60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly. Luke 22 NIV
Today I was thinking about this passage as a new Bible study begins at my church. We are starting God is Love by Dr. Jeremiah.
The opening of the series is "just" speaking on God's love as an introductory to whatever else the pastor will speak of. If I recall, every woman in study was emotional at one point or another today.
Anyway, God's love. Indescribable, infinite, incredible. Yet as pastor spoke, I flashed to this passage, this look that Christ sent across the courtyard as Peter denies for the third and final time any knowledge of Christ. What that look must have said, how it must have felt.
We all have had one time or another when our tongues have wagged, and have all had a time when that wagging was caught by the subject. The look of shock and hate that often springs to the "victim"'s face--as well as the shock and embarrassment or possible anger of the speaker.
While I am certain that Peter felt terrible to have been caught in the act, how much love I figure was in that look of the Lord. Perhaps, yes, a melancholic tint, but a look of love. I cannot see Christ sending the look we might send to this man whom He was naming the rock, the foundation, of His adopted family.
Ever look at concordances? How much the word love, loving etc has listed? Pages and pages and pages.
God so loves us. He never leaves us, He never forgets us. We sometimes think He has---or even work to convince ourselves of this. He doesn't. He is so very willing to hold us, lend His strength, peace, joy. He was willing to die for us, even before we were born, even before we knew Him, even while we hated Him. All He needed us to do was have faith. How very closely He holds us!
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Luke 13.34
He wants to hold us dear, cuddle us under His wings. Ask Him to, He will. Oh, how very much He will.
Rheumatoid Awareness
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Monday, April 3, 2017
Christ---Our Eternal Offering
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Col 1 NIV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
John 1 NIV
We see in these verses that Christ is a firstborn--the firstborn of all. The more I read about Jewish tradition, Jewish practices and WHY they did them, the bigger and more stunning what Christ did for us is to me.
So, let me try and explain my very complex thoughts on this. Or maybe they aren't complex to read---but typing them out and making sure it makes sense is complex. I have no idea if I am right---I am not an authority. But it seems to work and make sense.
Christ was a perfect, complete sacrifice. No sacrifices are needed to be given, because He fulfilled the Law:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5 ESV
We simply cannot please God with the efforts we make--though I am certain He is indeed pleased by the efforts we put forth, they do not make us more holy, closer to God, more worthy. Nothing but the faith in Christ's sacrifice makes it possible for us to be with God. Those of old had to have faith in God as well--sacrifice itself was not enough (I can't find it, but there is a verse in the OT which it is written that God did not want just sacrifices, but faith).
So Christ, as the perfect sacrifice, makes so very many links (in my mind) to that which was required by the Law to the nation of Israel.
Look here at Gen 22 (see link below); Abraham was ordered to sacrifice his one and only son. It must have been terribly confusing, for it would have seemed against God's plans. Had not this son been given as part of God's covenant? But ever faithful, Abraham continued right up to the point of killing his son. Two passages leap out at me
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
[and then this one:]
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Gen 22 NIV
Here we have it, God DID provide the Lamb for the burnt offering. I cannot say that Christ ever "burned", but...it is said by Brown-Driver-Briggs that "seraph", which means burning, could have to do with the spices used during burial Burning in Hebrew
How cool is that? That God did provide a Lamb, the Lamb, who died for the sins of the "nation", the adopted heirs of Christ, and was burned (by spices in His burial), making, I assume, the pleasing aroma which is mentioned numerous times throughout the Law.
Next, I was thinking about grain offerings---mainly because someone asked about the "pleasing aromas" and why they were pleasing. (The idea in general is that the aroma is pleasing because of what the sacrifice stands for--that the people were obeying God.)
So, when looking at Grain Offerings, I was pleased to find this quotation below, and to think of it in terms of Christ---with His being the perfect sacrifice:
"Instead, the purpose of a grain offering was to worship God and acknowledge His provision." GotQuestions?
God provided the Lamb, much as He provided the ram for Abraham. We, who deserve to die for the wickedness that grows like gangrene throughout our entire existence, are provided for. The story of Abraham and Issac's time on the mountain, with everything set up to kill the one and only son of the Father of the People...mimics the story of Christ. The Father of us all, Abba Father, King of Kings let His one and only Son die, forsaken, to cover the sins of the People (us).
The Grain Offering as a thanking for the provisions God has given---that we now have eternal life, forgiveness, communion with Him. In a way, with Christ being the first fruit of everything, I think He filled the slot of being the grain offering. The Permanent Grain Offering:
14 “‘If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, offer crushed heads of new grain roasted in the fire. 15 Put oil and incense on it; it is a grain offering. 16 The priest shall burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and the oil, together with all the incense, as a food offering presented to the Lord. Lev 2
If you read John 19, you see that He was anointed with oil and incense. There is a missing ingredient, as salt was also to be put with the grain offering. Salt was used, as well, to soak up blood that it might be thrown out easily. Torah Class Lev 2 Therefore, I cannot say that He was for certain, or that it matters at all. But it is incredibly cool that these things seem to link up.
