Last week we learned how we are related to Jesus. We are joint-heirs with him, being children of God. We found out we are also in the promise God made to Abraham of making him a great nation. We are an Israelite spiritually! This is our family in the new neighborhood! Anytime the bible talks about Israel or the Children of Israel, we can relate that to us spiritually.
This week we are studying about the neighborhood our elder brother, Jesus, saved us from having to live in eternally, forever and ever. This is a bad neighborhood to have to live that long, or for any length of time, for that matter.
In Heaven before any of man was created, God made angels. He made them for His pleasure, doing His will, to praise Him for the majestic God He is, the Creator of Heaven and earth and all its inhabitants. The angels fly around Him continually praising Him for His works and declaring He is holy.
God created one particular angel to do a special work. Apparently he was also very beautiful, having an air about him that was just a notch above all the other angels. God created him for the same beauty as the others, for God’s pleasure. However, this angel rose up thinking more highly of himself than he should and God’s nature could not tolerate that kind of rebellion. God’s nature is love and holiness. Pride has no place around Him. So in order to remove this pride, he had to remove the creature. The scripture says God had already created the earth, but no mention of the creation, Man, as of yet. The scripture says God cast this angel to earth. This angel’s name is Lucifer. This was his heavenly name. The name Lucifer means ‘light bearer’, meaning the light of God, His glory. Lucifer was to bear the light of God, and bring honor to God Himself. Let’s read the scripture where Lucifer rises up in pride:
Isaiah 14:13-14 “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High:
Here the scripture repeats what Lucifer says out loud about himself. Let’s take the verses apart to explain further:
“I will ascend into heaven” means he is rising into the very throne room of God.
“I will exalt my throne” means he feels he has some kind of power, first, to do this. To exalt his throne means he is exclaiming he is going to rule in some manner in heaven. We all know there cannot be two Gods. So he was stating he was going to rule over God Himself. Pretty bold statement, isn’t it?
“above the stars of God” mean the angels. Angels were also symbolically called stars, heavenly bodies. Lucifer was stating here, he was going to raise his throne to rule over the angels.
“I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation” means he’s saying he’s going to have control over all that attend in heaven.
“I will be like the most High” means he thought he would be like God. He was comparing himself to God. He had a very high opinion of himself that made him declare he basically was going to take over heaven!
So we see Lucifer made a stand in heaven against God. This was not a very intelligent thing to do. God will not share His throne with anyone. Why should he? He created everyone! The Creator is not ruled by the created.
So, God was given the task of removing this pride from heaven. However, when God did so, the scriptures say that 1/3 of the angels decided to go with him. They rebelled against their Creator also. These are referred to as ‘the fallen angels’. In the book of Revelation, John saw some things and was asked to record it. In these scriptures the story of Lucifer and the Israelites [which is now us] is described in picture form. The dragon is Lucifer, the stars are angels and the Woman is the Israelites [which is now us]. Listen to this true story which is still being played out today:
Revelation chapter 12: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”.
Pretty interesting picture, isn’t it, of Lucifer falling, along with his angels, and persecuting those that are saved by the blood of Christ?
Let’s go back to our original scripture in Isaiah 14 and read about the place God prepared for the devil and the angels that rebelled.
Isaiah 14 “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming:” “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”” Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;”
Also in Jude 1:6 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day”.
Also in 2 Peter 2:4 “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;”
Then in Matthew 25:41 Jesus was telling His disciples “everlasting fire was prepared for the devil and his angels”.
So we see that hell was prepared for the devil and the angels that rebelled against God for an everlasting [forever and ever] place of fire.
Yet there are many, many verses in the bible that also tell mankind that God will not tolerate rebellion from them. We are not exempt from the punishment of fire if we rebel against God and do not accept Jesus Christ as Savior.
Psalm 9:17 says this “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God”. Some say ‘well I’m not a wicked person. I’m not that bad! Well, let’s see what the original word of wicked means. In this scripture the original Hebrew word wicked is ‘rawshaw’ meaning morally wrong. Morals are your standards, your ethics. So, here the verse can read “those that have wrong standards and ethics shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God”. So, what are right standards? The bible! It is truth!
Back to other scriptures that tell us hell will take humans; Isaiah 5:14 “Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and the wicked’s glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it”.
We as humans are not exempt from being cast into hell as we see in the scripture. And since being wicked, or morally wrong, our standards being against the bible, we too, as Christ followers can go backward and let down our standards of ethics and morals and decline to such a point where when either we die or Christ returns, we too can be turned toward the place prepared for the devil.
This is why our spiritual growth toward Christlikeness is important. We need to know the truth about our lives in the new neighborhood. Our elder brother, Jesus, died to keep us out of hell, and to take us to heaven one day with Him. It’s our responsibility to accept what He did, and continue in it!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Her New Neighborhood - Part B
Last week we learned about Abraham fathering Isaac, the ‘promised son’. Isaac had Esau and Jacob, later God renaming Jacob Israel. Israel had 12 sons. We listed those sons according to their Mothers and surrogate Mothers.
This week we are going onward to learn how these families became related to us today as Christians. We will learn how we not only became the family of God, but the people of God, related to the Jews in the bible.
God told Abraham He would make him a great nation, that there would be many numbered in his family from then on.
