shadylady

We live in a hope that is a certainty that when He comes we shall all see Him face to face and when he looks on us, what will he see? And what shall we see in His eyes? We need to be expectantly waiting, focussed on Him and earnestly seeking to be as perfect as humanly possibe so that we don't disappoint Him.

The joy we find in being with Jesus is not dependent on our feelings or our circumstances - we can be really low but still have the joy in our hearts. This kind of joy is constant, it keeps us steady, not wind-tossed like the joy of the world which is so dependent on what we have, and who we are.

Throughout my continuing illness, he has always been there. I have been to the depths of despair, but he has always put his arms underneath and around me & my faith in him has deepened. Jesus has brought me through trials & things are still bad but I know in my heart that he will be with me all the way.

God's power protects me through faith - I just have to keep on trusting and believing.

Everyone agrees that these Christians are too worldly - eyes set on the earthly things, not looking upwards. I see myself as this sometimes because we have to be in this world & help each other - but we can also creeate false goals and false gods when we stick with our worlds ways. We need to bounce along in the world but not become weighted down by it's troubles - we don't belong here, we're only here for a short time. We have to remind ourselves where we belong and keep our eyes on the one who is leading us, Jesus.

I'm in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England - a Christian for 20 years who worships in a Methodist church. Been through a tough few years, being ill myself, then coped with my son's heroin addiction (clean now for nearly 3 yrs), now my husband diagnosed with aggressive brain tumour & few months to live - but God is sustaining us - we live day to day & the tumour is not actually showing up at the moment - has God worked another miracle? I find these studies inspirational & they keep me focussed on the important facts of our existence.

The Lamb is worthy to be worshipped as part of the Trinity, equal to and in partnership with the One God, there from the beginning, witnessing creation, and will still be there at the parousia & eternally. Thank you so much for the chance to study "Behold the Lamb". I look forward to the next on line study.

When Christ shall come, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. In that way as Christians we shall be reigning with him!! I believe in the priesthood of all believers - when the temple curtain was rent in two, we were no longer separated from God's presence. We were able to make our own approaches to Him so in that way we were taking the place of the priests. Reigning now and reigning forever because we are no longer slaves to sin but slaves to God's love which reigns in our hearts.

The lamb represents Jesus, who is the Lion of Judah, who became the Messiah - The Lamb is standing because as Jesus he was slain, totally dead, and God raised him up - representing the resurrection, never to die again. The 7 horns represent his perfect strength and power and the 7 eyes are his perfect sight, the number seven being the perfect complete number. The qualities seen in the Lamb are those of the whole trinity of God - the all powerful, all seeing, all loving, Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Both these titles refer to Old Testament prophecies - Jacob's prophecy to Judah and Isaiha's prophecy about the root of Jesse. This says to me that Jesus is exactly who he said he was - sent by the Father to be the saviour, to lead us to the Father's throne, taking his rightful place & putting us in the place where we belong - in the father heart of God.

Not wanting to repeat what everyone else has said re banquet in heaven, future wedding feast, return of the bridegroom, I remember the promises of eternal life and his words to the sinner on the cross - today you will be with me in paradise. Having once been invited to share a Passover meal with a Jewish community, I rejoice with them at the toast "Next Year in Jerusalem" - for me it's "Next time in the New Jerusalem" Rev. 21 v 2

The sorrow comes from the fact that God had to go to such lengths to reach us - we were so sinful that we could not reach out to God ourselves, we were lost - there had been a covenant with the nation of Israel, and we were outsiders. Now the joy, his heart is so filled with love for us that he actually reached down and gave us the new covenant as a way back to Him, by the blood of Jesus nailed to the Cross. Praise his Name!!

When we approach the Lord's table we need to be open hearted & open handed so that we may receive his love & gifts. We can't be like this if we have sin in our hearts & being unable to forgive our brothers/sisters closes a part of our heart to God. When I was in hospital four years ago there was a lady who had not taken the sacraments for years because she was unable to forgive people in the church for abusing her son. She was still a believer and a lovely praying Christian. I found out her story when I was organising for our small ward to receive the sacraments at our bedside the following Sunday. She felt she could not join us because of the unforgiveness in her heart - I said to her - Come over here and let's talk to Jesus about this, and together we prayed. We asked that Jesus showed her how to forgive, not the sin, but the perpetrators - those who had since been punished by the law. When she knew that Jesus had taken hold of her hurt, the tears just flowed - we wept together for a long time. But she had the most enormous smile on her face at the end of it all. Totally filled with Jesus joy. The following Sunday was very special - four of us sitting by my bed with the lady minister - we were all different denominations sharing the love of Jesus - and our friend who had forgiven in her heart receiving the sacraments for the first time in probably 15 years. What a celebration!!

The significance for me is that we are not Jews but Jesus invites us to take part in his passover celebration - it's the inclusion for all, to be part of his body and to sup from his cup.

Both Jews and Christians celebrate God setting us free, bringing us out of slavery. Jews celebrate an event much further back in history than the one 2000 years ago. It's the remembrance part that makes the difference - do this in remembrance of me. Remembering that God in the person of Jesus gave his life so that we could be put right with Him - we are privileged to see this in the light of the resurrection & can be joyful.

