Hebrews 9:20-26 NIV
[20] He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” [21] In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. [22] In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. [23] It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. [24] For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. [25] Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. [26] Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
[28] so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
I wanted to start with this verse because it sums it all up. It sums up the difference it made to have Jesus come, it sums up the way it effected the church and the way things were done, it sums up the importance of the blood being spilled. Billy Graham once said that people want to avoid the cross because they are offended by the blood. It bothers them. Not just because it shows them their sins, but because blood itself is offensive. So people do away with the blood and gore of the cross and try and make it lovely and reverent, where in fact it was gruesome and vile. The only thing that makes the cross anything but horrible and gross is Jesus’s blood on it. This makes me think of the story of the three trees. The one became a small fishing boat, the other the Manger and the last one became the cross. All had big dreams and goals. All thought their drrams had been destroyed by what they had been carved into. All were proven to be of high value because Jesus was part of them. Two had happy connections to Jesus. One had the worst connection possible, and yet it was the most necessary one out of the three. Jesus’s sacrifice is what makes the cross something to love and strive after. If Jesus had died any other way, the cross wouldn’t matter, it’s because HE died on the cross that it is special and valued and important. We are like the cross. Only through Jesus’s blood on us and His Holy Spirit in us are we special and valued. He values us. We who beat Him and mocked Him and killed Him. Only through Him are we worth anything. He is the final sacrifice. His blood is the only thing pure enough to wash us clean. He changed everything, because we just weren’t getting it. The Law had been put there to help us and guide us but we were missing it. We weren’t able to keep up with it, many ignored it, some had contorted it and we needed an answer, someone to give us more than the rules, someone who would make it so we could be forgiven when we fell short of the rules. We needed Jesus. We still do.
Category: The Bible
The blood part 1
Hebrews 9:14 NIV
[14] How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Sacrifice. It’s something we hate as people.
We love it when someone sacrifices for us, but we don’t enjoy doing it for others unless we really love them. Jesus really loves us. We remind ourselves of that over and over and over again. But it’s hard to remember. We talk of God’s love and we seek to feel His heart close to us, but in no time at all we forget all He did for us and why. Because of that sacrifice we are no longer required to give God blood, but now are to give Him our hearts and to serve Him as living sacrifices, this is a privilege even if we don’t see it as one. We get to be clean before God because we are seen through the lense of Jesus’s blood. IF. We have given our lives to Him. Now our sacrifice looks like avoiding sin. Helping others. Obeying God’s laws. Sharing Jesus with others. Gifts to God because He gave us the greatest gift of all through Jesus. How much more than the sacrifices we give to God, will the sacrifice His son Jesus be in His eyes. Our gifts are like a sprinkling of sand in the desert. Yet God still loves our offerings because He loves us. We come to God broken, sinful and some days even insincere, and we lay our dirty, blemished offerings before Him. And He accepts them and loves us. Like a child who brings a sculpture of mud to her mom and the mother smiles and takes and says its beautiful, because she loves the heart of the child who made it. That’s what our offerings to God looks like. And His love of us and His love of what we do for Him makes our mud beautiful.
If our dirty offerings can be seen as beautiful. Imagine how much more so the spotless, blameless, pure sacrifice of Jesus is to God. Beautiful beyond compare. The only truly worthy sacrifice.
Cleanse us Jesus from actions that lead to death, so that we may serve the LIVING God!
Feet part 4
John 12:3 NIV
[3] Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Mary uncovered her hair. She used her most valued asset to her beauty in those days and used to wash the feet of Jesus. A woman’s hair was of such value to her back in the time of Christ. Even up to withing this century a woman’s long hair, kept clean and well maintained was considered part of her dignity. Then came the 80’s and supercharged, big and loud styles, and the surf cuts and the wave cut and then, hold onto something, the beehive, then we wore hair in the lovely pixi cuts and now long is coming back. You’re welcome for the run down on woman’s hair styles over the years. I know we all needed to know that. My point is that we as women have always valued our hair and used it to show off our personality. But back in Jesus’s day a woman’s hair was actually part of her dignity. That’s why it was kept covered. Also, the cover helped keep out sand, they were in the desert. So to uncovered her hair and to use it as a cloth was the same as Mary saying, “all I am Lord, my honor, my dignity, my value, my beauty, all of it is found only in you.”
