Monthly Archives: July 2017

Jesus, better than Mt. Sinai

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Category : Jesus is Better in Every Way

I recall the days when it was impermissible to walk across the pulpit in the church at any time much less to have a choir director to stand on the pulpit for ease of view from choir members. There seemed to be more reverence, respect, and sacredness for God and His House of Worship. However, many would say, that the pulpit is simply a platform on which others will stand to speak God’s word and to say that someone other than the preacher cannot stand there is legalistic and ritualistic at best especially if someone is standing there to do God’s bidding in whatever modus operandi.

Regardless of the rationale or the opinion of man, there was a time when many feared God and worshipped Him in holiness and in truth. They knew His Word and respected Him to be “an all consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29)

The children of Israel, dared not go to Mt. Sinai because of the warnings given to them by Yahweh God through Moses. (Exodus 19:20-25) In fact, God gave Moses a similar warning in when he commanded him, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” (Exod. 3:5)

In todays lesson, we are looking at Hebrews 12:18-24….18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest,   19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.   20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.”   21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)   22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,   23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,   24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

In a nutshell, this passage of scripture is encouraging us that although the Israelites could not so much as come near Mt. Sinai, Jesus our Mt. Zion, the heavenly church here on earth, has stepped in to make it permissible for us to come and worship freely in Spirit and in Truth.

While we still should hold to a posture of reverence and fear to an Almighty God, we can assemble together in unity in the church whether sinner or sinless through the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. The Bible says Jesus came to seek and to save those that are lost. (Luke 19:10) The Bible says… “Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat.” (Isaiah 55:1). In other words, come and receive a refreshing from the Holy Spirit and eat of the bread of Life which is Jesus and His Word. Jesus is welcoming you to come.

A verse from a hymn entitled: “Hold To God’s Unchanging Hand” bids us… come to the fountain, so rich and sweet, cast thy poor soul at the Savior’s feet. Come in today and be made complete, Glory to His name. Oh, How Glorious is our Lord and Savior.

Surely, Jesus is better than Mt. Sinai.

As the glory of the Lord surrounded Mt. Sinai, the glory also surrounds Mt. Zion, our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. While Mt. Sinai was untouchable by man or beast, Jesus, our Mt. Zion, is touchable. Jesus said to the doubting Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20).

Mt. Sinai may have been dark and dreadful, but Jesus our Mt. Zion is the light of the World. (John 8:12). Where Moses was the Mediator under the old covenant representing Mt. Sinai, Jesus is our Mediator, the perfect, sinless Lamb of God under the new covenant and representing Mt. Zion, the new church and worship center.

Yes, Jesus, our Mt. Zion (the Heavenly Jerusalem) our church of the first born (SON) is better in every way than Mt. Sinai.

Prayer: Jesus, I thank You for being our Mediator and for going to Almighty God on our behalf. I thank You that because of Your cleansing and sinless blood, You made it possible for us to come boldly to partake of God’s glory and His majesty. Jesus, thank You that you are touchable and we are accepted in You as our beloved, and that You love us enough that we can sit at Your feet and be blessed. Show us more of Your Glory, Lord, in Your matchless and Holy name, Amen.

If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, and you want to accept Him now, you can click on the link under PRAYER, and pray the prayer of Salvation.

No better sacrifice than Jesus

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Category : Jesus is Better in Every Way

Upon grateful reflection, we can look back and see how big mama, pawpaw, mama and daddy, god-mama and auntie, made many great sacrifices for us. Many sacrificed having their own comforts to ensure that we not only had the basic necessities of life as children, but to ensure that we had an opportunity to be involved in school activities and other extracurricular activities that could take a bite out of the monthly budget.

If truth be told, mama and big mama may still be making great sacrifices for us even into our adulthood. Many, have made, and are still making great contributions to the coffer as we raise our own children. Many are putting aside their own vacations to help with down payments on the purchases of new homes or cars for loved ones. Correspondingly, many are making room for adult children and grandchildren, who need a place to live.

