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20210308

Inspired Service

The people were inspired to serve. They're inspiration came directly from the Lord. They got a glimpse of His true nature. In Exodus we read that the people had strayed from their relationship with the Lord. They made a golden calf and proceeded to worship it. After being confronted with God's displeasure concerning the matter, they repented of their deeds. God's goodness and mercy were revealed. He forgave them! 

Now in Exodus 35:20 they are ready to serve. Not as a result of coercion but because of inspiration.  God's goodness and mercy has inspired them to serve. They don't serve so as to be saved but desire to serve because they love the Father! 

20210226

The Veil

The law, the tablets of the Testimony, were given to Moses up on Mt. Sinai as He communed with the Lord. It was an etched stone Testimony of God's terms of relationship with His people. As Moses returned to camp, he found the people had corrupted themselves with idol worship. (Exodus 32.) The people had broken their relationship with the Lord. The tablets were smashed, the idols were destroyed, and the Lord declined to walk with His people anymore lest they should be destroyed by His presence! This is what the law says.... "You sin, you die, period!" 

The people mourned and repented of their sins. (Exodus 33) Moses interceded on their behalf. (Moses is a picture, a type, of Christ. 

New tablets were issued. (Exodus 34.) The covenant relationship was restored. This time the people got a glimpse of God's true nature. The new set of the tablets of the Testimony were given as a result of God's mercy, grace, and forgiveness!  Moses' face glowed with the glory, mercy, and grace of God after he came down the mountain with the second set of tablets. The people were afraid to come near him. Then Moses put a veil on his face. 

The veil covers God's true nature and makes it impossible to have a relationship with Him. Christ removed the veil when He died on the cross. Matthew 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

The only way to experience a true relationship with God is to remove the veil. This is done by repenting and trusting in the One that He sent, Jesus Christ. Jesus will remove the veil and you will experience a new and wonderful relationship with the creator of the universe. You will come to know His mercy, His grace, His love, His care, His peace, His guiding hand.

20210218

The True Nature of God

Moses is again interceding for the people. Moses is a picture (type) of Christ who intercedes for the people. Exodus 34:8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it [is] a stiff necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. 

The Lord accepted Moses' petition  because in Exodus 34:5, the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin...

But, that will by no means clear [the guilty]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

So those that do not accept God's plan of Salvation will be rejected. We must repent, turn and confess our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and then and only then will God's true nature be revealed to us!

20210129

Leave Sinai

Exodus Chapter 33. The Lord told Moses to take the people and leave Sinai. He told them to go up to the land of milk and honey, the promised land. But, He said that He would not go with them. In the previous chapter the people had turned away from the Lord and put their trust in a cow. Hard to believe but people will be people. The Lord was still a bit perturbed over the whole matter. He called them a stiff-necked people and said that He could come into their midst and consume them in one moment. 

Moses, who is a type of Christ, reminded the Lord of His contract with the people of Israel. The Lord said that He would honor His contract because of Moses. He also wanted to see an attitude of repentance. 

Israel did repent. Exodus 33:4. And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you. So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb. 

Our relationship with the Father is contractual and rock solid. If we repent and trust in Jesus, we will be saved. Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Our relationship with the Father is also conditioned upon a repentant heart. Revelation 2:5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 

20210112

The People Rose Up to Play

Moses was up on the mountain. Exodus 32. Apparently he was up there for a long time. Probably enjoying his time with the Lord as he received the 10 commandments. Well, the leader was absent and the people were tested. They decided to worship a cow instead of God Almighty. Its kind of hard to believe but people do this all the time. They don't necessarily start trusting in beef but they do turn aside after deciding to trust in Jesus. 

The people, without considering the cost, said "All that the LORD hath spoken we will do." And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. Exodus 19:8

Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have [sufficient] to finish [it]? 14:29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish [it], all that behold [it] begin to mock him, 14:30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Making a commitment to the Lord is a life-long process. Consider the fact that this is something you will be doing for the rest of your days! Then take the plunge. The water is great!  

20210103

The Sabbath

 The Sabbath is a commandment of God given to Israel.  It initiated with the giving of the manna when Israel left their captivity in Egypt. It is fourth of the ten given to Moses at Mount Sinai. (The Decalogue) Originally set by God Himself when He rested from His work. Six days He worked to create things as we know them today. On the seventh day He rested. Genesis 2:3. The reason that He was able to rest was because everything was "good". Genesis 1:31. 

Then sin came on the scene. That wonderful rest was interrupted. Man fell. Fallen man is not able to rest! True rest was restored with the arrival of Jesus. Matthew 11:28. But the commandment to rest was given to the Jews at Mount Sinai. It was a sign between God and Israel. Is is a Jewish institution. 

The Mosaic law, rules and regulations, were put aside at the death of Christ. The New Testament has been revealed. Matthew 28:1. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Matthew 12:8. There is no rest apart from repentance and trusting in Him!

The Lord's Day or Sunday is in contrast to the Sabbath. It is a day to celebrate the new creation. This is a new Day with Christ as it's head. Matthew 27:51.

We can truly rest now every day because our relationship with the Father has been restored by His finished work at the cross. The true meaning of Sabbath Rest has been revealed!

20201227

The Anointing Oil

 The Anointing Oil

The anointing oil pictures the Holy Spirit. The sweet smelling formula used to create the mixture speaks of the personality and presence of Christ in the believer produced by the Holy Spirit. The formula was not to be altered. It was also not to be poured out upon the flesh. Man in the natural state (the flesh) is not compatible with the Holy Spirit. 

Works Of The Flesh

Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

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