Program 114: Faith: the empty hand that grasps the promise

Faith is simply the choice to believe based on knowledge of Yahuwah’s unchanging character of love.

Welcome to WLC Radio, a subsidiary of World’s Last Chance Ministries, an online ministry dedicated to learning how to live in constant readiness for the Savior's return.

For two thousand years, believers of every generation have longed to be the last generation. Contrary to popular belief, though, Christ did not give believers “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, he repeatedly warned that his coming would take even the faithful by surprise. Yahushua urgently warned believers to be ready because, he said, “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [Matthew 24:44]

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Part 1: (Miles & Dave)

Miles Robey: Hello! I’m Miles Robey and, on behalf of the team at World’s Last Chance, I want to welcome you to today’s program. Joining me as always, is Dave Wright who shares his wisdom and brings many insights as a student of Scripture to any topic we discuss.

Dave Wright: Thank you, Miles. It’s a privilege to work together with you and the rest of the WLC team, sharing truths from the Holy Bible.

If this is your first time tuning in, let me explain a few names that may be unfamiliar to you. Scripture repeatedly encourages believers to “Call upon the name of the Lord.” But, in the original Hebrew, it doesn’t actually say that. It says we are to “Call upon the name of Yahuwah,” which is the Creator’s personal name.

Miles: “Yah” is all right, too. That shows up in Scripture a couple of times. The divine name comes from hayah, which is a Hebrew verb-of-being. You think about it, it’s the perfect name for the Creator. He is the self-existent one. He is, He was, He shall be.

And, when you pair His name with your need, it becomes a very powerful promise you can claim. That is what it truly means to call upon the name of Yahuwah.

Dave: It’s a shame how all of that rich meaning has been lost in our modern translations. Names are typically transliterated so we get an approximate sound resembling, as close as possible, the name as it is said in the original language. But Satan wanted to hide the power of the divine name. He covered it up by substituting the generic titles of “lord” and “god” instead.

It’s a privilege to know the Father’s name, so that’s why here at WLC, we prefer to use His personal name.

Miles: Scripture does use some titles. “Adonai,” “el,” “elohim” … these are Hebrew titles that refer to the Creator. The Saviour’s name is similar to the Father’s. His name is Yahushua, or more commonly, Yahshua. It also has a beautiful significance. Yahushua means “Yahuwah’s salvation.” That’s what he is; so, that’s his name. He is “Yahuwah’s salvation.”

So. That said, let’s get on to today’s discussion. I want to talk about faith. “Faith” is one of those terms, like “righteousness” and “sanctification” that we tend to use a lot, while most of us have only a vague, working knowledge of what it actually means. And, because we don’t have a clear understanding of what it is, it’s easy to have an incorrect idea of the true nature of faith.

I’m hoping you can shed some light on that for us today, Dave. What is the true nature of faith and how can we use that knowledge for overcoming?

Dave: Well, you’re right. A lot of people misunderstand the true nature of faith. Consequently, they deprive themselves of tremendous gifts—gifts Heaven is just waiting to bestow, but can’t unless asked.

Miles: Why is that? I’ve never really understood that point. After all, Matthew 5:45 says that Yah “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Why should spiritual gifts be different than the temporal gifts of sun and rain?

Dave: Because the Father values and respects your freedom of choice. He will never impose His will on anyone. He will prolong life, giving the rain and sun, keeping the seasons within reasonable bounds, but He will never force anyone to choose righteousness and truth over rebellion and error. He is a lover of liberty and supports even the rights of His enemies to turn their back on Him.

Miles: All right. Makes sense. That’s actually quite reassuring, isn’t it? I know, as a young Christian, I struggled to make a full surrender because I was afraid that I was going to become some will-less mind-slave that was forced to be weird and do things I really didn’t want to do. But, in retrospect, that was just Satan trying to scare me from making a full surrender.

Dave: Right. It’s Satan who tries to force our will. Yahuwah guarantees freedom of choice. Always.

Miles: In speaking of faith, I’ve always kind of viewed it as … I don’t know. A kind of spiritual attainment. Some people have it—and they’re the lucky ones—but the rest of us poor schmucks just have to blunder along as best we can. And it’s sort of hit-or-miss: sometimes you have it, sometimes you don’t.

