When I attended Oral Roberts University in 1992 I read a book called Our Father Abraham: The Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith; it really impacted how I saw myself as a Christian and gave me a true gratitude for the Jewish people. Little did I know several decades later I would be attending a congregation of Jewish and Gentile believers who worship the Messiah as one new man. It is amazing. What is also amazing is the rite of passage called either a Bar (male) or Bat (female) Mitzvah. This ceremony takes place after two years of intensive study. girls start at 10 and boys at 11. I believe it is this two years of intensive study and preparation to be spiritually responsible for their own relationship with God that makes the difference between Messianic (jewish believers) and Christians.
One thing I will never forget reading in the booki I mentioned above is how young children are taught to love God's words by associating it with sweets. It spoke of how Rabbi's would write scriptures on small sweet cakes. The children would read the scriptures from the cake and then eat it. I love this object lesson and how it fully illustrates the scripture the word of God is sweeter to the lips than honey from the honeycomb. I attend a Messianic Congregation in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA. Here every year they have a chocolate Seder (Passover Dinner) on the Thursday evening we celebrate the Resurrection after celebrating the traditional Passover. This re emphasises to the children how sweet it was for the Angel of Death to Passover those who had applied the Blood of the Lamb to their door frames.
We as Christians need to think about several things when it comes to the Jewish people. First for the Jewish people this is not just about faith it is about heritage. The Jewish people are direct descendants of Abraham. When God said to Abraham look at the stars of the sky your people will be equal in number to them. . I do not doubt it Adolf Hitler wanted to wipe out this race he killed 6 million and still there are Jewish people on every continent and every country in the world. They are a resilient people and God has caused them to thrive and flourish wherever they are. It is a testament to His faithfulness. Also, these people have come to realize when you are thrown out of a country with only the clothes on your back all you can take with you is the knowledge in your head. So, Jewish people value education above most hings. Finally, many Jewish people are scared of Christians in just about every case when the Jewish people persecuted it was either condoned, supported, or carried out by people who called themselves Christian. Therefore, many Jews show hate, contempt, and anger toward those of us who claim the Messiah as Lord. This all started in the 3rd century When Constantine decided he wanted to save Rome from falling he created the Roman Catholic Church. He purposely separated the church from the Jewish people. Thus the statue all over Europe of Synagogue and Ecclesia. He sent his Mom to point out all the places she believed Christ was and they claimed them as Holy sites. To this day there are things the Kinessate will not do because it may offend the Church of Rome. I share these things with you because you need to know why the Jewish people do these things and Christians do not. It is because in 313 the Church was split into Jew and Gentile by the will of a Roman Emperor. God is in the process of bringing us back together.
However, for that to happen we need to begin to understand the roots of our faith and teach those roots to our children. Christian and Jewish children are of one family in the Messiah. Are all Jewish people going to accept the Messiah? No, but lets be honest not everyone who calls Jesus Lord is actually serving Him. Those Jews who are believers in Messiah are our brothers grafted into the same olive tree. We need to teach this to our kids so they begin to understand who they are (the Jewish People) and who we are in relation to them.
I think it should start with Christian parents recognizing that their children need to study deeply what it means to serve Messiah at age 10 for girls and 11 for boys. We need to ensue our children have their own independent relationship with the Holy Spirit based on their own knowledge of the word and strong foundation of a relationship listening to and obeying the leading and the voice of the Holy Spirit. While the churches we attend can assist us in this practice, What I have found is the parents of these kids who offer the driving force and the most support and counsel to their kids. Many of us in the church have made the mistake of letting our children think that getting up on Sundy an going to church church is the primary way we serve God. Which is not even almost the truth.
We need to talk about God with our kids. Talk about what He is saying to us about us and about them. We need to talk about how the Holy Spirit told us... and looking back we see what He meant and what our obedience and our disobedience has given/cost us. We need to talk about the whole bible and attend some Messianic congregations to put the Old Testament into its correct perspective. But, most of all we need to live what we believe by thinking, saying, acting, and doing what the word says as best we can. Because our children will take with them 85% of what they see us doing and 15% of what they hear. So, I challenge you to begin to ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you can train your kids to have a real and concrete relationship with the Lord. If you think you could use some help. I will be hosting a class for 6 weeks beginning 2/15/18. Contact me at educatepta@gmail for more information.
Believe in Parenting
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