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Becoming Disciples of Jesus Christ?

In Hebrew culture every boy, from childhood, was trained to be a Rabbi - a long the way they were culled, kind of like we see with rugby teams, or football teams in Australia.

Those who didn't measure up were sent to work in the family business, at each different level.

With our football only the best of the best get to play at a national level. Well its sort of like that for the Hebrew boys, they all longed to go to the next level. You were someone special if you went to the next level.

(A scene was set in and through this cultural mindset - not to remain in it - but to prepare some Hebrew boys for something unique in history)

Now we don't know at what stage of this development in the Hebrew traditions, the disciples of Jesus failed or were rejected by the establishment but some of this preperation they certainly would have done, and they also would have yearned as all Hebrew boys did, to be considered good enough for the next level.

Look at some of the training they went through to try to get picked for "the next level in the institutional framework that was then ministry". We've all seen the adds "pick me pick me" it was like this in their minds.

By age 6 all Hebrew boys must be able to recite word for word the book of Leviticus. By age 12 they were supposed to recite the entire Torah - then they were examined on their knowledge of the Torah, based on how well you questioned the teachers of the law.

If you wowed the teachers of the law with good questions you went on to the Bel Talmud level. This is the cultural setting when we read these scriptures about Jesus .....

Luke 2:42 - "And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. "

Luke 2:46 to 49 - "Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers."

The Bel Talmud lasted 18 years from the age of 12 to 30 - A Rabbi would go to the Bel Talmud and choose from those graduated from the Betsapha and say "FOLLOW ME".

This was the ritual of choosing, and the words that every Hebrew boy from 12 years of age longed to hear from a respected Rabbi, if they were ever to be trained for the ministry.

For those who make it to stage 5 at 30 years old there is a baptism, a water baptism. Any change of status was sealed with a water baptism ceremony. Adoption required a water baptism.

When someone went through the waters of baptism after hearing the words, "Follow me" from the rabbi they were chosen to be discipled by, it was such a thorough change that like the adoption process you were no longer your own, or related the same to your family, - you were now the family of the Rabbi, and he was your father your master your all.

Stage 5 Schmeach - means a person has reached a level of recognised authority -. exousia is the greek equivalent.

To graduate there needed to be 2 or more witnesses who were recognised already to be Schmeach graduates, to say that this person had Authority.

A Rabbi with Authority was allowed to develop his own yoke. The Yoke to a hebrew means "the interpretation of scripture", or doctrin derived from scripture.

If you did not have, or had not been recognised and declared to have reached this level of Authority, you had to follow the yoke of your Rabbi.

The most amazing thing about the Yoke of Jesus, that was so very different from the other Rabbi's, was His revealing of the character of God - the gentleness and humility of God, He said God is love.

Some of the scriptures refering to His yoke were prophesied....

Isa 9:4 - 7 For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian. For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

The yoke of the past has to go, only the yoke of Jesus can be taken on board if you truly want to live in the Kingdom of God.

Isa 10:27b And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

When I see people going into transition, the Lord often has me pray for them annoint them with oil and speak release and sanctification, that they be set apart and sanctified for the purposes of the King Jesus, and His Kingdom.

It has been a very powerful dynamic in God and only the start of restorative miracles that we see take place time and time again as people just co-operate with King Jesus and allow His Spirit to lead them into all truth. Jesus is the truth.

"Oh Lord sanctify us to your yoke, your truth, your will and your Kingdom come. Break every blindness that we may see your glory."

Isa 58:6 - 8 "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. "

Back to the Hebrews boys....

Some of the times where Authority was discussed, recognised, challenged and questioned - are easily recognised even in English or Greek in spite of language differences the tone is there.

"By what authority do you teach?" (exhousia or authority)

"By what authority did John the Baptist teach?"

Once Baptised, the Rabbi went to get disciples. Most Rabbis went to the Bel Talmud to pick out of the students the best for their Disciples.

A Rabbi would want to pick students that could be better than him.

Jesus says, "My Yoke chose fishermen - workers - those who had been rejected by the Bel Talmud".

