Our Great High Priest

"Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and Your law is truth" (Psalm 119:142).

There are so many jewels of truth to consider concerning Jesus Christ. One of these is His role as our Great High Priest. I have been reading some chapters in Hebrews over and over again, because the truths there are so astonishing. One that I have come to understand is that Jesus is forever our Great High Priest. He will continue to intercede on our behalf throughout eternity. When I first realized that, I was stunned. To me, it makes an incredible statement about the great love He has for us, and about our need of His intercession and righteousness.

We know that we have no righteousness of our own, and that our only hope is to have His righteousness applied to us. Everything in this world gets old and wears out. Nothing lasts forever. We are continually replacing things: appliances, clothing, cars, buildings, etc. And try as we might, we simply cannot keep these earthly tents of ours around forever; they will most certainly grow old, or sick, and die one day. Yet God's righteousness will be around forever. And we have the righteousness of Christ. I cannot seem to dwell enough on these things. I want to think and ponder over them till they truly penetrate my heart.

What a merciful God we have!

"The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:23-25).

(Originally posted 27.11.08)

God Must Weep

Yesterday on my way to work I listened to a  story on the radio. An elderly lady received a floral bouquet from a good friend. Included in the arrangement was a willow branch. When the time came to discard the flowers, she discovered that the branch had sprouted leaves and roots, and could not bring herself to throw it away. Instead, she asked her caregiver to take the branch and nurture it along. Her feeling was that she had "given it life" and it "should not be thrown away" and that she now had a "responsibility" for it. The tree eventually was planted in a park, and is now a sort of shrine for people who leave rocks with little notes containing prayers underneath. You can find the entire story here in this newspaper article: http://www.theobserver.ca/2012/12/03/in-memoriam-marions-willow-finds-new-home .

Immediately as I heard how she felt responsibility for this new life, and that it should not be thrown away, I thought of the countless lives of unborn children that are discarded in this world. Abortion is an issue that disturbs me deeply. During the recent U.S. presidential campaign, I was horrified to read about Mr. Obama's stand on abortion, including his support of late term, partial birth "terminations" (a procedure you can see demonstrated here, but I warn you it is very disturbing) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUr0jCbcPNc  It is hard to comprehend how such a heinous crime can be condoned in any country or culture, let alone in a "civilized" one.

In the U.S. there is strict legislation aimed at protecting the American Bald Eagle. Here is a brief excerpt from the "Legal Information Institute" website:
Whoever, within the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof, without being permitted to do so as provided in this subchapter, shall knowingly, or with wanton disregard for the consequences of his act take, possess, sell, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, at any time or in any manner any bald eagle commonly known as the American eagle or any golden eagle, alive or dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof of the foregoing eagles, or whoever violates any permit or regulation issued pursuant to this subchapter, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than one year or both: Provided, That in the case of a second or subsequent conviction for a violation of this section committed after October 23, 1972, such person shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
 
Any golden eagle, alive or dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof........ Boggles the mind, does it not? That more value is placed on a bird than on a human being created in God's image?

How about this news item from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources website, March 9, 2012:


Three Toronto men have been fined a total of $10,500 for charges related to harvesting and possessing an endangered plant species on private land.
Jong Hak Lee, Joe Yeal Yu and Seong Gon Lee all pleaded guilty to possessing wild American Ginseng in contravention of the Endangered Species Act and were fined $2,000 each. All three men also pleaded guilty to entering on posted private land in contravention of the Trespass to Property Act and were fined $500 each. Jong Hak Lee pleaded guilty to the additional charge of taking wild American Ginseng in contravention of the Endangered Species Act and was fined $3,000.

They were find thousands of dollars for  harvesting and possessing an endangered plant species on private land. Again, I ask you, does this make any sense at all?

