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Showing posts from August, 2016

Covenant or Contract

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But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and  yet  you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;   but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him. -Luke 15:29-30  Jesus tells this story involving a father and his two sons: the younger demands his share of the inheritance before the father is dead, because to him his father was already dead; the older considers himself to be faithful and hard working, which is where we pick up the story.  The older brother comes homes after a long days work and finds out that his father has not only accepted his younger brother back into the home, but he has also thrown him a huge party to celebrate his return, and he wasn't invited. The telling element of the story here is how the older brother responds when he finds out what is going on.  Th

Love Consecrates

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Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, so He spoke to him. -  Numbers 7:89 NASB After consecrating himself Moses encountered God.  Once Moses went through extensive instruction from God about administrating the sacrificial system, assigning people for certain functions and roles, then dedicating it to the Lord Moses heard God speak to him from the place where His glory was dwelling. One major thing can be recognized here--consecration. Consecration The call on the nation of Israel and Moses was one of holiness, which would require them to consecrate themselves, or set themselves apart to differentiate themselves as Gods people--this would mean lifestyle changes for them.  Love always costs us something, and we see the same is true here as Israel consecrates themselves it cost them their life (Num 7:1-88). This i

The Growth of Salvation

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He has not withheld one possibility that was manifested in Jesus from any man, but on the contrary invites mankind to come forth in the dignity and power of sons of God, and to that Christ and in Christ join in the might wonder of the salvation of the world over sin and sickness, and the power of death and darkness and hell...Salvation is a progressive condition. -John G. Lake (1870-1935) John and I agree here that salvation is a continuing experience. I stand believing that for many reasons: God is eternal and we will never see the end of Him, even in heaven; when we look through both Testaments in the Bible we see God continually revealing new things about Himself that the earth had not yet experienced before; God, as our Creator, has made an existence that is still expanding--researching how the universe is still expanding will give clear evidence. So what does this mean for us in our relationship with God? Simple, it means that God has more for us today that we had yesterda