Turn to Matthew 1:17; “So are the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations;” Here we see King David, ruler over the ISRAEL-ites, is related to Abraham, meaning all the people born between them are Abrahams’ legacy, his family.
Turn to 2 Samuel 7:12. Here God is promising David something; “and when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his Kingdom.” And verse 16 “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.”
God promised David his throne would be established forever, meaning one of his sons would sit on his throne forever. Forever is a long time, isn’t it? How can a human have rule forever when there is eternity to consider?
Turn back to Matthew 1:17 “and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are 14 generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are 14 generations.”
So here we see David is related to Jesus. In Psalm 110:1&4 David fortold these words; verse 1“The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Verse 4 “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Melchizadek and Jesus were both of the Tribe [or son] of Levi, Leah being his Mother. The Tribe of Levi God set aside as the priests for the Tabernacle we are studying on Wednesday nights with Bro. Doug. When he speaks of the priests, Bro. Doug is talking about Levi’s family. God was saying there would always be a priest on the throne of David forever, eternity.
In Matthew 22:41-46 Jesus repeated those words of David to the priests, trying to explain He is Christ; “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in the spirit call him Lord, saying The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord’ how is he his son?”
The Jews, which were the Pharisees, a branch of the priests [Tribe of Levi] knew they were promised the Messiah to deliver them. He was called Christ which means “anointed One”. So Jesus was saying ‘here I am. I am of the family of King David, which is of the family of Abraham. I am the anointed One’, but very few believed on Him as the Messiah.
Yet, we believe on Him as the Messiah, the anointed One, the Savior of this world and that made us ‘born’ into the family of God. Accepting Jesus as OUR Savior births us into God’s family.
Turn to Romans 8:17 “And IF children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Here God is telling us IF we accept Christ as our Savior, we become an heir, a child of His. Everything Jesus has, we have, because the bible clearly states we are joint-heirs with Christ. Christ has righteousness [right standing with God], we have righteousness [right standing with God] because of Him, we are joint-heirs!
But this is not all we have. Because we are joint-heirs with Jesus, all Jesus had on this earth, we share as His sisters. So, Abraham was Jesus’ great-great-great [multiple times] Grandfather, Abraham is ours too. So, we are daughters of Abraham because we accepted Jesus and became His sister, we related to him. Everyone that has EVER accepted Jesus as their Savior became a son or daughter of Abraham. This is how God brought about the promise to Abraham of becoming a great nation.
So, anytime we read about the children of Israel, the bible is talking about us! This is spiritually how we are the Israelites. We are the chosen people of God. We are God’s people. God promised King David one of his sons would rule on the throne forever. Through Jesus this has become true. Forever, eternity, Jesus rules as King!
This week we are going onward to learn how these families became related to us today as Christians. We will learn how we not only became the family of God, but the people of God, related to the Jews in the bible.
God told Abraham He would make him a great nation, that there would be many numbered in his family from then on.
Turn to Matthew 1:17; “So are the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations;” Here we see King David, ruler over the ISRAEL-ites, is related to Abraham, meaning all the people born between them are Abrahams’ legacy, his family.
Turn to 2 Samuel 7:12. Here God is promising David something; “and when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his Kingdom.” And verse 16 “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.”
God promised David his throne would be established forever, meaning one of his sons would sit on his throne forever. Forever is a long time, isn’t it? How can a human have rule forever when there is eternity to consider?
Turn back to Matthew 1:17 “and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are 14 generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are 14 generations.”
So here we see David is related to Jesus. In Psalm 110:1&4 David fortold these words; verse 1“The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Verse 4 “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Melchizadek and Jesus were both of the Tribe [or son] of Levi, Leah being his Mother. The Tribe of Levi God set aside as the priests for the Tabernacle we are studying on Wednesday nights with Bro. Doug. When he speaks of the priests, Bro. Doug is talking about Levi’s family. God was saying there would always be a priest on the throne of David forever, eternity.
In Matthew 22:41-46 Jesus repeated those words of David to the priests, trying to explain He is Christ; “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in the spirit call him Lord, saying The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord’ how is he his son?”
The Jews, which were the Pharisees, a branch of the priests [Tribe of Levi] knew they were promised the Messiah to deliver them. He was called Christ which means “anointed One”. So Jesus was saying ‘here I am. I am of the family of King David, which is of the family of Abraham. I am the anointed One’, but very few believed on Him as the Messiah.
Yet, we believe on Him as the Messiah, the anointed One, the Savior of this world and that made us ‘born’ into the family of God. Accepting Jesus as OUR Savior births us into God’s family.
Turn to Romans 8:17 “And IF children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Here God is telling us IF we accept Christ as our Savior, we become an heir, a child of His. Everything Jesus has, we have, because the bible clearly states we are joint-heirs with Christ. Christ has righteousness [right standing with God], we have righteousness [right standing with God] because of Him, we are joint-heirs!
But this is not all we have. Because we are joint-heirs with Jesus, all Jesus had on this earth, we share as His sisters. So, Abraham was Jesus’ great-great-great [multiple times] Grandfather, Abraham is ours too. So, we are daughters of Abraham because we accepted Jesus and became His sister, we related to him. Everyone that has EVER accepted Jesus as their Savior became a son or daughter of Abraham. This is how God brought about the promise to Abraham of becoming a great nation.