Dave: I think a lot of people have that sort of vague, undefined feeling about faith. But it’s incorrect. Faith is simply the hand that receives the gift. Nothing more; nothing less.

Miles: What do you mean?

Dave: Well, uh … do you cook?

Miles: Uh … I won’t starve, but no. Not a lot. I make a delicious lasagna but that’s just because it’s my favorite food. Beyond that, it’s just the basics.

Dave: All right. You’ve made this big pan of lasagna, the kitchen is filled with mouth-watering aromas, and you’ve just dished yourself up a big plate of it. The cheese is all melty and running everywhere … and in walks your hungry kid.

He immediately starts sniffing the air like a bloodhound: “Mmmm! You made lasagna??”

You could deny it. Hide it. Horde it. But you do love the little rug-rat after all, so like the loving father you are, you say: “Yep! You want some?”

There’s no hesitation: “Yes!” and he reaches for your plate.

Miles: Sounds about right. I swear that kid has a hollow leg. He’s hungry again just as soon as he stands up from the table!

Dave: Okay. Did your son do anything to “earn” the lasagna?

Miles: Nope!

Dave: Aside from the fact that you love him, does he “deserve” it?

Miles: Not really! He’s just a hungry little beggar.

Dave: All right. Faith is the empty hand of your son, trusting that what has been promised will be received. There’s no special merit in reaching for the gift. He didn’t earn it by reaching for it. He doesn’t deserve it. He simply accepts it. That’s what faith is—an empty beggar’s hand.

Miles: Hmm. I can see that. We’ve defined faith on our programs before, but what you’re giving is a working definition of faith.

Dave: Yes. But … you have it? Go ahead and read the definition. It’s good to have that, too.

Miles: All right. It says faith is “the assent [or agreement] of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting on his authority and veracity [or truthfulness], without other evidence.”

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” [Hebrews 11:1]

Dave: In other words, you believe what someone says because you know that person so well, you judge him or her to be honest, dependable and believable. So, you don’t need any other proof. The other person’s word is enough.

That’s why your son, reaching for a plate of food you just dished up, had every confidence that you would give him the food. He didn’t necessarily deserve it; he hadn’t earned it. But because he knows his dad, and he knows his dad loves him, he trusted you to make good on your offer of the food and give it to him.

Miles: So how do you get faith? I like your working definition of it, but it still doesn’t really explain how you get it.

Dave: That’s the best part: faith, itself just like every other blessing from Yah, is a gift.

Miles: You ask for it?

Dave: Well, sure! You can always ask for more—and you should! But you’ve already been given some! Turn to Romans 12. There’s a fascinating little verse tucked away here that we tend to overlook, but it’s very significant. It’s verse 3. Romans 12, verse 3.

Go ahead.

Miles: “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as Yah has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

Dave: The amount of faith given to you might be different than the amount given to me, or to someone in the jungles of … South America.

But the amount of faith given to each person is enough for that individual to believe that when he or she asks for more faith, increased faith will be given. We’re all different, with different backgrounds, different inheritances, different baggage. Some people may need more faith in order to believe.

But the amount we’ve been given is sufficient to grasp that the promise we’re claiming will be fulfilled. Maybe the first promise we ever claim is simply for increased faith. The faith we’ve been given is sufficient to believe that what we’ve asked for will be given us.

Miles: This is really helpful. Because, you know, you read through the stories of the Bible and—especially those in the New Testament—and it’s easy to form this idea that faith is something you attain. There’s the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15. She had great faith!

Dave: Why don’t you go ahead and turn there. Let’s take a look at that.

Miles: All right, uh … let’s see. Verses 21 to 28. You want me to read the whole thing?

Dave: Sure.

Miles:

Then Yahushua went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

But he answered her not a word.

And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

But he answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Then she came and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

But he answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”

And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

Then Yahushua answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Dave: I know this story sometimes bothers people. It sounds, almost, as if Yahushua were calling her a dog. But that’s not what was happening. He saw an opportunity to show his disciples that the blessings of heaven are gifts of divine grace. It’s not something we can ever earn. They are, again, the beggar’s hand reaching out to accept the gift. Nothing more.