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.[e] 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. Jn 19 NIV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
John 1 NIV
We see in these verses that Christ is a firstborn--the firstborn of all. The more I read about Jewish tradition, Jewish practices and WHY they did them, the bigger and more stunning what Christ did for us is to me.
So, let me try and explain my very complex thoughts on this. Or maybe they aren't complex to read---but typing them out and making sure it makes sense is complex. I have no idea if I am right---I am not an authority. But it seems to work and make sense.
Christ was a perfect, complete sacrifice. No sacrifices are needed to be given, because He fulfilled the Law:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5 ESV
We simply cannot please God with the efforts we make--though I am certain He is indeed pleased by the efforts we put forth, they do not make us more holy, closer to God, more worthy. Nothing but the faith in Christ's sacrifice makes it possible for us to be with God. Those of old had to have faith in God as well--sacrifice itself was not enough (I can't find it, but there is a verse in the OT which it is written that God did not want just sacrifices, but faith).
So Christ, as the perfect sacrifice, makes so very many links (in my mind) to that which was required by the Law to the nation of Israel.
Look here at Gen 22 (see link below); Abraham was ordered to sacrifice his one and only son. It must have been terribly confusing, for it would have seemed against God's plans. Had not this son been given as part of God's covenant? But ever faithful, Abraham continued right up to the point of killing his son. Two passages leap out at me
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
[and then this one:]
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Gen 22 NIV
Here we have it, God DID provide the Lamb for the burnt offering. I cannot say that Christ ever "burned", but...it is said by Brown-Driver-Briggs that "seraph", which means burning, could have to do with the spices used during burial Burning in Hebrew
How cool is that? That God did provide a Lamb, the Lamb, who died for the sins of the "nation", the adopted heirs of Christ, and was burned (by spices in His burial), making, I assume, the pleasing aroma which is mentioned numerous times throughout the Law.
Next, I was thinking about grain offerings---mainly because someone asked about the "pleasing aromas" and why they were pleasing. (The idea in general is that the aroma is pleasing because of what the sacrifice stands for--that the people were obeying God.)
So, when looking at Grain Offerings, I was pleased to find this quotation below, and to think of it in terms of Christ---with His being the perfect sacrifice:
"Instead, the purpose of a grain offering was to worship God and acknowledge His provision." GotQuestions?
God provided the Lamb, much as He provided the ram for Abraham. We, who deserve to die for the wickedness that grows like gangrene throughout our entire existence, are provided for. The story of Abraham and Issac's time on the mountain, with everything set up to kill the one and only son of the Father of the People...mimics the story of Christ. The Father of us all, Abba Father, King of Kings let His one and only Son die, forsaken, to cover the sins of the People (us).
The Grain Offering as a thanking for the provisions God has given---that we now have eternal life, forgiveness, communion with Him. In a way, with Christ being the first fruit of everything, I think He filled the slot of being the grain offering. The Permanent Grain Offering:
14 “‘If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, offer crushed heads of new grain roasted in the fire. 15 Put oil and incense on it; it is a grain offering. 16 The priest shall burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and the oil, together with all the incense, as a food offering presented to the Lord. Lev 2
If you read John 19, you see that He was anointed with oil and incense. There is a missing ingredient, as salt was also to be put with the grain offering. Salt was used, as well, to soak up blood that it might be thrown out easily. Torah Class Lev 2 Therefore, I cannot say that He was for certain, or that it matters at all. But it is incredibly cool that these things seem to link up.
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.[e] 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. Jn 19 NIV
RA Post: Numb
I am still numb about my newest diagnosis. Funny how slowly everything I am most scared of is happening to me. The saying always goes that what one worries about generally doesn't happen. I seem to be one of those people that what they worry about DOES happen. I should worry about Christ's return obsessively, then, huh?
I am scared. I don't want to shut my eyes to sleep. What hours of sight am I missing when the drugged-sleep of RA swoops down on me like a dose of anesthesia? What hours of sight, reading, watching TV, seeing the glories of the creation, the glories of the world about me will I miss as I sleep?
So I am indeed a little numb. I don't know what to think.
I am scared. I don't want to shut my eyes to sleep. What hours of sight am I missing when the drugged-sleep of RA swoops down on me like a dose of anesthesia? What hours of sight, reading, watching TV, seeing the glories of the creation, the glories of the world about me will I miss as I sleep?
So I am indeed a little numb. I don't know what to think.
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