a Hebraic Christian home fellowship
&
Bun in the Oven Bakery
an outreach to pregnant teens
~ changing lives with faith, hope, and love ~
Biblical Precedents"If someone among you is needy, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which Adonai your God is giving you, you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from giving to your needy brother." [D'varim/Deuteronomy 15:7]
Tzadakah, or charity, is one of the three pillars of modern Jewish faith. Ideally, in the community of God's people there are to be no poor in their midst. In the Jewish mind, charity is not just giving a hand out, or a means to conversion, but an affirmation of human value and dignity. By helping those in need to better their lives, we are able to enter into a special joy that God has reserved only for such acts of kindness. We benefit, the person served benefits, the community benefits, and God is glorified.
"We know that the Torah is good, provided one uses it the way the Torah itself intends. We are aware that Torah is not for a person who is righteous, but for those who are heedless of Torah and rebellious, ungodly and sinful, wicked and worldly...[1Timothy 1:8-11] (not all the passage is shown here)
Most of the social issues in our world are not the result of a lack of Yeshua/Jesus, but a lack of Torah knowledge and education. As important as a relationship with Yeshua is, if we don't also teach people Torah, it is paramount to God rescuing Israel from Egypt, then leaving them in the wilderness to die. When we combine a relationship with God with obedience to His Word, lives are opened up to the power and presence of God's Spirit in ways that are miraculous. The earth grows bread, rocks bring forth water, clothes don't wear out, walls are torn down, and giants are defeated.
He who is kind to the poor is lending to ADONAI; and he will repay him for his good deed. [Proverbs 19:18]
When we give to the poor, we might feel like our money and work is thrown away to a bottomless void. The opposite is actually true. We are investing in the Kingdom of God, which has rewards in this life and the next that far surpass our limited imaginations. We are building lives that affect generations to come. We draw closer to God and put ourselves in a place where we can experience more and more of His miraculous power.
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food, and someone says to him, "Shalom! Keep warm and eat hearty!" without giving him what he needs, what good does it do? Thus, faith by itself, unaccompanied by actions, is dead. [Ya'akov/James 2:15-17]
It does little good for ourselves or others if we talk about faith and never put faith into action. Going to church or synagogue is not exercising faith. Studying the Bible is not exercising faith. Reciting liturgy is not exercising faith. Giving of yourself and your resources to put God's faith, hope, and love in another human being does exercise faith and the more you do it, the stronger you faith becomes. In doing so, you will not only climb mountains thought impossible to climb, but will actually make them move.
Therefore, understand that it is not for your righteousness that ADONAI your God is giving you this good land to possess. "For you are a stiffnecked people! [D'varim/Deuteronomy 9:6]
We may think that many of the problems that people face are the result of their own sin and wrong choices. We need to consider the fact that no one is righteous, and if it were not for God's grace we would all be hopelessly lost. Have you never made a poor choice, and in the pit of your own making wished there was someone who could help you out? This is what all God's people are called to do. If God can send His Son to die for a people who were living under the control of a pagan nation as the result of their prostitutions with other gods, then we can certainly do what we can to help others both in and outside the community of God's people, not because they deserve it, but because God commands it.
Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim, immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age." [Mattityahu/Matthew 28:19-20]
A disciple of Yeshua was a talmid, which is a student of Torah. Yeshua was a rabbi, who taught His talmidim/disciples Torah, and expected them to teach it to all nations. Certainly a relationship with God is essential, but this relationship with God needs to bear the fruit of Torah, nurtured by the Spirit.
This is just a few of the many Biblical passages which relate to this type of ministry, and Messianic outreach in general.
