Philemon 1:12-14

 :12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is sending my very heart,

:13 whom I wished to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel;

:14 but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will.

 In thinking of the wisdom that Paul used to persuade Philemon to receive back Onesimus, it is so encouraging to know that You will provide the spirit and wisdom needed for us to handle any situation through Your love and grace.

 Paul could have demanded that Philemon would receive back Onesimus, who was a slave of Philemon that had run away after wronging him in some way, but instead he persuaded him to take Philemon back as a brother in Christ. Paul was also willing to take any debt that Onesimus owed Philemon.

 In verse :14 basically Paul was asking Philemon to have a willing heart to understand that Onesimus was a different person now, not the same slave that ran away. He had come to Christ and was now a beloved brother (Col 4:9) in the Lord.

 Through Your Spirit, Father and through Your truth we are able to overcome stubborn emotions that cry out to cling to past hurts or wrongs that others have done to us. We are able to believe that yes, a person truly has changed and become a new creature in Christ (2 Cor 5:17) and receive them in their conversion as such.

Your Spirit of grace and love empowers us to forgive and it is not because we are under “compulsion” but because You are extending grace to them through Your Holy Spirit that is working in us by changing our own hearts.

 Forgiveness is beauty, purity, and freedom.

Effective faith

Father, the letter Paul wrote to Philemon is so beautiful! He had to communicate a somewhat sensitive request of him and Paul did it with such grace! Such gentleness and yet irresistible in the manner in which he presented his request. 

This verse is one that spoke to my heart.....

 Philemon 1:6 (and I pray) that the fellowship of your faith/ may become effective/ through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake.

(Amplified) 1:6 the participation in and sharing of your faith may produce and promote full recognition and appreciation and understanding and precise knowledge of every good (thing) that is ours in (our identification with) Christ Jesus (and unto His glory),

 fellowship of faith- fellowship has the idea of comunity, intimacy, communion, and sharing. Faith is not something that is private and kept to ourselves because when Your wonderful divine Love prompts us, we are compelled to share it in the way that You ask us to.

may become effective….may produce and accomplish God’s purposes

through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you (us) for (or in) Christ.

Faith and love become the driving forces in our lives as we understand, perceive, and recognize how deeply God the Father has loved us through His Son, Jesus Christ.Through the knowledge of every good thing (His love, mercy, peace, authority, etc.) He has generously already given us, the fellowhsip of our faith becomes effective for the Kingdom of God; for eternal purposes.

 Thank you Father for Jesus.

Life Long Journey

Knowing Jesus is a life long journey.

In seeing what a “soothing aroma” the O.T. sacrifices were to You, Father, and thinking of the real authentic sacrifice in Jesus, You brought to my mind that there are an infinite number of things for us to discover about Jesus.

He is more precious than any jewel.

Like a perfectly cut diamond with its many facets, catching the light, shining brilliantly, continually revealing its beauty to those who see it, examine it, and study it.

 And so He is to us, only His beauty and majesty and brilliance infinitely surpasses anything on this earth or what man’s mind can imagine.

 There is no end to knowing Jesus, or of knowing His grace and love and experiencing them daily in our lives. Discovering the infinite facets of His life are truly the greatest life changing revelations a human being can have.

 What a privilege to know Him and to learn to walk in His light.

 

7 Times

Lev 4:5-7

Then the anointed priest is to take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting.
:6 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.
:7 The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.

 I love this!!! Father, You are so AWESOME and wondrous in all of Your ways!  I am so amazed at the intricate details given to Moses for the Tabernacle. They all point to Jesus!

 From the above passage the rite of sin offerings was to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice 7 times right in front of the veil which separated the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.  Then some of the blood was put on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is in the Holy Place before the veil.

 In reading Gill’s commentary the sprinkling of the blood is a “figure of the blood of Christ, called, in allusion to this rite, the blood of sprinkling; which being presented before the Lord, calls for pardon from him, and sprinkled on the conscience, speaks peace there, and perfectly cleanses from all sin, which the seven times sprinkling is a symbol of:.

 The number 7 is representative of perfection in the Scriptures.  This rite was looking to the blood of Christ shed, once and for all, for mankind. The 7 time sprinkling can represent our being forgiven perfectly, and our conscience cleansed perfectly also.  Therefore, we as believers today, can have perfect peace and not be burdened with guilt or condemnation for the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sin (Heb 7:27) once and for all.

May we value the preciousness of the blood of Jesus Christ and never forget the price He paid to make us acceptable to God, the Father. To make us perfect, beautiful, precious, and without the stain of sin in the eyes of the Father. Redeemed! Perfectly loved!

Thank You Father for the love you have demonstrated toward us (Romans 5:8) through Jesus Christ, Lord of all!

