Holy Day Greetings from HomeWorship 101™

YHWH clearly warns a-l-l humanity,
as part of the universal Rainbow Covenant given to Noah
“… I will demand a reckoning…”
– Genesis 9:5
.
Sometime in the future, there will be a day,
you are standing in line
and nervously looking up,
you receive a majestic nod to step forward, and give account (Rev.20:12).
GOD will ask:
“What part of ‘Thou shalt not...’ didn't you understand?”

YHWH has ordained one annual Holy Day that teaches humanity Divine Grace and Judgment, and that day is approaching soon – probably sooner then you think. The 10th day of the 7th Biblical month (Saturday, Oct.11, figuring from the first New Moon day Oct.2), for angel and human alike, is one of the most important Holy Days of the year. It is Divine Judgment Day, the fearsome Day of YHWH'S reckoning (Gen.9:5-6); in English it is generally called “the Day of Atonement.” In Hebrew it is called “Yom Kippur.” Jewish tradition teaches that on this day, sometime in the future, the Book of Life will be sealed, and the gates of Heaven will be closed.

“These are the Feasts of the Lord (YHWH),
Holy Convocations
which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.”
- Leviticus 23:4

This year, the Feasts of the seventh month begin with a small controversy. Once again there is a difference between man’s preprinted calendars, and YAHWEH’s Heavenly signs. The sighting of the crescent new moon was later then planned, meaning all the Holy Days should be postponed. Some would say, “…what’s the big deal?” Technically speaking, it is a big deal. Do we follow man’s ‘holidays,’ or proclaim YHWH’s ‘Holy Convocations’ at HIS ‘appointed times.’ I can’t help but wonder, is it a subtle test by YHWH to see how true the Bride really is? (It is interesting to note that this timekeeping problem also exists in the Muslim religion. The majority follows the preprinted calendar, and there is a faction who set dates by watching the new moon.) Log on for the correct Holy Day dates: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_calendar.htm

“Be an example to all believers
in what you teach,
in the way you live,
in your love, your faith, and your purity.”
- 1 Timothy 4:12

The Holy Day of Atonement is the tollbooth on YHWH’s Ancient Path. I pointed out during the spring Holy Days, that surviving Passover means humanity has been 'justified and redeemed' (Exo.ch.12-13). Redeemed means that something has been bought back from the marketplace. Justification means that someone has been judged and found not guilty. In other words, humanities sins washed away in the sea of forgetfulness, and that is a good thing for the spiritual bank account. During the Holy Days of Unleavened Bread YHWH teaches us humility, and on Pentecost HE teaches us HIS Laws and gave us HIS Holy Spirit, which is our helper so that we may learn to live a Holy life. Now comes the time to evaluate how well the Faithful have learned their lessons. In other words it is time to tally up our spiritual bank accounts. Justification and redemption makes our spiritual bank accounts possible, but the account does not contain money it contains the Holy Spirit. If we live a good and honest life the Holy Spirit inside us grows, if we live an evil and sinful life then our Holy Spirit withers and fades. This is the Day YHWH demands HIS toll before one can enter the Gates of Heaven (HIS Kingdom). Over the centuries there have been many opinions on what Judgment Day will be like but YHWH sees our hearts and HE relayed a wonderful parable of the final Judgment in the ancient book of “The Shepherd Of Hermas.” See my Judgment Day webpage: http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c12_judgment_day.htm

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it,…
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God,
and books were opened.
And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.
And the dead were judged according to their works…
The sea gave up the dead who were in it,
and Death and Hades delivered up the dead…
And they were judged, each one according to their works.”
- Revelation 20:11-13

The sage says that the facade of man [or woman] has three sides: What he thinks he is, what others think he is, and what he really is. To understand our place in life, we must be honest and yield ourselves to the higher Divine life force and see our true face. Sometime in the future, there will be a day, you are standing in line and nervously looking up you receive a majestic nod to step forward and give account (Rev.20:12). GOD will ask: What part of "Thou shalt not..." didn't you understand? Here “the customer is always right” motto won’t work. Sidestepping lame excuses, long-winded stories, or saying that’s not my fault it was the devil’s doing, won't work on this day, our FATHER sees our hearts (Heb.4:12). The uncomfortable truth is that the Commandments are for real. YHWH puts choices in front of us and we WILL have to take responsibility and give an accounting of our actions. This is the day, a serious day, to take responsibility for our actions, we should reflect on our life, repent for our sins, forgive and be forgiven. We are commanded to afflict our souls through a 24 hour fast (Lev.23:26-32). For more info log on to: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_fall.htm .