Mary was preparing Jesus for His death. She was anointing His body for burial. But she also washed all she was away in kneeling at His feet and cleansing them. She showed what it means to be a true deciple. To pour out everything you value on Jesus and to claim Him as all you are worth. The funny thing is, having Jesus as all we are worth is far more important than us being anything on our own, and yet we see it as a sacrifice. The only true sacrifice was Jesus on the cross for people so unworthy that all we can give Him in return is a jar full of perfume and our broken hearts.
Heaven
Revelation 21:3 NIV says:
[3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
God is available. You can speak with Him and laugh with Him and listen to music with Him and go on hikes with Him, IF, He lives in your heart, if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior.
We all like the ‘God knows my heart’ statement. But do you actually like that? He knows your heart. Your every motive, your every deceit, your every wrong desire. It’s not a ‘God knows my heart so even if I am doing something wrong He knows that in my heart I’m a good person.’ But what your heart shows is not you as a good person, your heart shows the very worst of you. Not because you are a bad person, but because we are all sinful by nature. But God loves us enough to change our hearts.
John 14:3 NIV
[3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
God prepares a place for us. The only true Heaven is the one God has created. The one that is there for those of us who love Him. If you love someone you want that someone with you all the time so make space for him or her in your life. We often feel like our walk with God is a lot of work on our part, or at least I have often heard complaints to that rhythm. Yes, following God’s laws and serving Him may feel like too much work sometimes. That’s why so many want to change Jesus’s words to make it sound like the laws that God gave us are not still relevant. New flash. They are still relevant. And then we who know that Jesus never changed God’s laws only the rules that the leaders had adopted, we often feel like we aren’t living up to God’s standards because His rules are based on His perfect sinless nature. But God does not expect us to become perfect or to reach a state of enlightenment, or to be able to live on nothing but the basics because that’s Christ like. No. None of that is true. He expects us to do our absolute best. To flee from sin. To help our brothers and sisters in Christ. To love those who it would be easier to hate. But He knows we will fall and fail everyday, and even knowing that He will keep on helping us try again. He knows we will never reach perfection, what He wants to see is a child trying His or Her best to live as Jesus lives. Blameless. Will we succeed? Sometimes. Will we fail? Sometimes. But are we trying? Yes.
God is preparing a home for us. A place to reside with Him. Because He wants us with Him. He wants us to do our best and to finish the race. He wants us to keep the Faith. He wants us to get to live in His house with Him.
Philippians 3:20 NIV
[20] But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
We are strangers, we are aliens, we are not of this world. Petra . We often forget that we are not of this world. But it’s true. Our citizenship is in heaven with Jesus. When a loved one dies we get so broken down because we look at this world, we look at the things they used to touch, the rooms they used to occupy smell like they did, they’re laughter and smile is now gone from our sight and hearing. But they were never meant to stay in this world, they have gone to heaven where they are happy and blessed and encouraged and better than anything else they get to be with Jesus physically every single day. And when we look around in our sad we have to remember that we are not meant for this world either, we are here for a little while to encourage others to come and to benefit the kingdom of God, but someday we too will be in heaven with Jesus always. There was a song once by an old band that said If by some mistake Jesus was not in heaven it too would be hell. The world makes heaven look like some big party Zone meant for nothing but good times. But what makes heaven heaven is the fact that Jesus is physically there and we get to be with him. In the end he is all we need, and it’s hard because we get it into our heads that that’s not true but it is. Jesus is all we will ever need. And he is gone to prepare a home for us in his kingdom so we can walk out our front door and say ‘hey Jesus want to go for a walk and get a coffee.’ All our pets that we have lost before will run around our feet our loved ones will come up and want to chat and people we never even knew will be like family to us. Best of all we will get to worship our savior physically face to face everyday. That’s what heaven it all about.
Hands part 2
Mark 12:36 referenced King David when David said that Lord spoke to Him, promising to keep Him at His right hand.
God often spoke of being at His right hand.
In this train of thought I looked up the importance of the right hand man. Of course this is not what God was meaning, but it brought a new perspective A website called Monster-work said the best right hand person should be as follows:
When searching for this key figure, consider the following: Trustworthiness: Look for someone with a proven track record of reliability. Complementary Skills: Your ally should possess strengths that enhance your own. Diversity of Thought: He/she should bring new ideas and perspectives.
