Tag: Spiritual

³⁶ For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work. ~ Leviticus 23:36

It says that for seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. Here’s the thing though, that’s not what the original Hebrew says. When you go to the original Hebrew the words “food offerings” isn’t actually written, it was added in for “clarity.” But instead of adding clarity it actually changes the meaning of the verse. See, they knew Numbers 29:12-34 says in great detail the different sacrifices for each day, which they equated to being food offerings. The Hebrew word there is actually ‘iššeh which literally means “a fire offering” or “that which is burned.” Why does that change the meaning of the verse?

Because it’s an offering brought forth by fire not a food offering that they were commanded to bring to the LORD. Different offerings sacrificed by fire daily. Why does this matter? Because as Christians, we now follow a new and better covenant. The old is the predecessor and it was the physical foundation for a spiritual continuation. No longer do we sacrifice bulls and lambs because Christ has been sacrificed on our behalf as the final sacrifice.

If we read the New Testament we see this fulfilled, for even the Old Testament points to this.

[5] Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; [6] in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. [7] Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” [8] When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), [9] then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. [10] And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:5-10

³³ And to love Him [God]  with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Mark 12:33

So, what does that mean for us Christians today?

[10]  According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. [11] For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— [13] each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. [14] If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. [15] If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

[6] In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, [7] so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:6-7

Our actions, how we live our lives, that is now our offering by fire. We aren’t a did sacrifice. Our actions are not a food sacrifice, but they are an offering treated and brought forth through fire. Why? Because fire purifies. It puts the weight of something to the test. It sees what something is truly made of. That’s why the LORD is a consuming fire. For who can withstand Him and who can stand against His wrath?

Therefore, each day should be a different offering sacrificed by fire to the LORD. A different action and/or act of faith to the LORD. Why? The Fear of Booths was about remembering the importance of putting faith in the LORD and acting on that faith. For faith without actions is dead.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Fire Sacrifice.

¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ~ John 3:19

I recently saw a podcast where the woman said that she believed the one of the worst (if not the worst) mental illness someone can suffer from is religion. She said this because she had just watched a documentary about Ruby Frank who abused her children because she said she believed they were demon-possessed. All I could think was, this is quite an ignorant statement to make. This woman’s issue wasn’t that she was religious or believed in a religion, but that she didn’t know, nor did she take the time to understand the religion she was claiming. On top of that anyone who can abuse and torture their own children is demonized and influenced by evil because they have no true religion. But I digress.

When we remove religion from society, we get societies such as North Korea, China, and Vietnam. Let’s look at the effects of Atheistic Communism in these three nations.

Vietnam according to communistcrimes.org:

The death toll at the hands of the post-war communist regime (1975-1987) is estimated to be approximately 430 000; 65 000-100 000 of those were executed, approximately 1 million sent to concentration camps, of whom 165 000 were killed, approximately 200 000–250 000 boat refugees lost at sea, and in addition to the aforementioned figures the victims of the different conflicts on the Indochina peninsula in the 1980s are added.

That wasn’t a religious attack. That was pure atheist communism that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Not religion, but the lack of it. Pure Godlessness.

China according to communistcrimes.org:

The new Maoist regime established a totalitarian communist system, killing and causing the unnatural deaths of tens of millions. Although the civil war between the communists and the nationalists is thought to have killed 6-10 million, a much larger number of casualties resulted from systematic terror, repressions and social reforms launched in the mid-1940s by the communists. Estimates of the number of victims during 1949-1975 vary and fully reliable figures do not exist. China’s official statistics have not been made available for thorough research. According to an analysis of ten different Western sources, a total of 45-60 million have lost their lives during forced collectivization, purges (2-5 million killed), the Great Leap Forward and the ensuing famine (30-40 million deaths), Cultural Revolution (2-7 million killed), occupation of Tibet (0,6-1 million killed) or died in laogai, the world’s largest network of concentration camps (15-20 million deaths), and because of other repressions.

Millions killed at the hands of the Chinese communist regime.

North Korea according to communistcrimes.org:

Agrarian reform, launched in late 1940s, gained momentum after the war and paved way for collectivization, one-party dictatorship and Stalinist-style repressions and purges. The number of executions is unknown, but the ideology provisions of North Korea’s penal code, witness accounts and initial statistics indicate that about 90 000 may have been killed during the 1958-1960 campaign of terror. During 1948-1987, about 1.6-2 million Koreans perished in government-sanctioned repressions. About 100 000 were killed during purges and at least 400,000, but probably more than 1.5 million died in prison camps.

Prisons and camps are just part of a larger repressive network that includes transit jails for dissidents, correctional labour centres, labour camps and deportation zones where as many as 150 000 – 200 000 people are still being kept in concentration-camp conditions. In those facilities, mortality rate is estimated at 100 per day or 36 500 a year. The UN indicated in 1997 that during a 1990s famine, which the government could have well avoided, more than 10 million suffered from malnutrition and hundreds of thousands starved to death. Other estimates put the death toll at 2 million or more.