I love God. I love life. I love creation. I love people. But I hate the "world", the way it functions in rebellion to God. Its mindsets, its priorities, its ongoing slide into destruction and depravity. I hate abortion. I hate that it takes the life from innocent babies that God has given to them.I hate the lie that is fed to women in desperate situations; I hate that they are not instead told of the hope that is in Christ, and given loving support to enable them to bring their babies to term, and either keep them or give them to a family who is desperate to have a child to love. I hate the way babies are ripped from the safety of the womb to be tossed out as garbage. If my heart breaks for them, how much more does God's.

If you are reading this and you agree with me, please pray for women who may find themselves contemplating this desperate act. Pray for our governments that they will turn from this wicked legalization of murder. Pray that God would appoint brave leaders that will stand for the rights of those who cannot protect themselves.

For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

Psalm 139: 13-16

Bread of Life

God never does anything by accident. From the things that we "get" right away, to those that make us scratch our heads in wonder, to those things that escape our notice completely. Take for instance the setting for the birth of Christ. He came into this world in a lowly stable, and His bassinet was a rough feeding trough. As for His death, He left this world writhing in agony on a cruel wooden cross.  In between He was raised in a working class family, and spent His ministry years as an itinerant preacher, with no possessions save those He wore or carried with Him.Yet He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and Savior of the world. God's ways are indeed not ours.

Quite often, though, if we consider His ways, we will find the reason for them, and the message intended for us. I love to ponder these things, and if I am not too distracted, Holy Spirit will lead my thoughts, not on a rabbit trail, but along a path dotted with "oh, now I get it" moments. As He does with all whom He indwells.

This morning I watched a sermon on television. It focused on the birth of Christ, and of course mentioned the circumstances of His birth, including the feeding trough that was His crib. Got me to thinking how even at the very beginning God chose to put Him on display in a way that spoke of His being "food".  Not, obviously, as fodder for those animals that may have been present at His birth, but as spiritual food, healing sustenance, meant for mankind to partake of.

Scripture tells us that there is more than a physical life, and a physical food that we require to "live". We see it first in Deuteronomy Chapter 8, and Jesus repeats it again when He is being tempted by Satan in the wilderness:

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘ MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’”

In John 6:35 Jesus puts into a few words the truth that He alone can give eternal life. He states it again in John 6:51:

 I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. 

Here His offer is twofold: first He offers that supernatural, eternal  life that God alone can give, that life that overcomes death and hell and the grave and brings us to an eternity spent with Him. Jesus goes on to say that this offer of Himself includes the giving up of His physical being, His very flesh. Nothing is spared here; the gift is infinitely sacrificial.

Jesus continues to offer food in other instances. In John Chapter 6 He feeds the crowd of more than 5000 with five barley loaves and two fish. Another time He does the same with seven loaves and "a few small fish" (Mathew 15:34).

Once more He uses bread, and this time wine also, to represent His body and blood at the last supper:

 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."

And again, after His death and resurrection, he offers bread and fish to His disciples at the beach where they encounter Him:

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord.  Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.  This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead. (John 21:12-14)

The most dramatic instance of Jesus offering Himself up is His sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary. Here He becomes the ultimate and final  sacrifice for sin, far overshadowing and outweighing those countless animal offerings that led up to that one perfect and perfecting redemptive act. Here He fulfills His promise to give His life for the life of the world.

At this time of year, food is an important part of the way we celebrate the season. We bake, buy and bring scrumptious treats. Workplaces abound with goodies, families gather 'round sumptuous feasts, and we wrap up chocolates and homemade potions to be given as gifts. It is a time, more than any other in the year, when we share with others what we have been blessed with. It's easy to do, because most of us are blessed with much. But the greatest blessing we can have is to be in Christ, and He is the greatest gift we can offer to others. We have more than enough physical food, but many are starving for that Living Bread. He was meant to be shared. And He is more than enough to go around.

Transformed

We bought our old house a year and a half ago. It sits in a beautiful spot, very scenic, and handy to town. It was easy to overlook a lot of the shabbiness and needed work when we saw the view from the large picture windows in the dining and living rooms. Since moving in, however, we have experienced the reality of just how much work the place needs.

