Pre-Passover Meditation ~ ~ ~ It is No Secret What GOD Will Do !

Photo by The Order of the GOOD SHEPHERD+

 CHRIST our PASSOVER

ever liveth to make intercession

for us; 

O Come, Let us Adore HIM+. 

Psalm 68 

Let GOD arise, 

Let His enemies be scattered; 

Let those also who hate HIM

flee before HIM. 

Old Testament Lesson: Deuteronomy 4:23, 24 

Take heed unto yourselves, 

lest ye forget 

the covenant of the LORD thy GOD, 

which HE made with you, 

and make you a graven image, 

or the likeness of any thing, 

which the LORD thy GOD 

hath forbidden thee.

For the LORD thy GOD 
is a consuming fire, 

even a jealous GOD.

Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 2:1- 3

And you hath HE+ enlivened, 

who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Wherein in time past ye walked 

according to the course of this world, 

according to 
the prince of the power of the air, 

the spirit that now worketh 

in the children of disobedience:

Among whom also we all had 

our behavior in times past

in the lusts of our flesh,

 fulfilling the desires of the flesh and 

of the mind;

and were by nature 

the children of wrath, 

even as others.

The GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 6: 33-36

The Words of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST

And if ye do good to them which do good to you, 
what thank have ye? 

for sinners also do even the same.

And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, 
what thank have ye? 

for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

But love ye your enemies, 

and do good, 

and lend, 

hoping for nothing again;

and your reward shall be great, 

and ye shall be the children of the Highest: 

for HE is kind unto the unthankful 

and to the evil. 

Be ye therefore merciful, 

as your FATHER also is merciful.

Meditation ~

 We see Our LORD being so merciful to us sinners, that HE+ loved us and died for us while we were yet dead in our sins!   

And through HIS+ death, we gained life. 

Furthermore, that was and is the ONLY WAY sinners could ever gain both life here and now and life Eternal.  

Our FATHER'S wrath waxes heavily against those who set themselves against HIM morally or spiritually.  

HE is a consuming fire to those who align themselves with 

• the course of this world, 
• the prince of the power of the air, or
• the spirit of disobedience. 

Our LORD'S words clearly show us how to be on GOD'S side.  The LORD JESUS clearly spoke to us about how to be a friend to GOD His FATHER.  

HE has not changed His Mind about what HE considers RIGHT... and what is WRONG .... for mankind to do .

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament contain words of truth which should bring conviction to us if we disobey the Written Word. 

It is no secret what GOD can do ! What HE'S done to others, HE will do to you ! 

Let Us Pray ~ ~ ~ 

O LORD of the Consuming Fire, we come before THEE now to ask of THEE mercy. 

We have done those things we ought NOT to have done. 

We have neglected doing those things which we know please THEE. 

Even worse, we have avoided Thy Face. 

We have avoided coming before THEE for correction. We have chosen to hide our hearts from conviction... because we do not want to change. 

Forgive us these sins. Help us to turn away from the course of this world.  Help us not to follow the lurings of the prince of the power of the air. Help us to forsake our own disobediences, once and for all times. 

Grant this we pray, through the merits of Thy Only-Begotten SON+, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, our ONLY MEDIATOR+ and ADVOCATE+, both now and forever. Amen.   

Pre-PASSOVER Meditation ~ ~ ~ The Perfect LAW of The LORD

Photo by THE ORDER OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD+

The Invitatory: 

CHRIST the KING+ has suffered for us; 

O Come, Let us Adore HIM+.

Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 19: 7

Scriptures courtesy of Biblegateway.com

The law of the LORD is perfect, 

converting the soul: 

the testimony of the LORD is sure, 

making wise the simple.

QUIETUDE: 

A time to Reflect about the Perfect LAW of The LORD. 

RESPONSE: 

Holy art THOU, 

LORD GOD of our fathers; 

THOU art worthy of praise, 

Holy art THOU. 

Lesson from the Epistles: Hebrews 10:26-27

Scriptures courtesy of Biblegateway.com

For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

QUIETUDE: A time to repent.

RESPONSE:

LORD JESUS CHRIST, LAMB+ of GOD, 

Who+ taketh away the sin of the world,

have mercy upon us.

LORD JESUS CHRIST, LAMB+ of GOD,

BEARER+ of our sins, 

have mercy upon us.

LORD JESUS CHRIST, LAMB+ of GOD, 

SAVIOR+ of the world,

grant us Thy+ Peace.

AMEN.

The GOSPEL Lesson: Luke 6:46

Scriptures courtesy of Biblegateway.com

The Words of  Our LORD JESUS CHRIST ~ ~ ~ 

And why call ye me, 
LORD, LORD, 

and do not the things 
which I+ say?

+  +  +

The WORD of The LORD.  

THANKS BE TO GOD !

Meditation ~ ~ ~

Yes, The Law of The LORD is indeed perfect. It was perfect when it was given to Moses and perfect when The LORD JESUS CHRIST lived it, as our EXAMPLE+ set before us.

The LAWS were not established to benefit GOD, but for the benefit of man... so he could avoid the destruction besetting the human race from the fall of Adam. 

Nowadays, we cast away those LAWS as "restrictions" upon our modern life-style and we proclaim loud and long that "we can please GOD" by living freely, as we see fit. 

But reading carefully the New Testament, we find that the LAWS done away with by Our LORD were those LAWS dealing with the Blood Sacrifice for sins. 

Furthermore, the reason  the sacrifice LAWS are over is because The LORD JESUS CHRIST fulfilled those requirements for a Blood sacrifice for sins.  

The LAW, itself, is good ~ ~ ~ because by The LAW we gain a concrete knowledge of what constitutes SIN, what actions and behaviors are repulsive to GOD. 

How else would we know which of our actions and behaviors GOD records as our sin ?

Has GOD changed his definition of SIN ?  

Remember this: The LORD said yes to the tithing of little mint and rue and all manner of herbs when he chided the Pharisees ( Luke 11:42 ) for passing over judgment and the love of GOD.  HE+ reminded them NOT to forget the love of GOD and judgment... but to also do what was written in the LAW !

But woe unto you, Pharisees! 

for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, 

 and pass over judgment and the love of God: 

these ought ye to have done, 

and not to leave the other undone.

The LAW of The LORD, as seen throughout both the Old and New Testaments, is indeed perfect. It shows us what SIN is. 

Let us re-read it to find out what pleases ~ ~ ~ and displeases ~ ~ ~ GOD, and ask The LORD to show us how it applies to our lives today. 

Let us make our amendment of life after conviction falls. Then we will see how the perfect Law of the LORD converts the soul.    

Let us pray: 

Our FATHER Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name and holy art Thy ways. 

O LORD, I have cast aside Thy Words and have done what pleased me; I have substituted society's ways for Thy rules of Holy living. I have not laid Thy ways to heart. 

I repent for casting aside Thy instructions and commands. I repent for thinking they are not important "nowadays," and thinking I could please THEE living my own way, by my own standards, with my own values.  

I repent for not attributing to THY HOLY CHARACTER Thy loving-kindness and tender mercies towards mankind as the reason why THOU didst make those rules. Yes, it was Thy LOVE that determined those LAWS to protect us from the evil within... and the evil without.

Cleanse me, I pray, and grant me a renewed mind to do Thy Will... in all areas... as guided by Thy Holy Word.

This I pray in The Name of  JESUS CHRIST our LORD, The Eternal SON+ and WORD+ of GOD our FATHER, through the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT. 

Amen.