In a span of 50 years these three atheistic communist societies tortured and killed more people because of their atheistic beliefs than all the tortured and deaths caused by all the religions of the world put together. Let that sink in. That’s not even including the 62 million killed under Stalin in the Soviet Union or Pol Pot in Cambodia.

Torture. Murder. The dehumanizing of humanity isn’t a character trait of religion, especially not the character trait of Christianity that this woman so strongly despises without cause. The reason she can demonize religion so freely without fear of repercussions is because she lives in a Christian nation. Because our founding fathers’ beliefs were grounded in Christianity they emphatically proclaimed:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That is our Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson and is the foundation of our very country. Religion isn’t a mental illness, nor is it the worst or most dangerous. In fact, I would say the denial of religion is. It is the complete and under removal of God that causes the most deaths. Why? Because if we remove God, we remove creation. If all men are not created equally, then we no longer have to see each human as equal, but we can dehumanize people based on our own ideas, feelings, and opinions. We can create our own truth and live in a world that calls right wrong and wrong right. That confuses good and evil. It is Godless societies that cause the most destruction and evil, yet it’s religion, namely Christianity, that is hated, demeaned, and attacked.

This is nothing new though. Darkness hates Light. It is the Light that the darkness hates because when you shine light into the darkness you expose all that the darkness was hiding. It forces you to face the reality of your sin. The reality of the darkness within yourself. It forces you to die to self and live to Christ, but our flesh hates this. It wants to dwell in darkness where it is comfortable. So, it attacks the Light in hopes of self-preservation. The idea that something that has caused the most evil is the right path to take and the one that has contributed the most good is evil is a mental illness, and the most dangerous one at that.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Expose The True Mental Illness.

³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, ~ 2 Peter 1:3

Everyone who has accepted Jesus as LORD and Savior has been given a certificate of adoption that will be cashed in at the final trumpet when the dead in Christ will rise first, and those of us who are alive and remain are caught up to meet them in the clouds to be with Jesus.

It’s the Second Coming. We have all the privileges of sonship. We have all the privileges of being heirs and joint heirs with our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have the keys to the kingdom. There is absolutely nothing that our God withholds from us. We are His children.

We do not have our full adoption as yet. We enjoy all the privileges … we enjoy all the rights that come with adoption. We call God our Father, and Jesus our LORD. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We walk in miracles. We perform signs and wonders. We are healed in Jesus’ Name. Our adoption, however, is not yet legally finalized. We are still working out our salvation with much fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12b).

Therefore, do not take advantage of the Spirit of Grace, but instead earnestly seek the face of the LORD. Don’t take your salvation for granted. It is not yet yours forever, it can still be freely given up by you. So, don’t take it for granted. Don’t feel as if you cannot be cut off, for if He did not spare the natural branches, why would He spare those of us who have been grafted in.

Dear LORD, please help me to seek You even more so as that day draws nearer and nearer. Please turn my heart of stone to a heart of flesh that I might not sin against You. That I might not throw away my salvation for temporary failing desires of the flesh. Encourage my heart and let my spirit not grow faint within in me. Help me to run the race set before me with endurance and faith. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

²⁴ Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done.” ~ Matthew 16:24-27

It’s often argued that once we accept salvation that’s it. You’re sealed forever. And if you sin and fall away, then obviously you were never saved in the first place. Now, I want you to think about this, if we can’t give up our salvation or be separated from Jesus, that would mean that we have no control over our soul and our own destiny, but this isn’t the case at all. God has set life and death before us, and it is our choice to choose or to reject.

In fact, Jesus blatantly says we have to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command. He didn’t just say believe in me. Accept my free gift of salvation. Just have faith. No. Jesus said you have to perform a physical and spiritual action in order to retain your salvation. Faith is not just a “I believe, and that’s it” word because even the demons believe and shutter. It is an action word. Faith without works is dead (James 2:20).

There is nothing in Scripture that hints at us not being responsible for retaining our salvation. Yes, we can never obtain salvation on our own, but once we accept salvation we are expected to run the race set before us, not just live our lives however we want to. So, do not be deceived, your actions directly impact your relationship with God and therefore, your eternal destination.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Work Out Your Salvation.

⁴⁸ That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, ⁴⁹ “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. ⁵⁰ And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, ⁵¹ because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. ⁵² For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” ~ Deuteronomy 32:48-52

Throughout their time in the wilderness, a Rock followed them in order to provide them with drinking water as they journeyed for 40 years. The LORD told Moses to speak to the Rock so water may come out of it, but instead Moses struck the Rock. Not once, but twice. And the LORD told him he would never enter the Promised Land. It was too late for another chance.

This wasn’t just disobedience. This was anger-driven disobedience. Moses had, once again, let his anger get the best of him, and the LORD had had enough.

So, instead of leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land he had to go to the top of Mount Nebo, in the Land of Moab, and die a premature death. His body wasn’t ready, but that physical act of disobedience caused a spiritual reaction that ended up costing him his promise and his very life.

Every action has a spiritual reaction. It can be positive or negative. It can affect even the generations to come. Moses’ descendants aren’t remembered. The priesthood didn’t come through them. So, be careful what you choose in this life, it can affect all around you and all who are to come.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Careful To Obey.