After a hiatus from renovations of several months, I decided I would paint one of the large upstairs rooms. The former owners had used blue paint on all surfaces; walls, ceiling, doors, and trim. The house is a storey and a half, so the upstairs ceilings have that cozy slanted shape. Cozy didn't describe that blue room, however. The "country" blue paint, and the blue-grey carpet made it seem more like a cave.  Feeling a surge of motivation, I hauled out paint cans and rollers.

Before I got going, though, I wanted to pull up the carpet. Not having decided what kind of floor covering we would have, I wanted to see just what might be underneath. Two layers of rather nasty carpet, some linoleum, and lots of old newspaper (used for insulation?) later, we found some pine floor boards in seemingly reasonable shape. If you could look past the several layers of paint. So we decided we would sand and either paint or verethane them.

Walls, ceiling and trim painted, we got to the rather gruelling task of scraping paint and sanding. We spent nearly a whole day on our hands and knees, using paint stripper and scrapers to get the paint off. My husband gets all the credit for the sanding. He used a belt sander at first, with a coarse grit paper, then when it was time for a finer one, we rented a floor sander. At that point, seeing the boards sanded to reveal their original look, we began to think that the work would indeed be worth it. The boards were just too nice to cover again with paint, and after four coats of high gloss verethane, the results were amazing. Combined with the yellow walls, white ceiling and trim, it is a totally different room, transformed from a depressing cave to a bright and pretty bedroom.

That work was just completed a few days ago. The result was so satisfying that we are going to do the entire upstairs in the same way. Now, whenever I go upstairs, I find myself just standing and admiring the beauty of the floor. I do a "before and after" in my mind, and can't help but be amazed at the transformation. I don't believe it is pride that I feel, but rather a sense of awe at the difference that some just plain hard work made. It's as though we peeled away those layers to find a hidden treasure. The raw material was there, just waiting for someone to bring it to life, and help it to be all that it could be.

This morning as I once again contemplated the beauty of the floor, I thought of how it is so like what God does with us. Sin stained, world weary, and dragging layered years of wrong thinking and living, He begins a wonderful work in us that He has promised to finish. The first layers come off, then begins the real work of scraping and sanding. First a coarse grit, then a successively finer one, until that day when we will stand before Him in a sinless state. Then He will get the glory, as that final product of redemption and restoration is on display for all eternity. Far more beautiful and amazing than anything I can accomplish with some old pine boards.

For I am confident of this very thing, 

that He Who began a good work in you 

will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Phil. 1:6 NASB

BLESSED BE

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 1Peter 1:3-5


It is said that in interpreting scripture, the three most important rules are "context, context, context", but at times I am compelled to lift certain verses from the page, to ponder them on their own, away from the verses before and after. I want to set them apart, like when I find some exceptionally lovely beads when I want to make some jewellry. They stand out from the others in the display, and I hold them up, examining and admiring them for their unique qualities. In that way, many verses are "stand alone" in their beauty and richness of truth.

Sometimes when we read scripture, verses that we have seen time and again can stop us in our tracks and let us go no further. In reading the above passage this morning, I was amazed, perhaps for the first time, by the list of incredible, encouraging truths it contains:

• We are to bless God. He is blessed already, in that He is Who He is. Yet we are to bless Him for that, praising and thanking Him for what He has done for us.

• He is merciful. Because of His mercy, His great mercy, He has acted on our behalf to make possible the following:

• We are born again. I don't think we see this term used many times in scripture. I can think of one other time, in the Gospel of John (3:5), when Jesus said we must be born again to see or enter the kingdom of God. The gist of it is, that we were once spiritually dead, but God in mercy brought us to life. In the spiritual sense, we are born dead. And it is a state that we cannot bring ourselves out of, any more than a cadaver can raise itself to life. Dead means dead, with no life or power existing to change that status. God brought us to life spiritually.

