CHRIST Our PASSOVER

PASSOVER MEDITATION

for The Preparation Season

to commemorate

The Great --- and Final --- Passover

~ 2017 ~

 " CHRIST our PASSOVER

is Sacrificed for us,

therefore,

let us keep the feast... "

Romans 5

+  +  +

JESUS  said,

" All authority is given unto ME+

in Heaven and in earth."

Matthew 28:18

LET US PRAY:

O GOD our Heavenly FATHER, I thank THEE and praise THEE for sending us a SAVIOR+ Who+ is CHRIST the LORD ... the ONE+ Who+ saves me from my Self.

Forgive me, O LORD, for not yielding to Thy+ Authority. In so many ways --- starting with food and drink, to sleep times, and even dress --- I have not followed Thy+ leading, O CHRIST.

My ear has been deaf, my eye turned elsewhere, my feet chose my own way  when I wanted to indulge Self.

I have not yielded my tongue to THEE+ many times. And worse, the thoughts of my heart have oftentimes not come under Thy+ Authority.

I cry to THEE+ to come and rule and reign over this world, yet I  myself push away Thy+ Rule over me... even in these little, inconsequential matters that have nothing to do with the state of the world.

Or... perhaps, DO these matter

more than I realize,

O LORD ?

Therefore, I humble my Self to Thy+ LORDSHIP, even in these small matters that affect my soul and spirit.

Grant me cleansing from my Self-indulgent ways.  Help me to focus my entire being on pleasing THEE+ now. 

Then perhaps, in due season, it may be said of me also, " The effectual , fervent prayer of  a righteous man availeth much." 

+  +  + 

THOU+ hast turned for me

my mourning into dancing:

THOU+ hast put off my sackcloth,

and girded me with gladness;

To the end that my glory

may sing praise to THEE+,

and not be silent.

O LORD my God,

I will give thanks unto THEE+ for ever.

Psalm 30: 11-12

JESUS CHRIST

" WHO+ gave Himself+ for our sins,

that HE+ might deliver us

from this present evil world,

according to the will of GOD

and our FATHER. "

Galatians 1:4

HE+ Was PROCLAIMED #3 ... By an EMPTYING of Self... Advent Meditations 2015 for the Monastic-At-Heart

Luke 1:26-27, Greek

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel 

was sent from GOD 

unto a city of Galilee, 

named Nazareth,

To a virgin being espoused to a man 

whose name was Joseph, 

from the house of David; 

and the virgin’s name was 

Mariam.

Luke 1:35-38 , Greek

And the angel answered 

and said unto her,

The HOLY SPIRIT shall come 

upon thee,

and the power of the Highest 

shall overshadow thee:

therefore also the ONE+ 

being born of you HOLY

 shall be called the SON+ of GOD.

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth,

she hath also conceived 

a son in her old age:

 and this is the sixth month

 with her, who was called sterile.

For with GOD nothing 

shall be impossible.

And Mariam said,

Behold the handmaid of the LORD;

be it unto me according to thy word.

And the angel departed from her.

Could young Mariam have refused to carry The Hebrew MESSIAH+ ?

Yes.

Mariam was not divine; she was simply Adamic, of the human line of David. She had as much free-will to obey or disobey the Word of the LORD to her as we do. 

At that moment in time, she yielded her entire being to GOD. Her life was instantly changed, and that, for all time.

Her purpose in life was instantly re-directed, instantly re-routed, with no going back.

We all know that Mother-Hood does indeed change a person. Now there is a tiny human being who is totally helpless except for the help Mother gives him. He is totally vulnerable except for the protection of Mother.

But, Mariam's change was greater.

She emptied her life 

in an instant.

Being well-trained in the Commandments of GOD, she knew her life --- as she had hopefully planned it --- was over. Hebrew girls were stoned to death if they were with child without a husband.

This particular young Hebrew virgin accepted GOD'S Will for her life,  turning her care and well-being over to GOD.  Her heart was in accord with Job's words: Even though HE slay me, yet will I trust HIM , Job 13:15a.

If GOD asked great things of her, could she not trust HIM to take care of her through it all ?

Likewise, if The LORD asks an obedience of us, are we willing to empty our lives for HIM+ ?

It is a sure thing that GOD will not share the throne with Self.

How do we come to such a state, where the LORD will ask us to empty our lives for HIM+ ?

We practice.

We practice individually, within the secret place of our hearts.

We practice daily and hourly, if need be.

We practice 

EMPTYING ourselves 

for HIM+.

  

We shun all leadings of Self to aggrandize itself. Rather, we turn to The LORD in humility, asking His+ help to forsake our natural Self-interest.

We practice by training ourselves to STOP OUR DAY in order to worship HIM+ throughout... be it 5 minutes on the hour or some other similar discipline.

We practice yielding 

to His+ Will

… in every SMALL matter, 

through the day.

That is how we monastic-at-heart train ourselves and practice obedience.

Little is written about Mariam's growing-up years or training. Little is written about her adult years that would warrant adulation.

Aside from her carrying The Divine Babe+ in her virgin womb, Sister Mariam's greatest gift to mankind is her example of yielded, total obedience to the Word of GOD, the WORD+ made flesh Who+ dwelt among us.