So, anytime we read about the children of Israel, the bible is talking about us! This is spiritually how we are the Israelites. We are the chosen people of God. We are God’s people. God promised King David one of his sons would rule on the throne forever. Through Jesus this has become true. Forever, eternity, Jesus rules as King!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Her New Neighborhood
In our last lesson we learned how God provided a perfect unblemished Lamb for our sin we were born with because of the disobedience of Adam to God, but his obedience to satan and how satan was then the ruler of this world. God provided a blood sacrifice for our sin, and that sacrifice was Jesus, His only Son. When we accept what Jesus did on the cross, His blood for our sin, and we became whole and righteous because we traded places with Jesus and received HIS wholeness and HIS righteousness.
This week God wants us to learn more about His family we were ‘born’ into when we were ‘born again’ in the spirit into His Kingdom. We are born into the family of God. But God wants us to see in His word where He says this, so we know the truth and can always find it in our bible when satan tries to lie to us and tell us we are not in God’s family.
In one of our lessons God told us about Abraham and how He told him he would make him a great nation. This meant Abraham would have many in his family from then on. But somehow, Sarah being barren, God made this promise to Abraham, knowing it would take trust in Him to bring it to pass.
The custom of the day was if a Woman was barren, she could have a child through her handmaiden and call the child hers. This is using the handmaiden as we would call in our day as a surrogate Mother. So, they did so, but Sarah became jealous of the woman and child and threw them out of the home. But God had compassion on the woman and child and took care of them.
It took 20 years for the promise of a son God made to Abraham to come to pass and Isaac was born. Isaac was called all through the bible ‘the promise, or the promised son’. Isaac is the person they are referring to.
Isaac grew up, married a woman name Rebekah and had twin sons; Esau and Jacob, Esau being the firstborn. Esau gave his birthright to Jacob and Jacob also deceived his Father to bless him instead of his brother Esau, the eldest. The name Jacob means ‘deceiver’. Upon Esau finding out his brother tricked their Father, he hunted Jacob down in anger but Jacob left the family, going back to their Father’s homeland.
When Jacob made it to that land, he met a woman named Rachel and her sister Leah. He worked 7 years for Rachel’s Father to win her hand in marriage but her Father deceived him into marrying her sister Leah instead. Jacob worked another 7 years to have Rachel, the wife he truly loved and wanted.
Jacob had several children with Leah and her handmaiden and several with Rachel and her handmaiden. In total he had 12 sons. Jacob later left this place also with his two Wives and children. On his trip he came to a place to camp for the night. He sent them just ahead and camped alone.
An angel of God came to him and they wrestled. Jacob said he would not let him go until he blessed him. The angel asked him his name; answering him ‘Jacob’ the angel told him ‘his name would no longer be Jacob but Israel’. Read aloud Genesis 32:22-30.
Now let’s recap all these families so we can learn who belongs to whom. If you can remember from our lesson today, fill in the blank. If not, look up the verse listed.
Abraham & Sarah ------- Isaac (read Genesis 17:19)
Isaac & Rachel------- Esau (Genesis 25:25)
Jacob {later changed to Israel} (Genesis 25:26)
Israel & Leah -----fill in blanks below
Israel & Rachel ----- fill in blanks below
Let’s go to Genesis 30 to find the names of Israel’s 12 sons. These are the twelve tribes of Israel the bible talks about, and the study we are doing on Wednesday nights with Bro. Doug. They each camped in particular places with their families around the tabernacle, calling their tribe by the son’s name.
Leah’s children: fill in
Rachel’s children: fill in
This week God wants us to learn more about His family we were ‘born’ into when we were ‘born again’ in the spirit into His Kingdom. We are born into the family of God. But God wants us to see in His word where He says this, so we know the truth and can always find it in our bible when satan tries to lie to us and tell us we are not in God’s family.
In one of our lessons God told us about Abraham and how He told him he would make him a great nation. This meant Abraham would have many in his family from then on. But somehow, Sarah being barren, God made this promise to Abraham, knowing it would take trust in Him to bring it to pass.
The custom of the day was if a Woman was barren, she could have a child through her handmaiden and call the child hers. This is using the handmaiden as we would call in our day as a surrogate Mother. So, they did so, but Sarah became jealous of the woman and child and threw them out of the home. But God had compassion on the woman and child and took care of them.
It took 20 years for the promise of a son God made to Abraham to come to pass and Isaac was born. Isaac was called all through the bible ‘the promise, or the promised son’. Isaac is the person they are referring to.
Isaac grew up, married a woman name Rebekah and had twin sons; Esau and Jacob, Esau being the firstborn. Esau gave his birthright to Jacob and Jacob also deceived his Father to bless him instead of his brother Esau, the eldest. The name Jacob means ‘deceiver’. Upon Esau finding out his brother tricked their Father, he hunted Jacob down in anger but Jacob left the family, going back to their Father’s homeland.
When Jacob made it to that land, he met a woman named Rachel and her sister Leah. He worked 7 years for Rachel’s Father to win her hand in marriage but her Father deceived him into marrying her sister Leah instead. Jacob worked another 7 years to have Rachel, the wife he truly loved and wanted.
