When Will We Get Power Back?

Hurricane Sandy is gone, but at the time I am writing this, many are still without power. The power was off at our house for several days. When we finally did get power back on, there was the realization, that many were still without it. Because of the lack of power, there was a great feeling of frustration for many. Life just isn't the same without the power you once took for granted. Food in our freezer thaws, and has to be cooked. If we have an electric stove, or if we depend upon a microwave oven, we have to substitute another method of cooking. After the power has been off for awhile, we start asking questions like: What must we do to get our power back? When will we get the power back?

 There is so much that we just cannot do without power. Without power, communication is lost, and relationships can become strained. Many may worry about the safety and welfare of friends and relatives. We may wander in darkness for a time, and that can cause us to feel, very much alone. Tasks that may be required of us can become difficult, or even impossible to perform. Things we may rely upon for everyday life may be lost, and inferior objects will be substituted for the things we normally depend upon.  This is exactly what occurred in the early days of what many may call "the Church age."

Think about it. When Yeshua walked this earth, he demonstrated the power of His Father in everything he did.  He raised the dead, healed the sick, opened blind eyes, cleansed lepers, cast out demons, caused the deaf to hear, and controlled the elements. Before Yeshua went to the cross, he told his disciples that they would also have the power to do these things. John 14:12 says;

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."  (KJV)

In Matt. 8:5-13, when the centurion came before Yeshua asking him to heal his servant of palsy, Yeshua said "I will come and heal him."  The centurion said to Yeshua, that he was not worthy for Yeshua to come under his roof, because he was a Gentile, but if He would only speak the word,  his servant would be healed. Yeshua was amazed at his faith and told him, "Go thy way; as thou hast believed, be it done unto thee."

I constantly hear believers today, asking someone to pray for someone who is sick. Is that what Yeshua told his disciples to do? I cannot find anywhere in Scriptures, where Yeshua said, pray for the sick. He told his disciples, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give."  (Matt. 10:8)

Yeshua told his disciples in Luke, 10:19, "Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."  Immediately before Yeshua was taken up and a cloud received him in Acts 1:9,  Yeshua commanded his disciples, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, (v.4) but should wait there for the promise of the Father, which they heard him mention in Luke 24:49, and also John 14:15-19, 23-26 also Jn. 15:26-27. Jesus told them in Acts1:8;

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost shall come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth."

There are some who say, Yeshua was only speaking to His disciples when He spoke these words, and the power ceased after the disciples passed away. Could this be true? Think about this. If that is true, then our Father in heaven is a respecter of persons, and His word is not eternal. I hear the same thing said, about when Elohim spoke to Abraham. He said He would bless them who bless him, and He would curse those who curse him. However, history has proven over and over again, that God's words are eternal. Since Yeshua is the Word made flesh, His words are eternal. They are the very words of the Almighty. Elohim is not a respecter of persons.

 If these instructions were only meant for the Apostles, why were they recorded in Scripture? Why bother to record these words, if they were not meant for us. Are they only to tell a nice story, or are they there to encourage those who believe on His words? Those who who do not believe this power is meant for believers today, are approaching the words of Yeshua from a position of unbelief. When Yeshua says, "These works that I do, Ye shall do also." I believe Him. We all know, that these early believers had this power. Who turned the power off? What do we have to do, to restore this power back to the believers in Messiah? The source of the power is still here today.  Just as the power companies still have their sources of power for generating electricity, the Ruach haKodesh (the Holy Spirit) hasn't gone away. He is still here waiting on us to believe.

 Think about this. These early believers did not have the New Testament, because it had not yet been written. But, they had the Tanakh (Old Testament), and they had the Ruach haKodesh (the Holy Spirit). They had the power. Today we have the New Testament, but we are lacking the power. Why is that? Yeshua did not tell his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait on the Holy Bible in order to receive power. He told them to go to Jerusalem, and wait on the Holy Spirit. The power came through the Spirit. Has our Father in heaven changed His mind? Do we have a different Holy Spirit than the early believers had? Is our heavenly Father a respecter of persons? Of course, the answer to the last three questions, is a resounding NO! Then what happened?

