THE U IN JESUS

Before U were thought of or time had begun,
God stuck U in the name of His Son.

And each time U pray, you'll see it's true,
You can't spell out JesUs and not include U.

You're a pretty big part of His wonderful name,
For U, He was born; that's why He came.

And His great love for U is the reason He died.
It even takes U to spell crUcified.

Isn't it thrilling and splendidly grand
He rose from the dead, with U in His plan?

The stones split away, th e gold trUmpet blew,
and this word resUrrection is spelled with a U.

When JesUs left earth at His upward ascension,
He felt there was one thing He just had to mention.

"Go into the world and tell them it's true
That I love them all - Just like I love U."

So many great people are spelled with a U,
Don't they have a right to know JesUs too?

It all depends now on what U will do,
He'd like them to know,
But it all starts with U.

Remember whose you are...

I don't know your story and you don't know mine, but we share a common theme. We are driven by the search for true identity, a desire to be understood and appreciated for who we are. We have longing to seek out something more. Those are not evil desires. God gave us that desire to seek the essence of who he created us to be, so that he can fulfill it. He created the thirst so we can enjoy the Living Water. Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time and energy looking everywhere else but to him for that fulfillment.

In Jeremiah 2 God paints a picture of how his people loved him like a bride loves her groom, full of passion and complete in their devotion to him. But their hearts changed. In Jeremiah 2:13 God says that his people have forsaken him, the spring of Living Water, and have dug their own cisterns. They are looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places. You can hear the Father's grieved heart as he lays out their behavior before them and then ends with "How's that working for you?"

My heart sinks as I see the areas in my life where I have chosen to find identity in my own cisterns, rather than drinking the Living Water. We too easily revert back to our own cisterns that can hold no water. Look at the cisterns in your life. What seemed like such a good source of legitimacy suddenly pales in comparison to true legitimacy found in God. That is why it is critical to meditate on the truths of who God is and who we are in Him until it sinks down deep into our spirit, soul, and body. John Calvin wrote in The Institutes Of The Christian Religion, "It now remains to pour into the heart itself what the mind has absorbed. For the Word of God is not received by faith if it fills the top of the brain, but when it takes root in the depth of the heart." Calvin is urging us to drink deeply of who God is and who we are in him.

Take deep drinks of the Living Water of who we are and what we have because of who he is:

He is Jehovah-Jireh (provider).
Genesis 22:14 Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.
You can be sure he sees and knows your every need.
Ps. 121:3 He who watches over you will not slumber.
Matt. 6:8 Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

He is Jehovah-Rophe (healer).
Ex. 15:26 I am the LORD, who heals you.
You are being renewed.
Isa. 40:31 ... those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength...

He is Jehovah-Shalom (peace).
Jdg. 6:24 ... and called it The LORD is Peace.
You have life and peace.
Rom. 8:6 ... to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

He is Jehovah-Nissi (banner).
Ex. 17:15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.
You are led in Christ's triumph.
2 Cor. 2:14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ...

He is Jehovah-Rohi (shepherd).
Ps. 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd...
You are his well-tended sheep.
Ps. 100:3 We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

He is Jehovah-Tsidkenu (righteousness).
Jer. 23:6 This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
You are free from the law of sin and death.
Rom. 8:2 Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

He is Jehovah-Shammah (THE LORD IS THERE, Eze. 48:35)
Mat. 28:20 Surely I am with you always...
You are continually with God.
Ps. 73:23 Yet I am always with you...

Stop and allow these truths to sink deep into your spirit. You may "know" these Scriptural facts, but now really receive their truth deeply in your spirit where your legitimacy, identity, significance, and birthright are defined by God.

Remember whose you are... and who you are in him!


taken from Revealing the Treasures available at www.thefathersbusiness.com
sent to me by Susanne Waters (Daniel's sister)

Today on the Jewish calendar

Today on the Jewish calendar is Nissan 10. On this day, the ancient pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover would be selecting their lambs to sacrifice for the Passover. According to Exodus 12:3-8, each family was to select the lamb and keep it until the 14 of the month and then sacrifice it for the Passover.

