Melchizedek (hard to spell!)

Hebrews 7:2

Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had won in the battle and gave it to Melchizedek. His name means "king of justice." He is also "king of peace" because Salem means "peace."

16 He [Jesus] became a priest, not by meeting the old requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17 And the psalmist pointed this out when he said of Christ, "You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek."

An interesting note is that in Hebrews Jesus is said to be a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek. Melchizadek was the king of "Salem" which scholars believe was later Jerusalem. His name means king of justice and the word salem means peace, so he is "king of justice and peace" - how cool is that! Jesus is king of justice and peace and is king of the "new Jerusalem." The whole discussion of Jesus being a priest and offering a sacrifice once and for all isn't as meaningful to me not ever having lived with the ritual of blood sacrifice. I understand it, I just live in a time when that was never a part of my experience (hallelujah), so there is a part of me that cannot relate as fully as those people could to what that really meant. I imagine it was quite a change in thinking and behavior for them!! This is a really important point in Hebrews, much is said about why Jesus fulfills the requirement of the law regarding sacrifice and that He is the one and only High Priest that became a priest "by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed".

I look forward to what others are discovering as they read and study this great book of the Bible!

Gina

Confidence not Condemnation

I am so exicted to explore Hebrews together and anxious to hear how the Lord is speaking to each of us as we open our hearts to scripture! Again, I want to thank you Joy for your leadership! I recognized this morning after reading Hebrews 4:16 "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." To often I approach the throne of grace feeling condemnation not confidence. What a blessing this word from the Lord was for me today. I printed it three times and taped it to the mirrors in our bathrooms and one in the kitchen! Please share with me fun and creative ways you celebrate scripture. Love, Lissa

Hebrews

I am looking forward to this series. I don't know if it is because I felt directly spoken to yesterday or what. I am a sprinter also and right now I am in the "flame out" phase of my sprint at work. I am thankful God has surrounded me with an awesome support in my family, work, and in church. Without it I would go to very rough, dark places very quickly.
I sat down last night with some texts and I wanted to share a few things that I picked up if you don't mind. First of all I had a "Duh" moment so in the spirit of full disclosure this what I learned. No one knows who wrote Hebrews. Of course there is speculation but everyone agrees it looks like it wasn't Paul for alot of reasons, things discussed, different literary style, etc. It was written not so much as a letter but a sermon. It was written to Jewish people who had converted to Chritianity. Hence the name "Hebrews." This was my "Duh!" moment. I had not realized or thought about it before. Obviously I am not a Biblical scholar. Now we have that out of the way. Thank you for letting me share my limited brain with you. :)
These second generation believers were having a hard time. Remember the "drift away" Larry spoke about. You will find it addressed right away in chapter 2. Also these believers were struggling because they were used to the traditions of the old covenant and obedience to the law. They were having a hard time accepting the new covenant of Jesus' grace. They also, as the first Christians, worshiping in "house churches" and it likely bothered them to see Herrod's temple. They probably felt a little paltry in comparison. The first chapters open up and talk about angels and then Moses for the reason of showing Jesus' superiority to them. Angels were original prophets in the OT and Moses was a great leader. The words Jesus is "better than" is used 13 times in this book. It was very important to get that through their heads.
A couple more things in the first chapters I wanted to share with you. In your reading I want you to note how in the single verse of 1:3 .Christ is established right off the bat as Prophet, Priest and King.
Also note that in 1:14 it gives the case for guardian angels.
The first verses of Chapter 2 give the first of 5 warnings in the book-don't drift
Chapter 3:7-8 gives the 2nd warning-don't harden your hearts.
One last thing and I hope I can be brief. (I doubt it:)) I love the original Greek and whenever I can share it I look forward to the opportunity. Chapter 3:8 says "do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion during the time of testing in the desert, "This is refering to the 40 years the Israelites spent in the wilderness. The "testing " means that the Israelites but God to the test not the other way around. A situation allowed God to demonstrate who he is an how faithful he is to his people. In verse 9 it refers to what the Israelites saw. The Greek word is horao-this word carries the idea of seeing perceiving, understanding, experiencing and assimilating into one's self. The grammar indicates a constant, continual, nonstop seeing and experiencing God's works. God provided manna, quail and water to 3 million people each day for 40 years. Ponder this, one scholar estimated that it would take 4,500 tons of manna to feed the children of Israel each day. This means that God fed his people 65,700,000 tons of manna over 40 years. The Israelites grew up thinking it was normal for 4,500 tons of manna to appear out of thin air each and every morning. I won't even get into the numbers of quail, and the amount of water He provided. And yet at it seems at every turn they were whining to Moses or building an idol out of something. The word "hardened" is a Greek medical word to describe something hard like a callous or also can be translated to "stiff necked." Over time the word came to depict a person who was thick skinned, indifferent, or insensitive. If you like I are thinking "How can they be so hard hearted after all God has done for them?" let's take a moment and stop to ask ourselves that question. I know, I don't like to think of it either. But there is hope. If you daily recount the blessings of God and express your gratefulness to him you will avoid falling into the hard heartedness trap of the Israelites.
Wow this is really long and I even cut some out. I guess I am making up for missed posts. :)
Take care and I look forward to your thoughts.
joy

