Tuesday 11/12 ~ He sees you through the blood of Jesus

The scripture for today, November 12 (11/12), is Leviticus 11:12 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Cover-Medium“Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you.”

Is the Law of Moses still in effect, including its requirement for tithing?  The scripture above is just one of the over 600 laws in the Law of Moses. They were intricate laws governing both their worship and their everyday life. This one chapter in Leviticus says in part they could not eat camels or coneys or rabbits or pigs. They could not eat eagles, vultures, kites, ravens, owls, gulls, hawks, osprey, storks, herons, hoopoes or bats. But they could eat locusts, katydids, crickets and grasshoppers. And this is just part of chapter 11!

Why did God give so many intricate laws to the Jews? To give them a chance to keep them all exactly so they could be perfect. In the meantime, God did not give any laws to the Gentiles; He let them try whatever means they could on their own to become perfect. But during the same time period, both the Jews and Gentiles proved to themselves that it was impossible to keep their religions perfectly and thus be perfect themselves.

Now Jesus was ready to come. He lived the Jewish law perfectly, then nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:14) and established a new last will and Testament (Hebrews 8-9). Now you live under a law of grace, and his commandments revolve around loving God and loving each other.

God cannot co-exist with imperfection. But he loves you and wants you to be his child.  Through Jesus he accomplished it; he set you free. He released you from having to be perfect under the Law, and sees you now through the blood of Jesus and his holy eyes as perfect.

 

00-Cover-ThumbnailFUN WITH BIBLE NUMBERS is just that.  Did you know the average good Jew gave around 35% of his income to the Lord? Add it up.  Did you know the temple Holy of Holies was covered with three trillion dollars worth of God? Add it up. Or that Jesus walked on water 3-1/2 miles? Add it up. Great classroom warmup, party mixer, bulletin filler, and for homeschoolers, shut-ins, birthdays, etc.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2O4FPA3

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Sunday ~ Appreciation Day for the Impossible

The scripture for today, October 27 (10/27), is Mark 10:27 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Supper-Front Cover-Thumbnail“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man, this is impossible, but not with God: All things are possible with God.’ “

Can you be perfect? God let mankind try for many centuries to be perfect.

To one group of people he gave over 600 laws and said, “If you keep these, you will be perfect.” But, as hard as the Jews tried, no one could keep the Law of Moses perfectly.

To the rest of the world, he basically said, “Try to figure out for yourselves how to be perfect.” So, they tried all kinds of religions, but with all of them, they could not be perfect.

Finally, mankind was ready for Jesus. He came to earth and lived that perfect life that is impossible for you to live. He became the perfect Lamb of God, and became your sacrifice for your sins, for Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin [that you earn]  is death.” He collected your wage of death from Satan for you.

So now, according to Romans 6:3-4, just as Jesus died on the cross, you too can die to your sinful nature ~ the part of you that sins and doesn’t care. Then, just as Jesus was buried in his tomb, you too can be buried in a watery tomb of baptism. And finally, just as Jesus was raised up out of his tomb the Savior, you rise up out of our watery tomb the saved.

Then God considers you perfect too. God cannot associate with sinners in his heaven. He can only have perfect people in his heavenly home; otherwise, it would not be heaven. Impossible for you to live there with him someday? Yes. But, God sent Jesus to fix that problem for you. With God, nothing is impossible.

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Supper-Front Cover-ThumbnailTHE LORD’S SUPPER:  52 READINGS WITH PRAYERS includes a Bible reading for partaking of the bread with a prayer, and a Bible reading for partaking of the wine with a prayer. One set for each Sunday of the year.  Useful for those leading the communion as well as worshippers in the pews for your meditation.  To BUY NOW, click a book or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2Nf542d

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Friday 10/25 ~ Inconvenience

The scripture for today, October 25 (10/25), is Hebrews 10:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAIL“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another ~ and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Do you declare, “I can walk through nature ~ the temple of God ~ and feel God is closer there than in a church building”? Well, do you really do it? How often? The purpose of the church meeting is not so much to encourage yourself as to encourage your fellow Christians and visitors along with worshiping God.  

Look at the context. Verse 23 says “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” and verse 24 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” How do you do these things? A lot of it is done during your congregation’s worship and encouragement service. Each one you assemble with has an unspoken burden. They need you ~ your smile, your song, your prayer. Where are you when the others meet together?

And what comes after our verse for today? Verse 26 says, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.” Meeting together with other congregational members is one of the major experiences that keep you and your friends from falling and missing heaven. Or does worshipping all the time in heaven sound boring too?

Should you meet once a week? This scripture says to meet “all the more as you see the Day [of Judgment] approaching.’ Do you say, “But that’s too inconvenient”?

It was inconvenient for Jesus to leave a perfect heaven for an imperfect earth. It was inconvenient for him to leave the company of angels for the company of sinners. It was inconvenient for him to do this for 33 long years. Inconvenient to take the blame for your sins, and then take your punishment. Inconvenient to experience agonizing spiritual death when God left him alone on the cross in your place, and then that agonizing physical death in your place.

Do you really know inconvenience? Do you take heaven for granted?

 

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAILTHE ROAD TO HEAVEN.  Securing our ransom from Satan was no easy feat. How dare we take it for granted! We blithely say, “I’m saved” as though we’re talking about eating our next meal, going for a walk, or chatting with friends.  Each time we sin, Satan gets us.  God went through heaven, earth, and hell so to speak to free us. Once he did, oh the glories of heaven. To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2p1M8fn

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Saturday 10/19 ~ Fascinating and renewing

The scripture for today, October 19 (10/19), is Hebrews 10:19 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Titus-Cover-Lg Thumb“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus….”

The entire book of Hebrews explains in detail how the Jewish Old Testament Law of Moses with its 600 laws was replaced by the New Testament law of Jesus’ Grace, not just for Jews, but for every nation on earth.

Only Levites (male descendants of the Jewish tribe of Levi) were allowed to enter the Holy Place ~ first room in the temple. Only the high priest, (a Levite descendant of Aaron, Moses’ brother) was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place, and even then only once a year on the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16 explains that on that Day, the high priest was to kill a goat and sprinkle its blood inside the Most Holy Place for the atonement (forgiveness) of the people, then had to come right out.

Blood sacrifices were only to appease Satan. God commanded people to make those sacrifices, not to inconvenience people, but to keep Satan at bay until he got what he really wanted ~ the blood of God in flesh (Acts 20:28). Once Jesus gave Satan what he wanted, there was no more reason to offer the blood of animals ~ the theme throughout the Old Law of Moses.

The Jewish temple was destroyed about the time the book of Hebrews was written. This book explains that worshippers no longer need an earthly high priest and an earthly Most Holy Place. Jesus is your high priest (Hebrews 7:24-26) The Most Holy Place is heaven and open to all Christians throughout the world, not just for a few moments, but for eternity. (Hebrews 9:24-26).

Hebrews 9:12-14 explains, “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

“The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so they are outwardly clean. 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!”

God created the pattern in the Old Testament, and the spiritual reality in the New Testament.

Some people are collecting money and breeding red heifers to rebuild the temple and begin blood sacrifices again. Why in the world would they do that? Do they really want to annul Jesus’ New Last Will and Testament and return to stoning adulterers, paying 1/3 of their income (not just 1/10) to the temple, requiring all males go to the temple three times a year, etc.?  And where are they going to find a direct descendant of Aaron, Moses’ brother, to be the high priest? James said that, if you keep part of the Law, you must keep all of it (James 2:10).

Read the book of Hebrews for yourself. It is fascinating and renewing. It is full of freedom and redemption and eternity.

 

0-Titus-Cover-Lg ThumbTITUS: THE ARISTOCRAT is an arbitrator. He’s already lived a hard life before meeting Paul ~ blame for his mother’s death, loss of a child, loss of his beautiful wife. In his law practice, he defends the downtrodden. After his conversion to Christianity, Paul sends him everywhere to calm down people wanting to bring the old Law of Moses or their idol-worshipping practices into the church. The church was meant to be simple.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2OYISvL

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Tuesday 10/15 ~ Oh, how affectionate

The scripture for today, October 15 (10/15), is Deuteronomy 10:15 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAIL“Yet the Lord set his affection on your forefathers [Abraham, Isaac, Jacob] and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants [Jews], above all the nations, as it is today.”

Mankind has spent millenniums trying to figure out how to be perfect so we can deserve heaven and escape hell.

God gave us that opportunity the first several thousand years of mankind. Some people of the world he left alone to figure out on their own how to be perfect. They created many kinds of religions and philosophies. But to the Jews he sent the Law of Moses containing over 600 intricate laws which, if kept perfectly, would make them perfect. In all cases, no one could be perfect.