This is very much what having God at OUR right hand is like, that is very different from being at His right hand but we will cover that in a second. God is always reliable! He is 100% trustworthy. He uses our strengths to bless His kingdom and His uses His power to bless us. He often shows us a perspective different from our own. And best of all, He is always on our side.
Now. Being at GOD’S right hand means that you are in place of honor. If God is defending you with His right hand, then He has placed you in a place of importance to Him. God’s right hand is often a metaphor for God’s power as well, He will say “I will strike them down with my right hand” < Paraphrased >
His right hand is both safe to those who love Him and dangerous to those who don’t.
Thankfully, we as His children are shielded by His powerful right hand.
Oh Holy night
Oh Holy night
Fall on your knees, hear the angel’s voices.
Do we?
Here we are about to open gifts and sing Christmas songs, and yet so many don’t know what Christmas is all about. Even some who wear the badge of Christian don’t really get what it’s all about. Not the day, but the reason Jesus came to earth. It wasn’t just about Luke 2, or John 20, it’s also very much about Revelation 22.
Jesus came as a baby, He died as an man, He is returning as the King. And through all of it He is our Savior. He was our Savior while sleeping in the manger, He was our Savior while dying on the cross, He is our Savior as He lives in our hearts today, and He will be our Savior still the day He rides in with His armies to conquer all.
Fall on your knees and worship Him. Seek Him while He is still to be found. That line scares me, some of the modern prophets of the 50s would speak of a time when God would remove His Spirit from the world. We must run to Jesus while He is still to be found. Don’t wait. Don’t miss this.
Prophesies
What child is this?
Prophesies. Prophesies ushered in the birth of Jesus. Prophesies helped people understand who He was. Prophesies told of His death and resurrection. Prophesies are in part why the Wise Men walked across the desert to find a baby. Prophesies, Prophesies and more Prophesies.
Yet not all believed the fulfillment of the Prophesies. Many still don’t. Even now as we look around our world we are seeing the answers and fulfillment of Prophesies from the Bible and from true God seeking men and women from a later date. But do we believe that they are happening? Don’t we mock when we hear someone shout ‘Repent! He is coming soon!’
So. What about those Prophesies?
What child is this reminds us of the fulfillment of Prophesies. We have seen time and again when God spoke and answered. If we are going according to the past then I would say we should be listening for the trumpet because the Prophesies are being fulfilled.
If we are going by modern thinking, then there are no Prophesies and we can live as we like. But people who say that are already deceived, there are too few Christians these days who stand strong and preach the gospel, too few who have faith enough to hear when the angels speak and say ‘I am the Lord’s servant.’ We want to be royals, not subjects, and do to this we fall into false truth and spread it to the masses.
We promote positive thinking and speaking your words to the air so the blessing returns to you. This is not Christian. We never remind people to Repent, or dare to mention that a second coming is true and that He is already on the move. If God fulfilled the Prophesies in Isaiah about a Virgin giving birth to God’s son, and about that son being slain for the sins of men and women, and then rising again to conquer death. Why do we doubt the prophet’s claims that Jesus will return with the armies of Heaven and vanquish all evil once and for all?
What child is this? He’s the perfect lamb, the conquering king, and my Savior.
The tree
The tree
Today I ate a banana. Bear with me. I have a point 👉
As I ate the banana, I thanked God for loving me so much that He made fruit. Then later I remembered something. Something we all forget. God made everything. EVERYTHING! First. Then He made people.
He made it all for His own enjoyment.
Here’s the special part.
When mankind sinned and ate the apple, what happened? God cast us out of the garden where all was perfect.
But. Don’t miss this.
God didn’t take these wonderful things from us.
We have to work the gardens and cultivate the fruit. But He let us keep it.
We sinned and messed up big time, so we were punished. But God loved us and still loves us, so much that He permitted us to keep the things He had called good.
The sun. The shade. The stars. The sea. The animals and birds. The plants. The sweet fresh fruit. He let us keep it all. Despite what we had done.
When we mess up we feel like God will snatch away all our blessings. We worry and fall into works over faith very easily. (you need both. Don’t misunderstand me.)
