Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Always Remember to Rejoice

Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

The prophet Nehemiah wrote this to a repentant yet grieving Israel after they had learned just how far they had fallen from the Law of Moses.

So even today, we can be crushed by past sins, mistakes and simply missing the mark of prefect obedience and honoring God. That's what word "sin" really means. Like an archer who takes aim but misses the target.  A Christian is someone who knows they are covered by the once for all time shedding of Yahushua's precious blood.  He in fact is our Shabbat and makes every day sacred to his Father and our God. Back in Nehemiah's day, the temple system was set up to deal with the sins of God's covenant people. Animal sacrifice, abstaining from certain foods lest you become impure, and other rituals were part of daily like. This system, only foreshadowed the BETTER covenant which would come through Christ.

Sometimes we get too locked into technicalities. Some may say, "Well, that was the prophet talking to those particular people at THAT time." You totally miss the point that Yah is the same yesterday, today and forever! Guess what? God's mercies are still fresh and new every morning but now all of these blessings come through Christ, our only mediator.

"For there is only one God and likewise only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," 1 Timothy 2:5

So this is God's new and better covenant and new and better way of dealing with us and sin. That being the case, why would the joy of the Lord not be our strength today? That would defeat the whole purpose of a better covenant, wouldn't it?

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. Hebrews 8:2

So always remember to rejoice in the Lord, no matter what things may look like in the natural. This an amazing source of strength if we would only believe and tap into it.