“We love the LORD, of course,
but we often wonder what HE finds to love in us.” - Ed Howe

The true Believer has nothing to fear on Judgment Day. There is some confusion regarding the term Judgment Day, because the same word is associated with different Biblical events, so to clear up some confusion lets review them. Sometime in the future, almost tomorrow, the next big Judgment Day will be after the Conquering Messiah returns to earth and judges the nations of the world. The peacemaker nations will survive and become the nations of the Messiah’s Millennium Kingdom (Mat.25:31-46; Rev.19:11-21) – the haters and warmongers will not survive. The last and final Judgment will be after the Millennium rule of the Messiah when YHWH returns to earth. HE calls the evil angels from their holding cells and all humanity from their graves, and begins the final judgment of whether they will die permanently or enter into eternal life (2Pet.2:4; Rev.20:11-15).

There is only one group of humans that escape these two spiritual judgments, that is the Bride of the Messiah. Sometime before the Messiah returns to earth He will call out His true believers (from the living and the dead) and translate them to the place prepared for them in Heaven (Jon14:2-3). Once there, every person called will spend a little private time with time with the Messiah, not to be judged, their sins are burnt up as wood, hay, and stubble (1Cor.3:11-13), but it will be their unique traits that will be examined, and determined how the candidate can best serve in the Millennium Kingdom – and beyond. Remember: The true believer has nothing to fear on Judgment Day, they have already passed the test – so to speak.

~ Character Counts ~

“I bet you there will be people in hell saying,
'I thought there was no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.'”
- G.A. Jarquin

Facing a Divine Judgment Day causes one to ponder, just exactly what is my covenant obligation? What must I do to receive that approving nod from YHWH to enter the Gates of Heaven? GOD is love (1John 4:8), and HE wants all humanity to join HIM in HIS Kingdom, but there are conditions. YHWH does not believe in the whip of big government, HE promotes self-discipline and small government, and to that end, HE teaches us in HIS Scriptures to heed HIS Commandments, because the bad behavior called “sin” (adultery, fornication, lying, stealing, etc) will not get you to into HIS Kingdom. Sin is mentioned over 640 times in the Bible, unfortunately today, our political and religious leadership does not like to talk about sin any more – it’s too divisive they say, so they talk about empty feel good topics. Let no man deceive you (1Tim.4:13), the hard reality is that sinners cannot get into Heaven – even if they are Christians (1Cor.6:9; Gal.519-21; Eph.5:3-6; Rev.21:8, 22:15), and this is the Holy Day that teaches a-l-l humanity, not just the Jews, to repent and change from your wicked ways.

Today, values, virtues, or personal honor, are terms that have lost much of their objective meaning. In times past, the preferred word was virtue, which included such things as obedience, self-reliance, charity, discipline, cleanliness, a sense of order, and respectability. (All GODLY characteristics that guide the Faithful to living a righteous life.) Respectability was a function of good character, to strive to improve oneself of being morally upstanding, sober, honest, clean, industrious, and punctual. The character of a gentleman or a lady depended not upon fashion or manners - but upon moral worth. Not on personal possessions - but on personal qualities.

Our CREATOR makes the gates of Heaven available,
the Messiah opens the gates,
but you walk through on your own two feet.

Many religious people see GOD as an angry, vengeful, ‘gotcha’ kind of god. They see HIM as a JUDGE with lighting bolts in HIS hands looking to find fault in people to keep them out of HIS Kingdom. For example, many Muslims feel their spiritual life is so hopeless that the only way to wash away their sins is to become martyrs, thinking that if they murder and die for a godly cause they will be guaranteed a place in heaven – sadly these poor souls are only martyrs to misinformation.