Miles: How do you get that from this story?

Dave: Well, for one thing, this mother was a Canaanite. She wasn’t even one of the chosen people of Israel. Now, to us today, that’s obvious. We know that Heaven’s blessings are for everyone. But that wasn’t obvious to the disciples. To their way of thinking, she didn’t deserve to have her request granted.

Miles: One of those awful, non-believers.

Dave: Well, yeah! This woman wasn’t like the Samaritan woman with whom Yahushua spoke at the well. The Samaritans may have had some error, but they still believed in Yah as the one and only true god.

There’s nothing in the gospel record to indicate that this woman was anything but what she’s described as being: a Canaanite.

Her religion was different. Her style of dress was different. The sanctimonious disciples would have viewed her as a slut because they would have considered her style of dress immodest since it left her arms bare.

Miles: Oh, gasp!

Dave chuckles: My point is that, to the disciples’ point of view, this woman was completely undeserving of receiving a blessing. She wasn’t the right religion; she wasn’t wearing the right clothes. She was a heathen.

And yet …

Miles: She had faith.

Dave: She had faith. She’d heard the stories of Yahushua from somewhere and the faith Yah had given her was enough for her faith to grasp that if she appealed to the Saviour for help, he would help her.

And he did!

Miles: Same with the centurion. You remember, he had that servant who was sick and he went to Yahushua and asked him to heal his servant.

Being the ever-gracious person he always was, the Saviour said, “Sure! No problem. I’ll come and heal him.”

Dave: Not the response the centurion was expecting!

Miles: No! He said, “No, no, no! That’s all right. You don’t need to do that. I know all about authority. Just say the word and my servant shall be healed.”

And the very next thing Yahushua says is: “Wow. I haven’t found faith like this anywhere! Not even in Israel!”

Dave: Like the Canaanite woman, this man was, ostensibly, an enemy of Israel! He was a Roman centurion. And yet, he had lived in Israel long enough to perceive that the truths of the Israelite religion were superior to his own.

And, like the Canaanite woman, he’d heard stories of Yahushua: his miracles of healing, his compassion to the outcast, and the faith which Yahuwah Himself had planted in the heart of the Centurion was enough for him to go to the Saviour and say, “Just say the word and my servant shall be healed.”

That is faith, and that’s a gift.

* * *

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* * *Part 2: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: We’ve been talking about faith. Faith is the agreement of the mind that what someone else says is true, without needing any other evidence. It’s soul-deep belief that what the other person says can be trusted to be the truth.

It’s not earned; it’s not attained: it’s a gift.

Dave: I think the one story that captures this more than any other is the story of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda. You remember, he’d been paralyzed for 38 years and when the Messiah stopped by his pallet and told him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk,” [John 5:8], what did he do?

Miles: He got up, picked up his bed, and walked!

Dave: Instantly he was made well! Why? Because his faith grasped the promise in the Saviour’s words. If he had hesitated, if he had said, “Well, how do you expect me to do that?!” He would have lost his chance to be healed! Instead, faith was the hand that grasped the promise. And he rose, picked up his bed, and walked.

Faith is not something you achieve through force of will. It’s a gift of divine grace.

Miles: Okay, let’s talk about grace and the role it plays. I think “grace” is another one of those terms we toss around without any real clear understanding of what it is.

Dave: “Grace” is easy. Grace is, simply, the undeserved love and favor we receive from Yah. It’s undeserved, unmerited favor. Turn over to Romans 5. There’s a passage here that talks about Yah’s grace.

Yah’s infinite love, as demonstrated by the gospel, is that all of His gifts are freely given to people who do not deserve them. They’re given willingly to people who cannot earn them.

Miles: Got it. Romans 5.

Dave: Okay. Start with verses 1 and 2, then read verses 6 to 8.

And folks, as he reads this, pay attention to the condition of the people who receive Yah’s gifts of grace.

Go ahead.

Miles:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with Yah through our Lord Yahushua Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of Yahuwah. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But Yah demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Dave: What did we have to do to become worthy of salvation? When did Christ die for us?

Miles: While we were yet sinners. That’s beautiful. This tells us that there is absolutely nothing we can do to “earn” Yah’s help; nothing we can do to “earn” forgiveness.

