Passover Week

Easter Week: Palm Sunday celebrates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as king. Until then, it had been David's city. Jesus entry did not turn out the way people wanted or expected. It was better.

> So like people; we never think as well or as great as God.

> This was the first day of Passover week. The city was teeming with people from all over. It was great joy to celebrate the Exodus. "Passover" refers to how God had the death angel pass over the homes of the Israelite slaves, when the angel came for all the first born of Egypt. An amazing miracle to the people and a very scarey time.

> The angel knew to pass over any home that had lamb's blood framing the door posts. A fore sign of the blood of our lamb, Jesus, that saves us to eternal life. Whoever was under the blood of the lamb was saved/ whoever is under the blood of the lamb, Jesus, will be saved to eternal life with Him.

> The people were set free from Egypt. "Egypt" in Hebrew translates "stress". The people were set free from their stress of slavery, just as belief in Jesus sets us free from worry and fear. We are free to choose and we are free to live eternally with Him and no one can take that from us. Our relationship with Him is spiritual.

> Moses (Heb: "Moshe") was the instrument the Lord used to set the people free from Egypt ("stress"). His name means "drawn out" (from the water). In Egyptian, the name "Mouses" means "born by water". I think it amazing his name in either language is so similar. God had a plan.

> Take the name Moses and read Isaiah 63:11 - 16. Moses was the instrument by which the Lord parted the Red Sea and let the people through - a type of baptism. Moses name relates to water; the Holy Spirit is related to water more than any other element. When we are baptized, we receive the Holy Spirit (the living water) by which we are helped through our lives as believers. God works in us through the water (Holy Spirit). The Lord worked out a huge problem for the Israelites so they could pass through the water - to safety on the other side and a new life in a promised land. AND he closed the way behind so the threat was gone - by using the water (Holy Spirit). The Lord did this by using the one who was drawn from the water for this purpose. 

 

 

> Isn't God wonderful !? So far above us in thought and compassion. And, His word (The Bible) is so complete and proves itself over and over, front to back, time to time and inside out.

> Back to the ride into Jerusalem: Our Savior, born of a virgin, made His triumphant ride into His city on a virgin donkey; from a virgin womb, riding a virgin donkey to a virgin tomb. So pure.

> The people shouted "Hozannah!", Heb: "Save us, please!" Little did they know how He came to answer that plea. We were saved and are now free.

Praise God!

 

The Gospel Truth, Pt 3

Ro 11:4 - 6  In this passage, the word "works" is more correctly translated (from original Greek) to "law".

Ro 13:10  Paul tells us love fulfills the law.  Love God, love your neighbor.  And, the love of Jesus through His sacrifice.

The Ten Commandments are referred to as, "The law written on stone.  IICor 3:7 (Ex 24:12)  This has to be the law that Paul referred to.  Sacrificial laws were done away with because of the blood of Jesus, yes.  But, they were not written on stone. 

Gal 3:10  This verse explains everyone relying on the law is cursed.

Gal 4:22 - 27  In this passage, we are told that the slave woman gave birth to the son of flesh and the free woman, Sarah, gave birth to a son born of spirit.  Sarah's son, Isaac, was an ancestor of Jesus.  This references the law vs grace, which was a constant question in the early church.  Church leaders were preaching law and Christ had died to bring the grace of God allowing us to live according to the will of God and not to His law.  His will is our wellfare.

Eph 2:20  Christ is the living stone (of grace) - replacing the law on cold, dead stone.

Col 2:13 - 15  Our indebtedness, canceled and nailed to the cross.  This is grace over law.

Heb 10:8  Here, Paul explains the animal sacrifices offered with the law; not the law itself.

Heb 11, called "The Faith Chapter":  All these people named here, lived BEFORE the law (Ten Commandments) were given on Mt. Sanai.  They lived by their faith.  They were counted righteous - by faith, NOT by their own works through the law written on stone, or sacrificial laws.

Heb 12:15  is a statement of grace (over law).

Heb 12:18 - 24  Paul compares a mountain of fear, Mt. Sinai, to a mountain of joy, Zion.  The law of the Ten Commandments was given on Sinai and Jesus died on Zion.  He calls Mt Sinai to be feared because the people could not bear what was commanded.  He refers to Jesus as mediator of a new covenant (one without laws). 

 
* Since the resurrection, God no longer tells us "Do this", "Don't do that"; which results in our own efforts.  He gives us freedom to choose to follow the examples and teaching of Jesus and live through His efforts.



