Yeshua : The Foundation

Who you are is defined by many factors. At the top of the list is your cultural background. Imagine living in China. Think the people there might be a bit differant than say ... Texas? Of course they would. Every culture is unique in food, clothing, customs, religion, and thought. That's right ... thought. Our background helps to shape the way we think and act. To obtain a proper understand of who someone is, you must understand the culture that they came from.

So do we really know who Yeshua was/is? Or is our perception of Him inadequate? Is it possible that there are "holes" in our thinking? Is our image and understanding clear or is it distorted to fit our liking? Let me explain. Have you ever seen a painting of Yeshua (Jesus) and He has light brown hair , medium length, blue eyes, moderate build? Or have you ever seen Him painted as a black man? A few years ago I saw a nativity seen where all the figures were Indian. These and much more, are distorted images.

Most of how we see Yeshua is due to our theological perspective. If we are a conservative Baptist, He is a conservative minister. If we lean towards the charismatic, He becomes .... yeah you guessed it .... charismatic. If we are white, He's white. We color Yeshua with our own version of who He,is delivered to us during our "church" upbringing. The problem is that although we may enjoy seeing Him with our specialized sight it can be destructive to TRUTH.

A CURIOUS WORD
Truth ... that's a hard word. Especially for today. It seems to be whatever any one decides it to be. Remember Pilates response; "what is truth"? To him, like most, truth is an abstract. It is ready to be twisted and changed at any whim. But that is not the way God sees it.

In the Hebrew, the word for truth is "emet". This is made up of three letters ... aleph, mem , tav. The aleph is the first letter in the Hebrew aleph-bet. The tav is the last and the mem is in the middle. Thus "truth" is the first , the last and everythig in between. Truth is conclusive. It is absolute. It is not up for grabs to the highest bidder. It is not changeable to suit moods or fads. Truth remains ever the same and the same forever.

Today their are many that claim to hold to the TRUTH of the Word of God. For someone who truly seeks to know the L-rd, it is imperative to KNOW the TRUTH. We can not be interested or satisfied with learning the popular version of truth. Nor can we care which brand has the greatest number of followers. We must love G-d and cleave to THE TRUTH. Only then.... let me repeat that, ONLY THEN, will I be able to walk with HIM and be pleasing in what we do.

BACK TO OUR QUESTION
In order to love the L-rd with all our hearts, we must know the L-rd.

JUST A CLOSER WALK
The following articles are offered as a teaching tool to shed light on the truth. I believe that if we will remove our "perspective glasses", handed down to us from our "church teaching", and look through corrective lenses, we will find a closer walk with our Redeemer. I hope you will be blessed.