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April 5, 2023April 5, 2023

Enter Through The Blood

²² And they brought Him to the place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull. ~ Mark 15:22

Jesus was brought to Golgotha. There the Roman soldiers nailed His hands and His feet to an old rugged cross. Jesus hung there suffering for hours. At the time of the evening sacrifice, the time when the Passover lamb was to be slaughtered, Jesus, with a loud voice, cried out and gave up His spirit and died.

At the exact moment that Jesus died, something miraculous happened. The curtain in the Temple that separated the Holy place from the Most Holy Place where the Mercy Seat was and the Presence of God dwelt was torn from top to bottom. This was a very significant manifestation of God’s glory.

First of all, the curtain was approximately 45 to 60 feet tall and about 4 inches thick.
Second, it was torn from top to bottom.

This was a clear indication that it was not the power of man that tore the veil, but God Himself, letting ordinary men into His holy presence. Remember, the Holy of Holies was curtained off from the rest of the Temple, and only the high priest could enter in, and he could only enter once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. He could not enter without first offering the blood of a bull and a ram, but we now enter in through the blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:15). Therefore, give thanks to Jesus, who paid our debt and made a way for us to enter into the presence of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Enter Through The Blood.

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Appreciate Grace

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, ¹⁵and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. ~ Psalms 50:13-15

Paul said that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more (Romans 5:20-21). When we hear that, we get excited. We think it means that we can just sin and then ask for forgiveness later. This isn’t the purpose of grace. This isn’t the heart of God. The heart of God is love, but not the way that we see and define love. Love doesn’t take advantage of another, especially not another that we love. Love doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing; love rejoices in Truth.

The desire of God isn’t for constant sacrifice so that our constant sins will be forgiven. His desire is that we worship Him. That we don’t fall into sin but boldly walk into the presence of God with thanksgiving and praise. God desires that we abide in His love so that we may remain in His presence. Grace isn’t a free pass to sin. Grace is the redeeming blood of Jesus that washes our sins away and gives us another chance to do what is good and right. Because we have received grace, we should be giving the LORD a sacrifice of thanksgiving. This is how we enter His presence through His redeeming blood. Faith in Him and a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Appreciate Grace.

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The Many Reasons To Rejoice

²³Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given the early rain for your vindication; He has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. ~ Joel 2:23

Countenance is the outward showing of God’s love that is in you and in me, which is expressed on our faces through rejoicing. It is our way of expressing thankfulness to God our Father for His numerous blessings on us. It’s our offering to Him.

Rejoicing is directly related to the harvest. Every feast and every offering. Every harvest time and every sheep shearing time was to be accompanied with gladness and rejoicing. Rejoice! Because the Lord, your God, has made you glad and has blessed you with good things to enjoy. Rejoice and be glad because the LORD your God has dealt wondrously with you. Meaning, He has given you a bountiful blessing to enjoy; now show thanks. So, remove that frown. Get rid of that downcast face. Look up and rejoice because the LORD our God reigns.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Rejoice.

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Invoke, Thank, and Praise

⁴Then he appointed a family of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. ~ 1 Chronicles 16:4

Solomon said that a three-strand cord isn’t easily broken. In other words, when you put three key principles together, you aren’t easily overcome by the enemy. David set up a three-strand cord as well, and there was much peace, prosperity, and favor of the LORD during His reign.

1. Invoke (to invoke the Name of the LORD. To bless. Jesus gave us the authority to use His mighty name.)
2. To give thanks
3. And to praise the LORD

Normally, the first thing that is listed, or the first thing that is done, is the most dominant or the most important. The first thing David did was call on the name of the LORD. We were given a promise from the time of Joel that all who call on the name of the LORD would be saved. Jesus promised that God would hear those who call on the name of the LORD.

After this, David gave thanks. This is important because we enter God’s gates with thanksgiving. In other words, after God has heard our cry and we’ve gotten His attention, we begin the process of entering His presence through thanksgiving.

Finally, David had them praise the LORD. Because you enter His gates with thanksgiving, and you enter His courts with praise. In other words, we enter God’s presence through praise. This three-strand cord opens the door to the presence of the LORD. It worked for David during his time on this earth, and it still works for us today.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Invoke, Thank, and Praise.

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