Beloved Names of God...series.."High Priest"

 

High Priest

"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,

 consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus."

Hebrews 3:1 kjv

 

• Name of God the Son
• Jesus is referred to as the "High Priest" ten times in the KJV.
• High Priest refers to the executed founder and very present help of the new Christin movement.
• The speaker in Hebrews 3:1 is reminding his listeners of Jesus' faithfulness to God and their commitment to be faithful to Jesus. He is both the apostle (guided by God) and the high priest (a great teacher sent directly from heaven).

The book of Hebrews is a call to faith and steadfastness in the face of adversity. Those early Christians faced fear and uncertainty, and some of them may have left the church as a result. It's a situation modern Christians know only too well, which is why the message of Hebrews is still applicable to our lives today. Jesus was faithful unto death and beyond; the least we can do is to be faithful in life.

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Next week we will be looking at  the name "Fountain of Living Waters"



God Has A Plan

"When everything around me seems to fall apart, I need to remember that God has a plan. Nothing takes Him by surprise; He is never early or late; nothing escapes His notice or is above His head. He has a plan and possesses the power to execute it! That's good news, isn't is? He usually doesn't reveal His whole plan to us, though; only the next step we need to take. But He knows the full plan, and we can trust Him with it." pg. 12-13

 

a great quote from the book I just started reading this week.

It is a great book by Elizabeth Viera Talbot

 

I think Fall has arrived!

Since I had to be out of my house by 6:45am on Monday morning - I had picked out an outfit the night before. I had thought that it would be cooler when I got up and had picked out a short sleeved top. When I went out to take care of my chickens I realized it wasn't so cool and decided on a sleeveless top instead. Several hours later it was cooler than it had been at 6:30am - but still very comfortable in my sleeveless top and capris.

My granddaughter(who had the day off and so we had her and extra day - we did not find out till Sunday afternoon~ bonus!) and I spent a couple of hours at the park. The weather was just perfect for time spent there! :O)

This week end we went on a little adventure at the park - turns out my granddaughter loves checking out tunnels - just like I did! :O)

She loves the little bridge as well! :O)

We checked out gopher mounds - trying to guess  which were gopher mounds and which were ant piles. We saw a mound of red ants - they are larger ants - that I think eat fire ants(not certain about that) and we saw a little path through the grass that they took to hunt for food. It was fun following the path.
 
The windows are opened and we are enjoying the breeze and cooler air. I looked at my weather app and noticed that it looks like Fall may have finally arrived here in Texas!

Are you ready for another summer day?

Are you ready for another summer day? Well I need to be since that is what it looks like for those of us in Texas. In fact, we have set the record for the highest temps for 2 days so far this November. Thursday was one of those days. We hit 90 degrees! Then Friday came along and even though the weather people said it would get to the high 70's we probably barely high 70 degrees- it was an awesome day. But Texas weather being bipolar- lol- we hit a high of 90 again on Sabbath breaking yet another record for November. And guess what? We are set to possibly break yet another record today.

Weather like this makes it difficult to know how to dress each day. Or causes a person to have to change clothes later in the day to weather appropriate clothes. By this time of year many people have put their summer clothes away- you know since it is fall. But I have done my normal for this time of year. I have divided my summer clothes into two groups - favorites and less favorites. Favorites get to stay in the closet for now. While the less favorite clothes are packed into a tote.

It looks like we have a several more above fall like weather days and then we may get another taste of fall for a while. In Texas you really never know. The weather has a way of surprising us some times.

How is the weather where you are?

Beloved Names of God.......series..Physician

Physician

 

"But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick."  

Luke 5:30-31

 

• Name of God the Son
• There are four instances of Jesus being compared to a physician in the KJV.
• The term physician can be applied to a doctor or a healer.
• Matthew had invited Jesus to dine with his friends. The Pharisees didn't think Matthew's friends were the kind of people a respectable rabbi should be handing out with. Jesus told them these were exactly the people He had come to see.

Humans have a great propensity for love and self- sacrifice; we can be generous and understanding; we are intelligent and can see only too well the benefits of cooperation; and we know deep down that love is the answer to ever problem. We are capable of a great deal of devotion and kindness- but out capabilities don't always translate into action.

 

Why is it that despite knowing how we ought to be, and can be, we still allow greed and fear to drag us down and make us less?

