Passion Week

What a grand and glorious day  to arise  this morning and realize that our Savior lives!!!!!

The  Stone is rolled away, there stands an empty tomb....   

Redemption has come to man and    

victory over  death and sin  is now ours for those  who believe!

 This weekend has been  an awesome  time in the heavenlies and on earth!  Friday we celebrated   Good Friday at church and we  heard the significance of the cross...

 our debt to be paid  through the  scourging, mocking death of   the son of God,  Jesus,...  
a cruel and  horrible  death   on the cross!
We left the church  in repentance and thanksgiving for such love and mercy to be paid to our account!
That same day  was the beginning of  Passover.. not just a Jewish  feast day  but one that God  declared  to be celebrated for all time.... but Glory to God today  we celebrate the  completion of  that holy day.. for Jesus  is the Pascal Lamb, the sacrifice that    was offered  to deliver  us from death and sin!
So Lynn and I celebrated the Messianic Passover  on Saturday... what a joy to  join in  the  traditions of the  past in  contemplating and   praising God for His  recurring  deliverances throughout the ages.

 

Just the two of us  gathered around the  Seder plate.. the plate that holds the  symbolic elements of Passover..

The baked egg,   the roasted bone, the bitter herbs and the charoset, symbolizing the  mortar  the Israelites used in their  bondage   under the Egyptians...    the  matsah and the wine  symbolizig Christs  death  ,,, his stripes,    His body and the  blood   which  is remembered  as Holy Eucharist  or Communion...  and  through which we  live in victory  as  God's  child.. the body and the blood...   such powerful  elements of our faith.....  

Lynn  led us through the Messianic Haggadah  or program   of explanation and scriptures.... as we saw the direct correlation   of  Christ's death and resurrection  as the fulfillment of  the  Old Testament  ritual.

And Christ came  as the Light of the world...  darkness will reign no more!

Sin  is purged and  we are  washed clean... 

We have new life    because    we share in  the  resurrected life of  Christ! 

Importance of Following the Jewish Calendar

The more I follow Christ the more I see the need to pay attention to the Jewish calendar, the feasts, the tabernacle, and their correlations with the new testament and the coming of Christ. It is only through understanding the whole Word that I can truly prepare and keep my lamp filled with oil!
Today is the month of Adar of the year 5769. we are coming up on an important time of old testament history- the Fast of Esther~The Fast of Esther, which commemorates the three days that Esther fasted before approaching King Ahasuerus on behalf of the people. The fast is connected with Purim.
"In the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on its thirteenth day ... on the day that the enemies of the Jews were expected to prevail over them, it was turned about: the Jews prevailed over their adversaries. - Esther 9:1
And they gained relief on the fourteenth, making it a day of feasting and gladness. - Esther 9:17
[Mordecai instructed them] to observe them as days of feasting and gladness, and sending delicacies to one another, and gifts to the poor. - Esther 9:22
Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination.
Christians today can use this teaching to challenge us to live for Christ! One source put it this way:
"This weekend begins the feast of Purim, which celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from one of many of Satan’s attempts to purge them from the world. Mordechai gave Esther a great challenge then, “and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
This is a challenge for all of us! As each generation is raised up, God appoints men and women to rise up to the challenge of that age. We are alive in this day and in this hour (an amazing day and hour, at that) and God is saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” He is awaiting those who will come forward and say “Hineni” here am I, in Hebrew! And if we fall short of this challenge, “deliverance may arise from another place!”
Let’s not let that happen — God wants to use us! Let’s rise to the occasion! God has great things ahead!
If you are like me it is sometimes difficult to discern the will of God for my life in knowing what and where he might want me to let my light shine the brightest. This is a perfect time to begin a fast, like Esther, seeking God's face and gaining the insight and wisdom to know and be emboldened to be God's servant!