Jesus disciples came from either those rejected by the dominating religious system, or some were actually disciples of John the Baptist.

Jesus' First Disciples

John 1:35 - 40 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother."

Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. When Jesus came on the scene and His time for rising up to accomplish the will of God was evident, John the Baptist had the appropriate response - "John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease."

"Oh Lord help us not only do what we are called to do in the preparing of others to bring your Kingdom to manifest in the earth, help us when we must decrease so the next layer of your building can increase. Help us see it, help us to make way for it and help us to praise You for that which You are doing"

When Jesus came to the fishermen and said "follow me", He came as a Rabbi with authority to train them for ministry. Think about it these men had longed to be chosen as young men, they had been disqualified from ministry and sent home to learn the trade of their fathers.

That's why when a Rabbi came by who obviously spoke with schmeagh, and said "Follow me", it was such an opportunity that they dropped everything for the opportunity to be taught for the ministry.

Just a thought........

What is Jesus saying here?

Mat 23:8 - 13 "But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.

"Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

"And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. "And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Jesus is saying He is the last Rabbi with Schmeagh, there will be no one after him that can create another yoke. His yoke will forever be the yoke of the Kingdom. - The yoke of the ministry. The teaching and perspective of the word of God that we are all to adhere to.

Mat 11:25 -30 At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

These Hebrew men knew exactly what Jesus was talking about when He invited people to take His yoke. That is why these could say with conviction -

Acts 15:10 -12 "Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they." Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. "

and

Gal 5:1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."

2 Pet 1:17 -20 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation.

(Emphasis mine)

Here Peter is declaring that Jesus authority to interpret scripture was not only recognised, as was custom, by two or three earthly witnesses, Peter is refering back to the mount of transfiguration where Moses and Elijah, the most recognised authorities regarding the word of God, who would know if someone was misrepresenting the way God intended His word to be used, and Father God Himself declared "this is my Son hear you Him." The words declared when a Rabbi was reconised and graduated with authority to interpret scripture.

Jesus Yoke teaches the Kingdom of God,.

When I first came into the things of God and was baptised in the Holy Spirit, I could not understand that no one in the church was talking about or teaching about the Kingdom of God, everyone was talking about lots of other things. Holy Spirit was constantly showing me in the word the things of the Kindgdom. My first sermon in Bible College, a mostly male Bible College I preached to the other students the importance of teaching about the Kingdom of God.

Many of them thought I meant Kingdom verses church or something and that had nothing to do with it. An honest open reading of scripture shows Jesus preaching and teaching about the Kingdom of God, the disciples and Apostles talking and preaching the Kingdom of God.

The church is not where you go on a Sunday even though all that is good, the Church is you and you are also the Kingdom of God on legs , Jesus wants to release His Kingdom everywhere you go.

Jesus considers it a very important subject - Gods Kingdom and King are central to understanding scripture properly.

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." ...

was said to people who taught and recited scripture. What is Jesus saying here.?

I've heard it said that scriipture says "in the last days there will be a famin of the word of God". Derived from Amos 8:11

I beleive what is being expressed here, in the heart of the pastors who are carrying it, is simply that like what happened with Israel, that the word of God was taken so far from what He originally intended for it, that there will once again be so little of the word of God as it is connected to His thoughts in writing it.

When Jesus said "when the son of man comes will He find faith in the earth? - that is speaking of "pistis" - persuasion credence conviction of truthfullness of God - total and utter reliance on Jesus Christ. That is not speaking of a doctrin of faith, it is speaking of "will He find persuasion, credence, conviction of His own truthfullness in our hearts, total trust and reliance on Him." In other words His yoke.

Are we not once again living amongst those who hold fast to their traditions and in so doing, make of no effect the very word of God they so vehemenently speak about - simply because its filtered through private interpretation or tradition.

John the Baptist had Authority - at the baptism of Jesus he recognised the Authority and it was confirmed by the Holy Spirit, and the Father.

