Hebrews 12: 1-2
Therefore,
When we see a "therefore" we need to ask what it's there for. Here, we've just gone through God's Hall of Heroes, all the saints that came before us who lived their lives and accomplished great feats, "by faith."
since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses
Here we're told that all these saints are surrounding us, watching us.
to the life of faith,
They're watching us to see how we are living our lives by faith.
let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
Whatever is keeping us from running freely the course set before us.
especially the sin that so easily trips us up.
All the little distractions that tangle our feet, dangerously trying to bring us down.
And let us run
We need to run freely, not walk or saunter lazily, through life.
with endurance
There are many things that we need to learn to endure; many trials, troubles, terrors, weariness and griefs.
the race God has set before us.
This life is a race, so we need to be running. It is a relay race, so we are to prepare the next generation to take the baton of faith after us.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus,
Jesus is our example. He never did slow down His ministry, nor was He ever in a hurry. He always relied only on His Father, never His own initiative, in everything He did. So we follow Jesus as Jesus followed His Father.
the Author and Finisher of our faith;
He, along with His Father and the Holy Spirit, devised this whole plan, designed our whole Universe including our Earth, and decided before He ever started to create, what He would do to redeem us. And He concluded that part of His Plan of the Ages--we now put our faith in His sacrifice, rather than an animal, to complete our salvation from sin and our redemption from this broken environment of our World System.
Who for the joy that was set before Him
That joy was knowing that we could spend Eternity with Him, in His glory (see John 17:24).
He endured the Cross, despising the shame,
He did not relish the Cross, He had to endure it. He had to hang there unclothed, in full view of the populace, as a condemned criminal--the very opposite of Who He is. And even separated from His Father for the first time in all Eternity! Something I cannot even fathom. It was this joy that gave Him the strength to do it. He loves you and me that much.
and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God.
Now, today, Jesus has died, risen, and ascended back into Heaven, again enjoying the glory He shared with the Father from eternity past. Now that He has accomplished everything we need to be right with God--born into His own Family, cleansed and forgiven--He will complete the rest of His plan to redeem every person who turns to Him in faith, and to redeem this Earth that has been plundered by ungodly men; before He "makes everything new." That will conclude His whole Plan of the Ages, our ages.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
False Prophets
Lamentations 2: 14
Your prophets have said so many foolish things, false to the core. They did not save you from exile by pointing out your sins. Instead, they painted false pictures, filling you with false hope.
Who are you listening to? How is your pastor preaching? What are the televised and online preachers saying? Are they promoting God's majesty, holiness and purity? Or are they giving you encouragement in your worldly attitudes, your common-sense plans?
God is not willing to condone any variance from His own character. Even the slightest closeness to perfect is not perfect. Every member of Mankind has inherited the DNA defects of our father, Adam. The church has traditionally called this, "original sin," and more recently, "the sin-nature." This handicap leads us into making foolish choices, that lead us away from God and His ways.
There is nothing that we can do in our humanity that God can accept, as even our best intentions and our most helpful philanthropies are no better than filthy, uncleanable menstrual rags (Isaiah 64:6). So we can't help ourselves.
That's why God sent His only Son, the Lord God of the Old Testament, who we now know as Jesus of Nazareth. He alone was born fully human from His mother, but without that defect, because His Father was not Adam, but God Himself. Isaiah tells us that the child would be born, but the Son would be given, the One Who has been the Son from eternity past (Isaiah 9:6-7).
It is Jesus Who is God's Christ, His Anointed, for us. He it is Who has been anointed to be our Perfect Lamb, sacrificed to take our death, Whose Blood does not only cover, but fully washes away our sinfulness--all our sins as well as that DNA defect. He said that He will make all things new (Revelation 21:5), because He is the Creator who made all things in the first place, so He can always decide to rearrange all the molecules into new bodies, a new Earth and a new Heaven; just like my son could dismantle and re-build his Lego castles and cities.
