A Living Sacrifice

 “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.”  Matthew 27:51

 “And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.” Luke 23:45

I remember these descriptions in the verses above as a child, from the beautiful Bible Story book given to me by my grandmother.  I could see it in my mind’s eye and imagination -and knew that when the earth quaked and the sky was darkened, it must have meant that something powerful was happening.  But the veil – the veil being torn from top to bottom was the thing I could picture but of course could not fully understand as a child. 

Today, I am filled with awe when I consider the veil. The veil in the temple separated two sections, the Most Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, where God Himself dwelled.  Only once a year could one priest enter into this Holiest Place, bearing a sacrifice to atone for the people’s sins.  

Under the old system, a covenant was demonstrated by taking pieces of an animal torn in two, and both parties walking between them.  The symbolism being, “If I break this covenant, may what happened to this animal happen to me.”  Thus, the symbolism of the veil is rich – Hebrews 10:19-20 says that we can now “enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.”

Jesus became the veil torn in two, the sacrifice given, the body broken, and the covenant made new. 

We are to imitate Christ in all things.  Romans 12:1 says that we are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice.  Our bodies an offering to him.  This is our spiritual worship. 

What does a living sacrifice look like?  Paul goes on to tell us in Romans 12:9-18, it looks like demonstrating genuine love, hating what is evil, outdoing one another in showing honor, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, being patient in tribulation, being constant in prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, blessing those who persecute you.  It looks like rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep and living peaceably with all. 

May our lives reflect his life, a living sacrifice, given for all.

What If?

What If?

“Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” 1 Tim. 6:11

What if the whole world suddenly began operating by biblical principles?  What if every single person pursued the things above and was able to live by them?  If we lived them out perfectly, we would no longer have stealing, cheating, bribery, or murder.  There would be no acts committed from selfishness.  There would be no honking horns or impatience on the highways, no need for paternity tests, no sexually transmitted diseases, no infidelity and no hurt because of it. 

The Apostle Paul encourages Timothy to live in just this way, to pursue the attributes listed in the verse above.  In this passage he also warns people against putting their hopes in money.  He says to be “rich in good works,” to be “generous and ready to share.”  He says in this way they will “store up for themselves the real treasure,” which he says is a “good foundation for the future, so they may take hold of that which is truly life.” 

So often we think about our security here on this earth, our retirement, and planning for the future.  But what if – what if we started to think of our possessions and bank accounts as only temporary, and the real treasure in our lives what is done for the Kingdom?  What if we thought of everything we have as belonging to God?

As believers we have the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).  We can know, think, and do what he asks of us.  Every person who has trusted Christ has the same power that raised Christ from the dead residing in him or her (Romans 8:11) and therefore has the power to live out this kind of life, through His Holy Spirit. 

What if I lived this way today?  What if you did too?

What if?

Written By: Michelle Dowdy

This Book

It is amazing that we have This Book.  Through it runs the Crimson Thread of Redemption, God’s great love story. The writers through whom God spoke had no tools to help them like we have today.  Think about all that was done with just primitive pen and parchment, to convey God’s great plan and God’s great love.  Sixty-six books becoming One Book that reveals its Author to us. 

This Book is alive, and sharper than any sword, cutting away dead and decaying things from our lives.  This Book is a mirror through which we see ourselves more clearly.   It reads us as we read it.  This Book is His story and our story too, the plot woven by the beautiful Crimson Thread, from Genesis to Revelation.  The words of This Book will stand forever and will not return void. 

Written by Michelle Dowdy

How Good It Is

Water. It’s vital to life. In fact, our bodies are 60-70 percent water. We cannot live without it. It’s not surprising that Jesus used water as an analogy for what we can have through Him.

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'” (John 7:37-38).

A river has certain characteristics – it’s always flowing. A river has a “source,” a headwater from which it flows. It is always moving, and it can move you. It’s mighty, but peaceful. If you have ever sat on the edge of a river, or been on a river in a boat or tube, you know this. The water is fresh- alive and continuously stirred up.

“Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” The living water Jesus was talking about is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is alive, and gives us life. The Spirit is always moving and flowing and moves us along as well. The Spirit gives us peace. And like the physical water we need to live, the Holy Spirit is Living Water that sustains us. Think about when you are thirsty – how good that water tastes and how refreshing, when you are finally able to drink.

Joy and refreshment- Living Water – flowing from Him through us.

How good it is.

The Power to Change Everything

The woman was caught. Interesting that they did not bring the man before Jesus, but only the woman, who was discovered in the act of adultery. One can see how it might have unfolded – the woman, probably in a disheveled state, likely not fully clothed, being thrown down in front of Jesus – the Pharisees standing with stones in hand, waiting for him to condemn her, after asking him what should be done.

Jesus bent down to the ground and wrote on it with his finger – divinity touching dirt. Perhaps he bent down and put his attention elsewhere so as not to look at her and embarrass her further. But what do you think Jesus was writing? So many have pondered that.

Maybe what he was about to say to the Pharisees? Perhaps some Scripture pertinent to the situation?

It could have been either of those things, but maybe, in the dirt, with his finger, he was rewriting her story – the Word in that moment meeting the dirtiness of her life. He was about to pull her out of the muck and the mire and set her feet on a Rock. She was about to have a firm place to stand. She was about to change.

Jesus rose from his position, authority likely radiating from him, and spoke to the Pharisees, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first one to throw a stone at her.”

He returned to his position, once again writing in the dirt. One by one they left, seemingly painfully aware of their own sin, made to look at themselves rather than her.

Rising once more, He asked the woman, “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, Lord,” said the woman.

