What Gift was I Lacking?
The Testimony of Malvern JacobsMalvern Jacobs
What Gift was I Lacking?
The Testimony of Malvern Jacobs
I grew up in Toronto and my family followed G-d in the traditional Jewish manner; we attended synagogue, did good the deeds and the mitzvoth, we aided in charity drives. As I grew and saw the world and wondered about my place in it I became discontented with life and what I thought it had to offer. What Gift was I lacking?
I needed purity. Many questions formed in my mind. How can I obtain this purity, escape from the guilt of sin, freedom from fear, and find an entrance back to G-d.
As it written in the Book of Job (25:4): "How then can man be justified with G-d?" I desired all that G-d had to offer but did not want to give up the so-called pleasures of this unhappy and unsettled world. I pictured myself as a boat, who, on trying to reach shore could not because of the waves which kept pushing me back and the undertow which I experienced that threatened to pull me down. These waves of pride, selfishness and sin were pulling me farther away from the promises of G-d. I needed to return to G-d - I needed a way back to G-d. I knew the demands of our Scripture. The Prophet Isaiah said: "We are all as an unclean thing, all our righteousness are as filthy rags" (64:6) - I needed purity. Rabbi Saul of Tarsus taught: "All have sinned and come short of the glory of G-d "(Romans 3:23) - I needed escape from the guilt of sin. Learning from the Prophet Ezekiel: "The soul that sins shall die" (18:4, 20) - I needed freedom from the fear of death. Another lesson from Isaiah was: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way" (53:6)
I found this peace in the Promised Messiah of Israel. His Name is Y’shua Ha Notsrai ben Yosef; Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph. He is the very Person Isaiah the Prophet said would come: "It shall happen on that day that He of the root of Jesse, who shall stand as an ensign of the people, to Him shall nations come to inquire, to seek, His rest shall be glorious (11:10)."
A follower of this same Y’shua, haShaliach Ya'akov, known as James the Apostle, wrote: "Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father who made the heavenly lights; with Him there is neither variation nor darkness caused by turning. Having made His decision, He gave birth to us through a Word that can be relied upon, in order that we should be a kind of first fruits of all that He created" (James 1:17,18); I found that "G-d loved the world so much that He gave His most precious Gift, His only begotten Son, Y’shua HaMashiach, Jesus the Anointed One, that whosoever, meaning me, will believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
This is the gift! G-d gave me the gifts of His Word, redemption, salvation, life, assurance, victory, hope and peace. As I returned unto Him. He multiplied these gifts in JOY. Believing was and is not enough for me. There was some-thing yet for me to do. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans that the Jewish Messiah died for the sins of the whole world: "I exhort you therefore brethren, by the mercies of Gd, that you present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, acceptable unto G-d, which is your spiritual worship (Romans 12:1)". I have trusted Him for 57 years. I promise my Y’shua will never fail you.
My prayer is that you also will accept Y’shua, as your Messiah, Savior, L-rd and King today. Behold, now is the accepted time . . . the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2, Isaiah 49:8).
Malvern Jacobs B.A. B.Ed. M.Ed. M.Th.S. M.Div., was born in Toronto, Canada in 1929, and was educated at Toronto public, high and Hebrew schools, Prairie Bible Institute (Alberta), Toronto Bible College, Moody Bible Institute (Correspondence, Chicago), Ontario Teachers College, Wycliffe College (University of Toronto), Canada Christian College, George Brown College, Ryerson Institute of Technology (Toronto), and the International Typographical Institute (Colorado Springs). He studied theater under Lorne Greene and John Drainie in the Lorne Greene Drama Workshop, and appeared on and directed stage, film television and radio productions. He went home to be with the L-rd on June 26, 1999.
What happened afer the funeral service. . .this really happened.