Jacob had several children with Leah and her handmaiden and several with Rachel and her handmaiden. In total he had 12 sons. Jacob later left this place also with his two Wives and children. On his trip he came to a place to camp for the night. He sent them just ahead and camped alone.
An angel of God came to him and they wrestled. Jacob said he would not let him go until he blessed him. The angel asked him his name; answering him ‘Jacob’ the angel told him ‘his name would no longer be Jacob but Israel’. Read aloud Genesis 32:22-30.
Now let’s recap all these families so we can learn who belongs to whom. If you can remember from our lesson today, fill in the blank. If not, look up the verse listed.
Abraham & Sarah ------- Isaac (read Genesis 17:19)
Isaac & Rachel------- Esau (Genesis 25:25)
Jacob {later changed to Israel} (Genesis 25:26)
Israel & Leah -----fill in blanks below
Israel & Rachel ----- fill in blanks below
Let’s go to Genesis 30 to find the names of Israel’s 12 sons. These are the twelve tribes of Israel the bible talks about, and the study we are doing on Wednesday nights with Bro. Doug. They each camped in particular places with their families around the tabernacle, calling their tribe by the son’s name.
Leah’s children: fill in
Rachel’s children: fill in
Monday, March 21, 2011
Why She Needed to move
Last week we studied why the new girl needed to move, she was born into a sinful world. It’s not necessarily any sin she committed, sin came into the world when Adam obeyed satan and ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, therefore disobeying God. In disobeying God, he obeyed satan, and Adam became his slave and all God had given him then went under the rule of satan.
Today we are going to look at the way God provided for our sin to be forgiven and what some of that means for us today.
Along the course of time, God visited many on the earth. He has been ever mindful of us as humans that He so lovingly created. There was a set time God declared for Himself ‘a people’, a group of people that He began to call His own. He wanted to begin the process of bringing everyone back into union with Him as He once had with Adam. In starting this process He exclaimed blood had to be shed for sins to be forgiven. This set time God declared is when those He had visited, namely Abraham, was moved into Egypt due to a great famine in the land. Abraham and his kin folk moved into Egypt and multiplied and grew. There were many of them, nearly 2 Million. God had made a promise to Abraham that his seed [children] would be as many as the stars in the sky and the sands on the shore. We see here that that promise had been set in motion.
God then began the process of calling His people in by birthing a boy that was born of a Hebrew woman, named Moses, to be raised by Pharaoh’s daughter and learning the ways of Egypt. Pharaoh’s daughter raised him knowing he was a Hebrew. The Hebrews had grown in number that the Pharaoh, which was the ruler, began to use them as slaves. One day, as an adult, Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. His anger was stirred and he beat the Egyptian to death, though not meaning to. He then, shortly after, saw two men fighting and warned them. They spoke against him saying ‘are you going to kill us as you did the other?’. Moses then fled, feeling he would surely be punished.
For 40 years did Moses live in the wilderness tending sheep. He had married, and had a family. God spoke to Moses to go help His people, the Hebrews, come out of Egypt. This is the story of the 10 plagues, the last plagues being the killing of the first born. God instructed all the Hebrews to slay a lamb, dip some straw into the blood and place it over their doorpost, therefore the Death Angel when coming through the town would pass over them and their firstborn son would be saved. God was giving this to them as an example of blood saving their lives.
When the Hebrews came out of Egypt they stayed in the wilderness, and God gave them a plan. He told them that from that day forward, even until today, He would not leave them. And to remit their sins, they were to slay a certain perfect, unblemished animal and pour his blood onto the alter before Him. He also gave them 10 main laws to go by, this being what is called today, the 10 commandments. He also gave them certain guidelines to go by to be purified, ways to stay away from uncleanness and so on. These were called laws. The people lived by those laws for many, many years. But there was always blood that had to be shed for their sins.
Fast forward to Jesus. The Hebrews lived in the days of Jesus in this same manner, slaying perfect, unblemished animals for their sin. Jesus came to take away the sin of the world, those that had passed, those that were alive in His day, and those that were still yet to be born.
Jesus was born of a virgin girl, named Mary. The Holy Spirit hovered over her and conceived Jesus. This is why He is called the Son of Man, because Mary was His Mother, and the Son of God, because God was His Father.
Jesus grew up just like us. At one point Jesus was 13, just like you Morgan. At one point in His life He was 16, just like you Charlie. Jesus lived among His brothers and sisters too. He grew up in a small town much like Bradford, though there were not any trains back then. Lol.
Jesus grew up learning the scriptures much like we are. He was reading and learning the verses by memory from what is called the old testament in our Bible. So when we read in Isaiah, those are scriptures Jesus read too. Isn’t that neat?
Yet Jesus grew up never sinning. He was tempted just like we were to sin, yet He never sinned. Therefore, as God began to move Him toward the cross, He was called the Lamb of God because He was unblemished and God’s provision for blood for forgiveness of our sin, the sin we were born with, and the sin we may commit daily. God provided the spotless Lamb to be slain for US. THIS is why we praise God so much, He provided Jesus, and Jesus was willing, to be our sacrifice for our sin. That’s the scripture in John 3:16 we all know so well but tells us the truth “for God so loved us {Morgan, Charlie and Cindy, and the rest of the World} that He gave His only begotten Son {Jesus} that whosoever believeth on Him will not perish [go to hell and live forever and ever and ever} but will have everlasting life {go to Heaven and live forever and ever and ever}.
