Summary

SummaryMy name is Justin. Before encountering Jesus, I was living a chaotic life. Growing up with a pastor grandfather, I attended church as a teenager but never fully connected with Jesus. By age seventeen I walked away from faith, feeling the New Testament’s rules lacked context. I began partying hardβ€”sleeping around, using drugs daily, and eventually became addicted to cocaine. I sank into depression, isolation, and hopelessness, even contemplating ending my life while lying on my bedroom floor in my wife’s arms.

One night, as I watched my son asleep, I suddenly understood what Jesus meant when He prayed, β€œLet this cup pass from me.” I realized that Jesus chose to bear the curses described in the Old Testament so that we wouldn’t have to. As a father, I couldn’t imagine asking my own child to endure separation from me. That realization broke me to my knees. I wept for nearly an hour and cried out to God, acknowledging my spiritual poverty and surrendering my broken heart. In that moment, I felt the chains of addiction loosen. Where I had spent twenty years trying to break free, God freed me instantly, filling me with love and peace.

Years later, I took a DNA test and discovered Jewish ancestry on both my mother’s and father’s sides. Learning I had even a small amount of Ashkenazi and Sephardic heritage sparked an intense desire to study the Tanakh (Old Testament). Suddenly the pieces clicked: every prophecy, every foreshadowing of the Messiah pointed to Jesus. I understood why the New Testament had felt disconnected as a teenβ€”because the Gospel is woven throughout the Tanakh. Studying scriptures like Isaiah 52:7 and Proverbs 30 revealed that knowing God truly comes through His Son.

Now standing in Jerusalem, I walk where Jesus walkedβ€”in the Galilee, on the Mount of Olives, along the Temple stepsβ€”and each stone and vista brings the Bible alive. Though life still has hardships, my suffering is different: I face it with the Holy Spirit’s fruitβ€”joy, love, patience, kindnessβ€”rather than darkness and despair. My hope is that others will study both Testaments, embrace their heritage, and encounter the living God who fulfilled every promise in Yeshua.

Justin battled with sin and emptinessβ€”until he encountered Jesus. Years later, discovering his Jewish heritage led him to the Tanakh, where everything about his faith finally made sense. Watch how.

Follow Justin: @TheBacaProject

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Jeff Morgan, Elisha Lazarus, and Arielle Randle are the hosts of SO BE IT! Their lives were radically transformed by Jesus Yeshua and love sharing their faith with their fellow Jewish people.

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Time Chapters
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01:14 Life Before Jesus
03:00 Spiral into Addiction
07:07 Crying Out & Surrender
09:23 Discovering Jewish Roots
10:10 Connecting Tanakh Prophecies
12:26 Gospel Revealed in Old Testament
15:05 Filled with Holy Spirit
19:45 Experiencing Jerusalem’s History
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SO BE IT!
Welcome to SO BE IT!, a video project of Jews for Jesus. We exist to serve our people and to spark meaningful conversations about Jewish life with faith in Jesus. On this channel, you’ll discover genuine and authentic dialogue between Jewish people in Israel and across the world, be inspired by firsthand accounts of Jewish people whose lives have been transformed by encountering Jesus, and learn how Jewish followers of Jesus are living out their faith today. Jeff Morgan, Elisha Lazarus and Arielle Randle are the hosts of SO BE IT. Their lives were drastically transformed by the Messiah Jesus-Yeshua and are devoted to serving the LORD by sharing his love with the world.
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