Over the years of my walk with Adonai, He continuously leads me toward a life of purity – one where people shake their heads over the amount of sanctification I’ve allowed… And to this I say, To whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:48) – He has given me life abundantly so in return, I lay mine down at His feet. I say to my Redeemer, “Here am I Adonai.” In fact, for weeks prior to relocating to East Tennessee in 2019 (ironically, this same weekend in date) I was prompted to search out and study the many instances of the word “pure” in the Tanakh (Old Testament). The root word for pure in Hebrew is taher: to be clean or pure. This word is used almost exclusively to refer to that which is associated with The Father and his service. (Not His person as he requires no cleansing.) As a human I struggle with desires of the heart, which are completely normal; yet, Abba is so kind and gentle in reminding me how His purpose for me does not include this particular thing my heart desires. He has helped me to understand and accept that a life of purity is a lifelong calling. Once you wholeheartedly say ‘yes, Lord’, the call to serve Him outweighs your needs and desires. Or, it should.
This topic has been something I’ve wrestled with occasionally but only one area of it. While I have no issues whatsoever staying away from things like alcohol, drugs, or anything addictive, The Father shows me I’ve been created for more. For Him alone. He is my eternal and one true husband. The calling upon my life requires that I remain pure, and run toward holiness and righteousness, for all the days Abba gives me to live.
A royal priesthood
From the beginning of my new life with Adonai, certain verses took hold of my spirit and would not let it go; hence, I’ve taken them very seriously. These verses showed me how to live the way Abba expected me to live; bringing me into His purpose for restoring my life, and showed me the identity I had always believed to be true but wasn’t allowed to wear. They are sacred to us both. After a season of trying those things on for size, one day I was seized by verses such as 1 Peter 2: 1-10:
“Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. 4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,
“The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the very corner stone,”
8 and,
“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
The deeper I went into The Word and discovered this calling to be a priesthood the more it resonated with me. I began to understand exactly what, or rather who, El Shaddai (The Almighty) was calling me to be. Sadly, it grew increasingly difficult for me to look around at the body of Believers and see the same reflecting at me. I still do not. Please don’t misunderstand, I know some have read these same verses and taken them seriously, but not the majority. I had felt and been treated like an outcast my entire life, so I realized this environment would be no different! When Adonai began to open up my calling and used me in the body of Believers, I had to choose whom to follow. By now you know, my Redeemer won, and trust it cost me plenty but nothing was worth more to me than a lasting relationship with The Father.
Encouraging the brethren
You may be wondering what point I am trying to make and to that I say, bear with me!
Last week’s Torah portion Sh’Mini (Leviticus 9:1-11:47) contained a reminder I needed regarding “who – and whose – I am.” During our discussion time at fellowship, I brought up the following verses:
“The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die—it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations— 10 and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.” (Lev 10:8-11)
After reading the verses out loud, I stated most people shake their heads at how I live my life, that I don’t even drink or date; verses like these and the depiction of the Nazarites, along with 2 Peter, brought me to the understanding that we are not supposed to partake in anything that would interrupt our spiritual flow from The Father. And, He had a plan for my bringing this up at fellowship because someone had an a-ha moment and thanked me. Here are the points He wants you to take away:
Point 1: All who are in the fold, who walk in the footsteps of Yeshua (Jesus), are part of Yahweh’s kingdom of priests. We have the same calling as the prophets and disciples, therefore partaking in anything intoxicating or that causes strange delusion, is not part of His plan for us.
Point 2: Look around the world; what do you see? A world full of people who have succumbed to addiction and strange delusions. You are not supposed to resemble that for one minute. Not one! Especially now, the Body of the RISEN Messiah, Yeshua, must be so sober-minded that nothing can deceive us. This is one of the reasons He has me and every other true prophet of Adonai sounding like broken records, just like the prophets of old:
We are here to warn.
We are here to provoke.
We are here to grab HIS people (by the hair, arm, leg…), run toward Adonai, and not look back. It is why I was born. Like Esther – to go to the feet of her king, unannounced, and hope he doesn’t kill me – to save my people. YOU are my people! Hear oh Israel, hear.
This morning as I sat at the breakfast table, seeking His will for my day, I listened to this video which confirmed what I had been sensing: a day of writing this testimony put on my heart: He discusses how the word “pure” is used in the Bible.
A NOTE of CAUTION: I have listened to this Israeli, Orthodox Jewish Rabbi for about 4 years. His teachings of the Torah are sound. I do however stop at his short teachings because he is very anti-Christ. I know this because I used to occasionally listen to a podcast he produces with a man in the United States, and after a while, they began to be very open about their disdain for all things “Jesus.”