Words

You'll notice in the blog that I use some words and/or names, that may be unfamiliar to some of you, in relation to the Bible.  I'd like to provide some details on them below.  I'm also going to offer up some definitions of some very well used terms that I don't think many of us really know, which has a great impact on our understanding of God's Word.


Truth:
   "What is truth?"  That's the question Pilot asked Jesus during His final hours alive.  The very Truth of God, personified, stood right in front of him and he didn't even recognize Him.
We use the word "truth" a lot today, but it almost always seems to be our own idea of it.  Philosophy allows for a very vague sense of truth to be proclaimed.  What's truth to you may not be truth to me and so on.  If that's the case then what's the point of it all??  I mean, really?  If there isn't some standard or accurate definition of truth, then how do we know what is absolute?  Without absolute truth we get absolute lies.

In John 17:17 Yeshua, praying to the Father, said, "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."  The Word of God IS TRUTH.  Yahweh, the Living Creator of the universe, the ONLY God there is, has given us His Word as His revealed will and direction for us.


Faith:
   "Just have faith."  I've heard that before, but faith in what?  In yourself?  Or others?  The Bible says ALL men (and women - sorry ladies) are liars.  There is NONE righteous, not even one!  So we can't have faith in ourselves, no matter how good we might be, because we are NOT perfect!  But we CAN have faith in the perfect God of heaven and earth.
 "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." - Romans 10:17
Faith is simply "believing what God has said."  And more specifically, believing what He has said and acting upon it, thereby proving our faith to be real, and not just a dead faith as James calls it.


Grace:
From the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance:
G5485
χάρις
charis
khar'-ece
From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): - acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).

Did you catch that part about the "divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life"?  That's what grace is - God's holy, divine influence on our redeemed hearts and then His glory shining through our very lives.  Much more than just the definition we've thrown around for years - unmerited favor.
In Ezekiel 36:27 the Lord says that He will give us His Spirit and He will cause us to walk in His statutes and judgments.
In other words, God will enable us to walk humbly in His Ways for not only our own good, but for others to see that light and thereby glorify Him (Matthew 5:16).


Torah:
What is the Torah?  As most people who know the word would say, it's the first five books of Moses.  Genesis through Deuteronomy is what many understand the Torah to be.  Some believe it's just for Jewish people.  However, it is so much more!  It IS God's loving instructions for all His saints - those who believe in Him.
The Hebrew word torah means a "precept or statute" and it comes from the word yarah which means, "to flow as water; to throw; to shoot; to teach or instruct."

Psalm 1:2-3 says, "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, 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 shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."

It's like aiming at a target and hitting the mark.  The Law, or Torah, of God is our direction.
The Greek word for law is nomos and means, "to parcel out as in food or grazing for animals".
Like eating that which nourishes an animal all day long, so the Law of God is food for us!
Deuteronomy 8:3 is the very same verse Yeshua quoted from when the devil came and tempted Him in the wilderness.  It says, "...that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD."


Yahweh or Yahuah:
When I found out that God has a name I was so excited and yet felt a little cheated.  I mean, the God that I said I loved and served, but yet I didn't even know His name, has more than a title I can call Him by and yet I didn't know that!  Why wasn't I told that He has a name?  Granted His Word is the truest definition of who He is, but it's so meaningful to know my Creator's name.  Yahweh means "self existent one".  He was and is and is to come.  God is just a title, not His name, and while I know there are many disputes about whether the name, Yahweh, is 100% accurate or just another variation, I'm reminded that it's still more than I knew before and I hope to know more tomorrow than I do today!


Yeshua or Yehoshua:
As with the name of Yahweh, Yeshua has a specific meaning about who He is:  Yeshua means "salvation".  My Savior is my salvation!!  Jesus is a poor transliteration of the Greek word Iesous which is derived from the Hebrew word 'yeshua'.  Some believe that Iesous comes from the term "son of Zeus".
I call my Savior by His given name which is Yeshua (or possibly Yehoshua), but I'm not vehemently attached to a name as much as I am attached to the One the name belongs to!