Note: As we move towards Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement, Grant Berry, a Messianic believer, speaks about the deeper repentance needed in the Messianic part of the family.
As you have read part one of this article during the month of Av and are now reading part two in the month of Tishri leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, please continue to be prayerful as they focus on some delicate and sensitive issues we need to face during these days.
They will help bring greater love and reconciliation in God’s family between the Messianic body and the Gentile church. It’s also interesting to note that during the month of Av, we remember the destruction of both Temples (Solomon’s and Herod’s), and in Tishri, we come into repentance. It is a convergence of sorts for judgment begins in the house of God (see 1 Peter 4:7), but God’s Heart is merciful, always looking toward restoration.
However, I truly believe in this day that out of the judgments come His heart to restore His body (His holy temple—see 1 Corinthians 3:16-17) to make us ready for all that is coming.
When it comes to the human issues holding back the fullness of love and unity in the family of God between Jew and Gentile, we are actually all in the same boat. And just like our Gentile-believing family has emotional issues to deal with concerning this reconciliation, the same is true of us on the Messianic side.
Speaking from my own experience as a Jewish believer, I can tell you that one of the greatest challenges in my personal walk and in my heart before the Lord is this place of rejection that our people have carried for so long, for thousands of years which in turn has traveled through our generational bloodlines. And this has been compounded as a Jewish believer being mostly rejected by the church and then rejected by our own people for believing that Yeshua is Mashiach.
For this is the spiritual environment that most Messianic believers have grown up in over the last 50 years. And it has had its effects on us in the Messianic body.
But now, as the Lord draws us closer to His bosom, for us to reconcile more with God’s children from the nations, this spirit of rejection that I believe the enemy has been using against us (Jewish believers) needs to be fully exposed. And we need to understand better how it operates, as well as all the negative emotions attached to it. Such is most noticeable in areas of pride and defensiveness that can more easily cause us to be critical and judgmental, and not walk in love or being patient and kind in all circumstances.
This is why gaining a deeper understanding of the Father’s blueprint to restore love and unity in His family is significant for us at this time to help rebuild our confidence in the restoration of His body, as, during these days, His Ekklesia/church must arise out of the darkness. Beforehand, God wants to expose and remove the obstacles in us and the blindness in the church that has caused her to be so separate from Israel in the first place. Then she will be able to see more clearly and fulfill her role to partner with us in Israel’s salvation.
Frequently, when working on this message of reconnection and alignment in the Ekklesia/church, I have faced many of the obstacles which stand in its way and have to deal with and overcome these negative emotions. yet so often, in the process, He whispers in my ear, “I love My church.”
Our Father in heaven is long-suffering and wants none to be lost. As we enter this season of reconciliation in the family of God that will lead to the greater glory being poured out upon us, we need to be patient, trusting our Father and Yeshua/Jesus and His plans to heal the divisions and separations that exist between us to allow this process to transpire. Yet we also must be willing to humble ourselves for the Holy Spirit to heal the issues in our own hearts that fuel separation and division in His body and properly recognize and discern what is holding us back if we are truly to become ONE again with our Gentile believing family. For this to happen, we also need to be really honest with ourselves.
I also believe that the rejection issue has caused greater insecurities among us in the Messianic movement, even causing us to hold too tightly to our identity as Jews. Sometimes, this can cause an overdependence upon liturgy, where there is a danger of legalism to enter in. In this, we all know that legalism can quench the Spirit.
Most Jewish believers in the land (Israel) don’t have to deal with this issue, as they have greater security in their Jewishness as Israelis. Whereas in the diaspora, we have had more of a struggle in this area and truly need to become freer in the Holy Spirit who can set our liturgy on fire for God when there is a greater balance.
Plus, we need to get back to the basics of prayer and evangelism and not trying so much to defend our Jewishness but instead, winning our people back to faith, for without Yeshua they are all still broken off branches that need to be grafted back into the Olive Tree.
Finally, some in our movement have become so extreme, even requiring Gentiles to come back under the law, that when earnest Christians are seeking out our movement and their Jewish roots, they are often quite confused by who we really are (Jewish Roots, One Law and Ephraimites). You can read more about these aberrations in The R911 Project materials. We must pray to God, during these days that we will do a better job of communicating what healthy Messianic Judaism is to help God’s children from the nations to embrace us more readily. We must also gain a better understanding of our call in the Ekklesia/church as Jewish believers.
I believe these are some of the deeper issues holding our movement back at this time as Messianic Jews and Gentiles that the Father wants us to look into more thoroughly. Not to mention the anger some of us still carry towards the church that is in need of healing. I know they are also sensitive and delicate matters, but if we want to get free in these areas, we must be willing to look into our hearts and allow the Father’s mercy to wash us and prepare us for what is to come. This is a new day, and the Lord is doing similar things on the Gentile side of the family to get us ready. So ultimately, we can both be prepared to reconnect with one another and reunite in love and unity in TONM, which will help lay a foundation for other divisions to be reconciled. The other divisions in the body are fully explained and dealt with in The R911 Project teachings.
Beloved, you may not be one of those who has struggled with the church, or God has already brought you through it. But there is such a great need now to pray for our Messianic family to open our hearts to finding greater love and unity with our Gentile believing family who are also being prepared in the same way. This is God’s timing to reconcile us and the reconnection is a power key that opens the door for God’s end-time plans to transpire, and it helps lay the foundation for it.
On the other hand, some or even all of what I have written is touching your spirit. And you know a deeper place is needed for prayer and repentance in your heart. Please pray and connect with the Father and allow Him to heal and wash away any of these negative influences. This restoration is one of the main goals of The R911 Project, for all of us in His body to find greater connection with the Lord, and with one another.
Beloved, please join us on this journey as we begin to go deeper into the Father’s Heart for His family to be ONE. In our next article, we will take a look at how this is going to happen. Until then, lots of love in Yeshua/Jesus.
To learn more about The R911 Project, please click on this link—romans911.org. {eoa}
Author and speaker Grant Berry is the founder of Reconnecting Ministries and producer of The Romans 911 Project. Grant is a Messianic believer in Yeshua/Jesus and is promoting a message into the body of Messiah/Christ during these last days, known as “The Reconnection.” The Reconnection is a term used to describe the reuniting and reconciliation of Jewish and Gentile believers and all races and tongues into John 17 love and unity in “The One New Man” now that Israel’s awakening is upon us. The Romans 911 Project has been created to bring The Reconnection message to light, which has primarily been hidden in the mystery of Israel’s restoration according to Romans 11:25-27. For more information and a special offer on The Romans 911 Project, please visit Romans911.org.
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