Contrariwise, many adult children are finding themselves in the role of caretaker as they face the daily challenges of tending to adult parents who can no longer fend for themselves possibly due to financial struggles, sickness, and disease. Yes, I would submit to you that great sacrifices have been made as many have expressed their love and compassion to ensure a better quality of life for those in need.

However great the sacrifice of missionary, preacher, daddy, mama, big mama, big papa, auntie, or even you and I, there is no better sacrifice than Jesus Christ, our blessed Messiah.

The Bible says “11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.   12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:11-12).

The sacrifices of men are temporal at best. Jesus, that great High Priest, and Who is now sitting at the right hand of Yahweh God, paid the ultimate sacrifice when He died on the old rugged cross so that we may experience everlasting life with Him. Of a truth, Jesus came that we may have life and that life more abundantly (John 10:10b).

No more, the blood of bulls and goats by the priests in the Old Testament to sacrifice for themselves and for mankind at the altar. Under a new and a better covenant (New Testament) Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb, sacrificed Himself, by shedding His powerful and cleansing blood and is now interceding for us from Heavens’ throne room (the Golden Altar)—for all who call on Him. That’s good news, my friends!

May we Pray

Papa God, we thank You that even though Adam didn’t get it quite right; you have given us a second Adam in the person of Your darling Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Who redeemed us from a life of no return so that we can spend eternity with You. We thank You that surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in Your house forever and forever in Jesus mighty name, Amen and Amen.

If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, and you want to accept Him now, you can click on the link under PRAYER, and pray the prayer of Salvation.

Jesus, He is the Tabernacle

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Category : Jesus is Better in Every Way

As a young girl growing up in church, I used to recall hearing the seasoned saints praying and asking God to tabernacle with them. Lo and behold, I find myself praying this same prayer… Papa God, tabernacle with me this day and every day in Jesus name.

Today’s lesson is taken from Hebrews 9:11 and reads thusly, But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation”.

The first mention of the word tabernacle is found in Exodus 25:1-9

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:   2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.   3 And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze;   4 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair;   5 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood;   6 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense;   7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.   8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.   9 According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it”.

The word tabernacle means “tent”, “place of dwelling”, or “sanctuary”.

Upon further study of the Old Testament, you will find that in the tabernacle there was an Outer court, The Holy Place, and the Holiest of Holies.

The Outer court – This room was used for sacrificial offerings, judgment and cleansing. In the outer court, there were instruments constructed of bronze representing judgment and the need for justification.

The Holy Place – Only the Priests could go in this room and which contained the showbread, a type and shadow of (Christ the bread of Life); the lampstand, a type and shadow of (Christ the Light of the World); and the Altar of Incense, a type and shadow of (Christ our Intercessor). In this room was gold, silver and wood; representing the deity, redemption, and the humanity of Christ.

The Holy of Holies – This room contained the Ark of the Covenant or the Mercy Seat. Only the High Priest could enter here one day of the year on the Day of Atonement. On that day, the High Priest could enter the very presence of our Most Holy God, Yahweh. A veil or curtain separated this room from the other rooms. THE HOLIEST OF HOLIES IS WHERE GOD’S GLORY RESIDED!!! (KABOD) Halleluia!

Our High Priest Jesus would have to pass from the outer court, into the Most Holy Place, and then into the Mercy seat or the Holiest of Holies to give His life a ransom for many, when He became that sacrificial Lamb. At that very moment, when Jesus died, the veil which had separated the other rooms from the Holiest of Holies (Mercy Seat) was torn in two from the top to the bottom. (Matt 27:51).

What does that mean for you or for me? That means that our High Priest, Jesus, when He shed His blood on Calvary’s Cross redeemed us from a world of sin so that we could come boldly before God’s Throne and Mercy Seat as cleansed and sanctified priests. As priests, we can now come into the very presence of Almighty God to worship and adore Him and tell Him all about our troubles. We can now lay at His feet to love on Him and to allow Him to love on us and bask in His presence knowing that whatever troubles we might encounter, Papa God will make it alright.

Thank You, Jesus, for being better in every way! There is nobody like You! Jesus, our Priestly Tabernacle is better than the grandest cathedral or the biggest church with all of its modern day conveniences.