The blood of the first passover lambs smeared on the doors and doorposts marked out the households of those who God had chosen to be his people. When the angel of death came, all those under the shelter of that house were saved, simply because they had been chosen by God - not on merit - but on faith. In the same way, Christ is our passover lamb - sacrificed for us for the forgiveness of sins and sheltering us from death, not on merit but on faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we are set free we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to break out from our old lives and set off on a new pathway for God. He (the holy spirit) knows the inner workings of our hearts and leads us on the right path. Speaking personally, I know that if I keep close to God, read the scriptures and fellowship with God's people then He will not allow me to slip back into the old ways. It's only when I slip away if only for a second, that I can fall. It's best if I stay close to God and listen to the leading of His spirit.

I am the slave, trapped by my own & the world's sin. God offers Jesus for me, to set me free from this entrapment. Satan is NOT paid the ransom because he does NOT own me - but because he is a liar, he will lead me into sin through temptation and try to convince me that there is no way out, once I am there. The New Testament can take the analogy no further as we don't know all the answers and God has chosen to keep certain things hidden from us. It's enough that we have been rescued, we know who rescued us and we know why - we can only share with others God's love.

Although we try very hard to live the Christian life, it is not always easy and we are quite liable to slip back into old habits that could once again enslave us. We need to stay very close to God and be in contact with Him constantly so that nothing can drag us down - after all, who would want to hurt Jesus again by falling away from the path - the price he paid was horrendous!! We must be thankful every moment of our lives.

Those who had been taken as prisoners through war, trade, debt or their descendants, all these needed to have a price paid for them, needed their debt paid - they remained as slaves forever until they had been paid for. I think New Testament writers and teachers used slavery illustrations as they were relevant for the people of the time - it must have been their worst nightmare to get into debt, or captured as slaves because there was no way out, except full payment or their own death. These illustrations help us today to understand the work of the Holy Spirit in setting prisoners of sin, sickness. etc. totally free & see Jesus for the Redeemer he is.

I'll share with you a dream I had some years ago, when I had been a Christian just a few weeks, and was struggling with why Jesus should die for me. My dream was that I was awaiting trial in a courtroom - I knew that unlike a normal courtroom I would not be allowed to speak. I was totally alone, no-one to speak up for me, and I was terrified, trembling sweating . My name was called and I slowly rose to my feet and shuffled towards the steps leading up to the prisoners dock. As I reached the bottom step, the person I knew as Jesus took my hand and led me up the steps. He was so big. As I stood there , I saw the Judge then Jesus stood in front of me to shield me . The judge looked up, stared straight into the face of Jesus and said This man has already been tried and paid the penalty - the judgement is Not Guilty. Jesus swept me up in his arms and ran down the steps with me, he was so happy, and so was I and I awoke feeling overwhelmed by his love and knowing that he really had paid the price for me.

There are so many pointers to show he knew exactly who he was and what he was to achieve. His introduction at the synagogue when he read from the scrolls finishing with Today this scripture is fulfilled; his teaching, parables and declaration I am the good shepherd; his asking of Peter at Caesarea Philippi Who do you say I am - the transfiguration on the mountain top; the events at the last supper; the torment in the garden of Gethsemane - so many pointers to the sacrificial lamb.

I don't know how much sense this reply will make to anyone else but studying this familiar old piece of scripture over this weekend has been a real revelation to me. I know that the suffering servant was given for many nations, that he was sacrificed for our sins and that it was a once and for all act of willingness on His part. What has left me feeling quite shell shocked as I read and re-read the passage was a) that Jesus had been chosen as the one (God knew right from creation that this was what he had to do and that even if I myself could somehow be cleansed totally from sin, and faithfully followed on the faith trail, and even more so, even if I was willing and brave enough to allow myself to be sacrificed for my own sins, then even tht would not be good enough Why? because God had already chosen Jesus to be the one and there could be no substitute. This has left me absolutely reeling about the enormity of it - I now know with absolute certainty that there is no other way. It has to be Jesus - and I'm not bashing any other faith, but I know that there positively, absolutely, and completely is no other way to the Father except through the Son.

God wanted us to know that sin is just not acceptable - our Holy God needs pure people, nothing and no-one tainted with sin is acceptable and that we were and still are incapable of making ourselves presentable to God. If we ever did manage to clean ourselves up, we would still be sinners because we would be so proud that we had done it! God loves us so much that he provided the means in Jesus - I am just so humbled that Jesus stands in my place. I find it difficult to understand people who reject Jesus and think they are going to be alright, i.e. find their way into heaven, standing in their own merit before our Holy God. I want to scream at them, it can't be done!!!

Let's get something clear - God did not like animal sacrifice - but he allowed us to use this as an offering because he didn't want us to shed our own blood. It was for our own benefit, to remove our guilt, not for His. Hosea 6:6 - Matthew 9:13 And no it wasn't sufficient to remove our sin, otherwise Jesus need not have died. Paul in his letter to the Romans 6:23 showed just what Jesus achieved for us - the wages of sin ..... but the gift of God is eternal life.... Only death, and a perfect human sacrifice at that, could reconcile us to God. Thanks be to God.