Dave: What’s more, it tells us that there is nothing Yahuwah expects from us before He forgives us and saves us. Our part is simply to be willing to accept the gift. That’s it! The plan of salvation was put into place to save everyone.

However, only those who will extend the hand of faith and actually receive it, will benefit from it.

Miles: This reminds me of a report I read on a website called Unclaimed.com. It’s a website that helps people track missing assets. Anyway, they reported that consumers—and I think this is in the US alone—spent $80 billion dollars on gift cards and gift certificates last year alone! Of that staggering amount, five to ten percent are never redeemed.

Dave: That’s a lot! That’s, what, $4 to $8 billion dollars, just sitting there.

Miles: I’m sure there’s probably a variety of reasons why they go unclaimed, but that’s a lot of money! And, yeah! It’s just sitting there, completely worthless to those who, I’m sure, could put it to good use if they’d only claim it.

Dave: What’s even worse is that, every single day, believers are doing the same thing! You don’t have to beg Yah for a blessing. He wants to bless you! Do you remember what He says in Malachi 3:10? He’s encouraging the people to have faith that He’ll take care of them. They don’t have to hold on to their tithe—

Miles: You can’t out-give the Lord.

Dave: You really can’t. And in Malachi 3, Yah is urging the people to test Him, to give Him the chance to prove how large a blessing He’ll give.

Miles: I’ve got it here. Let me read it. It says, quote:

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says Yahuwah of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.” Unquote.

Dave: This is how the Father gives. In Luke 6:38, Yahushua says the same thing. He says: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.”

You can’t earn it; you don’t deserve it. All you can do is accept it.

Miles: That’s the beauty of the gospel message: Yah’s love for those who will never, and can never, deserve it.

Dave: The plan of salvation is actually very simple. It’s summed up in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 21. Would you read that for us?

Miles: “For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of Yah in him.”

Dave: This is describing a legal transaction. The Saviour died for our sins, so that, in return, we could receive his righteousness.

Miles: We’ve got the sweet end of the deal.

Dave: Just goes to show the depth of Yah’s love for each one of us. Yahushua lived a pure, sinless life. This is what allowed Yahuwah to raise him back to life. “The wages of sin is death”? [Romans 6:23] All right. He had no sins. Nothing he needed to die for. Consequently, he could die in our stead.

Miles: This is justification by faith. When we accept Yahushua’s death on our behalf, the Father credits that to our account.

Dave: And we stand before Yah as though we’d never sinned. That is the gospel, pure and simple. “For Yah so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16]

But that’s not all. It’s not just the blood of Christ that is credited to the sinner’s account, but the pure, sinless life of the Saviour is also credited to the believer’s account. So, yes. We stand before Yah as though we had never sinned. But what’s more is that we stand before Him as though our entire life had been spent in active service for the good of others, in a life of perfect obedience to the divine law. The record of Yahushua’s perfect life is credited to us every bit as much as the blood of his death.

Miles: Justification by faith is the gift that keeps on giving.

Dave: It really is. And, again, this incredible transaction of divine grace is not earned! It is, and ever shall be, a gift.

Miles: Amen. This reminds me of a passage in Romans 3. Listen while I read it. These verses really tie it all together well. Verses 21 to 26 say, quote:

But now the righteousness of Yah apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of Yah, through faith in Yahushua Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Yah, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Yahushua, whom Yah set forth as a propitiation by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance Yah had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Yahushua.

Dave: That’s perfect: we are justified freely by His grace. As Paul says in Ephesians 2: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of Yah, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” [Ephesians 2:8-9]

It’s not because of our works. Works would be making ourselves better before we accept the gift. Works would be resisting temptation for X-number of times to “prove” how sorry we are before we ask for forgiveness. That’s works.

Grace stands there and says: “You don’t have to make yourself better. Just come. Right now. Just as you are.”

Miles: That’s kind of what the very next verse says. Ephesians 2, verse 10 says: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Yahushua for good works, which Yahuwah prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” I love this verse because it emphasizes that saving us, cleansing us, forgiving us, transforming us … that’s all Yah’s work. We are His workmanship. Not ours.

