The Long Way to God’s Will – Acts 25:24-25

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long-road“Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are here, this is the man whose death is demanded by all the Jews, both here and in Jerusalem. But in my opinion he has done nothing deserving death. However, since he appealed his case to the emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome” (Acts 25:24-25, NLT).

When the Apostle Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, he had a hearing before the Jewish High Council. During his testimony before the Council, they began to argue among themselves and Paul was remanded back to prison in Jerusalem.

While in prison, God spoke to Paul in a vision and told him he must preach the good news of Jesus in Rome: “That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well” (vs. 23:11).

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God’s Touch – Exodus 29:43-46

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God'sTouch“I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. They shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God” (Exodus 29:43-46, NASB).

This chapter gives regulations for the consecration of the priests that would minister to God in the Tabernacle. The priests were to be ordained for service in the Tabernacle through purification rites and the offering of burnt sacrifices for atonement of sin. First, the priests were to be washed with water in the doorway of the Tabernacle. Then their priestly garments were placed on them and anointing oil poured over their heads.

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Determining God’s Will – Exodus 28:30

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Truthrocks“Insert the Urim and Thummim into the sacred chestpiece so they will be carried over Aaron’s heart when he goes into the Lord’s presence. In this way, Aaron will always carry over his heart the objects used to determine the Lord’s will for his people whenever he goes in before the Lord.” (Exodus 28:30, NLT).

One of the primary priestly functions was to determine God’s will for His people. The priest’s chestpiece provided a container for the Urim and Thummim.The Hebrew words descibing the chestpiece literally meant “chestpiece for decision.”

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The Sign of Salvation – Acts 15:8-9

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Gospeltotheworld“God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith” (Acts 15:8-9, NLT).

The first-century Church was at first mainly comprised of Jews and Christianity was, in many respects, a sect of Judaism. So it was not surprising that when Gentiles began to believe the gospel, the Jewish leaders in the Church wanted the Gentile converts to be circumcised.

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There’s Power in the Blood – Exodus 24:8

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PassionMovie_JesusOnCross“Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, ‘ Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.'” (Exodus 24:8, NLT).

After God had given the terms of the covenant to Moses, Israel agreed to its terms (vs. 3), which was then ratified in several ceremonial activities. These activities included the formal writing and reading of the covenant (vs. 4, 7), the splattering of blood (vs. 6), a covenant meal (vs. 11), and the appearing of the glory of the Lord on the mountain (vs. 15).

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Doing What God Does – Exodus 20:1-17

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ten-commandments“Then God gave the people all these instructions: I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me.” (Exodus 20:1-3, NLT).

This verse is the preamble and the first of the Ten Commandments in Exodus Chapter 20. The Ten Commandments are sort of an executive summary of the expanded terms of God’s covenant with the Israelites in Chapters 21-23.

The terms of the covenant specified the behavior the Israelites were expected to demonstrate if they were to be in a covenant relationship with God Almighty. The first four commandments (vs. 2-11) described what our behavior should be in relation to God while the remaining six commandments (vs. 12-17) described what our behavior should be in relation to other human beings.

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God Prevails! The Key to a Victorious Christian Life – Exodus 17:10-16

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MosesHandsLifted“Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. While Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand down, Amalek prevailed. When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army with the sword…. And Moses built an altar and named it, ‘The Lord Is My Banner.’ He said, ‘Indeed, my hand is lifted up toward the Lord’s throne.'”  (Exodus 17:10-16, HCSB).

The Amalekites were probably a nomadic people who resided in the area of the Negev on the northern part of the Sinai peninsula and came down to the southern part of Sinai to attack the Israelites. The attack of the Amalekites was particularly offensive because they attacked the weakest Israelites, the stragglers who were at the rear (Deuteronomy 25:17-18).

While the Israelites were fighting the Amalekites under the military leadership of Joshua, Moses, Aaron, and Hur were standing on a hilltop watching the battle. When Moses raised his hands holding the staff of God, the Israelites prevailed in battle. When Moses’ arms grew weary and fell down to his side, the Amalekites prevailed in battle.

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Qualified for Membership – Acts 11:15-18

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membershipcard“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if God gave them the same gift that He also gave to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God? When they heard this they became silent. Then they glorified God, saying, ‘So God has granted repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles!'” (Acts 11:15-18, HCSB).

Citizenship is generally a function of where you are born. You are a citizen of the country in which you are geographically born or of which your parents are a citizen.

The same is true for citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Kingdom citizens must be born of God; they must be birthed by the Holy Spirit.

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How To Deal With Guilt – Psalm 51:9-11

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guilt“Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you” (Psalm 51:9-11, NLT).

All of us commit sins and our sinning is usually accompanied by a personal sense of guilt. We’ve failed God…

While the psalmist understood that he needed absolution from the guilt of sin as legal consequence of God’s universal justice system, he also understood that guilt had serious and debilitating psychological and spiritual consequences for individuals that needed to be addressed before God.

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Grace/Not Grace – Exodus 15:19

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moses-parting-the-red-sea“For the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea” (Exodus 15:19, NASB).

You might notice in this verse from the Song of Moses, which proclaims God’s greatness in helping Israel escape from Egypt, that the same miracle that God used to deliver the Israelites is also the same miracle that God used to destroy Pharaoh’s army!

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