Living Water

Continuing in the thought of the work You do within us, it is Your relentless love that
that weaves itself into our human soul to accomplish Your purposes.

How great, how infinitely deep is Your love for us that we should be so privileged to
have it dwelling in all its richness within us through Your Spirit. What a treasure we have!

Knowing the value of this Divine Love and the power to change the human heart
compels us to allow it to flow out of us without hindrance, without blocking its flow.
Why would I withhold from a needy heart this very treasure that is able to not only
comfort but also transform it?
This treasure is living water to our soul and to the soul of those around us as we
journey on this earth.
You brought to my mind an earthen vessel with water (the kind of vessel carried on
the head in primitive cultures).
Another picture was one of looking down into water that has just been found that is
crystal clear, pure; perhaps found in a place not expected at a time of great thirst. What
stood out was the clearness and purity of the water.
The absolute purity and clarity (no shadow of anything else) of Your love satisfies the
deepest need of the human heart.

Truly the most valuable possession we have as Your children.

A Steady Work

1 John 1:3
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God and such we are;
Thank you so much Father for continuing to teach me the never ending depths of Your love.

A bull was one of the creatures that the Israelites were commanded to use for the burnt offering. In reading a commentary about the bullock, it is characterized by strength not speed. It goes at a slow, steady tread until the day’s work is done.

You brought to my mind that this is what Your love does in us through Your Spirit. You have created us for a purpose, for good works, which You prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(Eph 2:10)
You also reminded me of Your love working within, drawing us to you, always holding us up. A steady continual working to bring us to maturity in Christ Jesus. 
As we have received Your love so mercifully given, You enable us to see others through that same divine love--even when we do not comprehend the thoughts or actions of others, we can know and be assured that yes, You are going to perfect the work that You began in them when You privileged them with salvation through Jesus Christ Your Son.

Our prayer shall be that they know also that You do love them deeply and are always and forever longing for their fellowship.

Phil 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
We can be confident, no matter what our loved ones, friends or any other believers say or do, that You are working to perfect that which You had in mind at their creation.  We can believe that there is a slow, steady and persistent moving of Your Spirit within them, and within us, to conform Your children to the image of Your Son, Jesus.

We can believe, therefore we never lose hope.
We can pray, therefore our hope is founded in You, in what Jesus has done, and in Your promises.
Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance we wait early for it.

The bull works on and on until the day is done; You work in us until Your work is perfected.
For in Him we live and move and have our being…(Acts 17:28)

One Piece

Within the tabernacle stood the Holy of Holies, the place where the High Priest would enter once a year to make atonement for the sin of Israel. It contained the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat that sat upon it.

The Ark contained the sin and rebellion of the people represented by the tablets of stone (the law), the pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod. The Israelites had rebelled against Moses when he was receiving the tablets of stone, they had rebelled against Aarons’s leadership, and they had complained about God’s provision through the manna (Ex 32:19, Ex 16:8, Num 17:10).

The Mercy Seat was the lid or cover of the Ark.  At each end of the Mercy Seat, and of one piece with it, were two hammered gold cherubim facing one another. Their outstretched wings overshadowed the gold lid and their faces constantly looked down upon it. They were made of one piece of gold that had been hammered into shape. (from Biblehistory.com)

Even though casting at that time was known to the Israelites, God’s instruction was (Ex 37:7) “And he made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work, at the two ends of the mercy seat;
:8 one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end; he made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at the two ends.
:9And the cherubim had their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.”

 Once a year the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of sacrifice for himself and the people. That blood was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat to atone for sin. It was sprinkled over the Ark in which the sin of the people was represented.
The cherubim, who were angels of judgment, looked down at the blood that had been sprinkled over the sin and were appeased. Judgment was satisfied through the Mercy Seat.
Jesus Christ is our Mercy Seat today.

 It has been commented that the one piece of hammered gold represented the beating of Jesus Christ as He went to the Cross. In thinking of the number of times the one piece of gold had to be struck to form the Mercy Seat, how many were those strokes? It was one solid piece of gold. How many strokes were needed to form the cherubim, with wings and faces looking down and being one piece with the base?

How many times was the one piece of gold struck? 

 How many times was our Savior beaten and struck to bear the sin of the world? The once and for all suffering that Jesus endured for me is the one time in all eternity the sin debt was paid for. (Hebrew 7:27)

He is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no other way to know God.
Jesus was beaten, struck, and hammered to form the perfect all together lovely Savior that now reigns forever. His blood now offers redemption and the forgiveness of sin for all who will accept His perfect sacrifice for them.
 One piece of gold, one Divine Savior, so that we could be united and be one with a holy God.

Thank You, Father, for Jesus.