Dave: The only thing any of us can do to be justified is to extend the hand of faith and receive the gift. That’s it!

Miles: You know, being raised Protestant, I heard a lot of verbal jabs made against Roman Catholics. For example, the Catholic doctrine of mortification of the flesh was held up as a perfect example of righteousness by works.

Dave: It is!

Miles: Yeah, it is. But Protestants have their own extremes. They have their own version of righteousness by works.

Dave: In what way?

Miles: Well, a lot of Protestants fall into the subtle trap of accepting justification for past sins … but then they assume that they must maintain that state of saving grace by living a virtuous lifestyle.

Dave: And, of course, a “virtuous” lifestyle is one that is self-consciously self-denying.

Miles: Exactly. Then, of course, the flip side is cheap grace: the idea that since Christ did it all, obedience to the divine law is no longer required. So you’ve got these two extremes, both of which are wrong.

Dave: They are, but do you know why?

Miles: Why?

Dave: They’re incorrect because each error assumes that justification is a one-time transaction. In other words, justification occurs at the moment of salvation, for that moment, and then you have to maintain that justification in your own strength. Or, the other extreme, says that since justification does it all, I am now free to sin and keep on sinning until Yahushua comes.

Miles: Sort of a have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too, enjoy-the-pleasures-of-sin-and-still-be-saved mentality.

Dave: You got it. The truth, though, is far larger, and much more hope-inspiring than either of these extremes. When we receive the gift of justification by faith, we receive as gifts both the death of Christ and the righteousness of his sinless life. That means that we are gifted with what is, quite literally, a new life.

New passions, new desires, new goals, new likes and dislikes. With Yahushua living in us by faith, obedience itself is a gift!

Turn to Galatians 2. I think this passage explains it the most clearly. Galatians 2, verses 20 and 21.

Miles: All right, it says:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of Yah, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of Yah; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.

Dave: When, by faith, we are crucified with Christ, our death becomes his so that his life becomes ours! And by faith, we are enabled to obey.

Yes, obedience is still required. It makes no sense whatsoever that people could be saved engaging in conscious, willful rebellion against the stated will of Yah, when that was the very thing which caused the fall in the first place! But obedience itself is a gift that comes with the gift of justification by faith.

Miles: That’s the perfect balance, isn’t it? Yes, obedience to the divine law is still required. But it’s not something we can ever do in our own strength. Obedience itself is a gift of grace! That transforms everything, doesn’t it?

Dave: It does! Who wants to keep sinning, when sinning itself is a form of mental (and often physical) slavery? Turn to Romans 6 and read verses 12 to 14.

Miles: All right … it says, quote:

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to Yahuwah as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to Yahuwah. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Dave: One more: Romans 6, verses 1 to 4. I wish everyone who believes the law of Yah was nailed to the cross would take the time to meditate on this passage.

What does it say?

Miles:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

Yah forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Yahushua Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [See Romans 6:1-4.]

Dave: Obedience and righteous works are the end result … the product, the fruit of being justified.

Obedience will never buy you justification. Again, obedience itself is a gift of grace.

Miles: Remember John 1, verse 12? “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of Yah, even to them that believe on his name.”

Dave: I wonder sometimes if people say the law was nailed to the cross because they know they can’t keep it.

Don’t worry! Yah knows you can’t keep it either. And that’s why He’s supplied it as a gift. Like every other blessing that comes from Yah, they’re all gifts of grace.

You can’t earn it; you don’t deserve it. You can only accept it.

* * *

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WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

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* * *Daily Mailbag (Miles & Dave)

Miles: David Banda sent in a question to our Daily Mailbag. He is writing to us from the country of Malawi, in Africa.

Dave: … And?

Miles: Well, aren’t you going to share with us some fascinating fact about Malawi from your vast repertoire of trivia?

Dave: Uh … I’ve got nothing.

Miles: Well, I’ve got something for you: one-fifth of Malawi is covered by this one giant lake, Lake Malawi, that is the ninth-largest lake in the entire world.

Dave: Wow! I’ll bet it’s beautiful.

So, what’s David’s question?

Miles: He writes: “Dear Brothers, Greetings in the name of Yahushua! Do you have any advice on how I can get the most out of reading the Bible? May Yahuwah continue to bless you and your ministry above all that you could ever ask or think.”

