My True Identity In Christ

 

My True Identity In Christ

 

Romans 3:24   “And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”  

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

The willingness of God to send His Son to redeem me by taking my punishment by dying on the cross; His blood has cleansed me in God's sight as if I had never sinned.

 

Romans 6:7, “For one who has died has been set free from sin.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

Because the blood of Jesus is covering my sins, I now have to choose not to let sin have any power in my life.  I am free to choose!

 

Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

What does that verse mean to me?

 

No matter how badly I mess up, God will not reject me because Jesus paid for my mistakes on the cross. He has also given me a desire not to disgrace His name.

 

Romans 15:7: “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

What does that verse mean to me?

 

Because Christ has accepted me, I should have the same attitude.

 

 

1 Cor. 1:30, “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

 My source of life is in Christ Jesus; He alone is my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He is life!

 

 1 Cor. 2:16, “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?  But we have the mind of Christ.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

God has placed the mind of Christ in everyone who has entered into a personal relationship with Jesus.  Like our brain, we have it, but we often use only a small part of its capacity.

 

1 Cor. 6:11, “And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our Lord.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

 It matters not what I was before entering into Christ, because His Spirit has washed, sanctified, and justified me by our Lord's blood.

 

1 Cor. 6:17, “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

My spirit shares a kinship with the Holy Spirit.

 

1 Cor. 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

My spirit was dead because of Adam, but now that I’ve entered into Christ, I have a living spirit, and it communicates with the Holy Spirit.

 

2 Cor. 2:14, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

When Christ is leading me, it is always in triumph, but often it may not appear so to others or to me.  Anytime He leads, we are light to those around us.

 

 2 Cor. 3:3, “And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of human hearts.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

His word is written on our hearts.  All wisdom is centered in the written word.

 

 

2 Cor. 3:14, “But their minds were hardened.  For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

Jesus Christ has removed my inability to understand and have fellowship with the Father; you might say I’ve had a mind transplant.

 

2 Cor. 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

Because of Christ, I am not under punishment; I am now eternal and blameless in the sight of God, and adopted into His family.

 

2 Cor. 5:21      “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

Jesus took my punishment, and by the faith and grace Jesus extended to me, I have become righteous.  No matter what – I cannot get more righteous.

 

Gal. 2:4, “Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in – who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we might bring us into slavery.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

My freedom is found in obeying Christ; it is not a feeling; it is knowledge of the Truth.

 

Gal. 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

The ground at the cross is the same for all.  No one is inferior.

 

Gal. 4:7, “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

                        WOW! I’m family

 

Eph. 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

My bank of blessings is full of every spiritual blessing.

 

Eph. 1:4          “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

Chosen, holy, blameless before God, because of the blood of Jesus that covers my sin.

 

Eph. 1:7, “In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

Made in right standing with God – totally forgiven

 

Eph. 1:10-11, “As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.  In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

My inheritance is in heaven.

 

Eph. 1:13, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

My past is history, and my future is sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is my God, Father, Redeemer, and Friend, my provider & the Protector of my eternal life in Christ.

 

Eph. 2:6, “And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

Right now, I am seated with Christ in heaven.  Because I am in Christ, it is not some position truth – I am seated in heaven (now), not my earth suit but the real me.

 

Eph. 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

 

God's plan from before time was to create me for good works.  Works that He would do through me.

 

My prayer is that this will bless you as it has me; my friend Bill Gillham, who is now enjoying heaven, taught Jan and me much of this.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Construction of the Tabernacle

  Exodus 35:30-35

 

November 10, 2024

 

Construction of the Tabernacle

 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship,  to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze,  in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.  And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan.  He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

 

Has the Lord called you for some special calling to teach others the skills to further His kingdom on Earth?  If so, never forget God gave you the skill, intelligence, and knowledge to do so.  

 

As you reflect on how you learned the things you now are able to teach others, have you reflected on how you got to that point?  My Mother and Dad did my brother, sister, and me a great service, teaching us the value of work.  Now, at the time, I would have rather been playing ball with my friends.

 

Next was Burt Thieme, the manager of H.E.B. on Leopard Street in Corpus Christi.  I was 12 years old, and Burt hired me to sack groceries.  Mr. Thieme was a teacher, and I knew how to work, but he taught me the value of knowing people's names and the names of their children.  Also, how to never be idle; if there were no groceries to be carried, there were other things that always needed to be done.  What Burt taught me has served me well in my business and ministry, and my business was my ministry.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Materials for the Tabernacle

 

 Exodus 35:4-29

 

November 9, 2024

 

Materials for the Tabernacle

 Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded:  From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze;  blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair;  ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;  and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breast piece.

 

“All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded:  the tabernacle with its tent and its covering, clasps, frames, crossbars, posts and bases;  the ark with its poles and the atonement cover and the curtain that shields it;  the table with its poles and all its articles and the bread of the Presence;  the lampstand that is for light with its accessories, lamps and oil for the light;  the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; the curtain for the doorway at the entrance to the tabernacle;  the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils; the bronze basin with its stand; the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard;  the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, and their ropes;  the woven garments worn for ministering in the sanctuary—both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests.”

 

Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence,  and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments.  All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds: brooches, earrings, rings, and ornaments. They all presented their gold as a wave offering to the Lord.  Everyone who had blue, purple, or scarlet yarn or fine linen, or goat hair, ram skins dyed red, or the other durable leather brought them.  Those presenting an offering of silver or bronze brought it as an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood for any part of the work brought it. Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun—blue, purple, or scarlet yarn or fine linen.  And all the women who were willing and had the skill spun the goat hair.  The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breast piece.  They also brought spices and olive oil for the light and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.  All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the Lord freewill offerings for all the work the Lord, through Moses, had commanded them to do.

