Though None Go With Me

I know I've shared in previous posts about the chorus I sang when I accepted Yeshua as my Savior, way back when I was 17 yrs old. "I have decided to follow Jesus...no turning back, no turning back." This morning I am thinking about another verse to that chorus which says, "Though none go with me, still I will follow...no turning back, no turning back."

I am blessed to be the mother of 6 children whom I love dearly and endeavored to bring up in the "nurture and admonition of the LORD." To that end, we were in church every time there was a service. When my 2nd daughter was born, she arrived on a Wednesday. We were in church on Sunday, as usual, and I was going forward that Sunday to become an official member of that congregation--an Assemblies of God, as it happens. Every one of my children began their life in the church. Each one was dedicated to the LORD, as Hannah did with her son Samuel. Of my precious children, I know without a doubt that my three oldest, daughters Venetta, Lois, and Holly, all have solid relationships with the LORD and strive to live their lives to please Him, along with their families. My 4th child, my daughter Megan, knows the LORD and had committed her life to Him when she was a teen, but she married an unbeliever and has fallen away from the closeness I would see her know with the LORD. My youngest two, daughter Thea and son Isaac, have chosen to walk the way of the world and have left God out of their lives, though Thea is more obviously still pulled in that direction. My heart desires above all else for each of my children that they will know the LORD and His salvation and the power of His resurrection at work in their hearts & lives. Hard on the heels of that desire is the desire that they would love His Word and walk in all of His ways with all of their hearts.

About two years ago, when my sweetheart Tim & I decided to withdraw our membership in the Assemblies of God--after 25 years of membership in that denomination for me, we left behind my eldest daughter and her husband who are still in that fellowship. They have not understood our desire to walk in ALL the ways of Yeshua, by keeping the Biblical Sabbath, the commanded festivals, the food laws, and other aspects of Torah. They are convinced, because of teaching they have received within the church, that we have thrown away our confidence in the blood of Yeshua for our salvation and are now trusting in our "works" to save us, that we have fallen prey to the "Judaizers" and now have our trust in the flesh and the works of the flesh. Nothing could be further from the truth, but it seems that no matter what I say or what I try to share with them, they refuse to see that it IS possible to have faith in the shed blood of our LORD Yeshua the Messiah for salvation AND walk in obedience to His commandments--NOT because I HAVE to, but because I LOVE Him and I WANT to!!! I am NOT telling them what they have to do, that they have to make the same choices of obedience that I am making. As hard as it is, I am keeping my mouth shut about that and letting the Holy Spirit lead, guide & teach them, just as He has done with me. Nevertheless, it grieves my heart that there is this discord between my eldest daughter, her husband and us. There isn't a lot said, but the tension is thick enough to be cut with a knife. And this morning it weighs especially heavy on my heart! I have always hated being at odds with one or the other of my children. I thought it was hard when they went through the teen years and we found ourselves at odds many times, though my eldest daughter and I had never been at odds, til now. I find that it is especially upsetting when it concerns our walk of faith and fellowship in the Messiah. We believe in the same God, the same blood shed on the cross at Calvary for our redemption, the same LORD & Savior, the same Bible, the same Holy Spirit, but because I have chosen to obey the Torah, the written commandments of God my Father, out of my love for Him and to bring Him pleasure by my willing obedience, as my Savior Yeshua the Messiah did, now there is a wall of separation between my daughter and I.

Question: if my obedience to the Torah means that I have automatically "thrown away" my salvation and am now striving to be "saved" by my works of the flesh, then what about those first believers in the Messiah, who still believed in keeping Torah, as even the Apostle Paul did? The first believers in Messiah still kept Torah and still taught Torah. It was only later, as the "church" became filled with Gentiles and persecution against the Jews became so great, that the "church" disassociated itself with all things "Jewish", including Torah observance. Maybe we should pay more attention to the words of Yeshua Himself in Matthew 5:17-20 (Amplified): Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until the sky and earth pass away and perish, not one smallest letter nor one little hook [identifying certain Hebrew letters] will pass from the Law until all things [it foreshadows] are accomplished. Whoever then breaks or does away with or relaxes one of the least [important] of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least [important] in the kingdom of heaven, but he who practices them and teaches others to do so shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness (your uprightness and your right standing with God) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. I don't know about you, but that seems pretty clear to me that Yeshua still expected people to teach the Torah and to obey it--NOT for salvation, but because the Torah teaches the proper outworking of our faith and the works of righteousness that are to accompany our faith. So even though my fellowship with my daughter and son-in-law is currently broken and it's grieving my heart, I will continue to follow my LORD in faithful obedience to ALL of His Word. Though none-- not even the people who are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, whom I love most dearly in all the earth--go with me, STILL I will follow, NO turning back!