LeFors Tribe

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Hello!

 I want to talk about hardened hearts. I tend to sign “hardened heart” in this way (signed as a rock) but the most appropriate sign would be to sign it the same way stubborn is signed. I am sure that some of you, Believers, know about the word I am talking about. The words, “hardened hearts” have been used again and again in the scriptures– beginning with the Pharoah, then throughout the Israelites when they complained, and here and there in the new covenant–Jesus calling the Pharisees of having a hardness of hearts.

What is hardening of hearts? I don’t mean the heart becoming hard like a rock. It’s a metaphor. Harden has other definitions: it means of having a characteristic of pitiless, unfeeling, stiff, rigid, and/or unyielding.

Hardening of the heart is considered negative. It’s not a positive word in the Scriptures. Many times the bible encourages us not to have a hard heart.

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”-Hebrews 3:13.

I want to specificially share that a hardening of heart is NOT limited to unbelievers. You as a believer can harden your hearts. We can have a resentment– not willing to be teachable– to hear what the spirit has to say to us  I will share with you two situations as a proof that hardening hearts are not limited to unbelievers. Remember the famous story of the Pharoah in Egypt. He would not let God’s children go. His heart was hardened. He was so stubborn even to the point that it cost the life of his first born son. 10 plagues attacked Egypt because they would not let the Israelites go.

“Pharoah’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?” -Exodus 10:7

We can see here that the Pharoah had a hard heart but his officials softened up. The hardness of hearts can happen to those who believe in God. Those who may know A LOT about God. The Pharisees are a good example. They knew a LOT about God yet Yahushua (Jesus) called them stiff-neck. Hard heart. But, Scriptures mentioned that some  of the Pharisees heeded to the word of Yahushua. Take Nicomodus for example. He was a pharisee. He loved Yahushua even to the point he helped Joseph bury Yahushua.

Often we like to stereotype. We label groups and often go as far to saying that the unbelievers have hard hearts. People who don’t know God. Or we go as far to saying that a certain group of people practice such strange religions. They’re the one who has hard hearts. We often say, “The hardness of heart does not apply to me. That’s not for me. Surely, not for me.”

Don’t forget the Egyptians recognized God and pleaded for Pharoah to let the people go.  Also, of the Pharisees, some of them understood Yahushua and followed HIm.

Tradition is another thing that causes the hardening of heart. Yahushua said,

“Why do you forsake the commandments of God for the sake of your traditions?” Matthew 15:3

Traditions– “It’s something I grew up with. I’m used to it.” Or, perhaps when we have learned something new, we say, “I’ve never heard of that before…I don’t want to know about it.” Traditions are not of God. Traditions are man-made. Traditions also include  ”rituals”. It can some kind of “teaching” or “doctrine”. Also, it can be a “way of life”- a lifestyle, etc.  Some of us are so used to a certain ritual or teaching and we would say, “My church does that.” or “My pastor told me.”. No one can force you to do this or that.

The Holy Spirit teaches us the truth. He will stir you up. The bible says that the early Believers turned the world upside down. No, the world did not turn upside down. It’s a saying of when there was a time when so many people began to do something no one had ever done. Yes, the Holy Spirit will turn you upside down. Do not harden the heart. He will stir you up. If we harden our hearts, we will not be able to hear from the Holy Spirit anymore.

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands”-2 Timothy 1:6.

This is something that Paul said to Timothy and can be used for us, Believers. If we are not being sitrred up…we can start to live in what is commonly known as “Christian Boredom”. “I know everything about the Bible. same ol’ same ol’.” They do not have their spirit stirred up. People among them hear and tell the same thing over and over again. It’s as if they have hit the glass ceiling. There is so much more in the Bible. It’s alive. If we do not stir up, our spiritual being can be like living in a stagnant lake–comfort zone. A stagnant lake is yukky. It has a lot of algae on it– perfect home for mosquitos and many other yecky insects. leeches- I’m not fond of them. Our spirit being can be like that easily when we harden our hearts. Don’t let yourself get into that position.

If you harden the heart, you will have separated yourself from the Spirit. Your ears will shut down and your minds will be stubborn. God is not going to force you to listen to Him. There will be no coercion (twisting of arms). Hardening hearts pulls you away from God. He always has his arms open. Perhaps you will ask me, “How do you know God will not force me?” The scripture says so. You have to act on it. It starts with your actions.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you.” -Matthew 7:7

Also, we see in the Bible of what Yahushua says of those who have hard hearts,

“Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch”-Matthew 15:14

See here where Yahushua says to leave them alone.