Dave: Thank you, David. It is definitely Yah’s many blessings that enables us to do what we do.

First let me say what a fantastic question this is. The truths of Scripture are so deep that you can spend your entire life reading it and still find new depths of meaning.

Miles: That’s why it’s so important to go through the Scriptures over and over. As we learn more, we discover hidden gems scattered throughout we never knew were there!

Dave: Right. There are actually several things you can do to optimize your Bible reading. The first is to make sure you keep it in context. It’s so easy to take things out of context, but that’s where we start running into trouble.

Miles: Well, that’s how cults form, isn’t it? They’ll take a handful of “proof texts” and build their entire doctrinal structure on that.

Dave: It’s important to pay attention to context. To whom was it written, and under what circumstances? Proof texting is the main culprit behind doctrinal errors. And yet, since they can ostensibly “quote the Bible,” people fall for it. That’s why it’s always important to read everything in context.

Miles: I remember a sermon I listened to once. The pastor built up this entire argument on this one verse taken from Job, but when I looked it up in my own Bible, lo and behold! The verse was taken from a passage quoting one of Job’s friends! You know, the ones Yahuwah rebuked for being wrong?

Dave: Ouch!

Miles: Yeah. Kind of threw his whole presentation into doubt with that one discovery.

Dave: That’s what happens. Often the very verses that have been left out are the ones that prove their interpretation is wrong. You have to be so careful to take everything in context.

Another thing that can help is to have a plan for reading the Bible.

Miles: Does that work for you? You know, those read-the-Bible-through-in-a-year plans? I’ve never been able to finish.

Dave: Let me guess: you get bogged down in a chapter or two—

Miles: That, or I’ll get a busy day and get behind in my reading, which just compounds it for the next day, and the next. Soon, I’m so far behind, I just give up.

Dave: Well, reading through the Bible in a year that way works for a lot of people, and doesn’t for others. But it’s not the only Bible reading plan. There are others.

For example, you could start with the gospels. They're very easy to understand. Next, read all the books of Moses. After that, you could move on to the writings of Paul or the books of Hebrew history: Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Chronicles, etc. It doesn’t have to be Genesis to Revelation.

Miles: Basically, take it in bite-sized chunks.

Dave: Exactly. Of course, whenever you open the Bible, always pray and ask for the spirit of Yah to guide you in your study and teach you what is truth, as well as what you need to know for that day.

Miles: Personalize it.

Dave: Personalize your reading, too. Ask yourself, “How does this apply to my life, my situation?” Remember, Yah’s word is His personal love letter to you. If you don’t understand what you’re reading, slow down until you do.

Miles: I think that’s why I’ve never really cared for the read-the-Bible-through-in-a-year plans. It’s not fun reading something you don’t understand, and the Bible is deep.

Dave: Yes, but remember it was written by the common man, for the common man. It wasn’t written for scholars. It was written for you and me: the average person. So, if you don’t understand, pray and ask for help!

Miles: Spiritual things are spiritually discerned.

Dave: Yah’s promise in Revelation 3 is that, if we will ask Him, He will give us the eye salve of spiritual discernment. Anything you need, you can pray and ask for, and He’ll give it to you.

Miles: Amen. That’s really good. I want to add just a thought to this.

Dave: Sure! Go ahead.

Miles: One thing that has really blessed my spiritual life is meditation. Now, I know a lot of Christians, they hear the word “meditation” and their defenses go up.

Dave jokes: “Get thee behind me, Satan!”

Miles: Exactly! They dismiss it as some New Age woo-woo stuff. But meditation is actually a Biblically sound practice. Listen to this. It’s the first few verses of Psalm 1. It says:

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of Yahuwah,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper. [Psalm 1:1-3]

Dave: That’s interesting that it clearly links having a flourishing spiritual life with meditating on Yah’s word.

Miles: I think people get mixed up because there are two definitions of the word “meditate.” One definition is to empty the mind and try and achieve an altered state. That comes from the eastern religions. That’s not the type of meditation the Bible promotes, however.