So if any of your teachers is telling you that you can do anything, without relying fully on God, dump them. Find honest, godly teachers who will inform you of what you really do need, to be remade. Who will tell you straight out that you are a sinner, born under wrath, and Jesus took your wrath on the Cross, in your place. Then God will work His miracle in you, cleansing you of all that is contrary to His holiness, and placing His own Holy Spirit in you to live in you, making your dead spirit alive. And He will teach you how to hear His still, small voice that you will hear as a sure knowing deep in your spirit. He also speaks to us in His Word the Bible, in circumstances, and through His other sons and daughters.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Your prophets have said so many foolish things, false to the core. They did not save you from exile by pointing out your sins. Instead, they painted false pictures, filling you with false hope.
Who are you listening to? How is your pastor preaching? What are the televised and online preachers saying? Are they promoting God's majesty, holiness and purity? Or are they giving you encouragement in your worldly attitudes, your common-sense plans?
God is not willing to condone any variance from His own character. Even the slightest closeness to perfect is not perfect. Every member of Mankind has inherited the DNA defects of our father, Adam. The church has traditionally called this, "original sin," and more recently, "the sin-nature." This handicap leads us into making foolish choices, that lead us away from God and His ways.
There is nothing that we can do in our humanity that God can accept, as even our best intentions and our most helpful philanthropies are no better than filthy, uncleanable menstrual rags (Isaiah 64:6). So we can't help ourselves.
That's why God sent His only Son, the Lord God of the Old Testament, who we now know as Jesus of Nazareth. He alone was born fully human from His mother, but without that defect, because His Father was not Adam, but God Himself. Isaiah tells us that the child would be born, but the Son would be given, the One Who has been the Son from eternity past (Isaiah 9:6-7).
It is Jesus Who is God's Christ, His Anointed, for us. He it is Who has been anointed to be our Perfect Lamb, sacrificed to take our death, Whose Blood does not only cover, but fully washes away our sinfulness--all our sins as well as that DNA defect. He said that He will make all things new (Revelation 21:5), because He is the Creator who made all things in the first place, so He can always decide to rearrange all the molecules into new bodies, a new Earth and a new Heaven; just like my son could dismantle and re-build his Lego castles and cities.
So if any of your teachers is telling you that you can do anything, without relying fully on God, dump them. Find honest, godly teachers who will inform you of what you really do need, to be remade. Who will tell you straight out that you are a sinner, born under wrath, and Jesus took your wrath on the Cross, in your place. Then God will work His miracle in you, cleansing you of all that is contrary to His holiness, and placing His own Holy Spirit in you to live in you, making your dead spirit alive. And He will teach you how to hear His still, small voice that you will hear as a sure knowing deep in your spirit. He also speaks to us in His Word the Bible, in circumstances, and through His other sons and daughters.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, May 29, 2017
Promises To Israel
Jeremiah 32: 42, 44
This is what the Lord says: "Just as I have brought all these calamities on them, so I will do all the good I have promised them. ... For someday I will restore prosperity to them. I, the Lord, have spoken."
God had Jeremiah buy that field from his cousin, and seal the deed in a jar so that it would last a long time, as though Jeremiah himself would be with those who would return, to claim his property. And Jeremiah trusted what God said, so he did it, and he fully expected to still be alive to return.
Today they are back in the Land God gave their ancestors, and they've even been a Nation among the Nations of the World for almost 70 years now, yet they have not returned to God. How can they claim that God gave them this land without claiming God?! They are a secular nation, surrounded by enemies whose hatred for them is so strong and passionate that they seek to wipe them completely off the face of the Earth.
This Nation Israel has been attacked repeatedly through the millennia, but has never been destroyed: Conquered and scattered throughout the world for a thousand years, gathered and destroyed in concentration camps, and still scattered into every Nation on Earth. But they have never been destroyed, because God has yet to fulfill His promises to them.
When Jesus, the Lord God of the Old Testament, returns again to rule the World, that will be the Day that all Israel will be saved, when they see Him Whom they have pierced, and I believe it will be they who will repopulate all the Nations of the World during the 1000 years Jesus will rule from His Throne in Jerusalem. Then all the promises He made to them will be fulfilled, to the letter.