• We have a living hope. When we were still spiritually dead, we may have put our hope in various things for ultimate contentment and safety in this life, and the hereafter. Those hopes were dead; pointless and founded on lies, since they did not include hope in Jesus Christ as our Savior. But since we are now included in Christ, and are joint heirs with Him, we can be confident that our hope is secured by His perfect life, death, and resurrection. He is our hope, and He is a risen, living Saviour.

• We have an inheritance waiting for us in heaven. It is perfect, secure, for sure, and forever. It will not diminish, fade, or disappear. That inheritance is our completed salvation, glorification and sanctification. It is reserved for us, and will be revealed in the last time, or the end of time as we know it.

• We are protected or kept by God! He didn't just save us, then leave us to carry on in our own strength. Grace is not just for our initial salvation; it is something that is poured out into our lives every moment that we live and breathe. God is able to keep us from falling, and to present us, blameless before Himself (Jude v 24).

God's word is so rich. These verses are not truly stand alone, in that they describe truths that are reinforced and reiterated throughout scripture. But as I consider all that is said in this one sentence, I am struck anew by God's mercy and provision for lost sinners. He gives us new birth, brings us into His family with Christ as our Brother, provides grace to keep us till the end, then welcomes us into eternity where we will enjoy sinless, blessed communion with Him forever.

If you are in Christ today, I hope these verses speak peace and joy to your soul as they do to mine.

(Originally posted   Thursday, September 04, 2008)

From Mourning to Dancing

I read this scripture today. Whenever I come to it when reading through the Psalms, I get a little jolt of joy. As a new Believer, it was one of the verses that resonated perfectly with my heart. Today I wanted to write a post about that, and I was doubly blessed to come across this picture when I was searching for one to add to it. Here it is, my Bible's version, with the next verse:

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

That my soul may sing praise to you and not be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever."

(Psalm 30: 11-12, NASB)

In those days following my acceptance of Christ, I walked around in a kind of a cloud. I couldn't stop smiling. The Bible became the most amazing page turner; it kept me on the edge of my seat, and I could hardly wait to get back to it. I wrote this scripture on an index card, and posted it above my desk at work. It seemed I went through each day just thanking God over and over for what He had done for me. When I first read these words, it was as though David had written them on my behalf, those centuries before. They precisely expressed my sentiments toward my newly found Savior and God.

Maybe you can relate to my experience. My sackcloth was made of guilt, fear, remorse, hopelessness and confusion. I was in a pit of despair one day, and the next, when I walked out the door, my whole world had transformed. It was a complete 180 turn, and I was staggered by the enormity of what had taken place. And I still am. Each time I am reminded, by these verses or others like them, or by situations or conversations that take place, of God's amazing grace. In my life, and in the life of each one that He chooses to bring up out of the pit.

"I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up,

And have not let my enemies rejoice over me,

O LORD my God,

I cried to You for help, and You healed me.

O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;

You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.
(Psalm 30:1-3)

 I didn't know much about the Bible back then, but I KNEW I had been rescued.  HE RESCUES US! And it doesn't stop there. He keeps saving us, each day. He keeps on forgiving. Thank God for that...

"If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?"

(Psalm 130:3)

So, when I have a day when I am a bit down, like today, I am so thankful to have my ungrateful heart get stirred to thankfulness. It is enough, it is more than enough, that He saved me. And that He keeps saving me. And that He will ultimately and forever save me. It is more than enough that He loves me, and always will. 

This post is for Him. It is for you Lord. I WILL give thanks to You forever. And I thank you now. I bless your Name, and lift up my heart to you, my Savior. To You belongs all praise, honour and glory. Forever.