God provided Jesus as it says in our scripture from last week Romans 5:19 “for as by one man’s disobedience {Adam} many were made sinners {us and the rest of the world}, so by the obedience of one {Jesus} shall many be made righteous {right standing before God}”. This is so much to praise God for. This is so much to praise Jesus for. We were going to have to pay for the sin, but Jesus paid for it on the cross for us. And God is the one that provided that sacrifice of blood.
John 3:16 again say “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.
Forgiveness of the sin we were born with is to believe in Jesus. There it is, that simple. Accepting what Jesus did, trading places with Him, inviting Him to live in our hearts and guide us, brings us into The Kingdom of God, with Jesus The King of this kingdom. It’s what Jesus did. It’s the sacrifice Jesus made. It was His blood as the sacrifice for sin.
Today we are going to look at the way God provided for our sin to be forgiven and what some of that means for us today.
Along the course of time, God visited many on the earth. He has been ever mindful of us as humans that He so lovingly created. There was a set time God declared for Himself ‘a people’, a group of people that He began to call His own. He wanted to begin the process of bringing everyone back into union with Him as He once had with Adam. In starting this process He exclaimed blood had to be shed for sins to be forgiven. This set time God declared is when those He had visited, namely Abraham, was moved into Egypt due to a great famine in the land. Abraham and his kin folk moved into Egypt and multiplied and grew. There were many of them, nearly 2 Million. God had made a promise to Abraham that his seed [children] would be as many as the stars in the sky and the sands on the shore. We see here that that promise had been set in motion.
God then began the process of calling His people in by birthing a boy that was born of a Hebrew woman, named Moses, to be raised by Pharaoh’s daughter and learning the ways of Egypt. Pharaoh’s daughter raised him knowing he was a Hebrew. The Hebrews had grown in number that the Pharaoh, which was the ruler, began to use them as slaves. One day, as an adult, Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. His anger was stirred and he beat the Egyptian to death, though not meaning to. He then, shortly after, saw two men fighting and warned them. They spoke against him saying ‘are you going to kill us as you did the other?’. Moses then fled, feeling he would surely be punished.
For 40 years did Moses live in the wilderness tending sheep. He had married, and had a family. God spoke to Moses to go help His people, the Hebrews, come out of Egypt. This is the story of the 10 plagues, the last plagues being the killing of the first born. God instructed all the Hebrews to slay a lamb, dip some straw into the blood and place it over their doorpost, therefore the Death Angel when coming through the town would pass over them and their firstborn son would be saved. God was giving this to them as an example of blood saving their lives.
When the Hebrews came out of Egypt they stayed in the wilderness, and God gave them a plan. He told them that from that day forward, even until today, He would not leave them. And to remit their sins, they were to slay a certain perfect, unblemished animal and pour his blood onto the alter before Him. He also gave them 10 main laws to go by, this being what is called today, the 10 commandments. He also gave them certain guidelines to go by to be purified, ways to stay away from uncleanness and so on. These were called laws. The people lived by those laws for many, many years. But there was always blood that had to be shed for their sins.
Fast forward to Jesus. The Hebrews lived in the days of Jesus in this same manner, slaying perfect, unblemished animals for their sin. Jesus came to take away the sin of the world, those that had passed, those that were alive in His day, and those that were still yet to be born.
Jesus was born of a virgin girl, named Mary. The Holy Spirit hovered over her and conceived Jesus. This is why He is called the Son of Man, because Mary was His Mother, and the Son of God, because God was His Father.
Jesus grew up just like us. At one point Jesus was 13, just like you Morgan. At one point in His life He was 16, just like you Charlie. Jesus lived among His brothers and sisters too. He grew up in a small town much like Bradford, though there were not any trains back then. Lol.
Jesus grew up learning the scriptures much like we are. He was reading and learning the verses by memory from what is called the old testament in our Bible. So when we read in Isaiah, those are scriptures Jesus read too. Isn’t that neat?
Yet Jesus grew up never sinning. He was tempted just like we were to sin, yet He never sinned. Therefore, as God began to move Him toward the cross, He was called the Lamb of God because He was unblemished and God’s provision for blood for forgiveness of our sin, the sin we were born with, and the sin we may commit daily. God provided the spotless Lamb to be slain for US. THIS is why we praise God so much, He provided Jesus, and Jesus was willing, to be our sacrifice for our sin. That’s the scripture in John 3:16 we all know so well but tells us the truth “for God so loved us {Morgan, Charlie and Cindy, and the rest of the World} that He gave His only begotten Son {Jesus} that whosoever believeth on Him will not perish [go to hell and live forever and ever and ever} but will have everlasting life {go to Heaven and live forever and ever and ever}.
God provided Jesus as it says in our scripture from last week Romans 5:19 “for as by one man’s disobedience {Adam} many were made sinners {us and the rest of the world}, so by the obedience of one {Jesus} shall many be made righteous {right standing before God}”. This is so much to praise God for. This is so much to praise Jesus for. We were going to have to pay for the sin, but Jesus paid for it on the cross for us. And God is the one that provided that sacrifice of blood.
John 3:16 again say “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.