O my Father, please help all of Your children, Your church, to wake up and seek Your Face; and support Your people Israel, even before they turn to You. Show us each how we can do good to the people of Israel, both in the Nation and throughout the Earth.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
This is what the Lord says: "Just as I have brought all these calamities on them, so I will do all the good I have promised them. ... For someday I will restore prosperity to them. I, the Lord, have spoken."
God had Jeremiah buy that field from his cousin, and seal the deed in a jar so that it would last a long time, as though Jeremiah himself would be with those who would return, to claim his property. And Jeremiah trusted what God said, so he did it, and he fully expected to still be alive to return.
Today they are back in the Land God gave their ancestors, and they've even been a Nation among the Nations of the World for almost 70 years now, yet they have not returned to God. How can they claim that God gave them this land without claiming God?! They are a secular nation, surrounded by enemies whose hatred for them is so strong and passionate that they seek to wipe them completely off the face of the Earth.
This Nation Israel has been attacked repeatedly through the millennia, but has never been destroyed: Conquered and scattered throughout the world for a thousand years, gathered and destroyed in concentration camps, and still scattered into every Nation on Earth. But they have never been destroyed, because God has yet to fulfill His promises to them.
When Jesus, the Lord God of the Old Testament, returns again to rule the World, that will be the Day that all Israel will be saved, when they see Him Whom they have pierced, and I believe it will be they who will repopulate all the Nations of the World during the 1000 years Jesus will rule from His Throne in Jerusalem. Then all the promises He made to them will be fulfilled, to the letter.
O my Father, please help all of Your children, Your church, to wake up and seek Your Face; and support Your people Israel, even before they turn to You. Show us each how we can do good to the people of Israel, both in the Nation and throughout the Earth.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, May 28, 2017
City On A Hill
Jeremiah 33: 9
Then this city will bring Me joy, glory and honor before all the Nations of the Earth! The people of the World will see all the good I do for My people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them.
This was God's plan for His people Israel. This is why He chose them out of all the Nations of the World, to give them His Law, and have them follow it. If they had only taken Him seriously, and done all the proscriptions the Law demanded, then they would have experienced all the good God wanted to do for them, and provide the peace and prosperity we all want.
But Israel never did fully implement all the provisions the Law described. They picked and chose the ones they thought were "reasonable" and ignored the rest. For instance, they never did let all the fields lie fallow every seven years, or celebrate the Jubilee in the fiftieth year. So God took them from the land, into exile far away for 70 years, all the Jubilee years they didn't observe during the 490 years they were in the land.
God wanted Israel to be the City on a Hill that would draw all the other Nations to the knowledge of the Lord. That was their advantage, that they had the Law, all the rules to follow to cooperate with how God made this Earth to operate, and enjoy all the benefits God designed it to provide. But they were drawn away by their own pride, and thought they knew better. So they were enticed and seduced by all the idols of the peoples around them. They refused to submit to God, so were deceived, and they suffered the consequences.
Many years later, our Founding Fathers based our Nation, America, on God's eternal principles as laid out in His Word, and God honored that and blessed us with peace and prosperity. And all the Nations of the Earth beheld us as a great city on a hill, because all the peoples saw all the good God did for us, and they came to America to begin new lives. Others did tremble with awe, and plotted against us in envy.
And we, also, in our pride, thought we knew better, and have been drawn away from God's pure, righteous ways, and decided that good is evil, darkness is light, and we twisted the pure ways into unrighteous, unhealthy acts. And we are experiencing the moral, ethical, physical, relational and financial repercussions of our ways.
We have turned against God in our prosperity, deciding that we got our wealth of ourselves. And in our foolishness we have opened the door to our enemies to come in and destroy us. And they will destroy us, if we don't turn back to God and His ways.
