I Failed the Test

If you are a regular follower of this blog, then you will notice a bit of a change for the next 8 weeks. I am serving as a table leader for an 8 week Freedom Workshop. If you'd like to follow along, you can find the resources at the link directly above. Also, I will post here, the daily Bible reading assignment (heartwork) so you can read along. This workshop has been a life changer for me so I'm eager to share it with others. May you be blessed!

BIBLE READING HEARTWORK
Week 1 - Day 4
Romans 7; Psalm 43

Romans 7:24-8-2

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

Lord, I confess that I forgot to remember this last night. I'd had plenty to eat and didn't need any dessert. But when RoboBoy decided to go get some, I caved. I confess that at that moment my desire for dessert was stronger than my desire to do what I knew was right. Please forgive me. Help me to put to death the deeds of my sinful nature.

Romans 8:12-14 NLT 2nd edition

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Psalm 43:2-3

For you are God, my only save haven.

Why have you tossed me aside?

Why must I wander around in grief

oppressed by my enemies? (my sinful nature)

Send out your light and your truth,

let them guide me.

Let them lead me to your holy mountain,

to the place where you live.

Lord, you are my only save haven. I asked you to continue to help me learn and grow in recognizing and exposing my sinful nature and those other voices. I failed this test but by your grace, please help me to pass the next one. Send out your light and your truth, let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live.

I want to reside in your presence, Lord, because in your presence there is fullness of joy. And at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11 NKJV

In Jesus' name, amen.

FREEDOM WORKSHOP VERSES

Psalm 77:1

I cry out to God without holding back.

Psalm 77:1

Psalm 27:8

My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me," and my heart responds, "Lord, I am coming."

Psalm 27:8

MEMORY VERSES

Must Receive Christ

John 1:12

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

John 1:12

Must Receive Christ

Must Receive Christ

1 Timothy 2:5

If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

1 Timothy 2:5

Must Receive Christ

First Obey

Leviticus 9:6 & 24

And Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded you to do so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you."...Fire blazed forth from the LORD'S presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When the people saw this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground.

If I expect to see the Lord at work in my life, then I need to be doing what he has commanded me to do. We cannot expect to see the glory without first being obedient.

1 Samuel 15:22-23

But Samuel replied:

"What is more pleasing to the LORD:

your burnt offerings and sacrifices

or your obedience to his voice?

Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,

and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,

and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.

So because you have rejected the command of the LORD,

he has rejected you as king."

Lord, help me to always be obedient to what you tell me to do. I obey you because I know and love you. And because I want more of your presence in my life. I want to please you, Lord. I want to live in constant sweet fellowship with you. In Jesus' name, amen.

MEMORY VERSES

Christ Paid the Penalty

1 Peter 3:18

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

1 Peter 3:18

Christ Paid the Penalty

Christ Paid the Penalty

1 Timothy 2:5

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 2:5

Christ Paid the Penalty

Just as the LORD had Commanded

Exodus 39:42-43
So the people of Israel followed all of the LORD'S instructions to Moses. Then Moses inspected all their work. When he found it had been done just as the LORD had commanded him, he blessed them.

Lord, it's refreshing to see something that the Israelites did right while in the desert. This verse comes at the end of Chapter 39. Then in Chapter 40:16 it says, "Moses proceeded to do everything just as the LORD had commanded him." Then this paragraph and the next five paragraphs are ended with the phrase, "Just as the LORD had commanded him."

It becomes painfully obvious that You are not only concerned with our obedience but also that we do things just as You command us. We need to be sure that we obey You completely, not half-heartedly. We need to make certain that we follow Your instructions to the letter.

When we do this, we will be blessed and Your presence will go with us, just as the cloud covered the Tabernacle and Your glory filled it when the people did everything just as You commanded them.

Thank you, Lord, for how you have spoken to me this morning. Help me to follow Your instructions just as you command me. I adore you!!! In Jesus' name, amen.

MEMORY VERSE

Christ Paid the Penalty

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

Christ Paid the Penalty

Our Prayers Reach God

Exodus 37:25a
Then Bezalel made the incense altar of acacia wood.