- Again at the mount of transfiguration - God's recognition of Jesus as His Son in whome He is well pleased, "HEAR HIM" - is a declaration or witness by the Father Himself, of His authority to correctly interpret the scripture, and the application of it, or create a yoke to be followed. Jesus was recognised and declared by the witness of Father Holy Spirit priestly order (John), to be the authorative son of the living God who alone had the level of relationship, with the Father, to be able to declare truthfully what God's intention of His written word, His will and testament, is. What purpose it has and what God is wanting to accomplish in the earth.

The foundation of Jesus Christ - His declaration of the Character of God - His interpretation and application of scripture, the law of God, the eternal principles of God, the commandments to be adhered to, in the covenant He and the Father were establishing, the better covenant. These are the authorative teaching or yoke, that disciples of Jesus Christ, or those who call themselves Christians, are to adhere to - practise - and preach.

God's love, His gentleness with His people, His unfailing commitment to fulfil covenant with those who He makes covenant with, His patience. Why does Jesus declare, "The Kingdom of God is peace love and joy in the Holy Ghost". Because this is His yoke, it is one that will have the word of God accomplish what it is sent forth to do, and will ensure it does not return to Him void.

It is a more powerful and explosive yoke than anything man had ever seen in their tradition and interpretation of scripture that very often declared God's judgement as a harsh and cruel thing.

Jesus said that, "the goodness of God leads a man to repentance". What a strange yoke or treatment of scripture it must have been to the Hebrew mind.

If you had no Authority - you had to follow teach preach the yoke of your Rabbi. You could not interpret scripture for yourself.

If Jesus has called you to the ministry guess what? You are called to teach and preach His Yoke.

Pastor Les Wallen when I shared this with him looked up the word "burden" from where scripture says "my burden is light", he said it means "The price I will charge you for using". Hmm some are paying a high price to be in ministry could this be a key as to why.

Are we really disciples of Jesus? Do we wear His yoke and teach it?

If not can we call ourselves Disciples of Jesus Christ?

Love and blessings

Lee

About the Author

Lee Bacon is a Director of the Inherent Church and Apostles-today. Founders of a number of ministries including Crossworks and Church in the park, Kenn and Lee have been ministers for over 15 years.

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How To Hang Curtains

Lets start right at the beginning:

Step ladders: Make sure you have a steady pair of steps not to short so you over reach. Your arms will drop of before you have taken your first lesson in how to hang curtains.Not to tall that you cannot reach the window comfortably without leaning out to the side to hang curtains throwing you off balance.

Curtain hooks for standard pencil pleat curtain tape

Curtain hooks Again make sure before you start that you have enough of the right kind of curtain hooks.Light curtains will be fine with standard plastic hooks.

Medium weight curtains use nylon hooks, stronger than plastic. They will flex without breaking.

Heavy curtains use metal nickel hooks, they are bit fiddly to handle they all stick together the box. Just like the Chinese puzzles I had as a child.

Curtain hooks for bucram headed curtains

You will need what are called "pin hooks" simply because they have a sharp pin which pierces through the fabric and bucram (not sure checkout my site) on the back of the curtain header. This kind of heading makes for the best looking curtains. As always the best all ways costs that bit more.

An extra pair of hands

When you are learning how to hang curtains large or heavy it is very useful to have someone standing at ground level holding the curtain taking the weight. This enables you to hang the curtain onto your track or rod with ease.

How many hooks will you need?

Well for curtains with standard pencil pleat tape you will need a hook every 4th pocket.

For bucram headed curtains you will need 1 for every pleat or goblet and one for each end.

Preparing your bucram headed curtains prior to hanging.

The good news other than putting in the pin hooks setting them down 1/2 inch from the top of your curtain. there is no more prepping to do. You just have to learn how to hang curtains and dress them properly.

prepping your pencil pleat curtains prior to hanging:

Standard pencil pleat curtains to start you will need to gather the tape on the top of your curtains. You do this by pulling out the 3 cords in the back of the curtain tape. To start pull the cords out of both ends of the curtain tape and tie them together in a firm knot.

There are 2 reasons for this 1. It stops you pulling the cords completely out of the tape (not a good start when learning how to hang curtains). 2. It keeps the cords together on the end that you pull the cords out to gather your curtain.