But when the first sin happened and the ‘lie broke the stillness’ as Larry Norman said, God still loved us enough to let us keep things He had made to please Himself. As a Father letting his child keep an object that he himself loves. God let us keep His goodness and what He made out of His wonders.
I hope that thought brings you as much joy as it does me.
Last days burn out
Last days wear out is something no one talks about.
I would like to start this Devotional with the releasing statement that I am not one the great people who study in depth and know great and terrible things involving the end. However, if we believe the Bible (which we do) and read it fully we will know that all the days after Jesus ascended are the last days. So we are in them even if we are or are not fully in the book of Revelation yet.
What I want to speak of is last days wear out.
The Bible says:
2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV
[1] But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. [2] People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, [4] treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— [5] having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
And it says:
2 Peter 3:3 NIV
[3] Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
There are many more but we will stay with these for today. The last days for those living in sin will look a big party with no rules or rulers. But for those us who belong to Jesus, we can see the truth. What about those of us who long for righteousness? Those who tread carefully on the narrow path? We see all around us and try and remain pure, untainted and faithful, but as the final days of the end draw closer and closer things are getting worse. The world is dying and we can see it and for many of us it’s frightening and tiring. We feel like we are fighting against so much every day. We have lost friends and connections with loved ones and we wonder if we are doing the right thing. But God.
God warned us that this would be what these days would look like, He’s not surprised by any of it. Is He sad? Probably. Is He angry? Probably. But Is He surprised? No. He is still in control.
15] Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. [16] He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. [17] Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. [18] But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
We are called to stay on guard and to help our fellow Christians do the same. But it does wear us out. I am worn out. My friends talk and I hear how worn out they are. Being a true Christian in these sad and heartbreaking days is hard work. We pray harder and more often. It seems like the list of needs keeps growing. Evil is standing in the center of everything and is reaching its fingertips towards the church and all we want to do is scream or cry. But God is holding us. He is keeping us together and waiting until His time is right for His second coming and in that we have hope. The wars, politics, lies and deceit are banging around in our heads and Jesus is saying, “just be still. You are here for my chosen purpose. I am always with you.”
So maybe some days we need to take a break and rest and disconnect from social media, TV, and the radio just so we can become realigned with what matters and what is true. Then let us stand up and say:
[20] He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. [21] The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. Revelation 22:20- 21
Hey there little red. Who have you been listening to?
Hey there little Red. Who have you been listening to?
Imagine how that story would have gone if Riding Hood had listened to the wolf. She would have been a lovely dinner for a hungry wolf family and the story would have been shorter and without space for all the sad remakes.
We too are walking through the woods, we don’t really know where we are going or if it’s going to stop being dark. What we do know is that there is an enemy waiting for us. Prowling. If we listen to what he says we will be dinner. The wolf says stuff like, “everyone is doing it.” “It’s legal now.” “It won’t hurt anyone.” “God loves me despite my flaws.”
The wolf isn’t stupid. He takes things that sound good and use them to twist the truth. Lots of things that are legal are that way because they are fine, but some are legal because the law makers gave into pressure, or chose to lower the law’s standards to make extra money. Sometimes when everyone is doing something it’s a good idea, like brushing your teeth or eating less salt. But lots of stuff everyone does is simply people living according to the flesh and not God’s word. It won’t hurt anyone is a good policy, unless it will hurt you and you haven’t considered that a worthy concern.
God does love you despite your flaws. But it doesn’t stop there. God want you to leave your sins behind and follow Him.
See? Twisting. The wolf is always twisting the truth. He speaks softly in your ear and tells you half truths that pull you off the path and lead you to his den. Sometimes he even infiltrates grandma’s house, (the church, your small group, your friends, your family) and gets to you that way.
You have to not listen to the wolf to get back home safely. Going into the woods is mandatory. Going off the path is optional. Listen to the word of God. As one of my favorite preachers once said, “get to know God so well that when the devil comes to tell you lies, God’s voice blocks him out.”
Take God’s hand and stay on the path. Beware the false words of the preditor and trust the Truth of God.
( disclaimer: I do not believe actual wolves are evil. They are wild animals and need respect but should not be killed or trapped due to fear. Use sense and caution when dealing with all wild animals.)
Carried in the cross 