The Price of Redemption

The price of redemption was very high, not for us, but for God... probably beyond our comprehension. God, of course, is Sovereign, Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. Nothing is impossible to Him, Luke 1:37; Jer. 32:27; Gen. 18:14; Matt. 19:26. This is not a statement of faith... it is fact.

To consider the price, we must understand what happened at the “fall” of both Adam and lucifer. satan,as he is now called, was the author and possessor of sin and death. Before Gen. 1:1 is a HUGE study. 
For us, it began in the Garden with the sacrifice of that innocent animal to clothe Adam and Eve back into a state of fellowship with God. We should note that it was God’s own sacrifice of, I believe, sheep. God Himself had to “submit” that innocent animal to death in order to take its hide. I wonder if we can understand the profound significance of what God did.

Grace in Jesus

2 Peter 3:18 says, Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; to Him is the glory both now, and forever. Amen

How do we grow in Grace? Well, maybe we can search out the answer to that question in a Bible study. But allow me to introduce some thoughts and comments for discussion.

The exhortation is, we MUST grow in Grace, otherwise we remain babes in Christ coasting along on God’s loving-kindness and mercy. God, our Father, does not want that.

The Glory and Fullness of Jesus

1 John 4:16-17 AMP
We have come to know by personal observation and experience, the love which God has for us, and have believed with deep, consistent faith. God is Love, and the one who abides in love, abides in God, and God abides in him. In this union and fellowship with Him, love is made perfect among us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment with assurance and boldness to face God and not fear judgment; because as Jesus is, so are we in this world.

Thyatira: Revelation 2:18-29

 from: “The Addresses to the Seven Churches” by Hamilton Smith (unedited)

In order to rightly interpret the address to Thyatira, and the addresses that follow, it is important to see the characteristic differences between the first three addresses and the last four.

It is clear that the first three Churches set forth the condition of the whole professing Church at three successive periods of its history. Moreover, the general condition set forth by these Churches does not continue throughout the Church's history; though, indeed, the evils that develop, during the periods set forth by these Churches, continue to mark the Christian profession for all time.

Thus the united testimony of the Church that marked the Ephesian period has passed away; though the loss of first love has ever since marked the Christian profession.

Barabbas

Part of the Consider Him Series... 

I would draw our attention to Hebrews 12, verse 3, Consider Him Who Endured, and although that might be a lifetime of study and consideration, that is what I’ve been doing. 

The Greek for consider according to Vine’s Dictionary and the Interlinear is:
(an-al-og-id'-zom-ah-ee), from which we get our word ANALOGOUS. I found it interesting that analogous means “something that is similar to something else and can be compared to another.” OR... “having similar features to another and therefore able to be compared with it.”

As I Consider Him Who Endured, I give sympathetic meditation, conscientious study, careful thought, quiet deliberation, and attentive observation (because that’s what “consider” means) to... JESUS... and Barabbas. 

Comfort

2 Cor. 1:3-7, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as Christ’s sufferings are ours in abundance, so also our comfort, our encouragement, and our consolation is abundant through Christ, it is truly more than enough to endure what we must. 6 But if we are troubled and distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted and encouraged, it is for your comfort, which works in you when you patiently endure the same sufferings which we experience. 7 And our confident expectation of good for you is firmly grounded and unshaken, since we know that just as you share as partners in our sufferings, so also you share as partners in our comfort. 

Intercessory Prayer

In Isaiah 53:12, we read...
...He poured out His soul unto death and was numbered with the transgressors; and He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

I have been immersed in prayer this week, and it has never felt more “intercessory” than it has this week. I never really related to being an “intercessor” before, but that’s exactly what we are when we “intercede” on someone else’s behalf. I want to thank very much everyone who has prayed with me.