O my Father, please grant this Nation repentance! Wake up Your church, bring us great revival. Turn our faces away from all the idols we have set up. Cast down all their shrines and altars, and bring Your righteousness back, so that we can again be that shining city on a hill, to draw others to You and Your ways, to Your glory!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then this city will bring Me joy, glory and honor before all the Nations of the Earth! The people of the World will see all the good I do for My people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them.
This was God's plan for His people Israel. This is why He chose them out of all the Nations of the World, to give them His Law, and have them follow it. If they had only taken Him seriously, and done all the proscriptions the Law demanded, then they would have experienced all the good God wanted to do for them, and provide the peace and prosperity we all want.
But Israel never did fully implement all the provisions the Law described. They picked and chose the ones they thought were "reasonable" and ignored the rest. For instance, they never did let all the fields lie fallow every seven years, or celebrate the Jubilee in the fiftieth year. So God took them from the land, into exile far away for 70 years, all the Jubilee years they didn't observe during the 490 years they were in the land.
God wanted Israel to be the City on a Hill that would draw all the other Nations to the knowledge of the Lord. That was their advantage, that they had the Law, all the rules to follow to cooperate with how God made this Earth to operate, and enjoy all the benefits God designed it to provide. But they were drawn away by their own pride, and thought they knew better. So they were enticed and seduced by all the idols of the peoples around them. They refused to submit to God, so were deceived, and they suffered the consequences.
Many years later, our Founding Fathers based our Nation, America, on God's eternal principles as laid out in His Word, and God honored that and blessed us with peace and prosperity. And all the Nations of the Earth beheld us as a great city on a hill, because all the peoples saw all the good God did for us, and they came to America to begin new lives. Others did tremble with awe, and plotted against us in envy.
And we, also, in our pride, thought we knew better, and have been drawn away from God's pure, righteous ways, and decided that good is evil, darkness is light, and we twisted the pure ways into unrighteous, unhealthy acts. And we are experiencing the moral, ethical, physical, relational and financial repercussions of our ways.
We have turned against God in our prosperity, deciding that we got our wealth of ourselves. And in our foolishness we have opened the door to our enemies to come in and destroy us. And they will destroy us, if we don't turn back to God and His ways.
O my Father, please grant this Nation repentance! Wake up Your church, bring us great revival. Turn our faces away from all the idols we have set up. Cast down all their shrines and altars, and bring Your righteousness back, so that we can again be that shining city on a hill, to draw others to You and Your ways, to Your glory!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, May 27, 2017
The Heavenly City
Hebrews 11: 13-16
All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on Earth. And obviously people who talk like that are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had meant the country they came from they would have found a way to go back. But they were looking for a better place, a Heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a Heavenly city for them.
This chapter is called God's Hall of Fame, all the earlier saints who put their trust in God in spite of horrendous circumstances. They were looking forward to the Sacrifice that would take their sins away, as we can now look back at the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God, that actually takes away all our sins.
As they each put their hand on their lamb, to be sacrificed on the altar in their place in death, and the blood splashed on the sides of the altar to cover their sins; when Jesus died, His Blood splashed the sides of His altar, the Cross, and all these Old Testament saints' covered sins were washed away, and they could now enter Heaven, from the Paradise side of Sheol where they had been waiting. And we can now enter Heaven directly, Jesus being our personal Lamb that takes our place in death.
All these Old Testament saints believed God, and believed what God said. They put their full trust in Him. Even though they didn't receive what was promised in their lifetimes, they still trusted God to do what He said He would, and He will.
God knew that they could not have been complete without us with them, and He has prepared a City that will come down from Heaven to this Earth, made new. And we will all live and reign with Him in that wonderful, glorious City that He is even now preparing a place for us in.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on Earth. And obviously people who talk like that are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had meant the country they came from they would have found a way to go back. But they were looking for a better place, a Heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a Heavenly city for them.
This chapter is called God's Hall of Fame, all the earlier saints who put their trust in God in spite of horrendous circumstances. They were looking forward to the Sacrifice that would take their sins away, as we can now look back at the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God, that actually takes away all our sins.
