The Clarion, June 2025
Welcome
There is the saying, “Is the cup half full or half empty?” It makes a difference on how you look at things. When trouble comes it is better to have a positive attitude and trust in God.
Isaiah 41:10 says, “ Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand.”
Psalm 46:1 tells us, “God is our protection and source of strength.
He is always ready to help us in times of trouble. So we are not afraid when the earth quakes and the mountains fall into the sea. We are not afraid when the seas become rough and dark and the mountains tremble.”
Good advice from Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Messiah Yeshua.”
And how can we forget Romans 8:37-39,“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.”
Let’s conclude with this in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Today as we begin a new month, let’s keep our eyes on Yeshua for He is our refuge and the God in whom we trust.
Yeshua Our Example of a Life in the Spirit Part 6
For the last several months we have been looking at the fruit of the Spirit in
When God gave the commandments at Mt. Sinai, even the mountain became holy because of God’s presence. Exodus 19: 10-13 tells us this, “The Lord also said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their garments; and have them ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. But you shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall certainly be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall certainly be stoned or shot through; whether animal or person, the violator shall not live.’”
God takes holiness very seriously because God is not common, and because God is not common, He is set apart (holy) and so He can not be near anything that is unclean or sinful or common. God is holy and His Word is also holy. God warns us in two places not to add or subtract from His Word. Deuteronomy 4:2 says, “You shall not add to the Word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I am commanding you.”
And again in Revelation 22:18-19, “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”
Because God gave us His Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20), these commandments cover a wide range of life and they cover the next three chapters of Exodus and they are mentioned even in the next four books of the Torah. They are vast and they have to be, because life is complex and so our lives cover a wide range of situations in which God has told us the right thing to do in these situations. They have been reduced down to love God and love your neighbor. We see that love is the first fruit of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 13 says this, “ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
So we see why love would be first in any commandment. When Yeshua was asked,He said this in Mark 12: 28b-31, “What commandment is the foremost of all?’ Yeshua answered, ‘The foremost is, ‘Hear Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”’
So too, love sums up the fruit of the Spirit, but just like the Commandments which cover chapters of the Bible, there are more than just one fruit of the Spirit.
Yeshua sent us the Holy Spirit. John 15:26-27 records this, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you are testifying as well, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
Luke 11:13 tells us that the Holy Spirit is a gift. “So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
Luke 12:12 tells us He is our teacher, “ Now when they bring you before the synagogues and the officials and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Acts 1:1-2 says that the Holy Spirit was directing Yeshua. “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Yeshua began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had given orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen.
Acts 1:16 even says that the Holy Spirit spoke through David. “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Yeshua.”
And they all spoke by the Holy Spirit in Act 2:4, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.”
We see that the Holy Spirit gives us utterance and teaches us and even leads us, but He also gives us gifts as Hebrews 2:1-4 says, “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every violation and act of disobedience received a just punishment, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”
Those gifts can be found in 1 Corinthians 12. But as we close we see in
John 15:5 this, “I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
This fruit is the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:16-26 says,“ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well. Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”
John 15:8-11 continues, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”
How can there be a law against what is lawful? How is your fruit these days?
Safetyzoneforteen.com Does Pornography Affect the Mind ?