Let us Pray:

O Life-Giving LORD JESUS, I empty my life out for THEE+.

Fill me with Thy+ Blessed SPIRIT, so that I may learn to please THEE+ in every small matter, that I may be closer to THEE+. Prune away the warped areas, O LORD, and train me to go in the way THOU+ dost will.   

Here is my empty Self; take it for Thy+ good pleasure, O LORD JESUS.

I thank THEE+, O CHRIST, for even wanting me. I join myself  to THEE+ in love.

Holy, Holy, Holy 

LORD GOD ALMIGHTY

WHO+ is, 

WHO+ was, 

and WHO+ is to come.

Maranatha. 

Come, LORD JESUS.  

Amen 

#3 Pre-requisites for ANSWERED PRAYER ... TAKING HEED !

2 Peter 1:10

Wherefore the rather, brethren,

give diligence to make 

your calling and election 

sure: 

for if ye do these things, 

ye shall never fall:

Take HEED:  If our calling and election WAS NOT ABLE to be IN JEOPARDY, then the Apostle Peter would not have told us to be diligent about MAKING IT SURE AND CERTAIN, would he ?

Yes, without a doubt, there is a danger to the spiritual sluggard and a serious warning to such a one here in this verse. 

The Disciplined Life of a CHRISTIAN .... is not optional.  Listen to what this well-disciplined ORDER of Christian sisters writes: 

MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD

Used with permission from: 

www.canaaninthedesert.com

Author - Basilea Schlink,

Publisher - Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary

 You must be self-controlled and alert, 

to be able to pray.

 1 Peter 4:7 GNB  January 29, 2014

“If you want your prayers to reach the throne of God and be answered, make sure you fulfill the conditions. 

1      Lead a life of self-control. 

2      Be disciplined in your words and actions, in eating, drinking and sleeping, and enjoyment of physical pleasure. 

3      By continually placing every area of your life under the dominion of Jesus Christ, you remove the obstacles to answered prayer and will experience the help and grace of God.”

Used with permission from :

MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD

www.canaaninthedesert.com

Author - Basilea Schlink,

Publisher - Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Photo of GARDEN of GESTHEMANE

What constitutes a "discipled" life ?  If our churches do not issue a call to discipleship, then we must establish a Spiritual discipline ourselves.

·      Yes, daily Scripture reading

·      Yes, daily worship... prayer, praise, thanksgiving

·      Yes, a devotional TIME set aside solely for that purpose 

·        Yes, a time for QUIETUDE... sitting still to hear His+ Voice.... spending quality, priority time with JESUS our LORD.

And like it or not, some PRAYERFUL, CHRISTIAN restrictions placed upon our own flesh in the area of

·                    food and drink

·                    dress,

·                    entertainment

·                    music

·                    and in the company we keep.

Why discipline ourselves in these areas ?

[ NO.  Discipleship is NOT "legalism."  JESUS HIMSELF+ told us we MUST be HIS+ disciples.]

The first reason is to control the flesh. 

We must teach it to submit to our New-man following the Will of CHRIST JESUS, not to continue doing the same things our old man, our Adamic Nature, has trained us to do.

[ Most of us have not been blessed with parents who submitted their SELF to The LORD and / or who taught us that we must submit our SELF unto the LORD in order to be well-pleasing unto HIM+.]

Our Flesh is supposed to be dead with CHRIST after Baptism.

Alas, the flesh has a habit of reviving itself time and time again, though. By making ourselves submit in any little way, we will be mortifying the deeds of the flesh... in a little way.

  Being faithful in little will indeed enable us to be faithful in more,  strengthened to mortify the deeds of the flesh ... in the greater battles we have in our own inner man against the Old Man values and habits we have acquired. 

That submission to discipline enables us to fight the GOOD FIGHT of FAITH in the Un-ending Battle Against SELF.

If we want prayers to be answered, then we MUST engage this most-unpopular-of-all fight of faith:  putting SELF to death.

Our LORD JESUS sacrificed His+ Life to empower us to fight our Adamic nature and put SELF to death. 

BUT... it is our battle, our decision.

HE+ will not do it for us. 

Yes indeed, HE+ will help us and has helped us; we CAN win in this battle to die DAILY to our flesh.  HE+ will send His+ Blessed HOLY SPIRIT to help us. 

BUT... HE+ will not do that  part for us which HE+ knows is our own prerogative to do ourselves: that is, turn our will over to HIM+.  

HE+ cannot yield for us.

HE+ cannot MAKE us 

choose TRUTH in the inner man. 

Only we OURSELVES can YIELD over the controls to HIM+. Only we ourselves can choose to follow in the inner man The TRUTH Our LORD shows us. JESUS is The Way, The Truth, and The LIFE. 

Do we want our prayers answered?  

Then we must yield all control over our SELF-WILL unto CHRIST JESUS.  

Then it will come to pass what is written in Psalm 89: 7

 GOD is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about HIM.

Ah LORD GOD!

Behold, THOU has made the Heaven and the earth 

by Thy great power and stretched-out arm 

and there is NOTHING too hard for THEE ! 

Jeremiah 32:17