Excursion through Exodus

At the moment I am going through the Bible - straight through, from Genesis - Revelation (eventually). I realised a while back how I've been a Christian for almost 25 years and I haven't read all the way through the Bible. This morning I was reading about the construction of the Tabernacle, and this was what I gleaned from it (copied from my Facebook profile, so not sure if the formatting will be OK):

Excursion through Exodus - the construction of the tabernacle was so precise, but it didn't save! The blood of many animals was shed on the altar but it wasn't forever because animals had to be sacrificed continually! Once a year the holy of holies was entered and only by the priest! The 10 commandments were in the ark of the covenant and the show bread was always there.
All born again believers are now the Church, instead of the Shekinah glory being in the Holy of Holies, each of us is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The many cloths covered the tabernacle, but now our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, covered in the Robe of Righteousness and Garment of Salvation, the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat is needed no more, because Christ's blood was shed at Calvary and we are now covered by it. We approach the High Priest daily, Jesus being that High Priest, making Himself an offering of atonement and the Scapegoat on the altar which is the Cross! He is the Show Bread, He provides manna for us daily! Give us this day our daily bread - spiritual food as well as physical food! Naked on the cross He hung, covered only in His wounds and blood - these were His High Priestly robes, no ephod, no breastplate, no headcovering - only thorns for a crown! The fire on the altar, for Christ, was God's wrath and judgement! This wrath was burned up on Christ! Our sins were laid on Him, our Scapegoat, as He entered the wilderness of God's forsaking of Him! He endured the pain and suffering alone, no one to comfort Him, no one to help Him, the wilderness of our sins was endured by Him and Him alone! Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

As the animal would have backslidden, pulling away from that altar, smelling and fearing death, the Lord Jesus Christ, willingly went to that altar! Would the animals have been making noise and clamour? Would the priests have said prayers over the beasts? Jesus went silently and instead of prayers, He heard mocking and jeering. The stench of burned flesh would have surrounded the tabernacle, the stench of our sin would have been with Christ as He bore it! The Sinless One, bearing the weight of our sins! Trillions upon trillions of sins! Such a weight, such a heavy burden!

Once Saved Always Saved

I wrote a post about not losing your salvation - read it HERE

Now opponents of this doctrine say - but that means you can sin all you like and all you have to do is repent [that's called antinomianism]

Antinomianism is as unbiblical as losing your salvation! How come?

Romans 6:15 has the answer

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

The argument continues:

16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

Matthew 4:1-11 Satan tempts Jesus

These are my thoughts, from my quiet time 2nd July 2015.

The wilderness is a barren place and one which may have wild and dangerous animals in it! It is also a place of solitude and maybe somewhere which could make one vulnerable. Well, Jesus was taken to the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, after which, Satan came to Him! To be our 100% Substitute Christ HAD to be tempted so that He could identify Himself with those He was going to redeem! 

1. Physical temptation - Jesus was physically hungry and probably thirsty when Satan came to Him. So in a human context He would have been weak and vulnerable - Satan being the sly old thing he is, used Christ's hunger to tempt Him. In some ways he used a similar technique he used in Eden - trying to make it sound like if Jesus couldn't do the miracle, then His ministry and work was going to be of no use and He wasn't who He claimed to be. He wanted Eve to doubt God in Eden - and not be truthful in His command about not eating the fruit. 

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

See that IF - it's like Satan is saying - come on prove that You are who You say You are

Satan thinks he has found a chink in Christ's armour - hunger! "OK You're hungry and as You claim to be the Creator of these stones - prove it, turn them into bread."

Christ must have been absolutely famished after fasting for so long BUT He is mightier than those things in the world and being The Word He counters Satan with the word! He, the Creator, the all-powerful One was NOT going to fall prey to the created, dark, fallen angel. He counters Satan by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Satan uses physical things to tempt us as well. Money, bigger house, faster car etc. Anyone in Christ doesn't need those things to be sustained. None of those things can fill the 'God space' we have in our souls! Only God can fill that 'aching void'

OK that didn't work so now Satan tries a slightly different tack

2. Positional temptation - Jesus, being the Son of God, had the legions of heaven at His command. To prove who He said He was Satan tempts Jesus to throw Himself off the temple (the dwelling place of God - Shekinah glory). Again the Evil One uses the word IF... goading the Lord to prove Himself? He didn't need to prove to Satan who He says He was - for a start He created him and He had also fulfilled some O.T. prophecies. Here Satan uses Scripture again to tempt Jesus (Psalm 91:11, 12)

“If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

Again Jesus counters him with Scripture (Deuteronomy 6:16). 

“It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

We can't tempt God because He is above and beyond our comprehension and His ways are perfect! 

People try and tempt us to doubt our walk, our faith etc - If you are a Christian then you shouldn't do this or that etc As a Christian you shouldn't judge anyone, so long as they love one another and are committed to one another who are you to judge them? - BUT what does the world know of Spiritual things? Nothing - they aren't indwelt by the Holy Spirit! They live in Satan's domain and under his sway so don't be intimidated by their false accusations and their supposed knowledge of Scripture! 