Pornography is booming in today’s society. It is estimated that 40 million adults here alone in America visited porn sites in 2022 and we know that this number increased in 2023. But is spending time on porn sites good for us? There is an area in the brain which we call the “Reward Center.” In this area of the brain is where we form our habits. It also is the area in which many chemicals are released, for one, dopamine. It is called the “Pleasure Chemical.” So when anything gives you pleasure, dopamine is released into your body, but for most of our daily behavior the brain knows when to shut off the dopamine. But with pornography the brain responds differently than if you are, let’s say, eating your favorite foods. The brain has an on off switch when dealing with most pleasures but pornography impacts the brain much like an addictive drug by triggering ever-increasing amounts of dopamine. Over time, the brain builds up a tolerance to the excess dopamine and requires either more access or more extreme content (or sometimes both) to achieve that same level of perceived pleasure. According to Canopy, “Research from a Neuroscience of Internet Pornography Addiction report indicates that extended exposure to pornography correlates with less activity in the brain’s reward circuit. Furthermore, once the reward center is altered by “free” dopamine triggers like porn, it can lead to a person compulsively seeking out the activity that triggered the dopamine discharge. In short, when viewing pornography, your brain gets less pleasure while wanting more, often causing desensitization and an escalation in behavior. When your brain’s reward center triggers the release of dopamine and related chemicals, it also releases a protein (DeltaFosB) that serves as a “reinforcer. In effect, it creates neural pathways to connect what someone is doing to how they feel—in this case, strongly connecting pleasure to the act of watching pornography. This connection in turn results in greater demand for the activity, making it more and more likely that one returns to porn, according to the Neuroscience of Internet Pornography Addiction report. If enough of this reinforcing protein builds up, it can cause lasting changes to your brain that leaves you even more vulnerable to addiction.” So where does this leave you? Well, for married men you know longer remain faithful to your wife, but you go after the lust that you have created, because like an alcoholic, you just can’t get enough and like a drug addict you have to have stronger pills and more often. The craving never stops. You are never satisfied, so it leaves you with a hatred for women. Sexual aggressiveness is a major message presented in modern pornography, and one review of popular porn videos found that in 9 out of 10, a woman was being beaten, yelled at, or otherwise harmed. Today teens are becoming a big percentage of those who regularly view porn. The risk of becoming addicted to pornography is higher for teenagers as the reward centers in their brains respond 2-4 times more strongly than those of adult brains. According to Psychology Today, “Teenagers who are exposed to sexual content are more likely to have sex at a younger age, and early exposure to pornography is a risk factor for sex addictions and other intimacy disorders.”
Today if you find yourself going on porn sites, seek help, for they say , “It only takes one drink to make you an alcoholic, a one time drug user can end up dead and viewing porn even once, will never leave your brain. Visit the “First Aid Kit” on this website.
Hebrew Corner: The Fourth Persecution Under Marcus
The relative peace enjoyed by the Christians under the rule of the Emperor Antoninus Pius was followed during the next regime by an era of extraordinarily violent and massive anti-Christian movements that probably surpassed in intensity all the persecutions that the Christians endured during the First and Second Centuries. It is not uncommon to hear the name Marcus Aurelius who persecuted the Christians. He was ruthless with his anti-Christian edicts. Everywhere, in all the cities, writes P. J. Twisck, the imperial edicts and decrees against the Christians were posted up; by reason of which the magistrates and officers proceeded very cruelly against them, persecuting them even unto death, with great atrocity and fury. For, no mode of torture, punishment, or death, however great, severe, and unmerciful, could be devised, produced, or planned, by these wicked men, these tyrants, and instruments of the devil, but what it was thought, that the Christians, as accursed, as enemies of the Kingdom, and as the cause of all misfortune, deserved a thousand times more. To be publicly mocked, eternally imprisoned, exiled, scourged, stoned, strangled, hanged, beheaded, and burned, was deemed far too little. They began, at this time, to ply the poor people with red hot plates until they were dead; to tear the flesh from their bones with red hot tongs; to place them upon iron stools over a slow fire. The fourth persecution has its beginning of the reign of Marcus Aurelius, in the year 162, but the persecution reached its climax in the year 168. During Marcus Aurelius’s reign and with his full sanction, Felicitas, Justin Martyr, Polycarp, and many thousands of less renowned Christians were cruelly tortured to death. Polycarp the 86 year old bishop of Smyrna was allowed to pray for an hour before being taken. During that time of prayer his guards hearing his prayer repented that they had taken him prisoner, but nonetheless, he was condemned for not renouncing the Messiah, and was burnt in the marketplace for all to see. Many women were also martyred, one was Felicitatis, who was a devout Christian and had seven sons. The eldest was scourged and pressed to death with weights. The next two were beaten till their heads were crushed. The fourth was thrown off a precipice and the last three were beheaded along with their mother. We could go on and on, but let’s make the point of all of this. As believers in Messiah we must be prepared to die for what we believe and in whom we believe. If we are not ready to die for the Messiah, then how can we say that we are believers? If we were, then we would be not only ready, but willing to die for the One who gave up His life for us. Yeshua is our example and all those who went before us. We can not only speak our faith but we must also live it out, and that may mean we might have to die for it. Thousands of believers have died for the sake of their beliefs, not begrudgingly but in love. Love never fails and God never leaves us.
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