Psalm 66, Luke 9:45, Hebrews 10:19-22

I love how psalm 66 starts out with songs of praise to God for His glory, greatness, and works. Oh how easy it is to sing such wonderful songs when we feel surrounded by God’s glory. Those times we experience a spiritual, physical, and emotional closeness with Him. Usually it’s due to a received blessing, answered prayer, or a need fulfilled. We feel as if we’re walking on a cloud. Our hearts are filled with the joy, comfort, and warmth of fellowshipping with our Lord. And in our thankfulness we swear to never again forsake God, vowing to faithfully follow His will. 

Then life goes on, and it’s business as usual. And slowly our focus wanders away from the Lord. Our time and energy is spent once again pursuing our fleshly desires. We let go of His hand, stray from His path, and go about attempting to meet our needs in our own strength. We put God in our back pocket, never pulling Him out again until the next crisis. But the joyful news is this. No matter how much we forget or reject God, He never does the same in kind. Never will our Heavenly Father withhold His precious love, time, or attention. Nor ever turn a deaf ear to our prayers. 

Don’t you hate it when you’re trying to reach someone and your call goes straight to voicemail? That never happens with God. Through the privilege of prayer, we have a direct and open line of communication with the Lord. And no matter how long it’s been, He picks up on the first ring. Because God is always excited to hear from His children. For He’s been anxiously waiting, ready and eager to receive our call. Sadly, some Christians mistakenly believe that God only wants to hear from us about the big stuff. But the truth is, He cares and wants to hear about every area of our lives both big and small.

So much so that one of the many wonderful names of God is El Roi, the God who sees me. Our Lord never slumbers nor sleeps. His eyes are always watching over the righteous, His ears always listening for their prayers. Take a minute and really think about that. As Creator of the universe, God has His hands full. But even so, not a moment goes by where He takes His eye off of us. For He is the One who, “keeps us in life, and does not allow our feet to slip.” (Ps. 66:9)

Prayer is a gift God gives to us so that we can come to Him anytime, anywhere, with anything. Be it a petition, guidance, thankfulness, or to unburden our heart, God wants to be our first and daily destination. Out of His great love, when we talk to Him, God promises to both listen and respond. And although we may not like the answer, we can give thanks that no prayer will go unanswered! 

Pause and Reflect -

How much time do you give God each day? Do you make Him a top priority? How does spending time in His presence daily make a difference in your life? 

How can making a joyful noise to God bring happiness to God and to you, even when you do not feel joyful? Why do you think expressing joy is important to both us and God? 

Finally let’s pray together, 

Our dearest Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Heavenly Father we lift up our voices in praise to Your glorious name, for You alone are worthy, You alone are the Lord Almighty. You have saved us from the pit and have set our feet on the Rock of salvation. How awesome are Your deeds. We thank you Lord for remembering and never forsaking us. You are always faithful, even when we are not. Father thank You for the gift of being able to come to You in prayer. Please cleanse us from all wickedness harbored in our hearts. Free us from anything that hinders You hearing our pleas. For we know You bless obedience, not stubbornness. Father we give thanks for Your precious Son, Jesus and praise your awesome works. In Jesus precious name we pray, Amen.

The book of Psalms is filled with songs from believing hearts in every imaginable situation. It’s is a collection of lyrics that can help Christians deal with anger and depression, joy and hope, fear and doubt, life and death, hatred and love. And a common chorus to many of the psalms is, "I asked the Lord for help, and he saved me from all my fears" (Psalm 34.4) Are you ready to cry out to the Lord for help? Then join us here at WITW for our new fall study. Starting August 29th, we’ll begin, “Becoming a Woman After God’s Own Heart - A Journey through The Psalms.” Monday through Friday we’ll be writing a daily devotional. On the weekend, Sandra will be posting an exercise helping us wrap up the week. So get ready to go through one of the most cherished books in the Bible, and be blessed by the fellowship, worship, and study! Head on over to our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenintheword2 to join the discussion!

 

Come join us! Women in the Word is pleased to announce our new Facebook page open to all who are looking for Christian study, fellowship, and prayer. Be sure to check us out, give us a like, and invite all your friends. See you there!

https://www.facebook.com/T2-Women-in-the-Word-107638425218552

Today's Scripture Passage: 1 John 1

I've reached an age where all my grandparents have passed on from this life, and I realize there is so very much that I'd like to know about them, but it's too late. My grandparents all married late in their lives, so they were all in their sixties when I came along, and I was too young to realize the value of their wisdom they had to share with me back then. 

I wish now that they had kept a journal, or written letters so I could have known more about their lives before I arrived, but all I have are a few photographs.

I get a sense that John is doing just this in this letter that has found it's way into our Bible. John is an old man now. He is the last living disciple among the original twelve that walked so closely with Jesus while on earth. I believe John, knowing that he may not be on earth much longer, wants to leave us with assurance that all we've heard about Jesus is true,

"What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes,
what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life...
We have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father
and was revealed to us" (1:1-2)

But this wasn't John sole purpose for writing. Notice what he goes onto to say next,

"What we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may have fellowship along with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete."( 1:3-4)

John's joy will be complete when he is assured that he has left us all we need to experience the same fellowship he shares with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Pretty neat, huh? 

