on the face of this earth has fallen short of God’s requirement, making us all sinners.
Just in case you are wondering, how this is possible? You must understand what Adonai’s requirement IS. His requirement is not to be measured by scales where you balance out the good and the bad. His requirement is measured by perfection. You must do everything right according to his law, one hundred percent of the time. Here is what He said in James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole Torah but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
Let me ask, have we or you ever broken at least one of God’s laws? (It’s okay to say yes because we both know the answer.) Since this is true, then we, and I include myself, are guilty. Adonai’s requirement is not that we keep most of the law but all of it. When we break one law, it is the same as if we have broken all of them. For this reason, we are all sinners because there is not one of us who has kept the entire law perfectly, except for our Lord Yeshua.
If we ever wonder “How can we have eternal life?” there is only one answer: through our faith in Yeshua HaMachiach. John 14:6 is very clear when Yeshua said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me. When we trust in Yeshua and surrender our life to Him, He becomes our personal Lord and Savior.
Let me ask, have we or you ever broken at least one of God’s laws? (It’s okay to say yes because we both know the answer.) Since this is true, then we, and I include myself, are guilty. Adonai’s requirement is not that we keep most of the law but all of it. When we break one law, it is the same as if we have broken all of them. For this reason, we are all sinners because there is not one of us who has kept the entire law perfectly, except for our Lord Yeshua.
If we ever wonder “How can we have eternal life?” there is only one answer: through our faith in Yeshua HaMachiach. John 14:6 is very clear when Yeshua said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me." When we trust in Yeshua and surrender our life to Him, He becomes our personal Lord and Savior.
January Article 2023
Trust & Perserverance
Have you ever looked at someone and thought, they are so lucky or their life so easy? This last year brought us here at home some problems and trails. In reality, no one has a problem --- free existence. James1:2-8 CJB describes life’s trails as universal. We all face times of trouble.
James1:2 2 Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; James regarded trials as inevitable. He said when, not IF you face various trials --- trials because they are used to produce patience. Patience is the ancient Greek word hupomone. This word does not describe a passive waiting but an active or working endurance (strength).
James1:3 3 for you know that the testing of your trust (faith) produces perseverance (patience). Trials don’t produce faith, but when trials are received with faith, it produces patience. Yet patience is not unavoidably produced in times of trial. If difficulties are received in unbelief, complaining and grumbling, trials can produce bitterness and discouragement.
James1:24 4 But let perseverance do its complete work; so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing. The work of patient endurance or strength comes slowly and must be allowed to have full bloom. Patient endurance is a mark of the person who is perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James1:5 5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously and without reproach; and it will be given to him. In trials, we need wisdom a lot more than we need knowledge. Knowledge is just raw information, but wisdom knows how to use it. Someone once said that knowledge is the ability to take things apart, BUT WISDOM is the ability to put things together.
James1:6 6 But let him ask in trust (faith), doubting nothing; for the doubter is like a wave in the sea being tossed and driven by the wind. We need to notice that not only must one come in faith, but one must also ask in faith; and this is where the prayers of many people fail.
James1:7 7 Indeed that person should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord, The one who doubts and lacks faith should not expect to receive anything from Adonai. This lack of faith and trust in Elohim also shows that we have no foundation, being unstable in all our ways.
James1:8 8 because he is double-minded, unstable in all his ways. To ask Adonai but to ask Him in a doubting way, shows that we are double-minded.