Well here it is...our own blog to have conversations, present our beliefs and why we believe them and to work these out to gain unity as God has promised and Jesus prayed for. My prayer and purpose for this blog is to help us have a place to more consistently converse when we are unable to meet face to face. Face to face is best but not always possible. So without further adieu, here is the first post.
As I have shared, Acts 4:32 and John 17:23 have been piercing my heart lately. I beleive it is important to God for His people to be "perfected in unity" This is obvious from Jesus' prayer in John 17.
Regarding the Sabbath, I have included a study presented by Randy and Marji Hughes to give us something to begin blogging about. The Sabbath is a banner we wave, a sign to the world of Whom we are aligned with. Please read and share your thoughts/revelations/questions etc...
www.foundationsmin.com/studies/sabbath.htm
Sabbath is one of many gifts G-d has given us. But Sabbath is special in a different way. As a friend and brother in Messiah of mine was speaking of his soon to be adopted child and how G-d showed him His heart for us as His adopted children as G-d is waiting for the full adoption process to be complete and we see Him face to face and we are fully sancitified and as one with Him as the Son is with the Father. And how creation groans for the day as does our Father. I thought of the Sabbath which is a shadow of the final time of our adoption. As the Sabbath is a type of the 1000 year reign of Messiah with us on the earth the final phase of our adoption process before eternity begins as one.
ReplyDeleteOur G-d created and gave us the 7th day (not the 1st or 2nd etc.) He said it was set apart and Holy and different from all other days, for us forever. He created a seperate time for us to focus on the completion of our adoption as a time of worship and love.
In thinking of this gift and my friends adopted child. I thought this is as if the adopting Father has said to His child to soon be fully adopted to gather on a specific day every week with him and his family and live as though the adoption is complete and you are mine. Focus on life as it will be with me, rely on me to supply all your needs and to be responsible for all you will ever require. Enjoy the love and supply of me your father and know all that is mine is yours. Fellowship as family as one with me and each other. Celebrate by showing the world by your love and satifaction of being mine whose you truly are. Make it known this one day is different, celebrate because it is recoginizing a promise given of your full adoption as my child. Start it with anticipation and joy and end it my stretching it out as long as you can and reflect on the joy of this gift day and look forward again in anticipation of the next Sabbath until we reach the glorious Sabbath of your completed adoption when your struggle and confusion is done and you are completely mine. Let us my child make this a day of hugging each other so the world can see whose you truly are.
Treat this special time and one of a kind created Holy day and gift the Father has given us with the same love and anticipation in which it was given. Do not tell our Father I think any day will do and there is no need to have a special day of great focus and joy lets just treat all the days the same. Thanks but no thanks?
Rabbi Randy D. Hughes
Randy,
ReplyDeleteIn Galations 4:8-11, it seems as though Paul were saying that observing certain times is a woeful thing to do. To the point of stating he fears for them. Can you shed some light on this? Does he mean sabbath and such festivles?
Thanks for your comments earlier on the blog.
BLane
The book of Galations is trying to teach/ help understand our Salvation by G-ds grace and not by our works or earning our own salvation thus making G-d in debt to us due to our good works/obedience to the law or G-ds instruction therefore G-d then owing us salvation. You will see in chapter 2:21 righteousness for fallen man is not by way of the law and chapter 3:13 it states what we were redemned from "the curse of the law" (not the instruction of the law or blessing of the law). Chapter 3:23-25 tells us the law of G-d was as a teaching method a way to reveal and worship our G-d and the Messiah who is our salvation. Chapter 3:28 is telling us there is not multiple ways of salvation.
ReplyDeleteNow we reach chapter 4 with the set up from the first part of the letter thus we must keep in focus of our thoughts that the subject is 'salvation by works' or 'by grace through faith'.
Chapter 4:3 speaks of being held in bondage to elemental things of the world or to the condition of fallen man via Adam. vs. 4 references to the coming of our Messiah in the fullness of time which was reached when all things were as prophecied by the laws teaching and fore shadowing and the prophets. This verse states Messiah was born under the law, which is in regard to Him lowering Himself to the state of man although born without sin and not fallen Messiah had to become righteousness for us by leading a perfect life, proving Himself to be righteous and becoming perfect. The book of Hebrews deals with a similar issue regarding salvations and works, and in Hebrews Chapter 5:9 it speaks of Messiah becoming perfect or completing perfection thus becoming the source of perfection for man. Galations 4:9 when speaking of being enslaved again is in regard to earning your salvation by works. You do not want to obey G-d with the motivation of earning points or being owed by G-d or as mentioned earlier G-d being indepted to you. But the motivation must be for the love of G-d. To rightly obey G-ds instruction we must do it for the sake of our love of Him, not for salvation or rewards or pride of man, else it is a sin. Galations does not teach to disobey G-ds instruction or law but to remember this obedience is not the way of gaining salvation. There is much more detail that could be discussed but I hope this gives you an understanding or clarifies what is being presented in the letter to the Galations.