The hardening of heart is an individual thing. We already see here in the scriptures that if we harden our heart, God is not going to force you to listen to Him. He’s not going to twist your arms. He will leave you alone. He will encourage you with a desire of bringing you back to Him, but He will not force you. He’s a gentleman.

I encourage you to stir up your spirit. The Scripture says not to quench the spirit. Take heed to this Scripture.

“Do not quench the Spirit…Test all things; hold fast what is good… Abstain from every form of evil.”-1 Thessalonians 5:19. 

I want to close this with an encouragement: If any of you lack wisdom, I want to let you know you can go ahead and ask God of it. He will be more than glad to give it to you.

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.’ -James 1:5

Be blessed! Have a great week!

http://www.leforstribe.com/ 

Y’all alright? I recently learned about some nuggets (short information) about Yahushua’s (Jesus) death and resurrection and how it parellels with the Torah (Old Testament). I just learned about them and really liked the information.

You know, sometimes we enjoy a rather large meal and sometimes we enjoy nuggets, tasting little foods, kind of like an appetizer. I will share with you six…hmm, a six piece “chicken” nuggets. Those are pieces I learned about the death and resurrection and found it very interesting.

Nugget #1: You know, Passover during Moses’ time, the time when the Israelites left Egypt. Prior to that, God sent 10 different plagues to the Egyptians. The Pharoah was very stubborn so it took 10 plagues before he finally let the Israelites go free. Anyway, just before sending out the 10th plague, God warned the Israelites that all the first born sons, animals, and etc would die. The Egyptians must let the Israelites go. There was a consequence for Pharoah’s heart being hardened against God. The Pharoah was stiff-necked. But God wanted to save the Israelites’ first born sons and animals. In order to save them, God gave them instructions. He told the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb and paint its blood over the doorposts. God will send the Death Angel and when the Angel sees the blood over the doorposts, he will pass over the house. This is where Passover got its name. The Death Angel will pass over houses with lamb’s blood over their doorposts and not take away their first born sons. Houses that did not have the lamb’s blood over their doorposts, the consequences would fall upon the house and the first born sons would die. Every year since then, God commands that we remember the Passover. Yahushua’s blood, a very perfect blood, is our Passover Lamb. Yahushua was innoncent as He was condemned. His blood is smeared on those who believe in Him from head to toe.  This is a good one.

“And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses…”-Exodus 12:7

“For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed…” -1 Corinthians 5:7

Nugget #2: I mentioned earlier about the Passover lamb being sacrificed and using its blood to paint over the doorposts. There are criterias that must be followed. For example, the lamb must not have blemishes. It must be perfect without abnormalities, defects, or faults. It must be a perfect lamb. This is God’s commandment. He upholds a high standard on what lamb is to be sacrificed. This can be seen in the same manner for Yahushua. When Yahushua was arrested, about to be killed. Prior to that, they brought Yahushua to trial. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, questioned Yahushua. At the end of that trial, the Roman governor declared that he found no faults in Yahushua and saw that there was no reason to hold him prisoner. But, it was the Jewish community that did not want to free Yahushua. Pontius Pilate was in a high authority position and he saw Yahushua FAULTLESS. This parellels with the animal lamb used in order to make sacrifices. God expected that the animal lamb be faultless. Perfect. Yahushua was perfect and He endured this for us so that He could be our Passover Lamb once and for all. Wow. This is a good one.

“Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old…”-Exodus 12:5

“So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.”-Luke 23:4

Nugget #3: In Genesis, Adam and Eve had intimacy with God, but they lost that intimacy by disobeying Him. As a consequence for Adam, God said in order for Adam to eat, work, and make a living of, Adam had to work hard. He would have to sweat and work hard in order to get food. This was a curse. Now, before Yahushua was arrested by the high priests, Yahushua was in the garden. At that time, Yahushua was under a tremendous stress for he knew exactly what was to come. He sweated a lot while praying. Keep in mind that the sweats that came out of Yahushua’s head was not salt-water like. It was of blood. The blood always represents a new covenant or a new agreement. God values blood because there is life in blood. So while Yahushua was in the garden praying, he sweated blood and this parellels with Adam’s sweating salt/water sweat to live as a curse.  Yahushua sweated blood in order to break the old curse and make a new agreement. This new covenant enables us not to be defeated in our trials and tribulations.