3. Pride temptation - Jesus has no pride, being righteous so this was a no-brainer from the get-go! see the irony of this:

Satan takes the Creator up onto the exceedingly high mountain [He created], and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory - as the hymnist wrote:

The kingdoms of this world
Lie in its hand;
See how they rise and fall
At its command...

('it', being the great providence of Heaven/God)

[Great Providence of Heaven by David Charles 1762-1834)

The kingdoms etc. are subject to God's providence anyway and are not Satan's to give away! 

Satan has the audacity to offer those to Christ if He would worship the created, fallen being! Again Jesus counters this with Scripture Deuteronomy 6:13:

“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

There is only One we should serve, worship and obey - that is God and Him alone!

Satan uses our pride to make us fall these days. Go on a certain TV show to further your career, do this and the world will love you. It doesn't matter if you metaphorically stab someone in the back to get a promotion - just think of the respect you will gain. That little white lie - that's nothing, doesn't mean a thing - it will get you out of trouble and you will be the best amongst your colleagues, school friends, neighbours, church folk!

It really goes to show how important it is to read and memorise our Scripture. I was thinking that it is part of our spiritual armour - the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God [Ephesians 6:17b]. How can we counter accusations etc if we can't wield the Sword of the Spirit?

Satan will accuse us of lacking in love or compassion if we say that gay marriage is wrong or adultery/flirting etc is wrong - it's only harmless fun - why should you judge someone who is having fun? The judging argument is a lie - the only judging we're not to do is hypocritical judging.

Do you really think you're a Christian because of... (insert Satan's lies here).

We need to be rooted and grounded in Scripture and be filled with the love of Christ and the wisdom of God to know how to counter all of the world's accusations! 

Fire on Earth

The other day I was pondering the fact that the world is totally and utterly opposed to the things of the Church. There should be no compromise or appeasement with the world even though that may mean persecution and maybe death! 

I thought about Shadrach, Mishach and Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace - they were opposed to the world and they were cast in very hot fire. A true Church should be opposed to the world - no compromise, no appeasement, just standing firm on the rock! Even if the world casts the first stone (they are good at judging the Church), we stand firm. No compromise, no appeasement. 

The Church has been in the middle of the furnace throughout the generations - the fire has burned stronger at times, than other times, but still the battle rages on around us!

I began to think about being in the furnace on earth - I would rather be in the furnace on earth for a short time, than to spend eternity in hell with no escape! There is a way in, but no way out! The thought is horrific. To experience God's wrath and damnation forever - UGH, no thanks!

For the world there is no fire - they stoke the fires with their persecution of the Church. They can sue, burn (literally), murder, destroy but they will never be able to take away the fact that the Church is saved and protected. 

"Vengeance is Mine!" says the Lord and His Church will one day be vindicated!

Take heart believer - you are eternally safe. It may be dangerous on earth now, but none can snatch you out of His hand!

Some questions about me

There are a few posts going around FB which are basically questions you answer about yourself! Well I thought I would post some about my Christian life :)

BEGINNINGS

1. Have you always been a Christian? NO
2. When did you become a Christian? 10th December 1990 at about 21:00
3. Where were you when you became a Christian? Rue du Bemel, Woluwe Saint Pierre - which was my atheist employers' house
4. Did you go to church? Yes - The International Baptist Church in Wezembeek-Oppem 
5. What influenced you to search the Christian faith? I read John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and saw that going to church didn't make you a Christian - it was faith in Jesus Christ which saved you! Of course the Holy Spirit first of all ;)
6. Have you been baptised? I was christened as a baby and I was fully immersed as an adult believer on 27th January 1991 in the International Baptist Church 
7. Was there ever any other religion you may have considered? What? Yes - Buddhism - a trip to Thailand put pay to that!
8. Would you ever consider converting to another religion now? NO

BIBLE, LITERATURE, HYMNS etc

9. What is your favourite Scripture verse? There are so many, but at the moment it has to be Matthew 6: 19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
10. Who is your favourite Bible character (other than Jesus ;) )? Why? The apostle Paul (who has had so much grief from people saying he's a misogynist - people who have never read anything by the rabbis of his day) the man was resolute and immoveable and did actually respect women. Peter is also another favourite because he also put his mouth into gear before his brain - like me :o
11. Which book of the Bible is your favourite? The one book I have found much comfort and rest in, is Isaiah, although I do like the rest of the Bible! I also love Daniel and Revelation
12. Which book of the Bible has surprised you the most?
There are 2 which I didn't think I would like - Leviticus and Job - I thought I would find them difficult, but I didn't!
13. What is your favourite  book (besides the Bible ;) )? The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom - it's an autobiography
14. Who is your favourite author(s)? - Corrie ten Boom, CH Spurgeon and AW Tozer
15. Are you reading a Christian book at the moment? No, but I plan to read Heaven and Hell by Prof Edward Donnelly, soon!
16. Which Christian poem, you wrote, is your favourite? I wrote one about Jairus' daughter and I think that is one I really got into when writing it!

