"Forgetting the past... I press onward" (Phil 3:13,14) One of the most amazing gifts that Jesus offers us is a chance to leave our past behind, to be washed clean of all of our mistakes and failures, and to really start over! I thank Jesus every day that He is God of the future, not of the past and that He gave me a new life! So often people think that He is at the front of the classroom with a list of their sins and failures, He is not... He is beckoning us to just mearly let Him into our lives and move on toward a new, brighter beginning, toward a personal, intimate relationship with Him. The bible actually says that He will "cast your sins as far as the east is from the west!" (psalm 103:12) and that "He will not remember your sins." (Isaiah 43:25) Why would we stay where we are? We should be so grateful for the opportunity to not only have a new start at life but to have a relationship with the ALMIGHTY GOD!
RUN, RUN to a new life full of hope, joy, and purpose! Run toward a relationship with Your creator, the One who fashioned you together in your mother's womb!(psalm 139:13) For He is good! "ALL the paths of the Lord are steadfast LOVE and FAITHFULNESS." (psalm 25:10) "The Lord is MERCIFUL and GRACIOUS, slow to anger and ABOUNDING IN STEADFAST LOVE." (Psalm 103:8)
The pages of our lives may be marred by mistakes and torn by guilt and shame, but "through many dangers, toils, and snares we have already come, Twas grace that brought us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home." Though we often stray from His side like sheep that have gotten off path, He is faithful to draw us back to His arms. Life is too short to wallow in our situations for "man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow." (Psalm 144:4) Let's get up out of our situation and let Him wash us clean with His blood and run into His arms! Every day you have a choice to make, a road to choose.
How will you live?
Will you repeat the past or like Paul will you forget the past and press onward toward Your Savior? "The STEADFAST love of the LORD never cease; His mercies never come to an end!" Lam 3:22
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Genesis 1-3
Just finished Genesis! Wow! God is so amazing!
Here are some things I learned from ch 1-3! I would love for everyone to comment! Let's teach one another!
Ch 1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" God in this verse in Hebrew is 'elohiym, which is plural... ok... so.. John 1:1 says "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." So, Jesus is God, they are one, they were together as one in the beginning! This is unexplainable, but such a beautiful mystery!
"God said, let there be light, and there was light", "God said, let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to seperate the day from the night", "God said..." GOD SAID = IT WAS! "He upholds the universe by the word of His power." Heb 1:3 "He is before all things and in Him all things hold together." Col 1:17. The earth, the stars, the ocean OBEY GOD! He gives us breath and life. Who am I to disobey Him?
Ch2: God created man in His image. God created us to be like Him, to reflect His GLORY and BEAUTY, to walk in relationship with Him. Then God said, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." The divine intention for marriage was monogomy, for husband and wife to be bound together as "one flesh". To love one another purely and symbolize the love of God. "They felt no shame." They were free from shame, morally innocent, this would soon be lost as a result of sin. You see, sin robs us of our freedom and innocence. Sin brings chains that can only be loosed by God's grace. I have felt those chains before, chains of guilt, shame, and condemnation. But praise God! He set me free! "It is for freedom He set us free!" Gal 5:1
Ch 3: The Fall.... Sin WILL cost you everything. Sin is destructive. Sin comes with chains, it will take you places you never meant to go and keep you there longer than you want to stay! A subtle, crafty whisper in the garden caused Eve to doubt God and she lost everything. Can you imagine walking with God daily!? Walking and communicating with the all-holy, all-powerful, all-righteous Creator of the universe!? This was lost. Adam and Eve lost this for every following generation to come. "Did God actually say?" the serpent said to Eve. How many times have we all heard this in our lifetime? In a week? In a day even? Did God actually say.... (you fill in the blank) God is holy, God is righteous, He is our judge. We will stand before Him. Sin may look harmless from the outside (the tree Eve ate from was a "delight to the eyes"), but it WILL rob you of Your future, of the plans and purpose you were created for! Stand firm, walk with integrity, take hold of this amazing grace offered by Jesus!