The night we studied the Passover when we did STEPPING UP, we talked about what it would mean to select a lamb, get attached to it, and then have to kill it--knowing that we were the ones who deserved to die, and an innocent would die in our place.

I found this blog today talking about this, and a video showing a sacrifice in Jerusalem. This is very graphic, but we can never understand what this means unless we see it.
It is very tough, but I recommend you watch it.
If you need to go back and read Exodus, do so.

But more importantly, remember that Jesus is our Passover Lamb. He died in our place. jl

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Video: Passover Sacrifice in Jerusalem

Recently I noted an article about a planned animal sacrifice in Jerusalem. This event was controversial because 1) there is no temple or altar in Jerusalem today; 2) killing an animal makes some people mad.
Friends in Jerusalem went to the Old City that day and saw a guy they suspected of carrying a ritual knife in his briefcase and followed the guy through a wild maze of streets in pursuit. It turned out they followed the right guy. They filmed the service.
We talked about the appropriateness of putting this online. The 5-minute video is as graphic as it gets. More and more people today don't realize that meat doesn't originate at a grocery store. They have little concept of an animal being raised and then slaughtered. Furthermore, almost no one in the Western world has ever sacrificed an animal for religious purposes.
I think, however, that is precisely why this *graphic* video should be shown. We read about sacrifice in the Bible but we don't really understand what that means. We read passages that talk about the "life being in the blood," but those are just words that we don't really consider. We "know" that the wages of sin are high, but we don't get the life lesson that the ancient Israelites received every year.
The point of sacrifice was simply this: you deserve to die because of your sin. This animal is dying in your place. Watching the priest slice his throat and watching the blood drain out drove the point home much better than reading a chapter of Leviticus.
Today New Testament believers know that the blood of bulls and goats is not enough to take away sin. But I think that we can often just take for granted Jesus' death in our place. We don't think about his innocent blood draining away because we can't conceptualize it. We don't always appropriate the idea of substitute because we've never seen a living object die in our place. But our loss can be this: sin is easy because forgiveness (we think) is cheap.
The video was made by SourceFlix Productions. Instead of dubbing over the scene with English commentary, they chose to include some explanatory text below. Don't watch this video while eating, and if you're thinking about showing your children, watch it yourself first.

Link to Passover Sacrifice video

Passover begins Saturday at sundown.

Related: for photos and explanation of the Samaritan Passover, see BiblePlaces.com (modern photos) or LifeintheHolyLand.com (19th century photos and text). Several years ago I wrote an article about a visit to the Samaritan Passover sacrifice (En Gedi Resource Center).

I Am a "Kept" Woman

You see, there were a few times when I thought I would lose my mind,
but GOD kept me sane. (Isa. 26:3)

There were times when I thought I could go no longer,
but the LORD kept me moving. (Gen 28:15)

At times, I've wanted to lash out at those whom I felt had done me wrong,
but the LORD kept my mouth shut. (Psa. 13)

Sometimes, I think the money just isn't enough,
but GOD has helped me to keep the lights on, the water on, the car paid, the house paid, etc.., (Matt. 6:25 -34)

When I thought I would fall, HE kept me up.
When I thought I was weak, HE kept me strong! (I Pet. 5:7, Matt. 11:28-30)

I could go on and on and on, but I'm sure you hear me!
I'm blessed to be "kept."

A Good Choice

Let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith.
Hebrews 10:22

It would have been nice if God had let us order life like we order a meal. I'll take good health and a high IQ. I'll pass on the music skills, but give me a fast metabolism…Would've been nice. But it didn't happen. When it came to your life on earth, you weren't given a voice or a vote.

But when it comes to life after death, you were. In my book that seem like a good deal. Wouldn't you agree?...

Have we been given any greater privilege than that of choice? Not only does this privilege offset any injustice, the gift of free will can offset any mistakes.

You've made some bad choices in life, haven't you? You've chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career, even the wrong spouse. You look back over your life and say, "If only…if only I could make up for those bad choices." You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth.

The choice in yours. - Max Lucado

from April 13, 2008 devotional on http://www.maxlucado.com