God’s Perfection Vs Man’s Creation

 Exodus 39:1,7,21,31,42,43 From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary. They also made sacred garments for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses… Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses… They tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband so that the breastpiece would not swing out from the ephod—as the LORD commanded Moses… Then they fastened a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban, as the LORD commanded Moses… The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

As I read this passage I initially was lost in all the beautiful detail of the work of the craftsmen and I wondered what God had in store for us today.

Like many things in life, sometimes it takes a few attempts to understand and so I did. Reading scripture in a hurry never seems to bear fruit and so today as I re-read the passage, God’s word spoke to me.

What could God want to speak to us by repeating what He spoke to us a few weeks ago when He described these very same elements?

Persecuted Witnesses

Exodus 5:1-2,8-9,17-18,20-22 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go”… But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words”… But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks”… They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?

Finally the reluctant obedience of Moses was rewarded with his greatest fear, rejection from the Pharaoh and from the Israelites he came to free!

This is a hard knock on the heads of the Israelites who obediently followed Moses’ lead because they sensed he was sent by God and was there to deliver them to freedom.

Instead of the gift of freedom, they were given hard labour as a reward and had lost favour in the eyes of the Pharaoh and all Egypt. What can God speak to us today through this story of God’s broken promise?

Saved or Judged?

Revelation 18:1-3,8-11 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality”… “For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong. “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more

As I read chapter 18, my mind raced through the many countries, cities, power houses, etc. that could be referred here. Is it the commercial capitals of the world, the gambling cities, the largest corporations that drive the world economies??

Who could this great Babylon be and what could her sins be that God is so furious with her? Why is God so furious at this great city and what is He speaking to us this day through this great warning?

Call To Perseverance

Revelation 13:8-10 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.

Day by day, the reality of these end times prophecies are getting more intense and scary. The reference to beasts makes the forces of evil look worse than they seem or are they as heinous as their description? What is God saying to us today?

Be Counted In The Countless

Revelation 7:9-17 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

As we journey through the book of revelation, we can see an obsession for worship of God and His son Jesus Christ that is beyond our understanding. I cannot imagine what life would be if all I did was worship someone and nothing else mattered to me. What would happen to my family, my responsibilities, my dreams and goals…?

I am being asked by many including people I dearly love if I have lost my beans! What’s with the obsession for God suddenly and why am I on this ‘holy trip’ and when will I come back to being ‘normal’? My only response is that if they knew what God has done for us and is doing and will complete in due course of time, they will be far crazier than me in worshipping Him.

To the world that I once was a part of, this God who is unseen and unheard is non-existent. To them, believing in something that is tangible, provable, indisputable and most importantly something that benefits them is what they are willing to put their trust in.

So money is a basic need before food and water, power is exciting and stimulating, sex is the expression of love, drugs are another way to peace, prosperity is having all of these in abundance and hope is in that which brings one glory.

Jesus Christ is often pictured as one who stands with his arms wide open. This is to show that He wants to have a relationship with each and everyone of us and that He has love enough to cover the entire world and He has given enough of himself to save the entire mankind if we would only accept Him.

The reason for accepting Him is not that our problems will vanish, that we will become successful or that we will have mystical powers but the reason is that we who are broken in sin are in desperate need of fixing and only God can fix us. In Jesus is the perfect spiritual doctor who medicates with His blood that washes us clean from inside out.

We are then robed in Him and our lives are transformed by His love. When He does this, we join the hosts of heaven to celebrate the greatest gift of life, our salvation. Better still, Jesus tells us that He is going to take us to be with Him soon and has gone before us to prepare room in His father’s home for us.

When John talks about the multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne of God, he is speaking about the you and me who God has called to be His own. What a privilege it is to be a part of the hosts of heaven and what more can we do but worship this Great and Glorious GOD who is WORTHY!

Are you still driven by the aspirations of this world or do you want to be counted in that countless multitude who will live in joy for eternity in God’s holy presence?

In His Loving Service,
ServantBoy

Daniel 12:1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.

Ultimate Sacrifice

Hebrews 9:24-28
For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Sacrifice is a gory part of the old testament and I cannot imagine how horrid the sight must have been for many. I recently was asked by a dear friend who is Hindu about the need for blood sacrifices by God as the whole thought of blood and gore repelled her and I wish I had read this chapter before I responded. We know that Jesus was God’s own son who was sent into this world to live among us and die for us because the Bible tells us so time and time again. In fact the Jews who do not accept Jesus Christ as their messiah are still awaiting a messiah to come and establish them as God’s own people because of God’s promises in the old testament. What was the purpose of all the blood sacrifices and is Jesus’ blood sufficient to cover the sins of the whole world?