The Jews know that murdering people to enforce doctrine is not the way to heaven, but because of all the punishments ancient Israel suffered they generally see GOD the same way. To them “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak,” so they developed many religious rituals to honor GOD hoping that if a member breaks their religious ritual then there is still time to correct the sinner before the Divine judgment catches up with him or her. Sadly all that does is make GOD’S Law a burden, and in the Gospels the religious leadership was chastised harshly for it (Mat.23:1-23).

The Roman Catholics used the angry vengeful GOD image to keep the people fearful of Divine judgment. They used this image to enrich themselves, saying if you pay enough money to the church the pope will give you a free pass to heaven – sic. The early Christian Protestants who knew their Bibles were a little more fair and balanced, they taught a person gets into heaven on their own two feet and people should read their Bibles, learn, and heed the word of GOD. Unfortunately, many of today’s Protestant churches do not really teach the whole Bible anymore, and fearful of loosing their members support, they give the impression that GOD will forgive just about anything.

“We need to weep over the immorality in our homes.
We have to weep and wail that we have broken covenant with God.”
- Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Thankfully, YHWH deals with humanity via HIS Covenants not man’s religions (Mat.22:23), and HE makes allowances for the false education humanity has been taught during their mortal lives. The Gospels lessons are centered on ‘grace,’ which is the advanced concept of mercy. Yahshua teaches humanity that our CREATOR is a GOD who loves and forgives all humanity, even the lowly most wretched person has value, and all should ‘learn’ so they may join HIM in HIS Kingdom (Mat.ch.5-7). The lessons Yahshua taught discount most Jewish oral law, but still use the lessons of the Torah and the Prophets of the Hebrew Bible as foundational guidance, and the main lessons are honor and humility, repentance and kindness.

“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.” – Psalm 51:2-3

These ten days between the two Holy Days of Trumpets and Atonement are traditionally called the Days of Awe. They are awe-inspiring because sometime in the future, almost tomorrow, the newly arrived Messiah has neutralized the warring nations and is now preparing the world for Divine Judgment (Rev.19:11-21; Mat.25:31-34). And sometime in the future, after the thousand-year rule of the Messiah, YHWH has arrived and has neutralized the warring nations, and will now be preparing the world for the final Great White Throne Judgment (Rev.20:7-15). For us mere mortals, the Divine lesson during this time is to forgive and be forgiven. Forgive those who have wronged you, and repent of the wrongs you have caused others. Because in the end, if you cannot forgive others, then you cannot expect to be forgiven (Mat.6:12-15).

“Put off a sin or a piece of a sin every day.” — Rutherford.

The universal theme of this Holy Day is self-improvement. Evolve beyond your primitive sub-routines! Seize the moment to find "at-one-ment" with YAHWEH, and live again! Loose the customer is always right attitude, and the haughty spirit that knows nothing of repenting. One must approach our Covenant responsibilities with a humble spirit, because a humble spirit will learn, the haughty in spirit thinks they know it all and have no need to learn anything. This is a serious day to take responsibility for our actions, we should reflect on our life, repent for our sins, forgive and be forgiven. And find at-one-ment with YHWH and Yahshua. Humanity accomplishes this by afflicting our souls through a 24 hour fast (Lev.23:26-32). For more info log on to: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_fall.htm .

How to: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_fall_observance.htm

Today, modern science would agree with this ancient mandate from heaven: Repentance is good for the soul! It frees you from the heavy baggage of guilt that haunts your subconscious. This is the day to make peace with loved ones and friends, then put the old issues behind you, and start your renewed spiritual life. (A good place to begin learning about personal behavior is from the Biblical Book of Proverbs.)

Believers are commanded to grow in knowledge and grace (2Pet.3:18), to be a living sacrifice…, transformed by the renewing of your mind…(Rom.12:1-2). Seeing the error of your ways is accomplished in the most intelligent and clever way, and driving the point home, is not accomplished through brow beating sermons. Our Biblical example is with King David who stole the wife of one of his captains (2Sam.12:1-13). The Prophet Nathan was directed by YAHWEH to show King David the error of his ways, not by going and yelling at him, but by showing him his sin in the form of a parable, which was a story of a pet lamb.

