Update #2

Fundraising is going slower then I intend, but God is faithful to provide.  The support letters were sent out.  Bracelets were ordered from threads of hope to sell; hopefully this will be a successful fundraiser.  There will be a table set up in the courtyard on v-day where we will be selling v-day treats and the bracelets if they get here in time.  Things have been so busy with school that fundraising has taken a backseat for awhile but now that the trip is getting closer it must become more of a priority.  Thank you all for your support and prayers!  Please be praying for the team as we continue to prepare for this summer.

Entering the Most Holy Place

Hebrews 9:1-15 has completely revolutionized how I approach God.  I have read over this passage of scripture several times each time reveling in God’s mercy and plan to redeem his children.  The first 7 verses explain the first covenant and the earthly sanctuary. It gives all the specifics of the temple, which may seem unimportant but these verses reveal how complex and specific the process of going before the Holy God was.  The first room was where the priest carried out their business but there was a second room that was separated by a curtain, this was the Most Holy Place which contained the ark of the convent (God’s presence).  Only the high priest could enter this room once a year and only by the means of a blood sacrifice to atone for the sins of himself and the people.  Verse 8 begins to tell of new covenant, how Christ came in as the high priest to offer his own blood to make us clean so that we may enter into the Most Holy Place into the presence of God.  How often I have looked at prayer as a chore!? I get to come before God only because of the sacrifice that was made by Jesus; I get to enter the Most Holy Place!!

Hebrews 9:1-15

 ¹ Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. ² A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. ³ Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, ⁴ which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

 ⁶ When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. ⁷ But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. ⁸ The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. ⁹ This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. ¹⁰ They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

The Blood of Christ

 ¹¹ But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,^[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining^[b] eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,^[c] so that we may serve the living God!

 ¹⁵ For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Made in the Image of a Creative God

I have always felt the closest to God when I am outside basking in his creation.  I was thinking today about how creative our God is.  He could have put us in a barren field.  Instead he gave us breath taking mountains, fierce oceans, wide canyons, majestic glaciers….the list goes on.  It says in Genesis 1:27 that we are created in his image.  Have you ever thought of how we express creativity in light of God’s creativity? We have this perpetual need to decorate our surroundings. Look around you. Even our bodies are decorated according to the creativity we were created with.  Father, I am once again in awe of your character.