Spring

The warm days this week were proof of spring's arrival. Of course having 3 boys in 3 different spring sports also is a sure reminder that spring is here. Keeping track of schedules is a challenge this time of year. My parents from South Dakota were here this weekend and were able to attend grandparent day at the grade school. What a wonderful program the lower grades put on!! I was fighting back tears several times. The K-2 grades had a program on Holy Week and having just done Holy Week - the meaning was so fresh in my mind. Being so involved in organizing the activities at Grace during Holy Week, it was hard to fully engage it. So getting to just sit and receive this wonderful message at the program and then again this Sunday with the film and wonderful Easter inspired music was a special blessing to me. God is SO GOOD!
I don't think we have an Easter tradition at our house. As a child, we weren't allowed to do egg or candy hunts as that wasn't the true meaning of Easter. With our children we've done them, but we've not set an annual event. This year I hard boiled some eggs and the boys took paints and actually painted them with paint brushes. Then we hid and found the same eggs several times over. We ate them for Easter supper.
Until next time,
Gina J.

Cardboard Testimonies

Thank you ladies of Grace who shared your testimony on Easter morning! I also want to thank those of you who supported your husband as he shared and your children! Our entire family was blessed! The power in the silence with few written words was a beautiful picture of Jesus alive in YOU! Jeff, Zach, Seth, Joel and I went to the Third day concert last night. It was a fantastic concert including a vidoeclip of cardboard testimonies! I had to catch the bubble of pride growing in me as I celebrated . . . "MY CHURCH DID THAT TOO!"
Love, Lissa

Hope

I am like Jean in that Good Friday is always rather sad....but the joy and hope that comes with Easter quickly moves me past that. This year I am so excited to have my whole family coming for Easter....each year we do an Easter egg hunt for all the little ones, but this year is special because we have 4 new grandbabies that will experience easter at Grandmas. This will be the first time since Brynn and Hailey were born that we will all be together, the anticpation of them getting to meet their cousins on such a special day is wonderful, the down side is that I have decided that now would be a great time to get a cold, please pray that it will clear quickly, because if I am sick, the babies will not be able to come. I know this may sound a little selfish, but I have been looking forward to this for some time.
As to how have we spent Easter in the past, I remember as a child that I would get new shoes, dress and hat, yes I wore a lovely spring hat to church for Easter Sunday. I remember one Sunday, I became quite tired during the service and proceeded to fall asleep, thus my head fell back, and you guessed it the hat ended up in the row behind us. As I had children, I always used Easter as a time to dress my children in their sunday finest....and of course a new outfit for myself was sometimes in the offing. I have to say that it doesn't seem so important anymore to get something new for spring, maybe I am finely getting smarter and realizing the most important part of Easter, is God's love for me and the family he has so richly blessed me with.
I pray that all of you will experience the warmth of love of our Savior this weekend.
P.S. Have fun making memories with your families as well.

Marilyn

Thoughts of Easter

Noreen's comments on the resurrection eggs reminds me that I wanted to share that I have recently learned of this from a Miss Patty Cake book I discovered at the church library. We snuck it home, hopefully no one has missed it, and this morning we (Grace, Otto, and myself) acted out our resurrection eggs. Normally, Good Friday is an emotional day for me. However, opening the eggs and reliving the holy week events with the kids brought me peace and joy. The kids get it. And seeing them "get it" brings me joy.
Jean

No waiting

I'm with Joy in passing by anything with a long line. So I can't really remember waiting in lines, but I do know I have at times regretted my impatience, because I heard later that it would have been worth the wait!

I never posted on the "where would I go and with whom" question. That's a hard one for me. Bruce is a mountain hiking guy and I am a beach girl. Since I can hike but he can't swim, I haven't been to an ocean since we were married. And since I am very content with a book and the sun, who would I take with me? Probably my daughter.

But being married to a dairy farmer, really, I'd go about anywhere with anybody. :)

Our days away from the farm are very few and very far between! Bruce has had two days off in the past 20 months . . . We really don't know any other lifestyle anymore, so that is not a complaint, but when I hear wives complain about husbands who never take a day off, I just have to bite my tongue and smile. :)

I am struggling a bit with what to do for Easter. My youngest is ten and asking about an egg hunt, but he does NOT need the candy, and my 3 older kids aren't really into hunting eggs anymore, though sometimes it surprises me how they like the kid stuff yet. Any suggestions for egg fillers other than sweets?

We used to do resurrection eggs when my kids were little--each egg contained an object related to Good Friday/Easter. And then on Easter I used those eggs to hold candy and hide them. I just think the symbolism is pretty cool of the empty egg representing the empty tomb and the grave holding something "sweet" now that Jesus has risen.

Wishing you all Easter joy!
Noreen

finally posting

I have been typing and retyping for an hour and a half now. I wish I could have you all over for some tea and see you and just chat. Catch up. Share laughter and tears. It has been a couple of weeks since I last posted and I apologize.
Blog idea of the week...I would like to hear from you about any special spring time/Easter traditions you have. How do you know it's spring? Do you get your kids all new clothes for Easter? Do you dye eggs or get those handy dandy sleeves? Easter Egg Hunt? Do you plant a garden? Do you spend time with family? How do you teach your kids about Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday? Are you full force into spring sports? How do you manage those supper times? Share what ever your heart desires.
Take care,
joy