The second definition of meditate is to focus your thoughts on a particular passage or concept of Scripture. It doesn’t mean to sit there in a lotus position and chant “Ommmm.” It means to really think about what you’re reading; contemplate it.

Dave: Proverbs 3 speaks of departing from evil and fearing Yahuwah, saying: “It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.” In a real sense, that’s what meditating on the word of Yah does, too.

Miles: We eat the bread of life, ingest it, what we focus our attention on it and absorb its precepts into our thoughts and feelings, our desires and secret motivations. That’s how we’re transformed from the inside out.

Dave: Really quickly, one more way you can get the most out of your Bible reading is to do a subject search. If you don’t have a concordance, that’s all right. There are concordances online you can use. You look up a word, and then look up every single time that word appears in Scripture. I guarantee, by the time you’ve done that, you’ll have a grasp of that particular concept like nothing else can give you.

Miles: I did that once with the word “trust.” By the time I got through looking up every use of the word trust, I’ll tell you, my faith was so strong! It was a beautiful study.

Dave: I’m sure! It was doing that which led me to first accept the truth that the triune godhead is a doctrine that cannot be supported by Scripture. I looked up every use of the word “spirit” and it’s just “breath”! From Genesis to Revelation, that’s all it is. Therefore, the “Holy Spirit” is Yah’s breath. That’s all!

You can do that with any word and it will not only broaden your understanding of Scripture, but it will greatly increase your faith and trust in Yah, too.

Miles: Well, that’s all we’ve time for today. If you have a question, comment, prayer request—just send us a message. Go to WorldsLastChance.com and click on “Contact us.” We look forward to receiving your messages.

* * *Daily Promise

Hello! This is Elise O’Brien with today’s daily promise from Yah’s word.

Have you ever hit rock bottom? I mean, have you ever hit the ground so hard you hit bedrock and simply couldn’t sink any further?

I want to tell you about one woman who did. She doesn’t want her real name to be known, so I’ll call her Sara. Sara grew up in a loving Christian home. Her father was a Baptist minister and her mother a compassionate, godly woman who truly exemplified what it means to be a follower of Christ.

But, like a lot of preacher’s kids, Sara turned her back on her upbringing and the values her parents had tried to instill. At 19, Sara had a new best friend: alcohol. She loved to drink! She loved how it made her feel. When she drank, her stress and worries melted away. She felt like she could conquer the world!

When she was 21, Sara married a soldier. They moved frequently and her drinking increased. When her husband was stationed in a war zone overseas, Sara’s drinking reached the point that her friends and family began to notice and comment on it. Several of them expressed concern for her, bluntly telling her that she had a drinking problem and needed help. However, Sara shrugged off their concern, telling them what she knew they wanted to hear.

When her husband returned from war, he was sent to another country and this time, Sara accompanied him. The culture shock and stress of living in a new country that spoke a different language meant that Sara drank even more. She began hiding bottles of vodka all over their home, being careful to throw away the receipts before returning home. She would stay up late, drinking into the wee hours of the morning, being careful to go to bed before her husband had to get up for work in the morning. She hated who she had become, but had no desire to quit.

Then one day she received the heart-breaking news that her grandmother, a wonderful woman with whom she had always shared a close connection, had died. Sara was heart-broken. There was no way she could return home for the funeral, but her family sent her a video of the memorial service. Her husband was away for a few days, so Sara sat down with tissues, and two new bottles of vodka. By the end of the recording Sara was sobbing uncontrollably.

She felt disgusted with herself. She was ashamed of how far she had fallen, wracked with guilt over the choices she had made, and humiliated at what she had become. She had hit rock bottom and couldn’t sink any lower. Combined with her grief over the loss of her grandmother, Sara decided to just end it all and the best way to do that was to literally drink herself to death and die by alcohol poisoning.

She got up and started hunting for every bottle of alcohol hidden around the house. As she walked past the kitchen door, however, a strange sensation stopped her. She physically felt two large, warm hands settle on her shoulders and gently press down. Sara sank to her knees, her face to the floor, and sobbed, begging for Yahuwah to help her. She knew how far she’d fallen from the god-fearing Christian she’d been raised to be. She didn’t deserve His love or His help, but she pleaded for both.

