Posts by JimZ

In Search of a Twelfth Leg to Stand On

By JimZ, 24 June, 2009, No Comment

Like many followers of Yeshua who pray the Amidah, we drop the 12th prayer. That prayer, against heretics and adversaries, was not a part of the original 18 that was prayed in the Temple since the time of Ezra. It was added over a century after the Messiah’s ascension and the start of the Church.

According to my understanding, the inclusion of the 12th prayer was a part of a comprehensive movement by which Rabbinic Jewish leaders cleansed, codified, packaged, and prepared Judaism for survival among a people dispersed and banished from the land and Temple that had been its unifying bond and focal point for centuries.

A part of this cleansing of Judaism included forcing Jewish believers of Yeshua HaMashiach out of the synagogues. While the prayer was not specifically aimed at Jewish believers, the effect was still to exclude them from the religious culture of Judaism and force a divide.

The prayer goes like this, according to the translation we use:

Frustrate the hope of slanderers, and let evil perish speedily. May those who resist thee be speedily vanquished. Mayest thou uproot, crush, and subdue the dominion of arrogance speedily, in our time. Praised be Thou, O Lord, who dost break the adversary and humble the arrogant.

Not pretty, but neither are adversaries. And the fact is, the sentiments of that prayer are in line with a number of prayers of David in the Psalms. It’s a biblical prayer and it demonstrates one’s faith in the God who protects His people. I don’t have a problem with the theology of the prayer, nor do I take anything in the prayer personally, so I could pray it wholeheartedly.

But, still, I don’t because it was not part of the original Amidah Yeshua likely participated in (in a pre-codified oral form anyway) and I pray the Amidah in following my Lord. However, the prayer does resonate with me.

There is a small but pernicious group of adversaries focused on my ministry that are of the most vicious variety: “Religious” Folk With An Axe To Grind. The Lord has protected us from their wiles and ways for a number of years now. He has even dealt them a heavy hand from time-to-time. But still they persist.

The Lord is patient and long-suffering and so we continue to pray for both their repentance and also for them to be blessed with a Spirit-filled walk with the Lord. So far they seem to have only hardened their hearts. We’ll keep praying for them anyway.

And we’ll also keep trusting the Lord for His deliverance from them. Indeed it is solely He who has caused us to stand so far. We definitely want more of the same–so we started asking for it regularly during our prayers. But not with the twelfth Amidah prayer.

You may be interested in the form we have developed if you think including a prayer for deliverance from oppression to your prayer time is necessary. Here’s what has evolved for us:

Between the Shema and the Amidah we pray a number of prayers in affirmation of God’s sovereignty and our allegiance to Him as our only king, redeemer, and helper. Right after that affirmation, and right before the Amidah, we pray as follows:

Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, king of the universe who has sanctified us by Thy commandments and has commanded us to love our enemies, to do good to those who abuse us, to bless those who curse us, and to pray for those who despitefully use us.

We pray for those who oppress us and who would harm Your servants. We pray that You would bless them with a heart that is turned to You in repentance to receive Your forgiveness and mercy. We also pray they would experience the grace of a Spirit-filled walk with You as they seek first Your kingdom and righteousness. We ask these things in the Name of Jesus our Messiah. Amen.

O Lord, as for those who will not turn from their wickedness and oppression of Your servants, hear the words of Your servant David in Psalm 94 as our words. As he cried out for Your deliverance and vindication, so we cry out now to You for the same:

(Read Psalm 94 with feeling, leading the congregation as in heartfelt prayer, not as a recitation.)

O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew Thyself. Lift up Thyself, Thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces Thy people, O LORD, and afflict Thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.

Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see? He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not He correct? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not He know? The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of Thy law; That Thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off His people, neither will he forsake His inheritance. But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth; Thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.

Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge. And He shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.

In the Name of Jesus our Messiah, Amen.

Adding a prayer beseeching the Lord to make us stand in the midst of enemies has brought an additional dimension of comfort to our prayer times. It also feels right in that it is biblically in line with God as He has revealed Himself in the Bible from beginning to end.

I hope you are blessed with no adversaries. Well, no, wait, actually, didn’t Jesus say we are blessed when we DO have adversaries?

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12)

Okay. Let me try again.

I hope you are laying hold of the Lord’s kingdom and righteousness in a way that attracts the Devil’s attention. I hope our prayer helps bring you peace and comfort as you also lay hold of the blessing of seeing the Lord work in your behalf, dealing with all the Devil throws your way.

God bless, and Shalom.

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Copyright 2009 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
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Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

By JimZ, 23 June, 2009, 2 Comments

Sometimes it’s just amazing to see the Lord work in the minor details of everyday life. Though these apparent “chance” circumstance are usually minor they often subtly bear His “signature” none the less.

What a blessing it is to see Our Father “winking” at us from the warp-and-woof of the fabric of everyday life. A living experience, albeit on a small scale, of an important truth in the book of Esther. As you remember, His Name appears nowhere in the entire book and yet His providential work in behalf of His people is evident throughout.

Okay, what I saw today isn’t Haman-hangin’-high caliber by any means. It’s one of those everyday little “tweaks” of circumstance. But perhaps more importantly than the “biggies,” these little God-At-Work signs we see along the road of life carry the message that God is indeed involved in each footstep of each of our insignificant little journeys.