“By the sweat of your face you will eat bread…” -Genesis 3:19

“His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground…”-Luke 22:44

Nugget #4: For the same curse that Adam and Eve faced (the sweating to get food), there is another curse that came upon them. God told Adam and Eve that when they grow vegetables and fruits, their garden would have thorns and thistles being in the way. They would have to pull weeds, thorns, and thistles out of the ground in order to make their food grow healthy. This is a curse, a consequence of their disobedience. Now, Just before Yahushua was crucified, the Roman soliders mocked him since Yahushua said he was the king of Jews. The Roman soliders made Yahushua’s crown out of thorns. The thorns were long and strong. The thorns penetrated through Yahushua’s head and caused blood to come out. The thorns the Romans soliders used to make for Yahushua’s crown goes back to the old curse that Adam endured. Yahushua took the suffering of the thorns in his head to break that curse. In this way, in believing the Messiah, we do not need to worry about “thorns in our flesh” (sickness and diseases). We can break through it.

“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field…”-Genesis 3:18

“The soliders twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head…”-John 19:2

Nugget #5: This was a new information for me and I found it very interesting. The first time the Bible mentions the word “Love” can be found in Genesis 22. In that chapter, it talks about Abraham obeying God’s commandment to sacrifice Abraham’s son to God. This was a test of God for Abraham in order to see if Abraham would go that far in obedience.  In that chapter, where the word, “Love” is first used, it states, “Abraham, the son you have, whom you love, you will have to give to Me as a sacrifice…”  (paraphrased). In this chapter, this is the first time you will see the word “love” being used. This is parellelled to Yahushua. God’s only begotten son, whom He loved, was sent to Earth as a sacrifice for mankind for Him. By the way, just so that you know, Abraham did not sacrifice his son. Because Abraham obeyed, God stopped him in time by sending a ram to replace the son. I found this very interesting how the situation was when the word “Love” was first used–it was in a father-son relationship. Yahushua is Yahweh’s (God) son.

“Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love…” -Genesis 22:2

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” -John 3:16

Nugget #6: The last nugget, savour it. During Moses’ time, there was a tabernacle that was built. It had many specific criterias in order to build that tabernacle. In the tabernacle, there is one room called, “Holy of the Holiest”. In that room, it was to remain holy. Not anyone can enter that specific room. Only the very highest priest could enter that room, and that only happens once a year to intercede with God for mankind. Everyone knows that this specific room is to be highly regarded, respected, and not something to take lightly. If anyone just walked into that room, they would immediately drop dead. There’s no games to be played when coming to that room. It is the Holy of the Holiest. That specific room is separated from all the other rooms in the tabernacle by a large thick curtain or veil. Some say that the curtain is three feet THICK. It is to completely separate the Holy of the Holiest room to all the other rooms in the Tabernacle. It is a very special place. Keep in mind that not anyone can just walk into that room. Only the High Priest can enter that room and that happens only once a year. If you and I or anyone else just walked into that room, ah, it would not be good. Anyway, when Yahushua was on the corss and just about to die, He said, “It is finished!!!” The earth began to tremble and there was an earthquake. The veil/curtain used to separate the Holy of the Holiest from all the other rooms was tore into half. It was torn completely apart. This action tells us that everyone, you and me, my mother and father, your mother and father, cousins, uncles, aunts, and everyone else has an equal right as the High Priest to have an access to God, the Father. We can talk with God, through Yahushua, the Messiah. Wow, this to me, blows my mind. It’s a good picture. Tearing apart the curtain/veil that separates the Holy of the Holiest to all the other rooms in the Tabernacle. All barriers, all circumstances, all religious rituals, and etc are destroyed and removed. Now it is just between me and God through the Messiah.

Holy of Holies verses: Exodus 26:31-37, Leviticus 16:2, Hebrews 9:7 & 25

“Then the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom…” Mark 15:38

“Brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus…”-Hebrews 10:19

I hope you were blessed by these nuggets just the same as I was. If you have a nugget you would like to share with us, please feel free to share! Be blessed!