Forgiveness of the sin we were born with is to believe in Jesus. There it is, that simple. Accepting what Jesus did, trading places with Him, inviting Him to live in our hearts and guide us, brings us into The Kingdom of God, with Jesus The King of this kingdom. It’s what Jesus did. It’s the sacrifice Jesus made. It was His blood as the sacrifice for sin.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Guard the Word Within You
This mornings writing is again a result of my time alone with the Lord. I dont just recommend spending time alone with Him in prayer and reading His word, but I believe it's vital for us in this day and time. Time alone with Him will keep you and preserve you. You know as your Momma canned fruit and vegetables this summer kind of thing? God preserves you because of your time alone with Him. He imparts to you His wisdom for the day. Who wouldn't want that?
I actually heard a message last week from a TV preacher, which i dont watch much of these days, but i'm recovering after a hospital stay and frankly I have way too much time on my hands. lol. But this preacher did have a good message and one particular phrase out of the bible he quoted has stuck with me. I got out the bible last night an chewed on that phrase before i went to bed. This morning, getting back up and reading those passages again, has come this writing.
The scriptures I'm referring to are found in Mark 4 where Jesus is talking about the different soils in people's lives. I believe these different soils can even denote various times in our lives as we move through crisis' and trials. We all have the tendencies to be a little more closed to others and God as some circumstances change what we have to deal with.
However in Mark 4:17 a really good point is made. Here Jesus is talking about the stony ground and where it didnt have much earth, let's back up to verse 16 to get the whole idea of this soil He's talking about: "And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended".
Do you see the words I highlighted? This is what has stayed with me for a week that I cannot shake. I always know God is wanting to open His thoughts to me when this happens, so I meditate on it.
The word is sown and then affliction or persecution come for the word's sake. It's nothing you've done. Affliction doesn't come because you're out of the will of God. It comes to try the word in you. The word is sown, and then these things come for the word's sake.
In verse 15 it says this: "And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, satan cometh immediately, [to do what?] taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
There is great worth in getting the word of God in our hearts and satan knows this. What is this great worth? What is the value? Why is satan after the word in our hearts? We'll find that answer in verse 20: "And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit...". He is after the word of God taking root in your heart and bringing a change in your life. That's the fruit. He knows if it takes root, it will be change your life and he has less effect on you. Who wouldn't want to satan to have less effect on them. My goodness, who wouldn't? Are we after a truth here that helps us grow as a follower of Christ more into His image and satan having less of an effect on us? I believe so.
In your time alone with God each day, sow His word. Sow and let it grow. In this manner you will become stronger, and satan will become weaker!!!!
Be Blessed Beyond Measure, I want to see some growing trees out here! okay?
your friend, Cindy~
I actually heard a message last week from a TV preacher, which i dont watch much of these days, but i'm recovering after a hospital stay and frankly I have way too much time on my hands. lol. But this preacher did have a good message and one particular phrase out of the bible he quoted has stuck with me. I got out the bible last night an chewed on that phrase before i went to bed. This morning, getting back up and reading those passages again, has come this writing.
The scriptures I'm referring to are found in Mark 4 where Jesus is talking about the different soils in people's lives. I believe these different soils can even denote various times in our lives as we move through crisis' and trials. We all have the tendencies to be a little more closed to others and God as some circumstances change what we have to deal with.
However in Mark 4:17 a really good point is made. Here Jesus is talking about the stony ground and where it didnt have much earth, let's back up to verse 16 to get the whole idea of this soil He's talking about: "And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended".
Do you see the words I highlighted? This is what has stayed with me for a week that I cannot shake. I always know God is wanting to open His thoughts to me when this happens, so I meditate on it.
The word is sown and then affliction or persecution come for the word's sake. It's nothing you've done. Affliction doesn't come because you're out of the will of God. It comes to try the word in you. The word is sown, and then these things come for the word's sake.
In verse 15 it says this: "And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, satan cometh immediately, [to do what?] taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
There is great worth in getting the word of God in our hearts and satan knows this. What is this great worth? What is the value? Why is satan after the word in our hearts? We'll find that answer in verse 20: "And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit...". He is after the word of God taking root in your heart and bringing a change in your life. That's the fruit. He knows if it takes root, it will be change your life and he has less effect on you. Who wouldn't want to satan to have less effect on them. My goodness, who wouldn't? Are we after a truth here that helps us grow as a follower of Christ more into His image and satan having less of an effect on us? I believe so.
In your time alone with God each day, sow His word. Sow and let it grow. In this manner you will become stronger, and satan will become weaker!!!!
Be Blessed Beyond Measure, I want to see some growing trees out here! okay?
your friend, Cindy~
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Though.....
Though i have no place that's my own....... I live with Christ.
Though i have no style..... I am clothed with Christ.
Though i have eats.......I hunger for Christ.
Though there be past terrors.......I am safe with Christ.
God is amongst us, loving, protecting and shielding us. Doesn't feel like it? Well maybe He is giving you the opportunity to open your heart in a greater way to Him.
In the past year and a half He has asked me to walk a very dusty but steep road with Him, trusting His plan and His love for me. Walking it was the most devastating thing I've done in almost EVER in my life. But as He asked me to walk it, I know He had good waiting. This is the place you have to come to; to be in His true calling.
surrender your path. surrender your way. And you will find a freedom you have never ever experienced in your life.
with love, Cindy~
Though i have no style..... I am clothed with Christ.