Then continue to pull the cords out. Simple tip on gathering your curtains.Take one set of knotted cords and hook over a door handle or some otherfixed object. Then use one hand to hold the curtain tape and with the other hand start to pull the tape away from the door handle. You will see the heading on your curtain start to pleat.

How wide do you curtains need to be?

Next check what half the width of your track or rod measures. Lets say your track is 100 inches long. You half this to 50 inches, then add on 2 inches to allow your curtains to comfortably meet in the middle when hanging. So the finished width that you want to gather each of your pair of curtains is 52 inches. The more you learn how to hang curtains, the more this becomes second nature.

Before you hang curtains.....stop and check!

Before you start to hang your curtain you need to lay your curtain downon a table or the floor and check the gathered width is about right. Then if to narrow then pull out the tape a little. If to wide then gather in the tape a little more.

what about the surplus cord?

Finally sorting out all that surplus cord and evening up the pleats in the tape. DO NOT CUT THE CORDS !. The best solution is to bundle the cords up by wrapping them around all your fingers then tie a slip knot around the bundle. This allows you in the future to alter the header tape should you want to.

Once the cords are sorted out turn the curtain over. You need to look at the pleats and try and even them out. Just do it roughly at this time because when you come to hang them the pleats will move a little.

Last job before hanging your curtains

All most there, before you can hang your curtain you have to put the curtain hooks into the pockets on the back of the tape. On most standard pencil pleat tape there are 3 pockets top, middle and bottom.

How to hang curtains from a rod or pole

If hanging under a rod or pole put your curtain hooks in the top pocket.Also note the number of rings on your rod or pole. This determines the number of hooks you put in the curtain tape. As a rule of thumb you useless hooks on a rod or pole than on a curtain track. On a track put a hook ever 4th pocket and on a ror or pole every 6 to 8 pockets.

Hanging from a track?

If hanging from a curtain track then put your curtain hooks in the center or bottom pocket pocket. this allows the curtain to cover the track when closed. To decide which pocket to use try one and see what your curtain looks like hanging. If your happy then great do the other curtain. If not happy move the curtain hooks up or down to suit.

The 1st step when hanging

A lot of people say you should always start hanging your curtains from the ends of the track or rod and work towards the middle. I Disagree, I say you should always start from the middle and work outwards towards the ends. The reason I advise you do it this way is because if you have

too many gliders on your track or too many rings on your rod you can easily remove them from the ends of your track or rod. Where if you start from the outside in to the middle the surplus gliders or rings are locked in the middle of your track or rod. Meaning you have to unhang your curtains to remove them. Not much more now and you will have the basics on how to hang curtains.

Why do some advise to start from the middle?

The reason is on some tracks and rods, but mostly the corded kind.They have what are called overlap arms. These are short arms made of metal or platic with holes in for the last couple of curtain hooks on each leading edge of your pair of curtains (edges that meet at center of your window). Theses overlap arms allow one curtain to pass and overlap the other curtain by 2 or 3 inches. Thus giving you total privacy.

So what's the big problem?

So where's the problem? the problem is that these arms are not very strong. This means when you start to hang a medium to heavy curtain. Especially without someone carrying the weight they sag and twist or break completely.

Avoiding the problem !

So how do we avoid that when hanging from the center of the track or rod and working outwards. Very simple really, if you need 2 hooks to go in the overlap arm then count in to the 3rd hook and hook this into the first real glider or ring. Leaving the 1st and 2nd curtain hooks to just hang in space. continue hanging your curtain working from the middle outwards. That's how to hang curtains my way (the best way obviously "wink")

Then once you have reached the ends of your track or rod (removing any surplus gliders or rings). You go back to the middle and hook in the last couple of curtain hooks into the overlap arms. So avoiding puttingto much weight on them.

Well I hope you have picked up a few "Tips" on how to hang curtains. This is just the first stage. Next is the "Dressing" of your curtains.

About the Author

Lee Stevens From Window treatments Made easy Everything you ever wanted to know about
window treatments
Design, Making, Fitting and hanging. By someone who does it every day. Luck is where the crossroads of hard work and opportunity cross.

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