We must understand something about the early believers. They did not have mega churches. They did not have cathedrals and basilicas. They did not even have a little wooden chapel down the lane. They met in the houses of their brothers and sisters in Messiah, and they broke bread together as a family. They had an intimacy with one another, and they had an intimacy with their Messiah, that for the most part, is lacking today. The Ruach was working through them, and the demonstrations of His power, were commonplace. If they were blessed, they would have a synagogue, or a public house of meeting, but the early assemblies, were mostly done from their homes. They kept the commandments, observed Torah, and had the testimony of Yeshua haMashiach. Their numbers grew, and there can be no mistake that the early believers were distinctly Jewish. In spite of heavy persecution, the congregations spread throughout the world. There was a love for Yeshua, a love for Torah, and a love for the brethren that seems to be immensely lacking in modern congregations.

Yeshua said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." What were the commandments Yeshua was referring too?  Those given in the Torah. Yeshua is the same who spoke those words to Moses. They are His words, and He is the Word made flesh. Ask yourself this question. Why would Yeshua make his own words null and void, when His own word says,  " I am YHVH, I change not." (Mal.3:6). Why would Yeshua give his Torah, only to have it made null and void during the so-called Church Age, only to bring the Torah back again during the millennial Kingdom?

  Our modern Bibles have changed words, changed the tense of words, added words, and subtracted words, to support the Modern / Western / Hellenistic / Roman / Protestant doctrines. Something ADONAI  warned against doing (Deut. 4:2 & 12:32). In doing so, the power has been turned off, except for a very few who really believe the words of Yeshua. A couple of examples follow. 

The translators of the Jerusalem Bible, NIV, NEB, RSV, and other modern Bibles, in an attempt to wipe out the kosher laws given in Torah, add the words, [In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean."] to Mark 7:19. Yeshua (Jesus), said nothing of the sort, and these words do not appear in any of the Greek texts. These words also do not appear in the older versions, such as the KJV, ASV, The Geneva Bible, etcetera.  They are simply added to push a Roman / Protestant doctrine, that does not exist in the original text. Furthermore, when you read this passage in it's proper context, from verse one (especially verses 2 - 9), it should become apparent, that the text is referring to the man made tradition of the washing of hands, and not the eating of meats. Yeshua's rebuke is for the traditions of men, and not declaring food as clean, or unclean. All one has to do is read the parallel verses of this passage in Matthew 15: 2,3 & 20 to understand that Yeshua is not talking about food, but the tradition of washing of hands. Don't take my word for it. Check into it yourself. Anyone with access to a Greek Interlinear Bible can easily see this for themselves.

 Another attempt at twisting the Scriptures in Verse 19 is to translate the word  καθαρζων as  purifies instead of purging. Just read the context. This is an absolutely absurd translation. It is talking about purging the body of foods already having gone through the digestive system, and going into the latrine. Would you call this excrement purged, or purified? I don't think it would pass the requirements of the Pure Foods Act of 1906. Do you? I didn't think so. All one has to do is read the New Testament, without denominational bias, and it becomes perfectly clear, that all of Yeshua's disciples remained kosher, until they went on to be with Yeshua.

Another blatant example of Roman / Protestant bias in interpretation, from the NIV, and other modern versions, is found  in Colossians 2:14, by trying to apply a modern (false) Hellenistic understanding of the Greek, which was written from an ancient Hebrew perspective. This bias is perpetuated from earlier English versions though, so the NIV, and other modern versions are not the only culprit. Colossians 2:14 in the King James Version reads thus:

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross."

In the NIV, the same passage reads thus:

"having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away , nailing it to the cross."

The words I have in bold in both of the texts above are the Greek phrase "χειρογραφον  τοις  δογμασιν." Why is this important? Because, it is translated in such a way, as to make it appear, as though it is the Torah (Law), that is nailed to the cross. Nothing could be further from the truth.  The literal translation of this phrase is, "the handwriting of their dogma"  So, what does that mean to us?  The handwriting of their dogma, was a letter of indebtedness, a bill, a tab, or something owed. It is a handwritten agreement to their dogma, or conversation concerning a debt. When someone in ancient times bought something on credit, or owed someone money, the debtor would give the creditor a handwritten IOU, and it would show the amount due, along with the debtors mark or signature. When the debt was paid, a spike, or punch would be driven through the parchment, or skin upon which the IOU was written, to indicate the debt was paid in full. Many of the senior people among us may remember this custom remaining, even into our time. When you ate out in a restaurant, or diner, you were given your check, or bill for the amount owed by the waitress, or waiter. When you went to the cashier and paid your bill, the cashier would take the bill, and pierce it onto a spike alongside the cash register. It indicated your debt was paid. Most never think about where this custom came from, and believe it was just a way to keep the receipts until the end of their shift.  Now when you read verse 14 in context with verse 13, you can clearly see, that our sin debt was nailed to the stake. Not the Torah.

