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There was a day we held our breath
And felt the sting of bitter death
When all our hopes were buried in the grave
Our eyes awake our hearts were torn
Between our faith and what we knew
Before our king was buried in the grave
And grace was in the tension
Of everything we’ve lost
Standing empty handed
Shattered by the cross
All we had
All we had
Was a promise like a thread
Holding us keeping us
Oh from fraying at the edge
All we knew
All we knew
Was you said you’d come again
You’d rise up from the dead
There was a day we looked for proof
That you had risen from the tomb
And all our doubts began to roll away
We touched the scars upon your hands
You kept your word
Oh son of man
You buried death by taking on the grave
You came here to save us
Cuz everything was lost
No longer empty handed
Clinging to the cross
All we had
All we had
Was a promise like a thread
Holding us
Keeping us
From fraying at the edge
All we knew
All we knew
Was you said you’d come again
You’d rise up from the dead
It is is won
It is done
All we have
All we have
Is the promise like a thread
Holding us keeping us
Oh from fraying at the edge
All we know
All we know
Is you said you’d come again
You rose up from the dead
This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Acts 2:23-24
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:4-9
“Man’s Maker was made a man
that the Bread might be hungry,
the Fountain might thirst,
the Light sleep,
the Way be tired from the journey;
that Strength might be made weak,
that Life might die.”
-Augustine
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2: 1-4
i love the Holy Spirit and His work in me and to me and through me and for me. i love how God chooses and uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things for His fame and glory. i live to know Him and make Him known. i feel very blest to live in an age where the Holy Spirit was given to the believers, all believers, not just holy prophets or leaders, but common ordinary every day believers.
one of my most favourite verses in the bible is 2 Corinthians 4:7 – But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
the all surpassing power of God IS GOD – IS the Holy Spirit who lives within us!
Ephesians 3:20 puts it this way: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…
the Holy Spirit lives in me. wow. that’s huge. audacious. awesome!
He lives in me as a guarantee of the promises of God for eternity and He’s in me to empower me to serve God and shine for Him. He is the potter and i am the clay and He is in me shaping me and transforming me and making me who God dreams me to be. He’s in me to enable me to walk with God and know God.
again another most favourite passage:
But as it is written:
“ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:9-11
i love the BUT GOD HAS REVEALED THEM TO US THROUGH HIS SPIRIT.
The Holy Spirit reveals to us who God is – His ways, His heart, His love, His guidance, His comfort…
But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. John 15:13-15
You set us up above all the stars
You set us on a high place by where you are
While we were dead you made us your friends
And scattered our debt upon the wind
Glory to One
God’s murdered son
Who paid for my resurrection
Once from the dust, once from the grave
Daughters and sons from the ashes you’ve raised
And hidden our faults even from your own face
And scattered our debt upon the waves
Glory to one
God’s murdered son
Who paid for my resurrection
Glory to One
God’s murdered son
Who paid for my resurrection
Glory to the one who
Who overcame in death
Glory to the one
Who paid for my offenses
Glory to the one
Once from the dust
Once from the grave
Daughters and sons
From the ashes you’ve raised
And hidden our faults
Even from your own face
And scattered our debt upon the waves
And scattered our debt upon the waves
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. Exodus 12:7, 12-13
Passover was a judgement against all the gods of Egypt, and it was the final statement of God’s power. Passover was the covenant God used to fulfil His promise to His people. God used the blood sacrifice of the lamb to deliver His people from slavery and death. In the same way, Jesus Christ became a sacrificial Passover Lamb, whose blood saves all who believe in Him from slavery to sin and from death. youversion note
most strikingly for me is that Jesus is our Passover Lamb. The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
that this foreshadows what Jesus would do.
that because of the blood of Jesus the wrath of God passes over us.
some things to note:
· The Passover Lamb was to be a male without defect.
· All of the people must slaughter the Passover Lamb.
· There is deliverance for those people who are covered by the Blood of the Passover Lamb.
· Nothing of the Passover Lamb was to be left till morning.
· The same regulations apply to alien and native born (Gentiles and Jewish people).
· The Passover Lamb was to have no broken bones.
1 Peter 1:18-20 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 18:38 (KJV) Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
Isaiah 53 (NIV) Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting peoples sins against them. 2 Corinthians 5:19
read also THE LAMB OF GOD
Imagine with me. It is a hot dusty day in a hot dusty land. The wind rises, blowing hair into the eyes of a young man. All around him are the noises and smells of the market and temple. The air is filled with the bleating of sheep, the lowing of oxen and the shouting of people. Each step he takes he is bustled and pushed by those around him. They all are heading to the same destination. The temple.
The young man presents his lamb to the levite priest before him.
The priest examines the lamb thoroughly. He opens his mouth. Checks the lambs hooves. Runs his hands up and down each leg. He checks for flaws, defects.
The priest nods solemnly. Relief floods the young man’s heart. His offering was perfect. Acceptable. A weight lifts off his shoulders. He is forgiven… Read more at The Lamb of God
God himself was pleased to live fully in his Son. And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God. You used to be far from God. Your thoughts made you his enemies, and you did evil things. But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent. Colossians 1:19-22 CEV
One Passion One Devotion 