Titus 3:9 & 10  Paul instructs Titus to try twice to help people understand the gospel.  If they will not open their minds and listen, avoid them.  He called them warped, sinful and self-condemned.  Jesus, Himself, instructed His disciples to wipe their feet at the house of those who would not listen and move on to those who wanted to hear.  This resulted in Christ taking the gospel to Gentiles, opening up the doors of salvation to everyone.   

Laodicea church: In Revelation 3, God tells this church they are neither hot or cold, meaning they do not teach one or the other, just grace or just the law.  They were trying to live with both.  He goes on to describe His feelings toward this attitude.  It's not good.

Quote:  WHAT a glorious covenant the second covenant (New Covenant) is!  Well might it be called a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.  Heb 8:6

It is so glorious that the very thought of it is enough to overwhelm the soul, when it discerns the amazing condescension and infinite love of God, in having framed a covenant for such unworthy creatures, for such glorious purposes, with such disinterested motives.

It is better than the other covenant, the "covenant of works", which was made with Adam; or that covenant which is said to have been made with Israel, on the day when they came out of Egypt.  It is better, for it is founded upon a better principle.  The Old Covenant was founded on the principle of merit; it was serve God and you shall be rewarded for it.  If you walk perfectly in the fear of the Lord, God will walk well towards you, and all the blessing of Mount Gerizim shall come upon thee, and you shall be exceedingly blessed in this world, and the world which is to come.

But the covenant fell to the ground, because, although it was just that man should be rewarded for his good works, or punished for his evil ones, yet man being sure to sin, and since the fall infallibly tending towards iniquity, the covenant was not suitable for his happiness, nor could it promote his eternal welfare.

C H Spurgeon

Amen

Every Day Miracles

We live with miracles every day.  God, our Father, wants us safe, healthy and prosperous.  
Think: how many times and how many ways have you been saved from near tragedy?  Sometimes you have to be away from the situation in order to see it.  God is always close to us.  I mean, He is as close as living inside of us.

Once we accept Jesus, He never leaves.  He comes and makes His home within us.  Jn 14:23

Let me share a story from my misspent youth: I had been out late one evening, by myself.  (I preferred to go by myself because there always seemed to be a "situation" if I went with a friend.  I had some wild and crazy friends.)  Anyway, I was out drinking in the bar of a bowling alley that I frequented because there was a young crowd, the music I liked, a friendly bartender and I knew a few of the clientele.  It was clean and fairly up scale in a nicer part of town. You never know.  Good and bad looms everywhere together.  Personally, I believe the more good that is present, the more evil is lurking.  

That particular night, the crowd was rowdy.  There was a young woman in the crowd that had too much to drink and she was making a physical spectacle of herself and taunting male clientele by removing parts of her clothing while standing on a table.  The bartender had a couple of her friends remove her and take her home.  I decided it was a good idea for me to call it a night and left for my car in the well lit, parking lot.

I had just put the key in my car's door lock and opened the door when I was pushed inside.  I landed, face up, on the seat with my legs dangling outside.  A stranger was looming over me and coming in on top of me.  The only thing I can remember is thinking to my self, "Oh God".  

Funny how a short simple prayer can be all you need.  The fact that you just think of God when you need Him shows faith.   I had been dedicated to God as an infant, been baptized and went to church regular until the age of 18.  I knew of God's existence.  God knew me even though I had become a wayward "prodigal".  This simple prayer was all that was needed.

I have no idea what happened in the next few moments of time.  The next thing after seeing this man looming over me, I was behind the wheel with my car door shut, and locked.  The man was outside my window knocking on the glass and yelling.  I was anxiously trying to put my car key in the ignition, which I did and drove off.  Surely, you can understand how upset I was and I have never forgotten that simple prayer that has worked for me several times since.

When you belong to God (by belief in His Son), He never lets you go.  You are never alone again.  He loves you and only wants you to believe in Him; just accept Him as our Creator and Savior.  He makes it so easy for us.

Every miracle is not always so dramatic.  More often, they are small miracles throughout the day.  Many times, we do not even recognize them as miracles.  Many times we are not aware of them at all.  We can be delayed in traffic in order to save us from a wreck.  He can remove something harmful from our path that we will never know about.  

It is an amazing thing to be a child of God.
Amen

My Personal God

"My God" has made Himself personal to me:

I called on Him when I prayed "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" during my parents divorce.  I was seven years old and He made His presence known to me.

He put His wings around me during the abuse I endured at the hands of a stepfather, and sent me a savior; my grandfather.

He advised me when I was molested by three teen boys at a bus stop. I was 16.

When there was disappointment over missing high school graduation, due to minor surgery, He was there holding my hand.

I held fast to Him through the loss of two children at birth.

During marriage to an alcoholic, He advised me through His spirit.

He was there to console me after the death of Grandfather, the only earthly father I have known.

