i am a Christian. i love Abba with all my heart, my mind and my soul. i love spending time with Abba each day because i want to become the woman that i am called to be. i know that God is truly a Holy Counselor. i talk to God about everything. God is never busy and God's counsel is sound. i donot have to double check because God's testimony is practical. God will talk to me about everything i.e. from what i wrestling with in the daily Bible study, to how effectively clean my room, to the importance of me being more respectful to people.
nevertheless, God has blessed me with some real friends(that is another blog). one of my former teachers is my friend. she is Jewish. i try to send her and her mom a card, with a prayer from my heart, inside to them, throughout the year. yesterday, i looked up yom kippur. why? i met a Messianic Jew, a Jewish Christian, last Saturday who said the weirdest transition from becoming a Christian was going from 7 observations to 2. i knew what Passover was because i celebrate it as much as possible. i am not going to go down the list. so i looked up yom kippur (Leviticus 16:1-34; exodus 30:10; Leviticus 23:27-37; 25:9; numbers 29:7-11). i know that is a lot of scriptures yet it is so rich, you can read it and just ask Holy Spirit to help you understand the Word so it can live within you. if i just focus on Leviticus 16, i appreciated the significance of Jesus. when the veil of the temple tore in two on resurrection Sunday, i received the privelege of studying the Word myself; Holy Spirit teaching me the Word; the privilege of having a real relationship with God, with no priest; Jesus praying on my behalf continuously; the access to all the principles, proverbs, and blessings in the Word of God. in the old testament, the priest had to go before God with unblemished animals, clean clothes, a right heart, and follow God's steps to properly intercede on behalf of those who sinned. if the priest sinned, the priest could have an untimely death, the Presence of God.
so yom kippur, there was a lot of sin to repent from: the sins of Aaron's sons, the sins of the people building a golden calf and basically saying the calf brought them out of bondage and not Yahweh. the entire nation is suppose to engage is this time of repentance, remembrance, rest and restoration. Christians can actually participate in this high holy day. think about the bondage that God has brought us out. think about the golden calf's that we build and God destroyed or still needs to be destroyed. think about the priest that we are. when you become a Christian, you become a priest, a temple of the Holy God.
Leviticus 16: 29-34 "This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. "For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. "It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. "And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father's place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; "then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. "This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year." And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
God, we thank You that Jesus is the atonement for our sins. God we thank You that You can deliver us from any behavior, person, place or thing that does please You. God let this mind be in us, which was also in Christ Jesus. God perfect those things which concern me. God i hide Your word in my heart that i might not sin against You. in Jesus' name, amen
