The Sign of The Cross

I am reading through the Book of Exodus this morning. Chapter 12 specifically. God lays out His plan to Moses for the liberation of the Israelites (God's people) from Egypt.

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household." - Exodus 12:3

God is instructing Moses about the very first Passover. God "passed over" His people and did not put to death any first born in the families of those who had blood on their door frames. Remember the word "lamb."

In the new testament we read this:

"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." - John 1:29

That was John the Baptist talking about Jesus.

Now, back to Egypt. Look at God's instruction for where they are to place the blood of the lamb on Passover.

"Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight." - Exodus 12:6

Then this . . .

"Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs." - Exodus 12:7

Take a look at the nearest door in your house. Trace the length of the jamb on the side of the door. You just made a vertical line in the air. Now do the same for the lintel above the door. A horizontal line.

Where have you seen the two motions you just made before? Didn't you just make the sign of the cross? And now God wants His people, "the community," to place the blood of a spotless lamb on it. Interesting.

Why the door? Why not a window? Or the wall? Or the roof? Because doors are where we 'enter in.' In order to "enter in" to God's kingdom we must enter into it through the blood-stained cross. Stained with the blood of a spotless lamb - Jesus. Wow.

"I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved." - John 10:9

Stories of Jesus like this one are found throughout the Old Testament. More on that next time. For now though, let us praise God for His amazing plan, which He set in motion before the creation of the world.

[Editor's note: I wrote a story on Monday but chose not to share it on Facebook. If you would like to read it you can find it here.]

A Different Kind of Christmas

My wife and I sat in the sun room Christmas morning, opening our presents - all by ourselves. It occurred to us that we hadn't done that (opening our presents alone) since before our kids were born. That's over thirty years folks.

There were a lot of things that were different this Christmas than from Christmases past. For example, usually we get snow this time of year. Last night it rained. Global warming? No. Wisconsin weather. The week before it was fourteen below.

I watched a video of a young couple, two kids from my youth group days, announce that  they were having a baby. That should make for a wonderful Christmas celebration!

My personal favorite gift this year was the restored relationship with a family member. Estranged for a year and a half, God chose this Christmas to restore it. What a gift!

On Facebook I've seen pictures of engagement rings, family reunion pictures, and pregnancy reveals. All these new "gifts" to appreciate and enjoy. Still, the one gift that still amazes me each and every year is the gift of Jesus to all of us here on earth.

The story of His "reveal" STILL amazes. God? Born in a manger? Yeah, okay. That makes sense. But this Christmas story actually does make sense once you understand the reason behind it.

I am reading through the Bible right now, the book of Leviticus. That book is always a tough read until you get to chapter five and you suddenly realize why Jesus was born in a barn among the animals.

^"5 when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters (sins), they must confess in what way they have sinned. ⁶ As a penalty for the sin they have committed, they must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for them for their sin." -Leviticus 5:5-6

The sacrifice for sins, established long before Jesus was born, was to be a spotless lamb. Every time someone sinned there was to be a sacrifice. This went on daily! It's a wonder there are still sheep on the planet!!

That's when God gave us Jesus, to be born, a spotless lamb, to live a sinless, spotless life, and then to be sacrificed, as that spotless human lamb for the sins of the rest of us sheep, once and for all. One sacrifice for all mankind. Jesus was born to die.

^"5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." - Romans 6:5-14

What a gift!

May this Christmas bring to you a new commitment to Christ. May you hear of God's plan of redemption in your heart and may you embrace the birth of Christ for what it was - a gift for everyone of us. A gift to take the place on the judgement seat in OUR place! The best gift anyone who loves life and loves Jesus could ever receive - the gift of eternal life with our sacrifice, in heaven!

May each of us have a different kind of Christmas this year. Different from "the world" and they way it thinks Christmas should be like. May WE be the barn. May WE be the manger. And may Jesus be born in us.

Above All - Michael W. Smith
Born In Me - Francesca Battistelli

Signs

My friend and I were out walking one lunch hour where we work when we came upon this lovely piece of sidewalk art. I boldly predicted, "Something is going to be happening here in the near future!"

"Gee, how can you tell?" my friend responded sarcastically. "What are you, a prophet?"

"No, but I'm pretty good at interpreting signs. You see these markings here? They were left by three men. Each was wearing a hard hat and they were carrying spray paint. They drove a white pickup truck with a flashing yellow light on top, a Ford if I am not mistaken. One of the men had a beard. Another walked with a limp."

"Wow! You can tell all that by reading these signs on the sidewalk?"

"Well, actually, the men are right over there taking a break on the tailgate of their white Ford F-150. The one with the flashing yellow light on top."

"Funny."

We humans can be pretty good at reading signs. Have you ever heard this one? Red sky at night? Sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. It's easy to figure things out and know what's about to happen if one just observes the signs of the times.

When certain birds return to our area we are assured that spring is right around the corner. When the tassels appear on the sweet corn at the farm near our house we can know for certain that there will be corn on the cob for dinner in a few weeks. When we see a flash of lightning in the sky we know that in a few seconds we will be hearing a clap of thunder. There are all kinds of signs out there.

Speaking of signs, did you see the blood moon Monday night? Or should I say early Tuesday morning? It was amazing! A total lunar eclipse. I took this picture in my front yard at 2:20 AM. Some say a blood moon is a sign.

Do you believe in signs? Actually, that's not the correct question. Do you believe that God provides signs for us to see? Signs of forthcoming events? How about the star that guided the three wise men to find Jesus. That was a sign. Much of the Bible is prophesy. Jesus was a prophet. He predicted many things. We believe Him, right?

Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Joel. Jesus didn't say this. It's an old Testament text, but I'd like you to consider something - a possibility - about Jesus.

"30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls." - Joel 2:30-32

One of the signs we are to watch for in the last days, the days before Jesus returns, is for the moon to turn red, to turn to blood. That's what the moon did Tuesday morning. Yes, there have been "blood moons" before. But this year offers something very rare. There will be FOUR blood moons in close proximity to one another (it's called a tetrad). The total eclipse Tuesday morning, and the last of the four blood moons which occurs during this time in 2015, occurred on the first day of Passover. And the second and third blood moons? They just happen to occur during the Feast of Tabernacles. Coincidence? Or is it God's design?

Do you remember what Passover signifies? You've watched the movie The Ten Commandments before right? What did Joshua do to the door frame on Lilia's house the night that greenish smoke flowed through the city streets, killing the first born son of each family? He smeared lambs blood on her door frame. In the New Testament, The Lamb - is Jesus. The "blood" moon is used in scripture to signify the coming of the Lord, Jesus. Passover is a remembrance of the day that God's wrath "passed over" the houses of those who believed in God. And so it will be for those who place their faith in Jesus Christ.

"Many religious people believe that the upcoming tetrad has special significance because the eclipses coincide with important Jewish festivals. The two April lunar eclipses in 2014 and 2015 occur at the same time as Passover, while the October and September eclipses occur during the Feast of Tabernacle. Astronomers and scientists however do not believe that this is of any significance." - TimeandDate.com

We will not know the day or the hour of the coming of our Lord. Only God knows that. But isn't it exciting every time there is a lunar eclipse, a blood moon? One day, and perhaps it will be soon, there will be a blood moon carrying tremendous biblical significance. And Jesus will return to claim His bride. That's us by the way. Whether it is this blood moon or the next or one that occurs 100 years from now, our only concern must be are we ready? Well, are we?

If you would like to know more about the biblical significance of blood moons, all this information is in the Bible. I would encourage you to read Matthew 24, The Book of Revelation, and the books of Daniel, Isaiah and First Thessalonians. There are signs everywhere. All we have to do is have eyes to see and ears to hear. But when that final blood moon comes, oh, what a glorious day that will be.

What A Day That Will Be - The Gospel Plowboys

Chapter

How long ago was it? Hmm. Well, let's see. My wife and I had a water bed . . . It must have been in the late 80's or early 90's. The bed had these little lamps in the headboard and we had our clock radio/alarm clock right between them. And we listened. We listened as someone read us . . . a book.

I was working at an architectural firm in downtown Appleton. The owner of the firm loved to play Public Radio and the cavernous office building was always filled with classical music throughout the day. That was okay for this then 30-something guy but a little rock and roll once in a while would have been nice.

At lunch time though I got a break from the strings and operatic voices. WPNE, the local Public Radio station, had a news program at noon and then after that they had a half-hour long program called Chapter A Day. Someone at the radio station would read a chapter out of a current novel each day. No sound effects, no musical score, just the spoken word. I began to look forward to hearing the next chapter each and every day as I ate my lunch. I enjoyed hearing the readers voice as his or her words filled my ears . . . and my heart.

Then they announced that each days chapter would be replayed at 10 o'clock each night. Sweet! So I got my wife to listen and me and my wife would lay in bed, our little reading lamps on, waiting in anticipation of the next chapter. We only listened to the reading of one book but we both remember that book, Michael Crichton's Sphere, and we both remember that program, fondly, and the joy we both received through doing something together.

Since those golden days of radio my wife and I have continued the "Chapter a Day" practice in our own way. My wife likes to take hot baths during the winter months. At least once a year one of us purchases a novel and I read a chapter or two to my wife every time she takes a bath.

We just finished a murder mystery featuring one of her favorite TV characters. We've also finished an entire truck load of water softener salt! (not really . . . but close!). Now it's MY turn to pick a book. I was thinking about the Book of Romans. She probably wouldn't go for that but I think that would be an awesome thing for a married couple, or ANY couple, to do. Take turns reading a chapter a day out of the Bible to someone you love.

So, my challenge for you and for me during the month of March is to pick someone in your life and ask them if they would like to read a book of the Bible to one another. Do it over coffee at your favorite cafe. Discuss what God is trying to tell us. Examine your lives to see if the lessons God teaches us through His Word can have an impact our lives. My guess is that they certainly can.

So find someone that God has placed in your life this week. Someone out of the ordinary perhaps and ask them. The worse they can do is say no and you will have to find someone else. But the person you asked will know that YOU cared enough to ask THEM. Let God's Holy Spirit use that thought in their heads for God's Glory.

Here's something I discovered this week. It actually came to me this morning while lying in bed. Check these verses out. See if you can find the hidden connection.

"18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth." - Deuteronomy 11:18-21

And now read this one . . .

"7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs.

12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt." - Exodus 12:7,12-13

So we are to take God's Word and the blood of The Lamb and place it on our doorposts (the sides of our doors) and we will be passed over . . . we will be saved.

Now check out these verses from the first chapter of John

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" - John 1:1-5, 14, 29

Jesus was the Word and the Word became flesh. We are you place The Blood of the Lamb (Jesus) on our door frames - the door we walk in and out of on our way to work or school, the door we walk through into the world. By walking through Jesus everyday and as we walk through the world, we will be a sign to the world who we are and WHOSE we are. And our lives will be a sign unto God. He will pass over us and we will be saved (Exodus 12:13.

Any questions? :)

Jefferson Bethke: Why Don't We Read the Bible More?