In this story the Prophet paints a picture of a rich man with much live stock, but when the rich man wanted to provide a dinner for a visitor, he stole the poor mans only lamb. The poor man loved his only lamb and treated it so well it was like a member of the family. It is a wonderful story and anyone who is a pet lover can instantly relate to the example. Coincidentally, King David was once a shepherd and he understood the poor man’s pain. King David became enraged at hearing the story and said the rich man should die for what he did. Upon realizing he was the rich man, it moved King David to repent immediately (2Sam.12:1-14).

Pride is the worst sin, because pride is what caused the dark angels to rebel against YAHWEH. Pride prevents asking for forgiveness, and then there can be no repentance. GODLY sorrow is a much deeper sorrow than simple remorse, GODLY sorrow leads to repentance. In YAHWEH’S Church a Believer must do as King David did, when a person understands their sin, one must repent. It is not merely a religious exercise of just going through the motions. Repentance means a change of mind. It invokes a “revelation,” of not only heartfelt sorrow for the past sins, but a total change of mind, of attitude, of direction and purpose to life. It is like tasting something spoiled, once you realize it, yuck, you spit it out, and think to yourself, I’ll never eat that again!

Psalm 51 describes a three-step process:

[1] Accept responsibility, and acknowledge the transgression, vs.1-2.

[2] Repentance (say you are sorry), then ask forgiveness, and offer restitution to the injured party, vs.3-4.

[3] Change lifestyle to avoid that sin, vs.10-11. Once repented do not commit that sin again (Heb.10:26). Work to strengthen the spirit. Study the Bible to increase knowledge and character in faith - grace - love - gentleness - temperance - patience - modesty - forgiveness - charity - truth - cheerfulness, etc.

This is also a day to give thanks for all the blessings of our CREATOR. Do you sometimes feel like the world is against you? If you need some reasons to give thanks, log on to http://www.homeworship101.com/wp_be_thankful.htm .

“Prayer is reaching out after the unseen;
fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal.
Fasting helps express, deepen,
confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything,
even ourselves to attain what we seek for the Kingdom of God.”
- Andrew Murray

The Day of Atonement is a day of fasting and prayer. A commanded 24-hour fast, and regardless of the day’s activities (if you have to work or not), DO NOT brag about it, or walk around with a sad countenance to show off your fast and sacrifice. It is private affair between you and your CREATOR. Beginning a fast, is also the time for the precious anointing with oil, (Mat.6:16-18). Anointing yourself and loved ones is a powerful spiritual power-tool. The Apostle John writes in 1John 2:27, that anointing refers to the Divine spiritual process in which the Holy Spirit empowers a person’s heart and mind with YAHWEH’S truth and love. For more info log on to: http://www.homeworship101.com/sp-t5_anointing.htm .

“…when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites…
and anoint your head…” - Mat.6:16-17

Those who really need an anointing are easy to spot, the proud in heart, lofty in spirit, covetous in his aims, condemning others, justifying himself, unsympathizing or harsh, etc – they are too proud to humble themselves before YHWH and Yahshua. For more info see the Book of James.

For tips on how to 'invoke' the sacred anointing, log on to http://www.homeworship101.com/sp-t8_order_of_rites.htm

Don’t forget your sea salt!

All believers are part of the Salt Covenant with YHWH (Lev.2:13; 2Chr.13:5). After a day of fasting, seal your prayers of repentance with a lick of pure sea salt to heal the spiritual rift. Modern science is confirming the benefit of YHWH’S ancient rites, (real unprocessed) sea salt acts as preservative for your body. (And believers also know it preserves our spirit!)

Log on to: http://www.homeworship101.com/fyi_salt_covenant.htm

GOD Bless the USA!

Here in America, for a country based on 'unalienable' GOD-given-rights, it should be a national day of fasting and repentance (2Chr.7:14). And the money saved on food during the fast day, should be donated to your local food bank, and then watch the blessings grow.

Our FATHER knows what is good for us. HE wants HIS Faithful to be kind and giving, not as a religious requirement, because it is good for your health. One study by the University of Michigan kept track of 400 elderly couples over a five-year span and they found that couples that gave to charity were twice as likely to outlive those who didn’t! Other studies show that people who give more than they receive – no matter if it’s money, clothes, or even advice – are healthier and happier!