Above The Angels

Hebrews 1:3-5, 13-14
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?… To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

Angels, in my head, have always been the sweetest of creatures who have a soft heart, a gentle demeanor, look pretty/handsome, have fluffy white wings and are always watching out for us. This is what I assimilated probably from all the greeting cards, movies and books that refer to them and in a way they are a representation of God to us. Jesus Christ was born of humble means, grew up in hard times, was challenged by every religious leader and was crucified for us, not as pretty a sight or life as that of angels. To some, angels are more than just nice beings and are considered worthy of worship and today God explains to us who is worthy of our worship and why.

Supremacy of Christ

Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Jesus is the picture of humility no human can ever stand up to. His supremacy is so well described here by Paul and yet the person who came here to earth to live among us and die for us sounds like a shadow of the person who He really is. The only motivation for someone to go through what Christ went through for us is love and not just human, selfish, sinful love but a love that is far beyond our understanding, a love so pure and faultless that only God could feel and experience and show. Many people have asked me and I am sure I have asked God why is it that he made the world the way it is, why were we given freedom to choose and if God was God, why would he permit the pain and strife that we go through?

I am not God and therefore don’t seek to answer for him but just imagine the life of a toy. It is heartless, is built for a purpose, has value to someone who appreciates it and loses value the moment the next toy comes along and therefore to its creator it is a lifeless creation. The pursuit of every toymaker is to make a toy that works like a Pinocchio that had life in it. Look at computers and our attempt to make artificial intelligence or inventions of the first cell. God has created us and the universe around us for a larger purpose than just being toys and he wants his entire creation to praise him for what he has done and gives us the freedom to choose. The Bible reminds us that one day, every tongue, tribe and nation will bow down before him in realization of who he is and the saved will live with him for eternity. Does this God who is supreme over everything yet humble below everything in love for us deserve our all?

In His Loving Service,
ServantBoy

John 1:3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Profit and Loss Statement

Philippians 3:7-9, 20-21
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith… But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

As I continue on my journey with Christ, I realize that layer by layer, He is peeling off my dependencies on this world, my selfishness, my hardheartedness, my deceitfulness, my pride, my strength, my abilities and everything that is in me which I spent 33 years gaining and is replacing it with Him in me. I might sound like I am boasting but in reality, this is most embarrassing because to the world, I am quickly becoming a misfit as I am not norming to it. I realize day by day that as I walk with Him and share Him in my life, people consider me ‘religious’ and weird and I am quickly losing the world but hopefully gaining Christ. Is that what Jesus is asking of us?

Paul born a Jew, circumcised as per Jewish customs on the eight day by a Jew, was of the tribe of Benjamin, was a Hebrew by blood, was a Pharisee with the zeal of one which showed in his persecution of the church and was legalistic in his righteousness and faultless to the Jews. For him to change would not be possible but God did change him and God then turned his life around by shedding every inch of the old him and replacing it with Christlikeness. We are reminded today that whatever we have gained here on earth on our own is worthless in comparison to what God gives us when we put our faith in Him. We get a new genetic code, a new citizenship, righteousness from comes from Him alone and a new body to live a glorious life with Him for eternity. If that is not worth losing self for, what is?

In His Loving Service,
ServantBoy

Jeremiah 9:23,24 Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.

Filled With God’s Fullness

Ephesians 3:14-19
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I love to read Paul’s prayers as he expresses God’s word in lay man understanding, giving a sense of direction with prophetic words, has a deep seated motivation to spur us onward in our Christian walk and always giving God the glory. As I think about God, I realized that Jesus quoted the word of God in everything that He said and His life was lived in the fulfillment of it. When live out out faith in our lives, do we use and consider the word of God in everything? I long for the day when God’s word is etched in my mind and heart and when the first thought I have in every situation is Him and His glory. Is that what Paul prays here for us?

Paul requests God to give us from his glory the strength through His Holy Spirit residing in us (believers) so that Christ may live in our hearts through our faith in Him. Why would God need to strengthen us for Christ to live in us? When we accept Christ, we are walking away from the Prince of this world, Satan, and taking the path the Lord wants us to walk. This means our lives are always going to be in torment from Satan and we will constantly be drawn back to our lives of sin and therefore we need the strength that only God can give us, the direction that the Holy Spirit provides us and the love that Christ shows us through His life. As we walk with God, we start to appreciate the dimensions of His love which, although unseen to the blinded eyes of sinful men, are revealed to us who are born again through His sacrifice for us. Are you filled with the full measure of God and living out your faith in your life?

In His Loving Service,
ServantBoy

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.