'...The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom...' Matthew 27:51
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One day a year, on the Day of Atonement (at-one-ment),
the high priest could go beyond the thick curtain
in the tabernacle and into the 'Holy of Holies' where God's presence was.
What qualified him to go there was the fact that the blood of a sacrificial lamb was covering the mercy seat,
under which rested the Ark of the Covenant.
God arranged it like that. You ask, 'What was in the Ark?'
The Ten Commandments-which all of us have broken.
The only way God could look at the evidence of His people's guilt was through the blood of the lamb.
Now, fast forward to the cross. Jesus 'gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.'
Everything changed for the better that day! In spite of your failures,
you can now come into God's presence,
knowing your sins are covered by the blood of Jesus,
and confidently ask for whatever you need.
'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 4:16 NLT).
Your acceptance with God is guaranteed when you approach Him saying,
'I come in the name of Jesus and on the merits of His shed blood.'
It works like a credit system. '
You are in Christ,' so you have a perfect credit score!
So even when you feel inadequate and undeserving,
if you ask in faith believing, God will give it to you '...for Christ's sake...' (Ephesians 4:32 KJV).
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" A Story.............. "
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In the day of prosperity be joyful and
in the day of adversity consider, God
has made the one side by side with the other.
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Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it.
She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time.
It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen.
He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.
Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot.
He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.
The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners.
He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl.
He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.
Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“Look closer”, he said, “and touch the potatoes.”
She did and noted that they were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it.
After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water.
However, each one reacted differently.
The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water.
Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique.
After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter.
“When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us,
but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it.
Life is all about leaning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.
James 1:2-4, 12-15
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved,
he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Let no one say when he is tempted,
"I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil,
and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
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In the day of prosperity be joyful and
in the day of adversity consider, God
has made the one side by side with the other.
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