Meditations
for Pascha
(The Passover Season, 2016)
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Meditations for the Monastic-At-Heart
Now is My+ soul troubled;
and what shall I+ say ...
FATHER,
save ME+
from this hour ?
but for this cause
came I+ unto this hour.
FATHER,
Glorify Thy Name.
Then
came there a Voice from Heaven, saying,
I have both glorified It,
and will glorify It again.
John12:27-28
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Meditation Verse
Ephesians 1: 7
In WHOM+ we have
redemption through His+ BLOOD, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of HIS grace;
In the literal Greek:
In WHOM+ we have something to loosen
with by the instrument of His+ BLOOD, the sending
away of the side-stepping,
transgressions, according to the fullness of HIS
[ The FATHER'S**] favor.
Re-worded:
In WHOM+ we
have a "loosening" instrument, His+
BLOOD, used
for the remission of transgressions according to the fullness of HIS
favor.
** This is part of one
LONG sentence, extending from verse 4 to verse 10 ! The subject, the one doing all these things
for us THROUGH HIS
BELOVED SON+ ,
is
The FATHER !
Therefore, the pronoun HIS in
verse 7 refers to The FATHER's fullness of favor.
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MEDITATION
The BELOVED+ of The
FATHER, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, has provided each one of us an
instrument, a tool, for us to be loosened from the deadly grip of our sins.
That Divine INSTRUMENT was His+ own BLOOD. No finer
instrument exists. His+ BLOOD is totally effective
to loosen away the grip that sin has on our hearts, minds, emotions, and
bodies.
Interestingly, the word
for SIN [
parapt0ma ] in this verse is NOT the normal Greek word used for SIN,
found throughout the LXX and New Covenant.
The normal word for SIN is
[ amartyia -- refusing to be a martyr ].
The Greek word, parapt0ma , used
in verse 7 is found approximately 18 times in the New Covenant. It means "an
infraction, a violation, a transgression."
Thus, WHAT or WHO is being over-stepped,
side-stepped, or being fractured ( broken ) ?
This verse does not tell us.
However, it is obvious that "transgression"
means that the character of GOD, the character of Our LORD
JESUS CHRIST, is being violated in word, deed, or thought.
That is to say...
we have stepped-upon,
stepped-around, infringed upon, and over-stepped the boundaries of
righteousness as defined by HIM+.
We have taken advantage of His+
kindness; we have not laid to heart WHAT Our FATHER'S mercy to
us cost HIS SON+. We have ignored the Price+ of our
Redemption, the loosening from our death-bringing sins.
Transgression involves breaking
"the rules" of GOD; after all, HIS rules reflect HIS character, HIS
righteous ways.
Now, we DO know
what The LORD tells us to do. In Matthew 5, 6, and 7 ( and in other places in
Scripture ) there are clear things we
OUGHT to be doing, for HE+ is the LAW made INCARNATE+.
Thus, whatever HE+ says, do
it. ( John 2:5 )
No, we do not CHOOSE to live as
sinners any longer. We, however, still have our Adamic, human nature to contend
with as long as we are living on earth. We must train ourselves to submit to
the Living Word+ of GOD.
BUT AFTER our IMMERSION and the
marvelous RE-BIRTH from above ... we now have a Divine,
Priceless INSTRUMENT+ which equips us to loosen the grip of sin and
transgression from our lives.
In WHOM+
we have a "loosening" instrument, His+
BLOOD, used
for the remission of transgressions according to the fullness of HIS
favor.
This wonderful, Life-Giving
INSTRUMENT is... His+ BLOOD.
We are bought with a PRICE+;
we are not our own any longer.
The fullness, the richness, of our
FATHER'S favor is freely provided to mankind in CHRIST
JESUS. Our Heavenly FATHER has given
the utmost to help us escape from the grip of our sins.
Do we WANT
to ?
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Let
us pray:
Gracious Heavenly FATHER,
The FATHER of us and of our LORD JESUS CHRIST...
I have foolishly sinned
against THEE by ignoring my transgressions and not dealing with them with my
WHOLE heart.
I have allowed myself little
indulgences here and there, and worse, I have stifled that still small voice
that tells me I am doing wrong.
I am only fooling myself, for
there is NO HIDING place from THEE.
Against THEE only have I
sinned and done what is considered "evil" in THINE eyes.
My sin, my un-GOD-like
choices for self-indulgence, my hidden attitudes, have blinded my eyes to my
own transgressions against Thy HOLY SON+
JESUS.
I have been remiss in
battling my own Adamic nature.
THOU hast done Thy part, O
FATHER; help me do mine.
Help me to submit my flesh
unto the cleansing BLOOD+ of
my LORD JESUS CHRIST daily... and without guile.
Then I will know the release
from death and sin that HIS+ BLOOD obtained
for me... and for all who would come to HIM+...
in spirit and in truth.
Create in me a clean heart ,
O GOD, and renew a Right spirit within me.
For the sake of the ONE+
WHO+ hung on the tree to release me from my sins, I offer THEE my love
and my allegiance now and forever, my GOD and my KING+.
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Worthy is the LAMB+.
Worthy is The LAMB+
that was slain.
Worthy is the LAMB+,
slain
from the foundation
of the earth.
Revelation 13:8
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PRAISE and THANKSGIVING
be to The FATHER,
and to HIS
Beloved SON+
JESUS CHRIST,
and to the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT.
ONE GOD:
FATHER,
SON+,
and HOLY SPIRIT,
both now and forever,
world without end.
Amen.
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