“If you study the Bible without applying it to your daily life,
then it would be better not to study it at all.” - Zac Poonen

Through Noah, YHWH told humanity to form community governments, and HE told us how to run them in the Torah. The reason is simple; learning the personal virtues of this Holy Day also benefits our community. There is a saying; “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.” Our founding fathers knew their Bibles and world history. They knew that basically there are two ways to govern a community. People will either be self-disciplined or need the whip of tyranny. If people are disciplined and honorable then they need less government to control them, if they have no moral character then they will need the whip of big government to control them. The early immigrants who settled this country were self-disciplined because they were a deeply religious, Bible-believing, Christian people - and they built a great country. Unfortunately for the last 50 or more years the minions for the dark side have been hard at work removing the Bible and the founding religious values from our public squares and educational establishments. (Today, the result of turning our backs on GOD and embracing greed can be seen in our banking crisis.) Even if they did want to remove GOD but still promote good values, then you would think that at the very least they would trumpet the Golden Rule – it’s universal and at the heart of spiritual maturity - their silence speaks volumes. In my humble opinion, it would appear that they silently want to ruin this great nation instead of help it.

In Closing…

Meditate, practice, pray,

“You must meditate and dwell upon what you read;…
You must also practice and live out what you read….
You must also pray over what you read….”
- Thomas Brooks (“The Unsearchable Riches of Christ”)

The Judgment Day quote from Revelation 20:13 clearly says “…judged, each one according to their works.” It’s a curious thing; the verse did not mention purity of the religion, but your “works.” This Holy Day teaches our “works” means we are to live, on a daily basis, a righteous life, which in-turn, makes the Faithful, Ambassadors of the Kingdom (2Cor.5:20). The prime directive of Ambassadorship: Love your GOD, and love your neighbor. And, “. . . forgive them for they know not what they do . . .,“ is the motto (Luk.23:34).

To be an Ambassador of the Kingdom means you are a Friend of the Kingdom, not a servant to it. The Faithful are considered Friends because of the Divine Knowledge revealed to them (Jno.15:15).

The Faithful know Satan is the target of this spiritual war not our neighbor (Eph.6:12). Satan is the god of this world and the Believers in our CREATOR are “living in their native lands - but as aliens.”

The Believers are “in this world, but not of this world.” The Believers are citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom of YAHWEH (Phi.3:20), fellow citizens with the Old Testament Saints (Eph.2:19) - under the authority of the Messiah. They follow local customs in clothing, food, and other aspects of life - but as citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom, they are only passing their days on Earth.

Knowin’ is the easy part! This is not a church of potted plants. The citizens are Ambassadors of the Kingdom and represent their Government. This is not a passive role. It is a pro-active role. They live by example and share the spiritual truths that they have learned, using clear and simple language - not political style double-talk (Mat.5:37).

They are “present in the flesh” - but do not live “according to the flesh.” They obey the appointed laws of the community - but go beyond that and follow the Heavenly Laws in their own lives. They are treated with outrageous disrespect - but behave respectfully and bless those in return. They are dishonored and their names blackened - but they gain glory through dishonor and their names are cleared in the Heavenly Book of Life.

In philosophy and religion, it has been said
that you will know the quality of a tree by the fruit that it bears.
.
Enjoy the journey of learning.
> http://www.homeworship101.com/wp_10_commands.htm
> http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c5_sacred_covenants.htm
> http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c12_judgment_day.htm
> http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_fall.htm
> http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_fall_observance.htm
> Ambassadors: http://www.homeworship101.com/sp-t7_sacred_assembly.htm

During your Holy Day prayers, please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all those who stand with Israel (Ps.122).

May you be written in the Book of Life.
Wishing you peace and blessings, Errol.
**********************************************
Errol Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com
website: www.homeworship101.com
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WSC Newsletter 2008-11, posted 10/04/08.

Copyright © 2008 Errol Mueller. All rights reserved. Short quotations, page copying, or redistribution for personal or non-commercial group study is permitted and encouraged, provided they are copied in total with no alterations or deletions. Author’s name, website address, and copyright notice must be included. If any other use is desired, written permission is required.
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Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
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Back to index. Previous newsletter

A Reminder To Repent

Holy Day Greetings from HomeWorship 101™

Don’t forget your sea salt!

GOD Bless the USA!

In Closing…