PRESENT

17. What is your doctrinal position? I am an amillennial reformed evangelical Christian, but I do believe that everybody who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour will be in glory one day and we will all worship Him together as one!
18. Is there anything amazing (other than conversion) which has happened during your Christian life? Where do I begin? - so many amazing things, prayers answered, lessons learned, growth, times of coldness, but also times of phenomenal warmth. One day I was sorting my sons' vests out and only thought - They need more vests, but we can't afford them. I didn't tell anybody, not even my husband and then 2 days later a neighbour knocked on the door with a bag full of vests and pants! Not just physical things - being able to truly forgive people, having peace in my heart about certain situations etc!
19. Do you pray? Yes, but not as often as I should! 
20. Do you read the Bible - Yes, but as above - not as often as I should!

A driving lesson for all

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn. She was screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection with him. As she was still in mid-rant she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit the car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a cell. 

After a couple of hours a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping the guy off in front of you, and cursing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker and the chrome plated Christian fish symbol on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car!"

Author Unknown

As Christians we should be living for Jesus and behaving like Him or else people will never believe we are His! 

Aberystwyth Conference 2014 Friday Evening Paul Mallard

Aberystwyth Conference 2014 Friday Morning Don Carson

Aberystwyth conference 2014 Thursday Evening Joel Beeke

Aberystwyth Conference 2014 Tuesday Morning Don Carson

Aberystwyth Conference 2014 Thursday Morning Don Carson

Aberystwyth Conference 2014 Wednesday Morning Don Carson

Aberystwyth Conference 2014 Wednesday Evening (EMW)

Aberystwyth Conference 2014 Tuesday Evening (EMW)

Aberystwyth conference 2014 Monday Evening

Greatest Love Letter

Easter 2014 poem

The One who wore the crown of thorns

Upon his blood stained brow.

Wore those thorns so that we

Could wear a crown of glory now.

The One who had nail pierced hands

And had agony in His soul

Bore those wounds so that we

In Spirit, could be made whole

The One who bore the darkest sky

Dark as the blackest night

Took our sins upon Himself

So we could live in light

The One who hung all alone

On that vile, accursed cross

Hung in love and tenderness

So we wouldn't suffer loss

The One who bowed His weary head

And gave up His soul that day

Lifts up the heads of everyone

Who will follow in His way

The One who lay dead in the tomb

Rose up in victory

So that those who come and follow Him

Live for eternity!

© Carolyn Davison 5th April 2014

What Jesus did for His people

• He was abandoned - so that God would never abandon His people
• He was friendless - so that He could become a greater friend to His people
• He was stripped naked - so that His people could be clothed in the Robe of Righteousness and Garment of Salvation
• He had a crown of thorns on His head - so that His people could be a crown of glory and royal diadem in the hand of His Father
• He had holes in His hands and feet - so that His people could be made whole
• He was surrounded by darkness - so that His people could be penetrated by the light of his glory
• His life was drained from His body - so that His people could have new life in Him and never die, spiritually
• He was thirsty - so that we would never have to thirst [spiritually] again
• He took our sins upon Himself - so that we could be forgiven
• He rose again (hallelujah) - so that one day His people will rise with Him and go to glory

AMAZING LOVE, AMAZING GRACE, AMAZING SACRIFICE!

Beautiful Feet

How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”

Isaiah 52:7

Be spiritually prepared to take the gospel anywhere! 

The gospel is good news and it does bring us peace. A peace which transcends every other peace - Peace with God, eternal peace with God!

The gospel brings salvation - it lifts us out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay of sin and sets our feet upon the Rock (the Lord Jesus Christ). 

Mountains can be difficult and dangerous to climb, they can be steep and make us tired - how beautiful then, the saint, who, through trials and difficulties can proclaim this gospel of good news from experience. How beautiful then, the saint, who, going through those trials and difficulties can proclaim "Your God reigns!" The saint who goes through the trials and difficulties with a song in his heart and praise on his lips is indeed beautiful! 

In the ancient days and also today, to proclaim the gospel outside of Jerusalem the evangelist must go over a mountain! To effectively proclaim the gospel we have to go through difficult times!

The gospel is good news which brings glad tidings of good things! What are these good things?

A restored relationship with out Heavenly Father
Eternal life through Jesus Christ

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

An advocate with the Father

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

New life

Romans 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Forgiveness of sins

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

New outlook and future

Revelation 21 & 22

Peace, guidance and love

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

An eternal inheritance

Ephesians 1:11  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will...

New Lord and Master

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

New clothes  
 
Isaiah 61:10b For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness

New family

Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,  to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.


Helper/Comforter

John 14:15-18 ^"If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

Love verses Lust

I saw this as a post on Facebook - I think it' so true