“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Verses 7:53-8:11 are not in the earliest manuscripts of the gospel of John, however they do seem consistent with character of Jesus as found throughout Scripture. He often ate with prostitutes and tax collectors, but did not leave them the same way he found them. He came near to them, not to affirm what they were doing, but to call them to a different way, a better way. After all, it was the “sick that needed a doctor.”

To follow him, to surrender to him, means change. As a dishonest tax collector, Zacchaeus promised to give back all he had stolen from people, and then some, after meeting Jesus. Paul, who had persecuted early Christians in the worst way, became the greatest of apologists for the faith, after Jesus spoke to him. Everywhere he went, those who encountered Jesus experienced a radical change in their lives and in their heart’s desires.

Today, He is still calling, still rewriting stories, still changing lives. See his compassion, know his grace, accept his love, for it has the power to change everything.

Guard the Good Deposit

We guard things that are important.  When you read that sentence you may have thought about a guard at a bank, or perhaps the Secret Service detail, or guards outside Buckingham Palace.  We guard people and possessions deemed to be of great value.  Celebrities often have bodyguards to protect them from ardent fans and paparazzi.  The guards in any of these situations are constantly on alert, ever aware of their duty to protect the person or thing they are charged with guarding. 

The Apostle Paul, when writing to his protege Timothy, reminded Timothy to “guard the deposit” that had been entrusted to him (2 Tim 1:14).  The deposit, the thing of value in this case, was the gospel message entrusted to him by Paul.  This Good News is precious, and truth in all its purity must be protected.  “Love rejoices in the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). If we truly love others,  we will speak the truth.  As the Body of Christ, we must continue to guard the deposit of the whole gospel that has been entrusted to us. 

We must watch over it, think about it, take care of it.  Regard it as precious.  I pray we will.

“If the foundations are destroyed, what will the righteous do?”
Psalm 11:3

Eternal Life is Now

Something I learned recently and have been pondering is the deeper meaning of the phrase “eternal life.”   I had always interpreted it as pertaining to life after death, life continuing on in Heaven after the death of our physical bodies.  Maybe you have done the same. 

In John 3:16, (“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”) the Hebrew words for “eternal life” are meant to convey a life that begins now, in the present, in some measure, and continues without end.  It implies a quality of life, an abundant life, as well as a life that has no end. 

If someone has a deathbed conversion – just like the thief on the cross – Jesus accepts them and their confession, but they have missed the abundant life that they could have experienced during their time on earth, in the here and now.  They have missed the peace, the joy, the comfort, the purpose that could have been theirs.  They have missed living life on a solid foundation, with the satisfaction that comes from surrendering all to his will.  The criminal on the cross was there because of his wrongdoing; he had no time to do good works, to prove the sincerity of his faith, or to demonstrate that he had turned from the wrongdoing that had characterized a part of his life to that point.  But after professing his belief in Jesus, Jesus tells him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”   Accepted.  Saved and safe forever, but sadly having missed the good life during his time on planet earth. 

Today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).  Don’t wait to start walking with the Savior.  Don’t wait to surrender. Don’t wait to worship.  Don’t wait to begin this good, good life.  Don’t wait.  Eternal life is now. 

All Becomes Sacred

Whenever we do something in keeping with God’s character, he is pleased.  We need to meditate and think on that.  From the commonplace to the sublime – from the meal that we prepare for our families, to the songs we sing to Him, to volunteering at a soup kitchen.   Anything done as unto to the Lord, and for his glory, he looks on with pleasure.  Not that we earn our salvation by doing things that please him, because salvation is a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). That inheritance is ours – once we are adopted, we are his.  But just like parents are delighted when their child does what is right and honors them, the Lord is pleased when we do the same. 

So the next time you are doing a task that to you seems of little importance, try saying “God is pleased with me.”  If we have the mindset of doing all for God’s glory, then all becomes sacred. 

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving Lord Christ” Colossians 3:23-24.

“You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
    those who remember you in your ways” (Isaiah 64:5).

In the Basket

I ran across a dog tag that was made for our dog, Lucy, as I was rummaging in a basket of odds and ends.  I had a pang of guilt that it was not attached to her collar.  But then I remembered the history.  We did try at times to attach a tag with her name and information, but she always appeared bothered by it, and it caused her to attempt to chew her collar.  But the fact remains that if she were lost, the tag in the basket would do her no good.  The information would be there, on the tag, but unless it was attached to her, it could not save her. 

The good news of the Gospel is similar – we can have the right information to share, but how often do we keep it tucked away “in the basket” of things seldom talked about? What good does having the right information do, the information that could save someone, if it is not shared? 

This Gospel message, this life, is too good to keep “in the basket,” too good not to give away.

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14)

Every Joint

     

Did I catch your attention with the title? Good! Now that I have you, think with me about a Scripture.  The Apostle Paul is encouraging the Ephesians to whom he is writing.  He is describing how God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for ministry, and to build up the Body of Christ.  He says in this way they would attain unity and the knowledge to move onto maturity in their thinking and faith. He admonishes them to no longer be like children who are deceived by different messages.  He says, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:16).

He uses the analogy of a joint in the human body, comparing it to how the Body of Christ is held together.  My friends, tendons and ligaments that hold joints together are very, very strong.  Take your hand and place it on the back of your ankle and feel that thick cord-like structure that is your Achilles tendon.  It is almost unbreakable – almost, but not quite.  That’s why when it does tear, it is excruciating.  It is strong and it is meant to hold together.  But when something tears it, it is one of the most painful injuries.  This is the way it is in the Body of Christ – we are meant to hold together – to stay together in unity.  When someone or something tears that bond, the pain can be severe.  Some people have said “church hurt” is some of the worst kind of hurt.  As believers in Christ, we should, as much as it depends on us, never be a part of something that causes division in the Body, of which Christ is the Head (Romans 12:18). “…walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-4).