She told Yah that she didn’t want to continue living the way she had been but she didn’t know how to stop. She didn’t want to go on, but she didn’t want to die, either. She just wanted Yahuwah to take over.

Softly, through her tears, Sara heard a voice in her head say, gently, “Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.” Over, and over again, the voice repeated those words. Sara felt a peace suffuse her that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. In that moment she felt completely sober. The desire for alcohol was gone and to this day, nearly 10 years later, has never returned.

If you have hit rock bottom, don’t despair. Turn to the heavenly Father and ask for His hand. Isaiah 59, verse 1, says:

Behold, Yahuwah’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.

Yahuwah will never turn from anyone who calls to Him for help, but He is near to help, strengthen, encourage, and forgive. Psalm 34, verse 18 declares: “Yahuwah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

We have been given great and precious promises. Go and start claiming!

* * *Part 3: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: We have such cause for hope! We have such huge reasons to trust in the Father.

He knows what we need in order to be saved, and He has provided every single thing we could ever need for salvation. Everything! All we need to do is reach out that hand of faith and accept it,

Dave: Out of all of Christ’s parables, my favorite has always been the story of the prodigal son. You know it: the young man asked for his inheritance while his father was still alive. The father gave it to him—

Miles: And the ungrateful wretch went off, blew it all on fast living, and then once he was penniless, wakes up and decides to return home.

Dave: No one is denying the son was an ungrateful wretch. But it’s the next part I like best. Luke chapter 15 verse 20 says that while he “was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”

While he was “yet a great way off”! You know what that tells me? That tells me his father was watching for him. Every day, he’d look down to the end of the road, watching for his son’s return. He wasn’t going to keep the kid there against his will; he’d give him his freedom. But his heart never gave up hope that the son would return.

Miles: That’s a message to take to heart for each of us.

Listen, friends, it doesn’t matter how hopeless you think your situation is. It doesn’t matter how far you’ve fallen.

Dave: Yah specializes in hopeless cases!

Miles: Don’t listen to Satan’s suggestion to stay away from Yah until you’ve made yourself better, until you’ve resisted temptation enough, until you think you’re “good enough” to come to Yah.

Dave: If you wait to do that, you’ll never come.

Miles: And the truth is, we can’t make ourselves better! So, Yah doesn’t expect us to. John 6, verse 37 says: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” That means you, wherever in the world you are, whatever is going on in your life.

I don’t know who you are; Dave doesn’t know. But the Father knows. He knows where you are. He knows what’s going on in your life, and He’s got all the power in the universe to give you what you need.

Dave: Amen. Each one of us needs to be like that prodigal son. Don’t wait! Go to the Father right now. He will meet you “a great way off.” He’s watching for you. He wants you to return.

You may not have the strength to take a step toward Him, but you don’t have to. Just reach out the hand of faith, that empty hand, and simply receive the gifts He is waiting to bestow.

Miles: He’s waiting with arms wide open to receive you. He hears every prayer, even the unspoken ones. He knows what’s in your heart. He knows your fears, your doubts, your struggles and weaknesses. He knows the longing of your deepest hidden desires, and what’s more, His deepest desire is your happiness! So He’s made available, as a free gift, anything you need in order to be saved.

Dave: No one is saved by their own efforts; only by choosing to accept the gift. That’s it! So make that choice today.

Miles: I’d like to share one text in closing. It’s from Jeremiah 31 verse 3 and it says:

Yahuwah has appeared of old to me, saying:
Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

He loves you! Not because you’re perfect. Not because you’re sinless—because you’re not, and He knows it. He loves you because He’s the Creator, and you’re you.

Join us again tomorrow, and until then, remember: Yahuwah loves you . . . and He is safe to trust!

* * *

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This program and past episodes of WLC Radio are available for downloading on our website. They're great for sharing with friends and for use in Bible studies! They're also an excellent resource for those worshipping Yahuwah alone at home. To listen to previously aired programs, visit our website at WorldsLastChance.com. Click on the WLC Radio icon displayed on our homepage.

In his teachings and parables, the Savior gave no “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, the thrust of his message was constant … vigilance. Join us again tomorrow for another truth-filled message as we explore various topics focused on the Savior's return and how to live in constant readiness to welcome him warmly when he comes.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.