As they each put their hand on their lamb, to be sacrificed on the altar in their place in death, and the blood splashed on the sides of the altar to cover their sins; when Jesus died, His Blood splashed the sides of His altar, the Cross, and all these Old Testament saints' covered sins were washed away, and they could now enter Heaven, from the Paradise side of Sheol where they had been waiting. And we can now enter Heaven directly, Jesus being our personal Lamb that takes our place in death.
All these Old Testament saints believed God, and believed what God said. They put their full trust in Him. Even though they didn't receive what was promised in their lifetimes, they still trusted God to do what He said He would, and He will.
God knew that they could not have been complete without us with them, and He has prepared a City that will come down from Heaven to this Earth, made new. And we will all live and reign with Him in that wonderful, glorious City that He is even now preparing a place for us in.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, May 26, 2017
The Order Of Melchizedek
Hebrews 6:19-20 - 7:1-21
The inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a High Priest forever, in the Order of Melchizedek.
This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything (Genesis 14:18-20). First, his name means "king of righteousness"; then also, "king of Salem" means "king of Peace." Without father or mother (recorded anywhere), without genealogy (recorded anywhere), without beginning of days or end of life (recorded anywhere), like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the Law was given to the people), why was there still need for another Priest to come--One in the Order of Melchizedek, not in the Order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the Law. He of Whom these things are said [Jesus] belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord [physically] descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
And what we have said is even more clear if another Priest like Melchizedek appears, One Who has become a Priest not on the basis of a regulation as to His ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is said:
"You are a Priest forever, in the Order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4).
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the Law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
So Jesus is our High Priest, not from the Old Testament Law, but in a completely different way. This man Melchizedek was the king of Salem (Jerusalem), and he was also priest of the Most High God. There is nowhere recorded anything else about this man, no birth or death records, no parental or genealogical records at all. So he is presented as having an eternal throne and priesthood, as no one is ever recorded anywhere who succeeded him in either of these offices.
That is why Jesus is said to be our Priest in the Order of Melchizedek, having no successor, but holding the offices of Priest and King forever.
The Levitical priesthood had to be handed over from father to son, every generation, so it was weak in that the sacrifices had to all be made over and over again, nothing was ever final.
But as Jesus has entered "beyond the veil" in the Heavenly Temple on our behalf with His own Blood as the Sacrifice, He is our High Priest, the only one ever permitted in the Holiest of Holies, and only once each year. Jesus only needed to enter once for all, for all people and for all time. This is how He saves us "completely" or "forever," because He will live forever to make intercession for us (v. 25).
Whenever I do something wrong, Satan confronts God and says, "She deserves to die!" Then Jesus steps up, and says, "Yes, she does. I took her death and paid her debt in full." And God says,"Yes, the debt is paid, she's free."
So the Old Covenant has become obsolete, because the New Covenant has taken its place. The Law is no longer on tablets or parchments, it is written in our hearts, as we understand the principle of Love that the Law was based on. When we love God, and we love our neighbor, then we will not transgress any of the laws that had been laid down before, and we will go further into putting God absolutely First, and will harbor no ill will toward our fellow man to even think any thoughts against them.
We will not only not commit adultery, but we will insure that our thoughts are pure. We will not only not commit murder, but we will permit no thoughts of competition with or envy of our neighbor. We will not only not covet what belongs to another, but will be glad that they can have such fine things. And so for all the laws. We won't steal or slander, we won't argue and fight, we won't even think any destructive thought against anyone else, but only want the best for each of all of us, no matter what it costs us. This is Love, and this is the Law of Love that God has written on our hearts. This is the New Covenant.
Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament sacrifices with His Sacrifice as the Lamb of God, and He has also fulfilled all the letter of all the other laws in that system. So He has not destroyed them, but fulfilled them, as He said in Matthew 5:17.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
The inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a High Priest forever, in the Order of Melchizedek.
