We read of animal sacrifice from the beginning, the first being God killing animal to make coverings for Adam and Eve, We see it again with Abraham and his son Isaac. God tests Abraham and call him to sacrifice his son but God stops him and provides for him a ram to kill in the place of his son. In the account of the Passover God gives us the perfect picture of his Son's sacrifice. God told Moses to have each family kill a lamb and smear the lamb's blood over the top of the door to thier house. The lamb that died in the place of each firstborn of God's people. So it that God gave His Son to die in the place of His people- those who trust that what God said is true and acted upon it. The Hebrews had to kill thier own lamb. God kills His own Son. We read in Isaiah 53 that it pleased (it was his will) to crush him so that we would have covering like Adam and Eve and a substitute like Isaac had in the ram. Ask yourself: Have I been made clean? As we often say, It is not that God is asking us to do something but rather to trust that He has done all that is needed in His Son. By His blood the believer is made clean. Live by this truth and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Have a great day, Loved Ones, and God bless you real good!
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God was not caught by surprise! It's not as if He didnt' know that The Flood wouldn't break the curse. It's all part of God's unfolding plan. Through The Flood we better understand the pervasiveness of the curse on mankind and that a mere human could not break the curse. Remember back to The Fall and how God declared to the Serpent in front of Adam and Eve that One would come that would be bit in the heel by the Serpent but He would crush the head of the Serpent. Victory is for sure! It's just a matter of God's timing not ours. So God goes from working out His plan in the world at large to now working through one family line that He calls a nation for Himself. From Abraham to Isaac to Jacob and on to the twelve tribes of Israel, God is at work. He even narrows it down to the one tribe of Judah form where we we get the term Lion of Judah who is Jesus Christ! Ask Yourself: Am I focused on what God has promised or only what is in front of me and my current circumstances? God is working all things out for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. God is good and His plan cannot be stopped! Thank you Lord. :) Have a great day, Loved Ones, and God bless you real good! Do over is what I'd like to do in telling the account of Noah and the Ark. For far too long we've been making the tools the focus rather than the Master Craftsman. The Bible tells us that the whole world was currupt. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Genesis 6: 8-12 NASB The word favor is the same word grace. Grace is missing in the lifebook's account of the flood. By grace God didn't just wipe out all of humaity. Noah was preserved by grace so that he walked with God. Noah was chosen by God. God doesn't call people because they are qualified, He calls people and that qualifiies them. God didn't just ask him to build a boat that would survive the flood. God gave him detailed plans to make the boat that would survive the flood. These same plans are what give us modern day ships capable of carrying large mass. By grace God called the animals and Noah's family was saved. God was the one who closed the door behind them before bringing on The Flood. God is the Master Crastsman and Noah is the tool He used to preserve mankind until he would save the world through His Son. Remember from the beginning God brought all things into existence with mankind in mind and it was his intention to be kind, to share all things with us and He has in His Son. He who has the Son has it all! Ask Yourself: If it was me in Naoh's day would I be on the boat or in the flood? It was by grace that Noah was called and his family made it on because of him. If we know Jesus, we are family and we are saved by grace through faith in Him and God closes the door behind us to ensure that we are safe in the boat. Thank you Lord. Have a great day, Loved Ones, and God bless you real good! We went from paradise to shame and guilt to now murder in just a the first four chapters of the Bible. It's so sad. Sin had destoyed so many relationships the most important one was the one the one with God. We are created in the image of God which means we ALL have dignity and worth. This is why murder is such a tragedy. Remember we we created in His image to rule, not one another, but the world that He placed us in. What an awesome privelage yet all we can think about now is ourselves and what will get us ahead or on top. Before you think to yourself- I would never kill someone, remember Jesus said- “You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, ‘You must not murder anyone.Any person who commits murder will be judged.’ But I tell you, don’t be angry with anyone. If you are angry with others, you will be judged. And if you insult someone, you will be judged by the high court. And if you call someone a fool, you will be in danger of the fire of hell. Matthew 5:21-22 ERV Terrifying words! No one can stand before God alone without blame. Thank you Jesus for coming, living a perfect life that I could never live and dying a death that I deserve that I would be forgiven and be in right relationship to God our Father. My prayer is that each of us would live with this confidence and assurance. Have a great day, Loved Ones, and God bless you real good! Reguardless of who are the question of pain.suffering, and death remains. A person can not believe in God or be part of another religion but the questions remains and requires an answer. The Bible not only gives us the answer but also the remedy and His name is Jesus! Adam and Eve may have brought sin into the world but each one of us have sinned also of our own choosing. Thank God that Jesus coming into the world was not an after thought but rather part of God's plan. One thing that I believe we should understand is that God "kicked" them out of the garden for thier own good. The Bible clearly tells us that God said- “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3: 22-24 NASB God did not want His creation to live forever in a sin curse state so He placed them outside of the garden until Jesus- the new and final Adam- would come and redeem the world and make all things new. One day we will know the garen again and eat from the tree of life. For now we are called to simply trust Jesus. Have a great day, Loved Ones, and God bless you real good! Welcome back! Below is today's reading of the Life Book just in case you forgot to take one home or don't have a copy with you. Take a moment to read it and below is a short commentary- some thoughts I had on what we read today. As always feel free to question, comment or complain about todays reading in the comment section below. We actually talked about of this yesterday. :) I guess I got a little ahead of myself, but what's new. Vanessa makes a note writing- "I really wish everything was still all good. Things are pretty messed up." -V I'm not sure if she means in all of the world, or in the world around her, or maybe even her life personally but one thing is for sure- the world is not what God intended it from the beginning. -PB makes a note- "Good thought" in response to the thought that God made us like him in some ways. I love that the writer points us back to God's kindness. Remeber yesterday the video (posted below) pointed out that God created all things with us mind that he would share all things with us. -PB also notes that he cannot imagine a world without death, suffering, sin or sadness. Can you? How could someone make sense of the world we live in and it's condition apart from what God has laid out in His Word? It's a question we need and answer to, whether we are believers or non-believers. I do thank God that He is not finished with us yet. We'll read about the snake tomorrow and talk about it a little more at ESM Club Night! Have a great day, Loved Ones, and God bless you real good! :) |
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