Hebrews 9:2-4a
There were two rooms in that Tabernacle. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place. Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place. In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides.

Hebrews 9:7-8
But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.

For some reason, I didn't realize until today that the incense altar was in the Most Holy Place. I guess it makes sense. The incense represents prayer. Prayer is the way we enter God's presence. Under the old system, only the high priest could enter God's presence only once a year and only after blood was shed.

Under the new system Jesus is now our High Priest who offered his own blood. With his own blood - not the blood of goats and calves - he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. Hebrews 9:12. Now we are free to enter God's presence with our prayers anytime day or night. And as God revealed to my best friend a few days ago, our prayers cover more ground than we realize!

I praise you, Lord God! I'm so glad that you hear my prayers!! They are all collected and kept in your presence. I love you so very much!! In Jesus' name, amen.

Hebrews 4:16

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Hebrews 10:19-22

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

MEMORY VERSE

Salvation Not By Works

Titus 3:5

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Titus 3:5

Salvation Not By Works

The Way is Open!

Exodus 36:35
For the inside of the Tabernacle, Bezalel made a special curtain of finely woven linen. He decorated it with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skillfully embroidered cherubim.

This was the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The blue, purple and scarlet represent different aspects of Christ's character. Blue - the Heavenly One, Purple - the Royal One, Scarlet - the Suffering Servant.

It also had cherubim skillfully embroidered onto it. These were not fat babies with wings. They were mighty warrior angels. Cherubim are tasked with guarding God's holiness. Not that God cannot stay holy without them, but to keep anything that is unholy out of God's presence. 

This curtain symbolized our separation from God because of our sin. The moment Jesus Christ died, the curtain hanging in Herod's Temple was torn from the top down showing that the way is now open through Christ's death. We can now enter God's presence because Jesus' blood makes us holy. The cherubim no longer block our way! Praise God!!

Hebrews 4:16

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Hebrews 10:19-22

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

MEMORY VERSE

Salvation Not By Works

Titus 3:5

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Titus 3:5

Salvation Not By Works

Help Me Watch and Pray

Matthew 26:41

"Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!"

Lord, help me to watch and pray.

Numbers 15:39

"When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commandments of the LORD instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do."

Lord, you know how prone I am to getting sidetracked or distracted and following my own desires thereby defiling myself. Help me to stay alert and aware of temptations that haunt me looking for any chink in my armor. When I'm weakest is when I need to be most vigilant. When I'm tired or not feeling well, that is when temptation will com at me hardest.

Thank you, Lord, that your power in me is stronger than any temptation I face. I just need to cry out to you and you ride across the heavens to help me!

Deuteronomy 33:26

There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendor.

THIS WEEK'S MEMORY VERSES

Zechariah 11:11

The suffering flock was watching me, and they knew that the LORD was speaking through my actions.

Zechariah 11:11

Romans 1:16 (NIV)

I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Romans 1:16 (NIV)

The Gates are Open!

Jeremiah 17:5

This is what the LORD says: "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts from the LORD."

Hosea 6:6

Romans 1:16 (NIV)

I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Romans 1:16 (NIV)

Psalm 118:19-21

Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,

and I will go in and thank the LORD.

These gates lead to the presence of the LORD,

and the godly enter there.

I thank you for answering my prayer

and giving me victory!

Thank you, Lord, for opening the gates that lead to your presence! I'm so glad that I no longer have to rely on a priest to go into your presence to make atonement for me. I can come boldly before your throne of grace because of the sacrifice you made for me.

Hebrews 4:16

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

 By that sacrifice, you tore the curtain covering the Holy of Holies in two, from top to bottom!

Mark 15:37-38

Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Hebrews 10:19-22

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

Zechariah 9:11

Because of the covenant I made with you,

sealed with blood,

I will free your prisoners

from death in a waterless dungeon.

Because of the covenant you made with me, sealed with your blood, you freed me from my prison in a waterless dungeon. Now you refresh my soul with living springs from your word. You have sprinkled my guilty conscience with your blood and made me clean. You have washed my body with pure water. The gates are open for me! I have been counted righteous through Jesus' blood! I will go into the presence of the Lord and thank the Lord for answering my prayer and giving me victory!