 

There is no other explanation for this disparity than that we must be sick. Greed was the gift of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. This was the "virus" he infected us all with. Fear is just one of its side effects. Humankind has been sick since the Fall. But there is a solution. Jesus is both the Physician and the medicine that will restore us back to perfect health.

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Come back next week as we will look at Jesus - the High Priest

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Trust Me- It Doesn't Help

Today I will be sharing some of my heart with you dear reader in hopes that maybe I can help someone else who may be in my shoes. I think sometimes we say things that really hurt others and cause extra pain and add extra weight to the burden they are already carrying and we may not even know it.

Maybe these stories were told to me before but I don't remember them. Maybe it's because it didn't hit so close to home. But it seems that ever since my husband was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's mostly those who love me feel the need to tell me stories of people with Parkinson's- including all the gory details.

Just this week at the most inopportune time (at a restaurant, in the middle of the meal) my mother in low out of no where began to tell me of a long ago pastor and his poor wife with Parkinson's. We had not been talking about my husband or Parkinson's - it was just totally out of the blue. Almost like a slap to my face, it took my breath away. It took all I could do not to cry. And I couldn't even say anything for fear the tears would start if I did.

She's not the only one, I've had this happen with other loved ones- who I have asked not to tell me the horrible stories - who forget I asked them not to or because they think I need to hear it...continue to share the stories with me....

Do these people thank that I do not know about this disease?

Do they think that they are helping me?

I know plenty about Parkinson's. My husband and I went to a Parkinson's symposium, we sat there (the youngest couple by far) for several hours hearing the brutal facts. I do not need to hear stories of other people I don't even know. I have enough pain dealing with reality. I do not need the extra burden of what I might be dealing with in the future. When the fears creep in, I try to turn them over to God. He is in control.

If you know someone dealing with a painful diagnosis or their loved one is, please think twice before sharing scary stories with them. Because truthfully all that does is causes fear- and where does fear come from? It doesn't come from God.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

II Timothy 1:7

 

I choose to claim the verse in Deuteronomy:

 

"As your days, so shall your strength be."

Deuteronomy 33:25b

 

 



This was true for me during the cancer "adventure" I went through and many times before and since. I believe God will continue to get me through each day. It doesn't mean it'll all be easy- don't I already know that, but I continue to trust in God.

So please think twice before passing along those unpleasant experiences. Instead think of uplifting and encouraging things you can share with those you may think are in denial - because they are probably carrying around more pain than you realize. And those sad stories don't help.

 

When trying to decide what to say - this is a very good verse to consider:

 

8Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Philippians 4:8

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Come back next week when I will be sharing a post about  ~what would Jesus do

 



Good News for Doubting Thomas'

19That Sunday evening^b the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”
John 20:19-21

24One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),^c was not with the others when Jesus came. 25They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

26Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

28“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

29Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

John 20:24-29

This passage in Scripture is from the New Living Translation.

This was one of those passages in the Bible that I knew and thought I understood it, but last week when I went to prayer meeting, I caught something in this story that really spoke to my heart. You see I struggle with being a doubting Thomas at times. So I could relate to his questionings.

I had understood that Thomas had doubted but I hadn't caught the part that Thomas hadn't been with the disciples the first time that Jesus appeared to them. And then we come to the amazing part of the story. The next time Jesus appears to the disciples - Jesus speaks directly to Thomas- and offers him exactly what Thomas said he needed to do before he would believe! Jesus met Thomas where he was! Then He said lovingly, without condemnation, "Don't be faithless any longer. Believe!"

This is like a balm to my soul because sometimes I find myself doubting and with little to no faith, but God meets us where we are and draws us to Himself.

verse 29 tells us "Blessed are those who believe with out seeing me" that would be you and me!

30The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31But these are written so that you may continue to believe^d that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
John 20:30-31

When we find ourselves being a doubting Thomas all we have to do is ask just like the little boys father did in Mark 9:24

24The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

Faith is one of the many gifts of God

8For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God
Ephesians 2:8 NKJV 

2Looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2 NKJV

And remember that Jesus loves you and will meet you where you are and supply all your needs.

It is so exciting to get something new out of verses and stories in the Bible that I thought I knew and understood! It is a good incentive to keep studying!