As I read this Scripture, I began to think about what is happening at Oakwood.  The following are my thoughts.

 

Have you ever witnessed such a movement of people with generous hearts?  We, the body of believers at Oakwood in New Braunfels, have watched that happen.  Our present facilities are not meeting the needs; we have been for a long time running over 80% on most services, and need to build a much larger building for 29 million dollars.  That is a lot of money, but as a community, we have had unbelievable growth, and we have a school and apartments, and housing being built at the very back of our facilities.

 

The plan was to begin the building at about the time of COVID, and we all know what took place at that time.  So, I’m not surprised that the cost has increased, but what has been amazing is how the Lord has moved on the hearts of our body, the Church, to engage this challenge.  

 

First, it is leadership; our pastor never talks about money or asks people to give, but of late, he has talked a lot about the bold mission of preparing for a future generation to have a place of worship, and many in the leadership have joyfully given to the project.  We are witnessing a willing spirit of giving, and Jan and I have been giving to the Bold Mission Fund before it became a fund.  I say that only to tell you how the Lord has been moving in our hearts. As of this day, we have felt led to increase our monthly gift three times, and we are committed to giving not for the three years but till the Lord tells us to stop.  That makes it impossible to fill out an amount or a pledge, for Scripture is very clear that one is not to be a fool and promise something they are not able to do.  “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.  It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.” Ecclesiastes 5:4-5

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Sabbath Regulations

 

 

Exodus 35:1-3

 

November 8, 2024

 

Sabbath Regulations

Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.  Six days' work shall be done, but on the seventh day, you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.  You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”

 

We have come a long way, as the American people, in many ways, some good and others not so good.  Remember to set aside a day, just one day, to worship the God who is, not the one you may have designed.

 

So, the question to the Church is not a building or denomination but the people who, by faith in the finished work of Christ on the Cross.  Is Sunday a day of worship and rest for you?  Or is it just another day to work, mow the yard, and if so, when is your day of rest?

Western Christianity: The Sabbath is observed on Sunday, the first day, and is called the "Lord's Day". This is the majority practice of Christians. (Taken from the internet)

 

We do have Scripture to give us direction on how we should worship and rest. Often, the one who has the hardest time is the Pastor and his staff, for them, Sunday is a very busy day.  And if you have not allowed your Pastor and staff time to rest, like a day off, you have done them a great injustice.

 

In Colossians 2:16-17,  “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Is that telling us all about Jesus, and how we look to Him as our life?

 

What about a day of rest?   In Exodus 20:11, “For in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”  Blasé Pascal lived in the 1600s, so being too busy to sit and rest is not a new thing; it has been man’s problem for many years.  “All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.”  I would add to Blasé's quote: that most men’s miseries come from not finding time to be still before their Creator and give him thanks for His many blessings.

 

From our Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Shining Face of Moses

 

Exodus 34:29-35

 

November 7, 2024

 

The Shining Face of Moses

 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.  Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.  But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them.  Afterward, all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai.  And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded,  the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went in to speak with him.

 

I have heard a pastor tell their congregation that God had told him to do certain things, and I’ve never doubted them.  For one thing, if they lied, it wasn't on me; it was on them.  The Holy Spirit often comes to us. I’m fearful that our ears are not open to hear or do what He is telling us.  But I’ve never seen anyone whose face shone like Moses'.  God was making sure that these people knew that Moses had been with Him.  

 

Now, pastors have told me some strange things that people have tried on them, such as God told me to leave my wife for a younger woman.  That person's god was his flesh, for that would not be in keeping with the Word of God.

 

From ​our Back Porch,

Bob Rice.

The Covenant Renewed

 

 

Exodus 34:10-28

 

November 6, 2024

 

The Covenant Renewed

And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people, I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

“Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.  Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.  You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim  (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),  lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice,  and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

“You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.

“You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt.  All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep.  The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it, you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed.

 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest, you shall rest.  You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end.  Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.  For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning.  The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.”

And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”  So, he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

 

God’s promise to Israel was to honor the covenant, the Ten Commandments.  And even after God’s instruction on what to do and not do, they chased the gods of the nations around them, and it brought judgment on them.

 

God’s ways are higher than ours, but a wise person would examine what God has said about work and rest and follow his leadership.  Much of the illness in today’s world is not believing and doing what God has said to do, in all areas of life.  He has given us wise counsel and a handbook on how to live life to the full.

 

The period of forty days and forty nights is important in the Bible, being found 24 times throughout Scripture. From the 40 days and nights that Moses spent in the wilderness when given the Ten Commandments to the same period that Jesus spent in the wilderness when tempted by Satan.  (Taken from the internet)

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Moses Makes New Tablets

 

 

Exodus 34:1-9

 

November 5, 2024

 

Moses Makes New Tablets

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.  Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.  No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.”  So, Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.  The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.  The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,  keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”  And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.  And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

 

Can the Church identify with God’s attributes, sure, a God of mercy, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness?  But no longer does God visit the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.  Ezekiel 18:19-20, “Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”  That is good news, but the sins of the fathers, poor performance, and a dad missing from home can have a lasting effect on the child.

 

The Church is a chosen people, a holy priesthood; you will find that in 1 Peter 2:9. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  One must wonder, when looking at their lives, are we not like the people of Israel? Forgetting the love and mercy of our God, who has promised to never leave us or forsake us.  Who has pardoned our iniquity and our sins, and has brought us out of darkness into the light.  We are now heirs with our Lord, Jesus Christ.  And we are sealed and enveloped in Christ; all things must go through Him to get to us.  One must never forget that our free will needs to be examined often, to make sure, as a child of our Father in heaven, we are being obedient to His calling and plan for our lives.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice