I am taking a break from the five-fold ministry series today to share something on my heart (athough this revelation is foundational to operating in the five-fold ministry).
There comes a point in love where it moves beyond the fulfillment of one's needs & becomes a mature love that is willing to do anything without receiving anything in return. This is unconditional love.
In the New Testament, many apostles referred to themselves as "bondservants" or "bondslaves." A bondslave was a slave who after 7 years of serving a master, made the decision to be bonded to his master for life--not only his life, but the lives of his children after him. This slave would be taken to the doorpost of a house & an awl would be driven through his ear. An earring would be placed in the hole & they would become a bond-slave for life. It was completely voluntary on the part of the slave, & it was the seal of a blood covenant.
Jesus was also called a bondservant (Phil. 2:7). He also entered into a blood covenant & was pierced in the flesh. Jesus called all who would follow Him to enter into this same blood covenant by taking up their cross & following Him (Mk 8).
In Song of Solomon 8:6, the Bride is coming up out of the wilderness after many trials of both favor & persecution. After going through a long process of purification, her love is brought into maturity & she is totally reliant on her Bridegroom--willing to follow Him anywhere & do anything for Him. She says, "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; For love is as cruel as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave..." She is asking for Him to mark her heart & her arm with a mark of unconditional love that will never be taken away--literally to take a hot branding iron & sear her flesh with an eternal mark of unconditional surrender.
The only way to enter into the unconditional love of Christ is to surrender to Him no matter what it looks like & ask Him to set His seal on your heart. Ask Him how to enter into this blood covenant with Him & to mark you for the point of no return.
Showing posts with label blood covenant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blood covenant. Show all posts
Monday, December 6, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Devo 65: Consecrated
Devo 65: Consecrated June 8, 2010
“Jesus stepped in front of me and took His hands with the bloody nail scars and pressed them into my hands. His blood was left on my hands and I realized that even my sacrifice was His sacrifice…”
The Hebrew word “consecrated” literally means “hands full of blood,[1]” and was used to describe the priestly ministry because they had bloody hands after sacrificing animals at the temple altar. They were then stripped naked and bathed in front of the whole assembly of Israel, redressed by Moses and blood was put on their ear, thumb, and big toe. They then stood in the door of the tent of meeting for seven days—just waiting there.
It is amazing that when Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice, He was pierced through His hands. He literally had “hands full of blood.” It was the ultimate consecration as a priest. He was the priest and the sacrifice. His hands were full of His own blood rather than the blood of bulls and goats.
When Jesus asked us to take up our cross and follow Him, He was saying not only to take up a life of sacrifice, but take up a life of priestly ministry—of “consecration.”
However, the more I learn about it, the more I realize that even this sacrifice of ours is not really ours, but His. We can only do it through His Grace, which comes through the blood that He shed. No matter how zealous we are to fast, pray, give, and live lives of righteousness—we only accomplish it through His Grace. Works of our own are as filthy rags, but when we enter into His rest, it is His work of grace that works righteousness in us. It was by His obedience that we were made righteous (Rom. 5:19).
These nail scars of Jesus were more than just sacrifice and priestly ministry, they were also the fulfillment of a promise to Israel. In Isaiah 49:15, Jesus said, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget you, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands…your walls are continually before me.
Jesus inscribed Israel on the palms of His hands according to His promise. Those nail scars are a continuous reminder of the remnant He will never forget. He was pierced for their trangressions and wounded for their iniquities—and ours (Isaiah 52-53).
His very name in Hebrew “Yeshua” literally means “salvation.”[2] So, the places in the Hebrew Scriptures where the word salvation is used, it is the same word as the name Yeshua. So, Isaiah 49:6 says, “Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be my salvation (yeshua) to the ends of the earth.’”
I heard a teacher[3] say that even the Hebrew letters YHVH (the Name of God) basically translate as “The hands,” “Behold,” “The nail pegs,” “Behold.” I have to research that more in depth to make sure it is legitimate, but it is amazing to think about.
The Grace and Salvation of the Lord far exceeds what we can ask, think, or imagine. I used to think that salvation was the point where the blood of Jesus covered us, but after that we needed to live holy, obedient, and work as hard as we could to live a life of righteousness. Well, that is true to an extent, but actually it is His grace that helps us do that as well. It is only by His blood we are saved and by His grace we keep on the path of righteousness.
We have to realize the power of the blood of Jesus. He was only “salvation” when He did that one act on the cross, but He IS salvation. His name is still Yeshua. His name is Salvation. Every time we interact with Him, we are interacting with Salvation. In Him we exist, move, and have our being (Rev. 4:11). Every moment is because of His saving grace.
It was through His sacrifice and surrender to the will of God that He entered into the rest of God and also created the way for us to enter into His rest.
There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His (on the Sabbath). Let us therefore enter into that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience…
Hebrews 4:9-11
How do we enter this rest? What does it mean to enter the rest of God? Verses 12-14 go on to speak of the word of the Lord that divides soul from spirit and determines the thoughts and intents of our hearts. We cannot hide anything from Him, but all things will be revealed. We will have to give an account. I believe this is speaking of the motives for why we are striving to do our own works and entering into everything but the rest of God. However, there is a High Priest who sympathizes with us…
Seeing then that we have such a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but on all points was tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16
We see our High Priest and we hold fast to our confession. What is that confession? It is the confession of His blood sacrifice that He gave, and therefore we can enter into the rest of the Father, by approaching His throne where we obtain mercy and find grace.
Mercy is something we obtain, but not through our own works, but by approaching His throne and holding fast to our confession that we have been bought with the blood sacrifice of Yeshua, our salvation. If we came to that throne claiming righteousness by any other work, we would not obtain mercy, but rather the wrath of God.
When we approach His throne, we find grace. It is almost as if unexpectedly, grace comes to us. It is as if we are there groveling, hoping that in the midst of His glory, fire, and the fear of the Lord we may obtain mercy, and we feel as though we will never amount to anything or do anything right. Yet, right in that place, we find grace. Grace is not merely forgiveness, but it is empowerment to become what God has designed you to be. It breaks off condemnation, shame, and sin that has already been bought. Grace is a wonderful gift that God gives us so that we can live a life of righteousness—a life of consecration.
It is as though the very blood from His hands covers our hands and gives us the strength to follow His example in living a life of being totally His. Not only were we bought out of sin into life, but we are given the grace to be transformed and to live a life of taking up our cross and following Him.
Ask God to give you that grace (strength) to remain in His righteousness. Ask Him for grace in time of need. Ask Him even before you feel you need it. Ask Him to strengthen you, and focus on the fact that everything—literally everything is about Him.
Bless you in the name of Jesus.
Amanda
[1] Apostolic Foundations. Art Katz
[2] Eitan Shishkoff. Israel Mandate Conference. 2010
[3] Dr. Terri Terry
Copyright © 2010, Amanda Rich, All Rights Reserved
“Jesus stepped in front of me and took His hands with the bloody nail scars and pressed them into my hands. His blood was left on my hands and I realized that even my sacrifice was His sacrifice…”
The Hebrew word “consecrated” literally means “hands full of blood,[1]” and was used to describe the priestly ministry because they had bloody hands after sacrificing animals at the temple altar. They were then stripped naked and bathed in front of the whole assembly of Israel, redressed by Moses and blood was put on their ear, thumb, and big toe. They then stood in the door of the tent of meeting for seven days—just waiting there.
It is amazing that when Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice, He was pierced through His hands. He literally had “hands full of blood.” It was the ultimate consecration as a priest. He was the priest and the sacrifice. His hands were full of His own blood rather than the blood of bulls and goats.
When Jesus asked us to take up our cross and follow Him, He was saying not only to take up a life of sacrifice, but take up a life of priestly ministry—of “consecration.”
However, the more I learn about it, the more I realize that even this sacrifice of ours is not really ours, but His. We can only do it through His Grace, which comes through the blood that He shed. No matter how zealous we are to fast, pray, give, and live lives of righteousness—we only accomplish it through His Grace. Works of our own are as filthy rags, but when we enter into His rest, it is His work of grace that works righteousness in us. It was by His obedience that we were made righteous (Rom. 5:19).
These nail scars of Jesus were more than just sacrifice and priestly ministry, they were also the fulfillment of a promise to Israel. In Isaiah 49:15, Jesus said, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget you, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands…your walls are continually before me.
Jesus inscribed Israel on the palms of His hands according to His promise. Those nail scars are a continuous reminder of the remnant He will never forget. He was pierced for their trangressions and wounded for their iniquities—and ours (Isaiah 52-53).
His very name in Hebrew “Yeshua” literally means “salvation.”[2] So, the places in the Hebrew Scriptures where the word salvation is used, it is the same word as the name Yeshua. So, Isaiah 49:6 says, “Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be my salvation (yeshua) to the ends of the earth.’”
I heard a teacher[3] say that even the Hebrew letters YHVH (the Name of God) basically translate as “The hands,” “Behold,” “The nail pegs,” “Behold.” I have to research that more in depth to make sure it is legitimate, but it is amazing to think about.
The Grace and Salvation of the Lord far exceeds what we can ask, think, or imagine. I used to think that salvation was the point where the blood of Jesus covered us, but after that we needed to live holy, obedient, and work as hard as we could to live a life of righteousness. Well, that is true to an extent, but actually it is His grace that helps us do that as well. It is only by His blood we are saved and by His grace we keep on the path of righteousness.
We have to realize the power of the blood of Jesus. He was only “salvation” when He did that one act on the cross, but He IS salvation. His name is still Yeshua. His name is Salvation. Every time we interact with Him, we are interacting with Salvation. In Him we exist, move, and have our being (Rev. 4:11). Every moment is because of His saving grace.
It was through His sacrifice and surrender to the will of God that He entered into the rest of God and also created the way for us to enter into His rest.
There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His (on the Sabbath). Let us therefore enter into that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience…
Hebrews 4:9-11
How do we enter this rest? What does it mean to enter the rest of God? Verses 12-14 go on to speak of the word of the Lord that divides soul from spirit and determines the thoughts and intents of our hearts. We cannot hide anything from Him, but all things will be revealed. We will have to give an account. I believe this is speaking of the motives for why we are striving to do our own works and entering into everything but the rest of God. However, there is a High Priest who sympathizes with us…
Seeing then that we have such a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but on all points was tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16
We see our High Priest and we hold fast to our confession. What is that confession? It is the confession of His blood sacrifice that He gave, and therefore we can enter into the rest of the Father, by approaching His throne where we obtain mercy and find grace.
Mercy is something we obtain, but not through our own works, but by approaching His throne and holding fast to our confession that we have been bought with the blood sacrifice of Yeshua, our salvation. If we came to that throne claiming righteousness by any other work, we would not obtain mercy, but rather the wrath of God.
When we approach His throne, we find grace. It is almost as if unexpectedly, grace comes to us. It is as if we are there groveling, hoping that in the midst of His glory, fire, and the fear of the Lord we may obtain mercy, and we feel as though we will never amount to anything or do anything right. Yet, right in that place, we find grace. Grace is not merely forgiveness, but it is empowerment to become what God has designed you to be. It breaks off condemnation, shame, and sin that has already been bought. Grace is a wonderful gift that God gives us so that we can live a life of righteousness—a life of consecration.
It is as though the very blood from His hands covers our hands and gives us the strength to follow His example in living a life of being totally His. Not only were we bought out of sin into life, but we are given the grace to be transformed and to live a life of taking up our cross and following Him.
Ask God to give you that grace (strength) to remain in His righteousness. Ask Him for grace in time of need. Ask Him even before you feel you need it. Ask Him to strengthen you, and focus on the fact that everything—literally everything is about Him.
Bless you in the name of Jesus.
Amanda
[1] Apostolic Foundations. Art Katz
[2] Eitan Shishkoff. Israel Mandate Conference. 2010
[3] Dr. Terri Terry
Copyright © 2010, Amanda Rich, All Rights Reserved
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