Purifing our Conscience

Hebrews 9:8-14
9:8 The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the holy place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing. 9:9 This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. 9:10 They served only for matters of food and drink and various washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came. Christ’s Service in the Heavenly Sanctuary
9:11 But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 9:12 and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption. 9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.
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How often do we seem to think that following the law will save us? Following the law won't even change us. It was just a ceremonial cleanliness. Christ is the only righteousness. I need Christ's righteousness, because I cannot stand upon my own. I also desperately need the blood of Christ to change me and purify me from my sinful self. I am afraid of who I would be if it weren't for grace. I would be so lost in my own selfish black hole. I would be tearing down everyone around me. Sometimes I am still like. The blood of Christ cleanse me and change me!! Wash me clean! Take my life and purify my dead works, changing them to a life and works of worship of the living God.

New Covenant

Hebrews 8:7-12
8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. 8:8 But showing its fault, God says to them, “Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
8:9 “It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord. 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. 8:11 “And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. 8:12 “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”
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Praise God for the new covenant. Now we can each 'Know the Lord' and have personal relationship with God. We no longer have to have a priest intercede with God for us, but now each of us has direct access to God through Christ. The best way to maintain that relationship is through keep God's word in our minds, and inscribing in on our hearts. Then God we will be God's people. Thank God for his mercy in forgetting our sins and being merciful to us. God shows mercy to us and desires to be near to us no matter how great or small we are in this life. God intentionally both included Rahab, a prostitute, and David, a king after God's own heart, in the genealogy of Christ.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from The NETBible® Copyright© 2005 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/All Rights Reserved

Sin and Accountability

Hebrews 3:12-14
3:12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes the living God. 3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. 3:14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end.
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Sin will drag me down and drown me. It will suffocate my soul until my heart turns to stone in unbelief. They way to avoid sin is to be accountable to other believers so that we can encourage each other. Then we can combat sin's deceitful lies and avoid the hardened hearts and blackened souls. Also, is it possible that we will only share in Christ's mercy if we hold fast to our faith "firm until the end"? A question debated by many theologists. Can an individual turn their back on their faith in Christ's redemptive work, returning to sin and the old creation, and forfeit eternity? Or, does such a lifestyle reveal that the person never actually believed in Christ's death, Resurrection, and return from the beginning? I am not sure yet.

Thougts on Hebrews 1:1-3

Thank God for sending His Son. I pray I never doubt Christ's supremacy over the prophets or angels or the priesthood. For the prophets only predicted Christ coming. The longed to see the coming of the Messiah. Simeon and Anna rejoiced and praised God in Luke chapter when they were able to meet the Messiah. They thanked and praised God when meeting Christ even though His act of grace on the cross had not yet been accomplished. How many times half-heartedly approach Christ even though I have received and receive His grace every day?! Angels were considered exalted to Jewish people because of their involvement in giving the law to Moses. However, Christ fulfilled the law. Christ delivered us from the ceremonial law by establishing a new covenant. That is also why He is superior to the priests. He accomplished the ultimate sacrifice that the ceremonial law represented. The blood of animals could not atone for sin, but Christ perfect sinless blood atoned for my sins. I have a priest, who is more exalted than angels, whose life and death were prophesied of old, and who sits at the right hand of God. I have such a priest to present my needs to God. Why don't I utilize such a resource more often? When when such a God desires to have relationship with me, do I crowd him out with meaningless, finite rubbish?

The Man that Shaped Me

I thought it most appropriate that if I was blogging about that shaping of my soul I would have to include some of my father's words. He more than any other man on earth has made me into the man I am today. He has shown me how to love his God, to seek Him with all that is within every cell of his anatomy. He has shown me how to love his wife and cherish her and romance her for thirty years. He has shown me how to love his sons (4) and teach them to become disciples of Christ. He has shown me how to love the world and share with it the grace and love of God.

Here is a portion of an email he recently sent me. It shows his heart, his passion and therefore something that God, through him, has implanted within my own soul.

Wow, Aaron, soooo good to hear from you. It is also great to feel (I could really feel it) your passion to make a difference for Christ in this world and to finish the mission he gave us to do. I just preached this past weekend at First Wesleyan's missions conference. I preached from Gen 12:1-3, but specifically from the point that Genesis is a book of beginnings and that the book is introducing us to God, who he is and how he operates. Here we see for the first time the foundational methods of God's world-wide plan for redemption and restoration. 1.God's plan is a man 2. God's promise is to bless 3. God's priority is the nations. When God sees mankind in need of redemption he starts with a man. Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Jonah, Jesus, Paul...all are examples. Then he promises to bless that man, to enable, empower, and encourage so that that man might be a blessing to the nations.

Earlier in the service while the organist played, "Count You Blessings"I had the people write out blessings God had blessed them with. During the conclusion I had them go back to their list and ask themselves if they were using those gifts to be a blessing to the nations. One of the greatest gifts the Lord has given me is my family. I'm sooo grateful that the Lord is using this wonderful blessing he has given me to bless the nations. If Israel is an example them I suspect that as I allow my blessings to bless the nations he will continue to bless but if I withhold my blessings from the nations he will withhold his blessings from me.

I pray that I will have the passion for the salvation of the nations that is so evident in the words and passions of both my Heavenly and earthly Father.