 

Deep Calls to Deep

Do you ever come to a place in your journey with God where He seems to "clear the table" of your heart, and sweep away all that you thought made for solid ground? Like those lofty ideals, good intentions, noble purposes, and precious convictions that had up till that point kept you afloat, and (supposedly) on a clear path, one that you knew He was leading you on? Suddenly that little boat you were sailing in turns out to be made of paper; it starts to disintegrate, and you realize it is no longer sea-worthy, and will never take you where you need to go. Well, it seems I am at that place now.

My boat. What has it been made of, and what has kept it afloat? In the beginning, it was constructed of fear of a God I did not know, and fear of a religion that kept me in a prison of rule-keeping. That boat sailed on choppy water indeed.  It was a raft, in fact, and I had to keep fending off the sharks of guilt and fear that continually threatened to overcome me. I was stuck there, floating on the ocean, trying to steady myself, knowing that at any minute that raft of my own righteousness could fall apart, and I would drown.

Then one day, it did fall apart. But God threw me a life preserver, and gave me the faith I needed to grab hold of it. I met Jesus. My boat then became more of a rubber dinghy, filled with the air of intoxication; and I bobbed along quite happily for a while. I was in love, and I knew I would never be the same again.

Shortly thereafter, I traded (reluctantly) my dinghy of starry eyed bliss for a rowboat. This required a lot of effort on my part. Effort to be "spiritual", and a "good Christian". Seemingly, there were still rules to follow, so once again I became entangled in the do's and dont's (thought I left them when I was rescued from my raft experience!) of the Christian life. That leg of the journey evolved into a flotilla, where I sailed alongside  many others. It was good to have company, but there was a sense of insecurity as well. I couldn't help but keep comparing my journey with those of my fellow companions. Did my boat measure up to theirs? Was my experience as "spiritual" as theirs? Was I keeping up to the best of them? Well, my arms eventually grew weary with the effort of all that rowing, and I traded my rowboat for a tugboat.

What, you might wonder, did my little tugboat pull? It was a heavy load indeed. Great, huge containers of SOUND DOCTRINE was what made up my cargo. It was slow going, but very satisfying for quite a while. I learned a lot. And was quite happy with my little tugboat; proud of the ever increasing weight of knowledge that I was accumulating. Till I began to notice that I was slowing down. All that I was dragging behind me eventually caused me to come to a complete standstill. Stuck. Too overloaded to move any further. And I realized that I had only traded in one set of rules for another. Rules about being "right", following the right teachers, reading the right books, believing the correct interpretation of scripture. I was full of information, but seemed farther away from where I wanted to go.

I didn't stay there. A sailboat came along, and I happily jumped aboard. This boat's name was "Biblical Church". I found confirmation for all the things that God had been filling my heart with, and I was free to be me in Christ. Quite an exhilarating ride. I met many others along the way, and had a renewed sense of purpose, and intimacy with Jesus. Determined to stay this course, God allowed me to travel in a small contingent of like minded sailors for a time. A blessing indeed.

Now that leg of the journey is over. And I find myself alone in the ocean once again. My destination isn't clear, in the way that it has been in the past. Maybe I have been trying to plot my own course, thinking that I knew what it should be. Maybe my "destinations" were not destinations at all, only points along the way. Maybe this time I won't have any boat at all. I will be like Peter, and simply walk toward Jesus on top of the water. Because, in the end, He is the destination. And the boat. And the wind. And the sails. And the arms that pull the oars. I know He is calling me, as He calls each one of His own. And, somehow, that is enough. Even if the ocean is dark, and there is no one else here with me. Even if all I do is "tread water' for a while. Maybe I just need to soak for a time, and let Him wash off all those wrong motives. Erase all the maps I have drawn up for myself when I charted my own course.

Maybe you are at one of those "stepping off" places. Stepping off, and stepping back. It's ok. Let yourself be in that place. Stop listening to every voice but His. He is there, waiting for you. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. We all need that rest, that respite. The world, even the religious world, can drown out His voice, but He will keep calling you till you come away to listen to Him.

Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;

All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;

And His song will be with me in the night,

A prayer to the God of my life.

Ps. 42:7,8