And guess what ya’ll? My Bible tells me:

“Christ in me, the hope of glory”. (Colossians 1:27). That means that as born again believers, we already have the tabernacle of Jesus residing on the inside of us. In other words, we have the love, mercy, and grace of Jesus in us. That’s good news my friends. I love good news and I pray that you do as well.

 

Prayer: Papa God, in the words of a song as written by Eddie Williams and popularly sung by Albertina Walker…..Lord, keep me day by day, in a pure, and perfect way. I want to live on in a building not made by hand. I’m just a stranger here traveling through this barren land. Lord, I know there’s a building somewhere, in a building not made by hand. Lord, keep my body strong, so that I can do no wrong. Lord, give me grace just to run this Christian race to a building not made by hand in Jesus name, Amen!

If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, and you want to accept Him now, you can click on the link under PRAYER, and pray the prayer of Salvation

Jesus, even better than Abraham

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Category : Jesus is Better in Every Way

As a child, do you remember singing the song: Father Abraham had many sons…many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you. So let’s all praise the Lord., Right arm! And the song goes on to repeat, left arm, right foot, left foot, etc. It was a fun to sing as we lifted our right arm, left arm, right foot in coordination to the song.

The name Abraham actually means the Father of Many Nations (sons and daughters). I submit to you that Abraham is highly respected by many of the Christian persuasion. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul taught that Abraham’s faith in God, even before the Mosaiac law; made him a model of sorts for all believers whether circumcised or not. (Romans 4)

God loved Abraham so much that He told him that whoever blesses him and his seed will be blessed and whoever curses him and his seed will be cursed. (Gen. 12:3).

With all of the power, honor and respect of Abraham, he was humble enough to give a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High (El’Elyon). But before that, Melchizedek, (king-priest) greeted Abraham with bread and wine on his victorious return from war in the name of God Most High. Halleluia!

But there is one greater than Abraham and His name is King Jesus and High Priest. Halleluia!

And surely, you’re wondering what does Melchizedek have to do with this lesson? I’m glad that you asked. Melchizedek was an Old Testament type of Jesus. The Bible says that Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High, a king of righteousness, a king of peace, without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, and that he remains a priest forever. (Genesis 14:18-20; Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6; 5:10; 6:19-20; 7:1-4; 7:9-11; 7:15-17; 7:21. The same attributes are characteristic of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Melchizedek was superior to Abraham because he blessed Abraham (greater blesses the lesser) and Abraham gave an offering to him (honor).

JESUS IS SUPERIOR TO ABRAHAM 

“Jesus said to them, Truly, Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58.

I am, is present tense! Meaning that while Abraham has passed away, Jesus yet lives. And although the Bible speaks of the faith of Abraham (Romans 4; Hebrews 11), but no scripture speaks of the faith of Jesus–the faith of Jesus is exemplified in that He lived by faith in Father God and which is evident in this scripture….”Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19.

Hebrews 7:4 says Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

Please know that even the richest man alive today cannot honor Yahweh God with money. Psalm 49:7:8a says “Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God.   8 Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough” (NLT).

There is no way that we can pay Him for what He has done for us when He walked up Golgotha’s Hill to shed His blood as the sacrificial lamb to redeem us from a life of sin and eternal damnation.

Certainly, we should be steadfast to honor and bless our Lord and Savior financially, but our financial giving to Him, is meager at best. (2 Cor. 9:7).  Hebrews 10:8 states…”Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law). For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)

Because Jesus is better in every way, however, we can Honor Him as King of Kings and the Lord of Lords with our lips. We can honor our King and High Priest with our Worship. We can honor Him with our love and mercy for mankind. We can honor Him with our lives, halleluia which is what He enjoys.

But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel (you and me! (Psalm 22:3)

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy! (Psalm 107:2)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1)

Prayer:  Father God Yahweh, let it not be said that we honor You with our lips but that our hearts are far from You. Papa God, I pray that our lives, our work here on earth, and our praises will always be acceptable to You in Jesus name, Amen!

If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, and you want to accept Him now, you can click on the link under PRAYER, and pray the prayer of Salvation.

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