Jesus: the perfect sacrifice

When I read the Jewish Scriptures, which we in Christendom refer to as the Old Testament, the home of the Old Covenant and the way people had to relate to God through the demands of the Law, I feel so grateful and blessed that God chose the New Covenant time following the writing of the Christian Scriptures, the New Testament, for me to be born into.

I am not under the unattainable demands of the Law, but under GRACE (Romans 6:14).

Whew! and Wow! Thank You, God.

As I read through the Bible and land in Leviticus, I am so grateful I do not have to know and remember all those hoops to jump through in order to worship God aright. But, I do like to look for glimmers of Jesus in it all.

All that HIStory leads to Him.

In reading Leviticus 3, the text said the sacrifice to be offered must be unblemished.

That got me to thinking about what we have to offer God on our own - only a blemished offering, sin-ridden and ugly at the core. So God fixed our problem for us so that we wouldn't have to be separate from Him and could live clean and close to Him, actually to be one with Him.

"But demonstrates His own love for us in this: 

while we were still sinners, 

Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

He provided the perfect sacrifice to take ALL the punishment for our sins. 

Christ, the Unblemished One, died in our place, taking all the wrath of God for our sins onto Himself.

"For God has not destined us for wrath, 

but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 Who died for us so that 

whether we are awake or asleep 

we might live with Him" 

(1Thessalonians 5:9-10).

He accomplished what we never could or can on our own.

When we accept Him, taking His perfectly satisfying sacrifice as our own, He rebirths us as a new creation (2Corinthians 5:17). The old nature enslaved to sin is gone (Romans 6:6). We are unblemished and perfect in His sight (Ephesians 1:4). He died to wash away our sin (John 1:29). He rose again to give us new resurrection life (Romans 6:4)!

WE ARE NEW!!!

With His death, He took away our every sin (past, present, future). He cancels every record of our debt at our salvation or coming to belief in Him (Colossians 2:13-14). He remembers our sin no more (Hebrews 8:12, 10:17).

• He remakes us with a new heart set toward obedience to His will (Ezekiel 36:26, Hebrews 8:10, 10:16, Romans 6:17). 
• He set us free from sin and the Law to walk by His Spirit which indwells every believer helping us navigate life in a new and living way (Romans 7:4-6).
• We are sealed with His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) and saved for eternity from the wrath of God which is reserved for the unrepentant sinner who rejects Jesus as Savior (Romans 1:18).
• We are saved to be His children who are zealous for good works which He prepared in advance for us to do (Titus 2:14, Ephesians 2:10).
• He is always at work in us, helping us to live out His purposes (Philippians 2:13) and making our behavior conform to Christ's character in us until our behavior matches up to the completeness of our identity in Him (Philippians 1:6; 1Thessalonians 5:23-24).

Jesus is the SOURCE, the Vine. Without Him, we can do nothing!

(John 15:5)

Almost 2011 Prayer

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve.

Another year is almost spent.

Have I done all You've asked of me?

Have I been faithful?

That is one of my fondest dreams,

one of my dearly held goals.

That I would be faithful to You.

Not in part, but in whole.

But, the only one that faithful is

YOU!!!

And You I am not!  

(Like everyone doesn't know THAT!)

But I would like to be as faithful as

possible given my human limitations.

I would like to know that You

are pleased with me and 

satisfied with my progress

on the road of faith.

Thank You for the HUGE grace You extend to me.

Thank You for sustaining me and providing for me.

Thank You for the blessings you have poured out on me and mine.

You are SO beautiful to me!

So wonderful to me!

My prayer is to love You more, serve you better, and be more faithful in 2011 than ever before.

So please help!

Because, without You, I can do NOTHING.

Give Grace to yourself, Ladies!

This is a hilarious Anita Renfroe video, encouraging realism in our self-images.  I laughed and laughed!



Remember, in the words of the Bob the Tomato on the VeggieTales:  "God made you special, and He loves you very much!"

And here is a link to a post over at At the Well that encourages a realistic outlook on our homes.  Unrealistic expectations bog us all down.  Remember, if you are free in Christ, you are free indeed!!!

God's Beauty on Parade

The Hydrangea Blossom Parade:

The Bare Lady

The Lady Clothed in Splendor

The Lady:  'up close and personal'

The Lady's Offspring

Journeying off from her home to be a blessing elsewhere.

Watch her spin and turn!

Brightening a messy and otherwise boring table!

And now she will journey on from here 

to brighten the day of another,

a dear friend who deserves the best.

John 12:37 Amplified

"Even though He had done so many miracles before them (right before their eyes), yet they still did not trust in Him and failed to believe in Him."

This verse primarily refers to those who have not come to the Lord Jesus and believed Who He is and thus have not been saved.  However, I felt convicted, even as a believer.  Just yesterday I was blogging about this very thing.  Not trusting.  Not really believing.  Succumbing to anxiety due to lack of true and steady faith.  The double-minded man syndrome is a disease from which I have not yet been fully healed.