Another example of the blatant, and purposeful mistranslation of modern Bibles which attempt to make Torah irrelevant to Christians is found in the NIV rendering of  verses 16 & 17 of the same chapter of Colossians. It reads as follows:

16 "Therefore do not let anyone judge you in what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17  These are a shadow of things that [were] to come; the reality, however is found in Christ." 

  

Now compare verse 17 to the King James and most other older versions. Verse 17 is correctly rendered in the KJV as thus:

"Which [are] a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."

Did you catch the difference? Notice the bold word were, versus the bold word are between the text of the two versions. This is a blatant attempt to put the kosher eating habits of the Jews, which were commanded by the Almighty, their appointed feasts, their observing the New Moons, (thus their given calendar), and their seventh day Sabbaths, which the Creator gave as a perpetual commandment, into the past tense, as though this was all fulfilled in Yeshua. The text however does not support this. There are still portions of Torah yet to be fulfilled at Yeshua's second coming. The Greek word in question in verse 17, is the word εστιν. It is in the present tense according to every Greek dictionary I can find, including Strong's and means is, or are. To translate it as though it were past tense, is deception by the translators, pure and simple. This is a simple word, and is among the first words, one learns when learning Greek. Its first grade stuff. The only way the translators could possibly miss something this simple, is because it was intentional. There are many other attempts to diminish the importance of Torah in your walk with Messiah, but I will go into them at another time. They include circumcision, the question about Acts 15: 19 & 20, plus many other questions concerning Grace and Torah. Be watching for them in the future.

 The main reason people do not see the things that Yeshua said should be commonplace, is because, we have this saying that says; "I'll believe it when I see it." That is the exact opposite of the Scriptural pattern of belief. You see, because you believe, not the other way around. Unbelief among those who call themselves believers, has crippled the power flow more than anything else that can be named. We must understand one important aspect of the ministry of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah), and that of the believers in the first and second centuries. They preached the Gospel, but it was always with signs and wonders following. They believed what they preached. Do you really think the Gospel would have had the effect upon the thousands of people hearing it, if the power of the Almighty was not there demonstrating His agreement? The apostle Paul made this clear statement in 1st Corinthians 2:4 & 5;

"My speech and my preaching were not with the persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit of power - so that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."  (Tree of Life Version)

Today we have many preachers with persuasive speech, and people flocking to hear them, with their ears itching to be tickled, but there is no power.  It is common today, for people to flock to mega-churches to be told they are fine because of the grace of God. There is no commitment to living a holy life preached. There is no repentance, no studying to show yourself approved, and no real charity. Most of what you get today is an "I'm OK. You're OK" teaching. Prosperity is the main teaching heard on the radio, and seen on television today. It seems that I can't turn on a so-called Christian channel without seeing these multi-millionaire preachers, (wolves in sheep's clothing), telling you to sow a seed of $1,000 into their ministries, while they fleece the poor, and go home to their multi-million dollar homes, or fly off in their private jets. Do people even read their Bibles? Have they never read 1st Timothy 6: 3-11?  Paul is plain, that we are to flee from these prideful teachers, who understand nothing, and suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

 The time has come, for all who believe the words of Yeshua to start acting upon his words, instead of just giving them lip service. He told us to heal the sick. This can only be done in the power of Ruach haKodesh. It cannot be done in our own strength. The promise of the Father is, that when Yeshua returned to Him, He would send us another Comforter. Have you received Him, or have you not?

When will we get the power back on? When we get reconnected to our Father's power source. We will get the power back on, when, we have so humbled ourselves before our heavenly Father, that when healing does happen at our hands, we will not get puffed up, and think that we did it. Our Father will share His glory with no one.  It's past time to start putting the faith, we claim to have, into action. It must grieve the Spirit, to know that we have this power available to us, and we can't believe enough to use it.

 Heavenly Father, I pray that you would restore your power to the people called by Your name. Bring us back into the truth of Your light, and restore communication between You, and Your people, that we not settle for artificial light sources. Bring us out of darkness. All to the glory of Yeshua, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Shalom Ahlaychem,

Barry W. Gaugler