Though i have eats.......I hunger for Christ.
Though there be past terrors.......I am safe with Christ.
God is amongst us, loving, protecting and shielding us. Doesn't feel like it? Well maybe He is giving you the opportunity to open your heart in a greater way to Him.
In the past year and a half He has asked me to walk a very dusty but steep road with Him, trusting His plan and His love for me. Walking it was the most devastating thing I've done in almost EVER in my life. But as He asked me to walk it, I know He had good waiting. This is the place you have to come to; to be in His true calling.
surrender your path. surrender your way. And you will find a freedom you have never ever experienced in your life.
with love, Cindy~
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A little Stressed? boy do YOU need this!
I am writing this by the leading of the Spirit. I was in my quiet time with the Lord this morning, in my devotional and the scriptures referenced took me to Matthew 11. In verse 28 Jesus is speaking and says ‘come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. I then read on in verse 29 where He says ‘Take My yoke upon you’….. I had to stop there.
Many of you cannot take one more thing on. You cannot imagine taking on one more thing on your back. You’re so heavy right now with so much you’re carrying, you cannot even think of adding one more thing to your life. This burden you’re carrying may be your schedule where you’ve got so many things lined up; your responsibilities at work, your life at home with your Spouse and children, or perhaps you’re a single Parent and have it all at home, the whole burden. You have the kids schedules on top of your own, your obligations with helping your Parents that are aging, your friends that constantly beckon your attention, and your Church life of helping with the youth, or being on the Worship Team. You’re stacked. You’re stretched. You’re heavy with all this load. Plus many of you are having financial troubles on top of all this burden. It’s not enough that the world is pulling at you, but your personal foundation seems to be crumbling. You’re nervous all the time, you’re not sleeping well, you’re eating tums like they are skittles……. You feel like a wreck inside.
So as I read where Jesus says ‘take My yoke upon you’ I told Him “Lord so many people can’t read this and be relieved, help me see these verses in the manner you meant them”. My eyes went to end of the verse above it and stopped; ‘and I will give you rest’. There it is. We read through these verses in the bible, not knowing what they truly mean. Seriously. We wouldn’t tell someone that’s walking down the road hitchhiking to come to the next stop and sit with us and we’ll give them rest. We’d tell them to come to the next stop and we’d help them take off their backpack, unload their heavy carrying load and help them relax. Now….. we know a little more of what Jesus is saying here ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will take off your load, help you get seated, and even help you relax’.
How would it feel to unload your life’s pack?
It would feel good, wouldn’t it? It’s okay, be truthful. If you’re in a real stressful season there is noise all around you. Others may not be able to hear it, but you do. Stress was designed to be our warning sign. But in our culture today, it’s become the norm and it’s even stylin to be under some of it. Well…. I totally disagree. Stress is our warning. It’s our warning that too much is coming at us, and we need to close the door on it. Some stress you can’t close the door on permanently. But you can close it for this evening. You can close the door, leaving it outside, not to get in at you. But much of our stress can be closed out permanently.
I’ve just come through one of the most stressful things I’ve gone through in quite some time. I have extreme health issues, causing severe weakness. I knew I wasn’t supposed to sign the lease on my little house I was renting for another year. Well, then that means I had to move. Severe horrid stress began to knock on my door. I’m a very responsible person. I’m not a slacker. I get things done somewhat early, so there’s no hairy deadline. I don’t do that in life. I’m efficient. I’m a planner. Well, I did what any planner does. I put dates on the calendar for this. Then another date on the calendar for that. That would enable this to get done after that. All these dates on the calendar began to loom over my head with no energy, but weakness left to do them. As time wore on, I knew surrender to God along the way was my only hope. I knew He had a plan through this. And as time moved, my plan was plucked up and His put in place. Though it should have calmed me down, the responsibility in such a weakened state wore at my very fiber.
This is what stress is designed to do; wear at our very fiber. It’s an underminer of all our securities, our sure foundations, our surities.
So as Jesus says ‘come to Me’, we are given a great opportunity to go to Him and get a little rest. But how do we receive this rest? How do we allow Him to take our heavy pack off our back? The first obvious thing is we have to be willing to allow Him to take our burden. That seems like a duh, but so many people aren’t familiar with His ways, and they willingly walk away from the greatest place of rest known to Man. First, be willing to allow Him. Choose to say ‘yes Lord. I’ll let you take this burden’. Then second we have to ask Him to take it. He doesn’t manhandle us. We have to ask Him, allowing Him space in our space to do it. Would you like to do that right now? Then let’s do it, let’s ask Him:
Lord Jesus, we have a problem. But according to the scriptures, You are able to take the problem. You are quite able. You are Mighty and Powerful. You, as Creator know how you made me. You know what level of burden I’m able to bear, in how you designed me. I’ve got too much on me. I have too much to carry. Will you take off this burden, relieve my heaviness and replace it with rest? I’m asking You. I’m coming as You say in scripture to receive this rest you talk about. I’m allowing You now to take it, Jesus. I am allowing You in my space to relieve my pressure. I’m allowing You to take control and leave me lighthearted. I’ve needed this for so long. I accept Your peacefulness into my life, into my space, into my heart. I’m letting go of the burden now. I am accepting Your peace. I thank You for this. This is much lighter to carry. You were right. You have given me rest. Now walk on with me. Walk on into my future so I don’t take on more again, more than I can carry. Watch over me that I carry only what You want me to carry. I’m amazed at the light feeling I have. Only You could do this. In Your Name, Jesus. Amen………
ps: you know how Jesus took my burden of moving? He called on many of my special friends to come pack and move me. MIRACLE! thank you Guys!!! I can never repay you! And .... thank you Jesus!