Then, when mankind was willing to admit we cannot be perfect, the Word of God materialized and came to us to live that perfect life that is impossible for us to live. Now, all you have to do is follow Jesus and be IN Jesus (Galatians 3:27) for the forgiveness of your sins, and God will consider you perfect too.

God sets his affections on you. Do you run from him? Do you harbor resentments toward him? Are you too busy or having too much fun or too tired to give him a second thought?   He will not force you, but he runs after you begging you to come to him for safety. Oh, how affectionate he feels toward you.

 

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAILTHE ROAD TO HEAVEN begins in the Garden of Eden where Satan snatched mankind away from God and what God went through to pay the ransom Satan demanded to release us. Then it moves on to our “glorious bodies” and heaven.  Recommended for family and friends who don’t have time for God.  To BUY NOW, click a cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2OTq015

 

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Monday 9/30 ~ We fall at his bloody pierced feet and worship him

The scripture for today, September 30 (9/30), is Luke 9:30f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.”

Hebrews 5:7 says something very startling to most people. “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death.”

Jesus did not look forward to going to the cross, even though many thousands of others had died that way. Why was it different for him? Because he had to take on all our sins as though he had committed them himself ~ every lie we ever told, every gain from cheating, every insult, every slander campaign against another, every adultery, every murder ~ everything. He had to take the blame for ALL our sins! How could he bear it?

Not only that, but he had to experience both physical and spiritual death. Spiritual death means being separated from, being forsaken by God. What a terror to experience!

And so, a few weeks before his crucifixion, as he prayed on the mountain, Moses and Elijah appeared to him and they spoke about his death. They surely gave him the courage to do what had to be done to save you and me who deserve hell.

The crowning glory of this conversation with Moses and Elijah is that the Father himself reassured him by announcing, “THIS IS MY SON! WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN! LISTEN TO HIM!”

Jesus was to nail the Old Law of Moses to the cross (Colossians 2:14). He had promised people, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).

On the cross, he said, “It is fulfilled.”  Indeed, by the time Jesus returned to heaven, he had lived the Old Law introduced by Moses perfectly ~ something no man had ever been able to do. And by the time he returned to heaven, he had fulfilled every prophecy about his birth, life, and death, the first such full-time prophet being Elijah.

Oh, the things Jesus went through for us. We fall at his bloody, pierced feet and worship him.

 

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailTHEY MET JESUS: SHADOW OF DEATH includes two chapters on the crucifixion itself ~ one the first three hours, one the last three hours.  I studied a lot of medical manuals and consulted physicians and they are the result. It also includes the hours before his crucifixion, the mourning of his followers and that great Sunday morning when he gave Satan the final blow: He came back to life!  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2MPmDcj

 

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Thursday 9/26 ~ How amazing God’s plan for us

The scripture for today, September 26 (9/26), is Hebrews 9:26f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

07-SHADOW-ChildsCartoonThmbnail“Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face the judgment.”

According to the Old Law of Moses, sacrifices of perfect lambs had to be made to temporarily pay the ransom of death for people’s sins. But it wasn’t enough because what Satan really wanted was the death of God so he could take over.

Finally, Jesus became the perfect Lamb of God and gave Satan what he wanted (Matthew 20:28). In a sense, he laid down on the altar of the world. He paid the ransom Satan demanded to release our sinful souls from his clutches.

Then Jesus fooled Satan.  Satan thought he got what he wanted ~ God in the body of Jesus had died.  The ransom was paid and our souls released in one fell swoop. Then three days later he played a trick on Satan: He came back to life!

And so, just as Jesus died once, we too die once. Then our judgment. No second chances. No reincarnations. No going back and trying to be perfect again and failing again.  No trying for yet another 1000 years because supposedly Jesus didn’t get it right the first time.  

Jesus released us from all of our failures at being perfect. Thank God, he was perfect for us. And now, after dying once, when he returns, he will not set foot on earth.  Instead, his followers will meet him in the air among the clouds (I Thessalonians 4:17). The rest will face judgment.

How amazing God’s plan for us!

 

07-SHADOW-ChildsCartoonThmbnailA CHLD’S LIFE OF CHRIST: Storybook 7, SHADOW OF DEATH, takes the child very gently through Jesus hurting and then dying so he could go to a perfect and beautiful world and show us how to follow him there.  Children hear about the cross; help them understand with gentle words that keep them focused on the beauty of heaven.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2OR1Ztg

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Friday 9/20 ~ Which God? Which Savior?

