Tag: The Way

Posted in Bible study, Come, Lord Jesus, Come, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, LGG Study, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time

Be About the Master’s Business

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Scripture for the Journey: Mark 13:32-37 / SOAP: 37

What I say to you I say to everyone: Stay alert!” Mark 13:37 NET

Observation and Application for the journey

Have you found yourself longing more and more for the return of Christ? Do local or social media about world events escalate anxious thoughts and heighten your desire for His return to be sooner rather than later? I know it has mine. Come, Lord Jesus, Come is certainly on my lips more frequently these days than ever before. Surprisingly, for me, the prayer isn’t provoked by fear of mounting dangers and disasters but by sorrow and weariness of what is the acceptable, if not expected and even demanded, ways of this world. But, to borrow a few words from the prophet Jeremiah: “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope” – this world is not my home, I’m only passing through. I’m a stranger and alien here with a message of hope to share with others who do not know The Way, so they may go where I am going; and so those who know The Way may be equipped and encouraged to keep going in the right direction.

This isn’t a task given only to me; it is the assignment Jesus has given to each of His disciples. Yes, everyone who has trusted Him as their Savior has been commissioned to “go and make disciples,” introducing the Messiah to the lost and dying world around us. However, we must also remember that we are to encourage one another, a.k.a. other believers, daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of us may be hardened by sin and turn away from God.

The New Testament is filled with letters written by Paul and others to the various churches/believers who were struggling with various aspects of the Christian faith, some of whom were starting to walk contrary to the faith. Their messages were meant to help the believers understand the faith and to walk faithfully with God. Friends, I can testify to the importance of both the one who shares the WAY of hope and the one who encourages a wayward or struggling believer with the TRUTH, which is able to guide us back to God. Without the first, I would still be lost and dying in my sins; and without the second, I would still be out of fellowship with God, struggling in the pit of sin and despair – naming His Name but living like the world.

You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God

Hebrews 3:13 NLT

We do not know the day or hour, but we do know the WAY and the TRUTH – so let’s let our lights shine out in this dark world as we wait, staying alert and eagerly anticipating the day of His return.

“Get busy with the work God has given us by reaching the world and our neighbors with the gospel. At the same time, we do not store up our treasures here on earth because we know that this world will not last. Our days are precious and time is short, so we keep our eyes heavenward as our hands stay busy. We share Christ and the reason for our hope with those in our lives. We stand firm in God’s Word even in the midst of persecutions. We remember that no matter how dark our world gets, Jesus promised that He will be with us to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). – the LGG Journal entry for Come, Lord Jesus, Come p148

Prayer of Response to the Journey

Father, how good You have been to save us by Your grace1 and free us from the law of sin and death2; and to promise us an eternity with You in Heaven3. We are most blessed. So, help us to be about our Master’s business as we wait on His return, help us to stay alert – alert to those4 around us who have not placed their faith in You and will be condemned,5 and may we be ready with an answer for the hope that is within us. Help us also have eyes to see those believers who are struggling and lift them up both in prayer and through words of encouragement that lead them back to You. Remind them, Father, that they do not have to settle for just a place in Your heaven, but they have been given the gift of a relationship with You now. Mold us, make us, use us, Lord – as we wait. In Jesus’ name – Amen!

The More We Know

If you would like to know more about Heaven and how you can share in the hope of eternity please read Know These Truths.

https://atomic-temporary-62140760.wpcomstaging.com/2023/03/14/know-these-truths/

Be sure and check out today’s LGG Blog Post at https://lovegodgreatly.com/lgg-blog/

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