So what do we need to know and do to experience that same fellowship?

"Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth." (1: 5-6)

John tells us plainly that in order to enjoy the same fellowship with God we must walk in the Light.  We need protection from the darkness! We need to move away from the darkness and move towards the Light. Do you see the turning taking place, which is called, repentance? Repentance simply put is an about face, yet more than simply an action, it's a matter of the heart. We need to get honest with God as the Light exposes more of the darkness.

We want to move away from the darkness and hidden sin to repentance and experience complete forgiveness because of all  Jesus, our Savior did for us! Sometimes I think we don't speak about this enough these days, and John wants to address that too when he tells us, "If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth." We need to get honest with God and with ourselves.

Repentance is what is required to be set free from the darkness and come to fellowship with the Light!  And who doesn't want to live freely in the Light of God’s love and care?

Who doesn't want to rejoice in His salvation? Living redeemed lives under His complete protection and guidance!
I also don't want you to miss this. John threw in an added bonus for us in verse 7, 

“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything..."  Don't you think? I think this was why John felt compelled to write this letter of First John.

True is that saying, “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” (Matt. 6:21) Whosoever, then, really perceives what fellowship with God is, will be satisfied with it alone, and will no more burn with desires for other things. “The Lord is my cup,” says David, “and my heritage; the lines have fallen for me on an excellent lot.” (Ps. 16:5, 6) In the same manner does Paul declare that all things were deemed by him as dung, in comparison with Christ alone. (Phil. 3:8) He, therefore, has at length made a proficiency in the Gospel, who esteems himself happy in having communion with God, and acquiesces in that alone; and thus he prefers it to the whole world, so that he is ready for its sake to relinquish all other things.

Saturday, October 20, 2018

This coming week's memory verse is Acts 2:42...

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (NIV)

Have a blessed and precious day and week everyone!

"That I Might Dwell Among Them" - Exodus 29:46

From the beginning of time it has always been The Lord’s desire to walk and fellowship with His people.
Only two chapters at the beginning of Genesis were written to describe the creation of the world, yet fourteen chapters in Exodus are taken up with the specifications of the tabernacle, for here is where God has come up with a way to meet with His people.
I believe this again demonstrates the value God has placed upon His  work of redemption, and that Christ is the center of that work when you take a look at the meaning behind the symbols. In an earlier post, I showed you how God’s message was found in the names of the original patriarch’s, from Adam to Noah, today I want to show you a few of the items included in the tabernacle and how they all point to Christ:
The entire tabernacle was a figure of the heavenly (Hebrews 9:23,24).
Inside the ark of the covenant:
The ark itself: A type of the throne of grace.
The mercy seat: the Lord Jesus.
The table of showbread: Christ our communion.
The candlestick: Christ our light (Heb 1:9; Rev 1:9-18).
The altar of incense: Christ our advocate and intercessor.
The laver: the cleansing by the Word and by Christ.
Bronze altar: the cross of Christ and His atonement.
Anointing oil: the Holy Spirit's anointing for service.
Garments [of the High Priest]:
The writer of Hebrews said, ''And they, truly were many priests, because they were not allowed to continue by reason of death; but this man, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore, He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them'' (Heb 7:23-25).

Jesus is able to understand our need because He is the perfect man, but He is also able to meet all our need because He is God. At the cross He bore the sin of the whole world. At the throne He is able to care for our need through His intercession.

Christ Jesus is ''a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek'' in that He is our Intercessor forever. But His priesthood is after the pattern of Aaron.  Aaron the first high priest was appointed by God (Ex 28:1).  Hebrews 5:5 says, ''So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made a high priest, but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, today have I begotten Thee.” Hebrews 9 reminds us that, ''Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us'' (Heb 9:12).

The Lord said in Exodus 12:13, ''When I see the blood, I will pass over you''. Sin was judged, and the blood was shed, but all was only temporal, yet it also pointed to God’s eternal plan! Therefore, the way of salvation in both the Old and New Testaments is the same - Faith in Christ - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (Eph 2:8-9)

THE TABERNACLE:

Tabernacle Furnishings	A Picture: Christ Jesus on Earth John1:14 The Word became flesh, & dwelt among us	A Pattern: True Tabernacle  in Heaven Hebrews 8:5 a copy and shadow of the heavenly things
Gate/ Door	“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved                                   John 10:9 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.                         ”                               Acts 4:12	John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.
Bronze Altar	John 1:29 Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!	Hebrews 10:12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God
Bronze Laver	Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.	Ephesians 5:26-27  that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.
Table of Showbread	John 6:35,48 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. “I am the bread of life.	John 6:41, 58 I am the bread that came down out of heaven…..he who eats this bread shall live forever.
Golden Lampstand	John 8:12; 9:5 Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”…“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”	Revelation 4:5 And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God
Altar of Incense	Hebrews 7:25 Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.	Revelation 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints (Rev 5:8) upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Veil	And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom                                               Mark 15:38 We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,                               Hebrews 10:19-20	Hebrews 9:24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us
Ark of the Covenant “Throne of God” Isaiah 37:16	Hebrews 9:12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.	Revelation 11:19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm
Mercy Seat	Romans 3:25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. 1 John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; … also for those of the whole world.	Revelation 5:6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.