Tag: Holy Spirit

Posted in God is good, Prayer Starters

A Perfected System

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Old Rules about Worship


Now the first covenant, in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tent was prepared, the outer one, which contained the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this is called the Holy Place. 3 And after the second curtain there was a tent called the holy of holies. 4 It contained the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold. In this ark were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 And above the ark were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Now is not the time to speak of these things in detail. 6 So with these things prepared like this, the priests enter continually into the outer tent as they perform their duties. 7 But only the high priest enters once a year into the inner tent, and not without blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the Holy Place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing. 9 This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They served only for matters of food and drink and various ritual washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came.
Hebrews 9:1-10

Christ’s Service in the Heavenly Sanctuary

 But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 12 and He entered once for all into the Most Holy Place not by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood, and so He Himself secured eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

15 And so He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance He has promised, since He died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant. 16 For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be proven. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive.

Hebrews 9:11-17

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Father, You are good! In Your goodness, You bought me with a high price and made a WAY where there was, or seemed to be, no way. Because of Your goodness, we no longer need the Tabernacle of long ago because You have made us Your Temple. The Tabernacle was good and beautiful in its purpose and design and it pointed Your people to the better WAY, the Messiah, yet to come. However, as they knew then and we see clearly now – the gifts and sacrifices they made could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. So, You, in Your goodness, took away the need for the regulations, rituals, and animal sacrifices that were a part of the Tabernacle ‘system’ – by sending the promised and long-awaited Redeemer, Jesus Christ. The sinless Redeemer, Your only begotten Son, was a PERFECT Sacrifice whose death, burial, and resurrection made a WAY! He conquered sin and death and made THE ONLY WAY for us to enter into Your Presence and be the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. So that, now through His eternal sacrifice and Your gift of His Spirit in me, I AM ABLE, with a clear conscience, to WORSHIP You in Spirit and in TRUTH, to walk in FREEDOM from sin and to live for You as His WITNESS! Yes, Father, You are good.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Posted in From the Insideout

The Freedom of God’s Grace

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I love the absolute TRUTH of this passage! Seriously! It excites me that there is now NO condemnation of my sin … because I am In Christ Jesus … and the law of the Life-giving Spirit has set me FREE from the law of sin and death. Yet, sin will always be a real and present struggle for the believer. This struggle can and should raise conviction from the Holy Spirit to turn away from that sin – but it can also raise ’emotions’ or internal charges of guilt and condemnation. This is where grace comes in – for we no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, we live under the freedom of God’s grace – not just that we have been saved by grace but that God accepted Christ’s blood as payment for our sin, and we are no longer charged with the debt! 

I had been a Christian for 21 years before I knew or fully understood this life-changing truth. I still remember the relief the day a pastor friend of mine helped me understand that I don’t have to, nor can I, repay God for my sins. It’s important to know that I firmly believed I was saved by grace through faith in Christ, that it was not by works that I had done, but rather a gift from God. However, while I knew I couldn’t lose my salvation even if I sinned, somewhere along the way, I had begun to live as though I needed to repay God whenever I did sin. I lived a life of trying to be better, trying to live up to His standards, knowing that I hadn’t, and looking for more “good things” to do to garner His pleasure and maintain His love. As you can imagine, and perhaps have experienced, that lifestyle gets exhausting and does not accomplish its purpose. What I mean is this, if He loved me enough to send His son to die for me, even when I was His enemy, why would I think there was anything I could do to cause Him to love me more than that? His only ‘begotten’ Son gave His life for my sins. Did I seriously think there was anything I could give that would amount to more than that? The answer to both of these questions is no. What I had to learn, was just as my sin would never cost me my salvation, it would also never change His love for me. 

Now some may think that this means we can go on sinning. Paul addressed this question at least two different times – and both were a resounding no! He said, “Of course not,” (Romans 6:1-2) and “By no means!” (Romans 6:14-15) explaining to them, as my friend explained to me, that they were no longer living under the law of sin and death. They had been set free, as he said in Romans 8:1-2, by “the law of the life-giving Spirit,” a reiteration of his teaching from chapter 6 that believers live under the “freedom of God’s grace.” However, living under the freedom of God’s grace doesn’t mean we won’t be tempted with sin. Paul spoke of this struggle with sin in chapters 6 and 7, but here in Roman’s 8:1-2, he takes it a step further by proclaiming the wonderful TRUTH that those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer subject to the condemnation that comes from the law of sin and death. 

To be clear, I know that growing in wisdom and knowledge of the Lord is a worthy goal. I know that working on living the Holy life He has called me to, loving God and others better, and keeping in step with the Spirit more today than I did yesterday are all worthy goals. The difference now is – I don’t do it to maintain His Love but rather because I want to honor Him for His love – a love that says – “There is therefore now no condemnation”.

https://mefromthensideout.wordpress.com/?p=1409

Posted in From the Insideout

Intently

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Today’s Reading

Jesus, knowing Nicodemus was both a Jew and a Pharisee, wanted him to know the most important truth – that knowing and/or acknowledging He was from God would not gain Him the kingdom of God. Christ wanted Nicodemus to know that his position in life nor anything he could do, nor any knowledge he attested to could gain him access to the Kingdom of God. He made it clear that only by God giving him life through His Spirit – would he be allowed to enjoy such a privilege. The words Nicodemus spoke were true -Jesus was from God. However, Christ knew his heart and didn’t settle for the “right words” neither did He ignore the words, but instead addressed them by delivering the truly life-changing message of the Gospel.

There is, I believe, a secondary lesson here for believers as well – James’ words that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17) seems fittingly applied – perhaps, even more rightly applied – to knowledge. We cannot just know what God’s Word says and affect change. We must live according to what His Word says, and can only hope to truly do this by the power of His Spirit in us. Think of the disciples – the Gospels teach us that they walked with Jesus, studied under Him, and served with Him for three years – however, the real, lasting, and distinctive change came only after they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8 and 2:1 and following). Christ, Himself, said it was better for Him to go away so that they could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). He is Christ’s power in us. It is only through His presence that we are able to be the light and salt and spread the hope of eternal life to those who may know the right words but not the true and living God.

So, here’s my encouragement for today – Let’s live and love like Jesus, who listened intently and spoke boldly. Let’s not be satisfied with merely knowing God but let’s seek a relationship with Him and walk according to the Spirit. When we do this, people will see that we, as Nicodemus said about Jesus, are from God. Then, we – like Jesus – will have the opportunity to give an answer for the hope that is within us.

Posted in Quiet Time
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Today’s Scripture: Romans 5:1-11 (S.O.A.P. Romans 5:3-5)

Question of the Day: What does “endurance” look like in a believer? What “character” does it build? And, what “hope” does the character produce?

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have[b] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access[c] into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice[d] in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not[e] only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God[f] has been poured out[g] in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.)[h] 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous[i] by His blood,[j] we will be saved through Him from God’s wrath.[k] 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by His life? 11 Not[l] only this, but we also rejoice[m] in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.

After Thoughts