An angel, in the form of a police officer, was sent when my brakes failed early one morning on busy city streets.

I prayed "Our Father" in an ambulance after a car accident.  It left me with 44 stitches to my face, a broken foot and crushed vertebra, but He chose to spare my life.

Late one evening, in New York, He sent an angel to perform a miracle and save me from an assault in a public parking lot. 

Again, He held my hand during surgery for malignant tumors, consoled me when I learned that I would never have children and held my hand during the hysterectomy ten years later.

I had traveled across this country for forty-five years to sell my art work.  I remember dangerous driving conditions, storms in the mountains, icey roads and being lost - a lot.  My God was sitting next to me in the passenger seat every inch of the way.

In Alabama, He sent an angel with yet another miracle to keep me from an auto accident with two little girls in my car. 

During a time of great depression, from many wrong choices through the years, He spoke and saved me from suicide.

He has loved me from my conception, with a plan for my life.  Thirty-five years ago, my God placed me in His church, changed my life and my way of thinking and, twenty-six years ago gave me my greatest earthy treasure, a husband who truly loves me.

My God bandaged emotional wounds and started the healing.  He has always made Himself personal to my needs.

He sent me a healer and holds my hand every time I take a treatment for liver failure.

He stepped in to fill a huge void when my mother died and consoles a great loss, again, when my brother died young.

A compound fracture in my ankle was set without anesthetic by a strange doctor in a strange hospital in a city far from home.  I was alone for surgery - except for my God.

Throughout my life, and even now, my God has been with me every minute to make sure I did not suffer more than I could bare.  He has been there watching, teaching, protecting; keeping my heart, my body and my soul in His ever gentle arms.

My God took hate, fear and guilt and replaced them with joy, compassion and peace.

My God is the magnificent "I Am" who made time and space and lives on the sides of the north in the third heaven.  Every existence exists in His thought.  He knows every inch of every star in the universe, every grain of sand on every beach and cares enough about me to know how many hairs are on my head - He is the keeper of my soul.

My God loves, protects, blesses, teaches, comforts, heals and answers my prayers. Getting to know Him is a lifetime of joy and amazement.

The Christian life is not easy but the rewards are great.
Amen

Shape Up

Today:

God has spoken to me.

He told me to "shape up".  Like a spoiled child who wants something they cannot have RIGHT NOW, I have been anxious for our relocation.  My husband's job is over and he will be relocated to another across the state. 

We are unsettled, living in a state of limbo.  There are boxes sitting around with seasonal items packed.  I am trying to close a non profit organization which is dragging out with a couple outstanding checks in the account stopping me from getting final reports to my accountant. This goes on and on with our lives being on hold, trying to close one door and reaching for the next.  

I am anxious to get settled in our retirement home; the one where we can finally put down roots and treat it like ours instead of always considering what the next buyer will want.  I day dream about landscaping and wall murals; organizing a new kitchen and setting up my studio.

Last night, my husband told me of yet another delay.  I wanted to cry out of frustration.  Patience is not one of my  virtues.  This threw me into a bad mood for a time.  The dog sensed it and he was a real "pill" all evening.  I was my old self snapping at my husband all through supper.  (I thought I had put that gal behind me.)

By the end of the evening, I thought I had a hold on things.  The apostle Paul said he was  content in whatever situation he found himself - and he was in many situations worse than what I am.  (I am not in jail or being stoned.)  If he can do it, so can I.   All through the night, my dreams were full of bad scenes about everything that has delayed this transition and more of what can go wrong in the near future - all the issues we face with a major relocation.  The enemy was really working on me.  Just before waking this morning, I remember saying, "I rebuke you, Satan, in the name of Jesus".  Truly, I tell you, this was a major battle that waged most of the night.

Listening to my favorite television evangelists this morning and working through my Bible study, God spoke to me through their words - and His, "Nothing will improve until you learn your lesson to accept things as they are and make the best of this situation."  It's not about me!  (Imagine that.)  It's about the people who will sell the house we will buy.  It's about the people who will buy our home.  It's about timing - God's timing because He is working things out to our benefit and the benefit of all who will be involved.

Time has been a precious commodity for several years.  I have wanted more of it for gardening, cooking and painting in my studio.  Now that I have that time, I am complaining.  Have you ever done that?  So, today, I make a new resolution to get back into my studio, take more time for personal grooming and time with friends I will have to say "goodbye" to and blow the dust off of a cook book.  There are going to be moments when I let all the delays get to me.  After all, the enemy never stops.  But, I have turned a corner and will stop and remember to take advantage of this time God is providing for me - because He is involved in my personal life - just like he is involved in your life.  

Everything in God's  good time.

Amen