Many of you cannot take one more thing on. You cannot imagine taking on one more thing on your back. You’re so heavy right now with so much you’re carrying, you cannot even think of adding one more thing to your life. This burden you’re carrying may be your schedule where you’ve got so many things lined up; your responsibilities at work, your life at home with your Spouse and children, or perhaps you’re a single Parent and have it all at home, the whole burden. You have the kids schedules on top of your own, your obligations with helping your Parents that are aging, your friends that constantly beckon your attention, and your Church life of helping with the youth, or being on the Worship Team. You’re stacked. You’re stretched. You’re heavy with all this load. Plus many of you are having financial troubles on top of all this burden. It’s not enough that the world is pulling at you, but your personal foundation seems to be crumbling. You’re nervous all the time, you’re not sleeping well, you’re eating tums like they are skittles……. You feel like a wreck inside.
So as I read where Jesus says ‘take My yoke upon you’ I told Him “Lord so many people can’t read this and be relieved, help me see these verses in the manner you meant them”. My eyes went to end of the verse above it and stopped; ‘and I will give you rest’. There it is. We read through these verses in the bible, not knowing what they truly mean. Seriously. We wouldn’t tell someone that’s walking down the road hitchhiking to come to the next stop and sit with us and we’ll give them rest. We’d tell them to come to the next stop and we’d help them take off their backpack, unload their heavy carrying load and help them relax. Now….. we know a little more of what Jesus is saying here ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will take off your load, help you get seated, and even help you relax’.
How would it feel to unload your life’s pack?
It would feel good, wouldn’t it? It’s okay, be truthful. If you’re in a real stressful season there is noise all around you. Others may not be able to hear it, but you do. Stress was designed to be our warning sign. But in our culture today, it’s become the norm and it’s even stylin to be under some of it. Well…. I totally disagree. Stress is our warning. It’s our warning that too much is coming at us, and we need to close the door on it. Some stress you can’t close the door on permanently. But you can close it for this evening. You can close the door, leaving it outside, not to get in at you. But much of our stress can be closed out permanently.
I’ve just come through one of the most stressful things I’ve gone through in quite some time. I have extreme health issues, causing severe weakness. I knew I wasn’t supposed to sign the lease on my little house I was renting for another year. Well, then that means I had to move. Severe horrid stress began to knock on my door. I’m a very responsible person. I’m not a slacker. I get things done somewhat early, so there’s no hairy deadline. I don’t do that in life. I’m efficient. I’m a planner. Well, I did what any planner does. I put dates on the calendar for this. Then another date on the calendar for that. That would enable this to get done after that. All these dates on the calendar began to loom over my head with no energy, but weakness left to do them. As time wore on, I knew surrender to God along the way was my only hope. I knew He had a plan through this. And as time moved, my plan was plucked up and His put in place. Though it should have calmed me down, the responsibility in such a weakened state wore at my very fiber.
This is what stress is designed to do; wear at our very fiber. It’s an underminer of all our securities, our sure foundations, our surities.
So as Jesus says ‘come to Me’, we are given a great opportunity to go to Him and get a little rest. But how do we receive this rest? How do we allow Him to take our heavy pack off our back? The first obvious thing is we have to be willing to allow Him to take our burden. That seems like a duh, but so many people aren’t familiar with His ways, and they willingly walk away from the greatest place of rest known to Man. First, be willing to allow Him. Choose to say ‘yes Lord. I’ll let you take this burden’. Then second we have to ask Him to take it. He doesn’t manhandle us. We have to ask Him, allowing Him space in our space to do it. Would you like to do that right now? Then let’s do it, let’s ask Him:
Lord Jesus, we have a problem. But according to the scriptures, You are able to take the problem. You are quite able. You are Mighty and Powerful. You, as Creator know how you made me. You know what level of burden I’m able to bear, in how you designed me. I’ve got too much on me. I have too much to carry. Will you take off this burden, relieve my heaviness and replace it with rest? I’m asking You. I’m coming as You say in scripture to receive this rest you talk about. I’m allowing You now to take it, Jesus. I am allowing You in my space to relieve my pressure. I’m allowing You to take control and leave me lighthearted. I’ve needed this for so long. I accept Your peacefulness into my life, into my space, into my heart. I’m letting go of the burden now. I am accepting Your peace. I thank You for this. This is much lighter to carry. You were right. You have given me rest. Now walk on with me. Walk on into my future so I don’t take on more again, more than I can carry. Watch over me that I carry only what You want me to carry. I’m amazed at the light feeling I have. Only You could do this. In Your Name, Jesus. Amen………
ps: you know how Jesus took my burden of moving? He called on many of my special friends to come pack and move me. MIRACLE! thank you Guys!!! I can never repay you! And .... thank you Jesus!
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