Today’s story actually began last night. As I was walking out the church doors late yesterday afternoon I was met by a woman and her teen daughter coming up the stairs. I knew the woman from early on in serving the church. I had not seen her in many years until only recently, and then only from a distance, around town. Now here she was at my doorstep. And I knew why.

Five years or so ago this woman realized I was not an easy mark for a handout to those who make their living at being “poor.” She dropped out of my sight for years. Now here she was again to sell me a new “crisis.” Or maybe not.

I couldn’t say for a fact that this woman is one of those “professional poor” who make a living from being “poor.” In fact she is more likely one of the “foolish poor” who do really require help, but not in the enabling form of a handout. Either way, though, she has conducted herself in the past in ways that suggest to me that she is stealing from the “real” poor by abusing the charity system, both governmental and private.

So that’s what I assume with her from the beginning. But even so, charity thieves sometimes have actual crisis type needs, even if typically self-made. That’s why I consider myself obligated to hear their story and to respond appropriately. So I listened to her story.

She told me the type of story that I’ve heard literally hundreds of times and have proven over and over to be false. But it could be true in this case. So I began “applying pressure” to the story to see what kind of cracks or response would result. She didn’t do too bad, but I wasn’t entirely convinced. As I listened for the Lord’s direction I kept remembering the words in Proverbs I had just read the Sabbath past:

Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
(Proverbs 21:13)

I knew I was in for it. The exchange in my head went something like this: “But Lord, she’s probably lying and I don’t have the extra money to allow it to be stolen from me.” (But I haven’t shown you she is lying. You don’t know.) “But Lord, I just don’t have it to give.” (But you just got a generous gift yourself this morning.) “But Lord, you know that doesn’t cover all I’ll be needing over the week and I’m still trusting you to provide more even now.” (But you have what you need for today. You’re trusting Me for what you’ll need tomorrow.) “OK, Lord, she may not be lying and I know what your Word says. I refuse to stop my ears to the poor.”

She got the $20 she asked for. But I felt terrible about giving it. That’s probably what Rambam meant by “giving in sadness” (see 6/17/09 post). Not that I was sad to give, but I was sad to give in this situation because I was not sure it was really needed. I could not afford to have it stolen from me, and I felt it was a strong possibility that very thing had happened.

Great. On top of feeling I’d been had, now the gift ranked lowest in quality according to Rambam (again, see 6/17/09 post on the subject). I decided not to dwell on it.

Though I didn’t dwell on the giving, my mind was apparently at work to lessen the “loss.” This morning, as I went about my business, various “work-arounds” popped into my head in order to regain the $20. The inner maneuvering went something like this: “It was a gift to the poor, so I can take it from the family Sabbath tzedekah jar.” (No, that was designated to a group that helps the poor already. I gave the $20 from my own pocket, not theirs.) “It was really the work of the church, so I’ll deduct it from my tithe.” (No, that is designated for the work of the church. I gave the money, not the church.) “All right, the gift comes out of my pocket.”

That was the end of the story and I no longer thought about it, consciously or subconsciously. I went about my business, poorer but content anyway with things such as they are.

A short while later I was desperately trying to find a scrap of paper with a phone number on it that I call only a few times a year. I usually call the number when away from home so I’ve carried it all along in my portable filing cabinet– my wallet. Today the number was gone. I probably forgot to “refile” it the last time I used it.

I went through every scrap of phone-number-bearing paper in my wallet a few times and could not find it. Time for drastic action (no, not get the phone book out, that’s a desperation move that would come later). I began removing each piece of paper and inspecting them as I went. Nope, not there. Maybe it got jammed in a folded store receipt. So I began unfolding each receipt in search of one little scrap corner of paper.

As I unfolded one particular receipt I saw peeking out at me the edge of a $20 bill! It was so crisp and brand new and perfectly fitted to the dimensions of the store receipt that the money was not apparent when folded inside. How long had it been riding around in my wallet unknown to me? The receipt was dated April 16 of this year. I could have used that $20 many times over since then. And yet the Lord always provided in each of those times with a different $20. This $20 bill was reserved for today’s appearance, when the Lord would provide for me today what He had given someone else, by me, yesterday.

This money was lost to me already. I would have eventually thrown the receipt out with out looking at it. I only opened it in search of a scrap of paper that might have slipped inside. But now, instead of losing the money to the garbage dump, I was able to use it in Jesus’ name to help the poor–even though I couldn’t afford too!

There it was. God’s providence. Signed, sealed, and delivered–right to my wallet.

Makin' a List and Checkin' It Twice

By JimZ, 17 June, 2009, No Comment

If you need some help in prioritizing your giving, you might appreciate some sage direction. In the Mishneh Torah (“Repetition of the Torah” – a late 12th century code of Jewish religious law), Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (also known as Maimonides or Rambam) broke down charity into various forms.

Stones Live (and Plugged-In!)

By JimZ, 16 June, 2009, 4 Comments

Depth of spiritual maturity and height of godly character expressed by breadth of service in Messiah, should be the measurement of congregational growth.

Alternative Alternative Worship: Help Those in Need!

By JimZ, 15 June, 2009, No Comment

When we carry out an act of charity, we are not only performing a mitzvah, we are also worshipping our Messiah in a very real and significant way.

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