Once Adam and Eve had sinned, they immediately felt shame! God came into the garden and "called to them saying 'Where are you?'" God is calling out to His children saying "where are you?" Even in the midst of their sin, God was still calling out to them, searching for them! Some people feel as though they have to "clean their lives up" before they can go to God, but God comes calling to us while we are in our sin, it is Him alone that can make our scarlet sins as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18) ! God made a way for humanity immediately following the fall. He made a plan to provide a way for humanity to have relationship with Him. "I will put enmity between you (serpent) and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel" This was ultimately fullfilled by Christ's victory over satan! God is a righteous judge, but He is a merciful savior too! Thank You Father for providing a way! Now through the blood of Jesus, the veil has been torn, we can dance in the freedom of Christ!
"For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a GIFT, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus!" Romans 3:24-24 "... we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." Romans 5:11"For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
So humanity went from walking hand in hand with the BEAUTIFUL GOD, to covered in shame and guilt... The rest of the old testament is God's way of taking humanity from the fall in Genesis 3 to reconcilitation with Him through Jesus!
Here are some things I learned from ch 1-3! I would love for everyone to comment! Let's teach one another!
Ch 1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" God in this verse in Hebrew is 'elohiym, which is plural... ok... so.. John 1:1 says "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." So, Jesus is God, they are one, they were together as one in the beginning! This is unexplainable, but such a beautiful mystery!
"God said, let there be light, and there was light", "God said, let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to seperate the day from the night", "God said..." GOD SAID = IT WAS! "He upholds the universe by the word of His power." Heb 1:3 "He is before all things and in Him all things hold together." Col 1:17. The earth, the stars, the ocean OBEY GOD! He gives us breath and life. Who am I to disobey Him?
Ch2: God created man in His image. God created us to be like Him, to reflect His GLORY and BEAUTY, to walk in relationship with Him. Then God said, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." The divine intention for marriage was monogomy, for husband and wife to be bound together as "one flesh". To love one another purely and symbolize the love of God. "They felt no shame." They were free from shame, morally innocent, this would soon be lost as a result of sin. You see, sin robs us of our freedom and innocence. Sin brings chains that can only be loosed by God's grace. I have felt those chains before, chains of guilt, shame, and condemnation. But praise God! He set me free! "It is for freedom He set us free!" Gal 5:1
Ch 3: The Fall.... Sin WILL cost you everything. Sin is destructive. Sin comes with chains, it will take you places you never meant to go and keep you there longer than you want to stay! A subtle, crafty whisper in the garden caused Eve to doubt God and she lost everything. Can you imagine walking with God daily!? Walking and communicating with the all-holy, all-powerful, all-righteous Creator of the universe!? This was lost. Adam and Eve lost this for every following generation to come. "Did God actually say?" the serpent said to Eve. How many times have we all heard this in our lifetime? In a week? In a day even? Did God actually say.... (you fill in the blank) God is holy, God is righteous, He is our judge. We will stand before Him. Sin may look harmless from the outside (the tree Eve ate from was a "delight to the eyes"), but it WILL rob you of Your future, of the plans and purpose you were created for! Stand firm, walk with integrity, take hold of this amazing grace offered by Jesus!
Once Adam and Eve had sinned, they immediately felt shame! God came into the garden and "called to them saying 'Where are you?'" God is calling out to His children saying "where are you?" Even in the midst of their sin, God was still calling out to them, searching for them! Some people feel as though they have to "clean their lives up" before they can go to God, but God comes calling to us while we are in our sin, it is Him alone that can make our scarlet sins as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18) ! God made a way for humanity immediately following the fall. He made a plan to provide a way for humanity to have relationship with Him. "I will put enmity between you (serpent) and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel" This was ultimately fullfilled by Christ's victory over satan! God is a righteous judge, but He is a merciful savior too! Thank You Father for providing a way! Now through the blood of Jesus, the veil has been torn, we can dance in the freedom of Christ!
"For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a GIFT, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus!" Romans 3:24-24 "... we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." Romans 5:11"For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
So humanity went from walking hand in hand with the BEAUTIFUL GOD, to covered in shame and guilt... The rest of the old testament is God's way of taking humanity from the fall in Genesis 3 to reconcilitation with Him through Jesus!
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