The scripture for today, September 20 (9/20), is Luke 9:20 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

” ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ “

04-King Joash-ThumbnailCoverJesus is still asking that question today. Who do you say Jesus is? Some people in the world say Jesus was the savior of the Christians, the same person as Moses to the Jews, and Mohammed to the Moslems, and Buddha to the Buddhists. In the name of being fair to everyone, they claim these are all saviors of different religions going by different names but of the same God.

Let us not be caught in the web of the New Age Movement that claims all saviors are the same savior and all gods are the same God.

This is an impossibility. These religions contradict each other. Read their holy books and you will discover this. So, which one is right?

The Bible is the only religious book in the world that can be proven to be divine with fulfilled prophecies of entire kingdoms. It says regarding our Jesus, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Here is a website with hundreds of proofs ~ https://casagrandechurchofchrist.com

Investigate. Read. Compare. Then stand up for Jesus, THE Savior! Stand up and be counted!

 

04-King Joash-ThumbnailCoverA CHILD’S BIBLE KIDS:  KING JOASH is the story of an orphan boy raised in secret in the temple who became king.  His people worshipped many so-called gods. They wanted to be able to choose their own god whose worship was more fun than the other gods’.  Young King Joash loved his Creator, the only God, and forbade his people to worship their so-called gods that weren’t even real.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this: https://amzn.to/30wvSzp

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Sunday 8/11 ~ …because your soul is alive.

The scripture for today, August 11 (8/11), is Romans 8:11 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAIL“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”

Death literally means separation. Physical death means separation from this body on earth. Spiritual death means separation of our soul from God who is Life. Whenever we sin, our soul dies. It happened to Adam and Eve who didn’t think God meant it when he said, “In the day you eat of the fruit, you will die.” They could no longer walk and talk with God in the garden because they were now separated from him, spiritually dead. With that eventually also came physical death.

There are certain spiritual laws that cannot be broken. For example, it is impossible for God to lie. It is also impossible for God to sin. Therefore, God cannot co-exist with sin. We sin. Another law is that sin demands death. For centuries, God commanded mankind kill perfect animals in their place to take their death punishment. Apparently, Satan accepted this so as not to take our souls to hell ~ yet.  It was a temporary fix.

Finally, God sent the Son in bodily form to be killed in your place and take your death punishment. Now, all you have to do is be “in Jesus” which is accomplished by doing what Galatians 3:26 says.

What is the role of your spirit? When someone dies, you say their spirit has left their body. So, as long as they are alive, it means their spirit is still in them. They are not conscious of their spirit being in them; they just know it is because they are still alive.

In the same way, when you become a Christian by believing, repenting, confessing and being baptized, God’s Holy Spirit enters you; Acts 2:38 says so. This is when you become spiritually alive; Romans 6:3-4 says so. You are not overtly conscious of God’s Spirit being in you, but you know it is true because your soul is now alive.

 

Road to Heaven-COVER-KINDLE-THUMBNAILTHE ROAD TO HEAVEN begins in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve decided to follow Satan’s advice instead of God, thus taking mankind into his custody, works through God’s magnificent plan to ransom us from Satan, and ends in the heavenly throne room. Come along with me to trace the sometimes treacherous but ultimately glorious path made for us by God.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2yPeURw

 

LINK to all BOOKS by CATEGORY:  http://bit.ly/MyBookInfo

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Friday 8/9 ~ Taking the death penalty for someone else

The scripture for today, August 9 (8/9), is 2nd Corinthians 8:9 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

Such love!

Jesus gave up streets of gold for streets full of trash. Gave up a heavenly mansion for a barn. Gave up the ability to be everywhere at once, to being confined to a body. Gave up eternal bliss for thirty-three years of pain and struggle. Gave up adoring angels for crowds that hated him. And finally, he gave up sinlessness to take the blame for your sins and allow himself to take the soul and body death penalty for your sins.

What more can be said about God who materialized for you and snatched you out of Satan’s jaws? Unless perhaps it is ‘What have you given up for him lately?’.

 

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailSHADOW OF DEATH is a novel about the last day of Jesus’ life including two slow-motion chapters about his six hours on the cross and ending with the hopelessness felt by his shattered followers.  This THEY MET JESUS series is a commentary in narrative form.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2OXZjd8

LINK to all my BOOKS by CATEGORY:    http://bit.ly/MyBookInfo

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