Hi Brian!

The word for this week is "religion". It is only found in a five verses in the New Testament. Two of those are referring specifically to the Jewish 'religion'. Of the others we will be looking at James 1:27:

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. KJV

This is the Greek word "threskeia". Strong's Concordance says: cerimonial observance. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: religious worship, especially external. That which consists in ceremonies. Vine's Expository dictionary of New Testament words actually says this: religion in its external aspect. I think that this word packs a powerful punch when taken on with intimate care and powerful expectations of ALL that GOD can do! Here is another new song by Brandon Lake called "But God":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

The word for this week is "better". We will be looking at that word in this verse. 

Hebrews 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. KJV

These are both the Greek word "kreitton". Strong's Concordance says: stronger, better, nobler. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: more useful, more serviceable, more excellent. Vine's Expository Dictionary adds: power in activity and effect. Also, what is adventageous or useful. Israel had a covenant with God under the Old Testament, but the covenant that WE have in the New Testament, provided to us through the death, burial and resurrection of JESUS from the dead is an even BETTER one! The more that we learn and know of this NEW COVENANT, the more powerful it will be in our every day life! Then we find that we are, of all people on the earth, MOST BLESSED! Here is a song by Brandon Lake that declares that there is NOTHING that is BETTER for us than JESUS! "Graves Into Gardens":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

This week I want to share Matthew 26:48-54.

48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, The One I shall kiss is the Man; seize Him. 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, Hail (greetings, good health to You, long life to You), Master! And he embraced Him and kissed Him with [pretended] warmth and devotion. 50 Jesus said to him, Friend, for what are you here? Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and arrested Him. 51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached out his hand and drew his sword and, striking the body servant of the high priest, cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, Put your sword back into its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.  [Genesis 9:6.] 53 Do you suppose that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions [more than 80,000] of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must come about this way? AMP

I have always been greatly affected by the TRUTH in verses 53-54! Jesus could have, at any time, called for those angels and decided to call the whole thing off! He suffered more than we can even imagine, yet, for the love of HIS FATHER and US, He CHOSE to see this through! Hebrews 12:2-3 tells us WHY he did it:

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

KJV

Even through His great suffering, which included sweating drops of blood, He desired to please His Father AND to free US to become HIS! Nothing about my life has ever been even remotely as hard as that! To know that HE thinks that I was worth that is the greatest TRUTH of my life! I am SO looking forward to the catching away of the church when we see HIM face to face. In the meantime, I will continue to be about what HE has called and anointed me to do. Here is Brandon Lake again with  a song that I shared last week that got me thinking again along these lines called "King of Hearts":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

This week I want to share Joseph Prince's "Daily Grace Inspirations" devotional with you!

The Centerpiece of God’s Heart

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:12

One of the things I love to do when I preach is to unveil Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures. It’s amazing how we can see Jesus unveiled in the Old Testament and what each detail reveals about the perfection of His finished work and His grace toward us. This is why it’s so important to get into His Word and take time to meditate upon the pictures or types that reveal His unwavering and unfailing love for you.

Would you like to see another example of Christ unveiled that will make your heart burn within you? Then look with me at the picture of Christ that is hidden in the ark of the covenant. In the days of the old covenant, God dwelled within the temple in Jerusalem in the Holy of Holies between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the covenant (1 Samuel 4:4).

This was the throne of God. The ark was the centerpiece of His heart and so important to God that He gave the Israelites very specific instructions on how it was to be constructed (Exodus 25:10–22; 37:1–9) because every detail of the ark points to the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For instance, the box portion of the ark is made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. Wood in the Bible speaks of humanity (Isaiah 55:12; Mark 8:24). Acacia wood is known in Israel as incorruptible wood, so this speaks of Jesus’ incorruptible humanity. Gold in the Bible speaks of divinity and deity (Isaiah 2:20; Song 5:11, 14–15). So the wood overlaid with gold speaks of the person of Jesus—He was completely human and at the same time completely God.

Let’s look at the lid of the box, which was made from a solid slab of gold and covered the box. In Hebrew, the lid is called the kapporeth, which means “mercy seat.” God said that He would speak to the high priest from the mercy seat, “from between the two cherubim” (Exodus 25:22). The mercy seat was also the place where the high priest would place the blood of the animal sacrifices, only once in the entire year on the Day of Atonement. Let’s see what the mercy seat was used to cover from view.

Three items were kept in the ark. The first was the stone tablets on which God wrote the Ten Commandments, which we have seen speak of our rebellion and inability to keep God’s laws perfectly. The second was Aaron’s rod. When the people were complaining against God’s appointment of Aaron as the high priest, God caused Aaron’s rod to bud supernaturally to show the people that it was He who had appointed Aaron (Number 17:1–10). Aaron’s rod thus speaks of man’s rebellion against God’s appointed leadership. The final item in the ark was the golden pot of manna, which we have seen speaks of man’s rebellion against God’s provision.

Every item in the ark of the covenant speaks of our sins and rebellion against God! But what did God do with our sins and rebellion? He put them all into the ark and covered them with the mercy seat where the blood of the animal sacrifices was placed. By doing this, He was saying that when He looks down, He cannot see man’s sins and rebellion because the blood on the mercy seat covers them all!

This is the good news! Let me say it one more time to make sure that you did not miss it: God cannot see your sins when the blood of Jesus covers them. That is why in the Old Testament, Israel rejoiced every time their high priest went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement and placed the blood of the animal sacrifices on the mercy seat. When the blood was on the mercy seat, God could not see His people’s rejection of His laws, His appointed priesthood, and His provision. He could not see the people’s sins and rebellion. He only saw the blood on the mercy seat.

Now, stop and consider the wonder portrayed in this picture of Jesus and His sacrifice. Understand that it was “not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood [Christ] entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” His shed blood that covers your sins is the basis of your eternal redemption!

My friend, as you see Jesus unveiled like this and make Him the center of your heart, you will experience peace, joy, and the fulfillment of redemption’s blessings, and reign in life.

I think that this is so interesting and just one more reason to continue reading through the Bible  chronologically. We are SO blessed to have and KNOW the TRUTH! Here is Brandon Lake with another song from his new album called King of Hearts (the album AND the song):

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!