I have seen Him work many miracles in my life:  my salvation, my rescue from sin, healing from a back injury, major changes in my character, plus His daily sustaining power.  And yet, I still freak out first and come back to faith and peace through a process.  Even though He is the King of Glory, the LORD God Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of all matter, and even though He controls everything, and even though His actions toward me are always grounded in His extravagant love for me, I still waver and wobble.  Argggghhhhh!  He's worth so much more than I am able to be for Him!!!

Knowing I'm an unworthy worm in more than just this way, I can only rest in Him and His saving work in my life.  I am SO glad He loves me and doesn't require perfection.  He is my perfection.  If I could be perfect, I wouldn't need a Savior.  But I can't. 

AND HE LOVES ME!!!  

Yipppeeee!!!

So...

I'm praying to do and be better.

I'm praying He will work change miraculously in me,

just as He always has,

and, I'm trying to rest in Him and in His love for me.

I love these quotes I found on my friends' pages and I am going to borrow them for myself because they encourage and help me to live in His grace, which He extends freely to worms like me.

"I am not what I ought to be.

 I am not what I wish to be. 

 I am not even what I hope to be. 

But by God's grace and Christ's love, 

I am not what I was." 

unknown

"Finish each day and be done with it. 

You have done what you could. 

Some blunders and absurdities 

no doubt crept in; 

forget them as soon as you can. 

Tomorrow is a new day; 

begin it well and serenely 

and with too high a spirit 

to be encumbered 

with your old nonsense." 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thank You Jesus

Thank You Jesus for all the change You have wrought in my life.  Thank You for taking a shy, lonely child and befriending her and helping her to live Your Way and to make Your choices.  For helping me let go of fear and move out in bold service. Thank You for giving me Your peace and helping me lay down my burdens daily.  Thank You for helping me be real with others.  Thank You for sustaining me moment by moment in all areas of life.  You bless me daily with Your Presence and timely Help for every situation You bring into my life.  I am so glad You are my God, my Brother, my Friend.  You have made ALL the difference in me.  Without You, I am a hideous worm full of ugly thoughts and selfish ways.  You are AMAZING!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Lezlie

Grace Flows Down

(Bell, Giglio, Pageant)

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!

Amazing love, now flowing down

From hands and feet

That were nailed to the tree

As grace flows down and covers me!

It covers me!!!!

Get Grace, Give Grace

It wasn't so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn,

dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands,

going around with a chip on our shoulder,

hated and hating back.

But when God, our kind and loving Savior God,

stepped in, He saved us from all that.

It was all His doing;

we had nothing to do with it.

He gave us a good bath,

and we came out of it new people,

washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit.

Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously.

God's gift has restored our relationship with Him

and given us back our lives.

And there's more life to come---

an eternity of life!

You can count on this.

Titus 3:3-8 (The Message)

Amazing Grace

Romans 5:8 (NIV) says: "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

The Message puts it this way: "God put His love on the line for us by offering His Son in sacrificial death while we were no use whatever to Him."

Either way, WOW!!! And He doesn't stop there!

In Romans 8:32, He goes on to say: "He Who did not spare His Own Son, but gave Him up for us ALL---how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us ALL things."

NOW THAT'S GRACE!!!

In verse 34, it says that Christ (Who gave up His very life for us) is at the Father's right hand interceding for us, praying on behalf of all of us though we are the very ones that made His death necessary.

NOW THAT'S LOVE!!!

AMAZING!!!

Why do we so often fight against Him Who loves us so much?

More on Grace

Of course it is more about grace. Recognizing His grace in my life is just what this blog is about.

Romans 10:9-10 (Message) “This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what He did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not ‘doing’ anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting Him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being, you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: ‘God has set everything right between Him and me!’”

Now that’s exciting! I am trying to embrace a new freedom. Amazing how long it takes to work something into your life. I’ve been walking with the Lord for 27 years now.

So I’m joining in with Paul and saying:

“GOD HAS SET EVERYTHING RIGHT BETWEEN HIM AND ME!!!”

Not EVERYTHING except for... EVERYTHING, as in ALL!

Woohoo!

Grace

I have been pondering grace a lot lately. Being a structured person, I fall into legalism many times and God has to remind me that He is doing the work in my life.

He tells me: "This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger]." (John 6:29 Amp.)

That's it! My only work! Everything else Christ is working in me. (Philippians 1:6 "...He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.") And even the work of believing is with help because without Jesus' help, I can do nothing. (John 15:5)

This good news is a boon to my soul. I am learning to rest in Him, trusting Him to work in and through me. I have added my name into the Message version of Romans 4:3 and placed it where I can see it daily.

"Lezlie entered into what God was doing for her, and that was the turning point! She trusted God to set her right instead of trying to be right on her own."