This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything (Genesis 14:18-20). First, his name means "king of righteousness"; then also, "king of Salem" means "king of Peace." Without father or mother (recorded anywhere), without genealogy (recorded anywhere), without beginning of days or end of life (recorded anywhere), like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the Law was given to the people), why was there still need for another Priest to come--One in the Order of Melchizedek, not in the Order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the Law. He of Whom these things are said [Jesus] belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord [physically] descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
And what we have said is even more clear if another Priest like Melchizedek appears, One Who has become a Priest not on the basis of a regulation as to His ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is said:
"You are a Priest forever, in the Order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4).
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the Law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
So Jesus is our High Priest, not from the Old Testament Law, but in a completely different way. This man Melchizedek was the king of Salem (Jerusalem), and he was also priest of the Most High God. There is nowhere recorded anything else about this man, no birth or death records, no parental or genealogical records at all. So he is presented as having an eternal throne and priesthood, as no one is ever recorded anywhere who succeeded him in either of these offices.
That is why Jesus is said to be our Priest in the Order of Melchizedek, having no successor, but holding the offices of Priest and King forever.
The Levitical priesthood had to be handed over from father to son, every generation, so it was weak in that the sacrifices had to all be made over and over again, nothing was ever final.
But as Jesus has entered "beyond the veil" in the Heavenly Temple on our behalf with His own Blood as the Sacrifice, He is our High Priest, the only one ever permitted in the Holiest of Holies, and only once each year. Jesus only needed to enter once for all, for all people and for all time. This is how He saves us "completely" or "forever," because He will live forever to make intercession for us (v. 25).
Whenever I do something wrong, Satan confronts God and says, "She deserves to die!" Then Jesus steps up, and says, "Yes, she does. I took her death and paid her debt in full." And God says,"Yes, the debt is paid, she's free."
So the Old Covenant has become obsolete, because the New Covenant has taken its place. The Law is no longer on tablets or parchments, it is written in our hearts, as we understand the principle of Love that the Law was based on. When we love God, and we love our neighbor, then we will not transgress any of the laws that had been laid down before, and we will go further into putting God absolutely First, and will harbor no ill will toward our fellow man to even think any thoughts against them.
We will not only not commit adultery, but we will insure that our thoughts are pure. We will not only not commit murder, but we will permit no thoughts of competition with or envy of our neighbor. We will not only not covet what belongs to another, but will be glad that they can have such fine things. And so for all the laws. We won't steal or slander, we won't argue and fight, we won't even think any destructive thought against anyone else, but only want the best for each of all of us, no matter what it costs us. This is Love, and this is the Law of Love that God has written on our hearts. This is the New Covenant.
Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament sacrifices with His Sacrifice as the Lamb of God, and He has also fulfilled all the letter of all the other laws in that system. So He has not destroyed them, but fulfilled them, as He said in Matthew 5:17.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Thursday, May 25, 2017
God's Plan
Hebrews 7: 16-17
Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. And the Psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, "You are a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:4.)
O my Father, You are so wise! Your Plan is so intricate and mysterious, yet it is also so simple and straightforward. You are laying out before us the unfolding of Your Plan, which You told us about beforehand.
O my Father, please strengthen me, continue to mold me into the image of Your dear Son; continue to teach me Your ways, and shape my character according to Your righteousness and love.
Grant me that kindness will rule my tongue, and help me to guard against any words or thoughts that would be contrary to Your love and kindness. Lead and guide me to do Your works; I am Your hands and feet, use me to accomplish Your will. And may I soon behold that Glorious Appearing of my King!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. And the Psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, "You are a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:4.)
O my Father, You are so wise! Your Plan is so intricate and mysterious, yet it is also so simple and straightforward. You are laying out before us the unfolding of Your Plan, which You told us about beforehand.
O my Father, please strengthen me, continue to mold me into the image of Your dear Son; continue to teach me Your ways, and shape my character according to Your righteousness and love.
Grant me that kindness will rule my tongue, and help me to guard against any words or thoughts that would be contrary to Your love and kindness. Lead and guide me to do Your works; I am Your hands and feet, use me to accomplish Your will. And may I soon behold that Glorious Appearing of my King!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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