But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21–26, ESV)
Sow Righteousness, reap love
Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12, ESV)
Put Away Foreign Gods
But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.” Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.” (Joshua 24:19–24, ESV)
This is not just Jewish people, boys and girls. We who have chosen the Lord to serve Him are supposed to put away foreign gods that are among us (Easter for instance) and incline our hearts to the LORD the God of Israel. The “Lord’s Supper” is Passover.
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:26–28, ESV)
Teaching Children
From ‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 8 The Whole Purpose of the Law – Teaches Children
A few years ago a good friend in a Sunday school asked how he could help keep his kids in the faith. It seems his teenagers were starting to drift away, and he was concerned. I listened in some amazement as another friend took ten minutes to advise the first friend to keep his kids from watching ‘R’ rated movies and make sure they went to church every week. My response to both friends was to teach the Word through God’s traditions, especially the feasts (Leviticus 23). I told them how we observed Sabbath with a family meal as a kick off on Friday night, and how my daughter who went to college in Hawaii for a while still participated even though she was far away. She would call on Friday nights and we would put her on speaker phone. Then we would say blessings and eat together.
Later her fiancé, a Marine training in North Carolina, would call too and we had to find a second speaker phone for him (we already had two phone lines). It was a lot of fun, and helped keep our kids involved in and connected with the family and with the Word. The key to this of course was to practice God’s Word all the time, not just after they left home. I lost touch with that friend, so I don’t know if he ever took me up on my advice. I don’t think so. I think he was too indoctrinated by standard church teaching to accept the whole of the Word.
Practicing the whole Bible has made a huge, wonderful difference in our lives. We still have a family meal once a week, even though my daughter and her husband have been married for ten years. My children (and now grand children) have been taught the Law and they are still following its precepts. They tell me that the Word is much more meaningful to them than ever before. God’s Word is guaranteed to work because it is backed by His authority and power. We don’t always cooperate, but the Word works. If we follow His directions, we will end up right where He wants us.
God is in Our Midst
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. (Zephaniah 3:17–19, ESV)
God is in Our Midst
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. (Zephaniah 3:17–19, ESV)
Rejoice in the Lord though famine overtakes us
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. (Habakkuk 3:17–19, ESV)
When I Fall, I Will Rise
Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication. Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets. (Micah 7:8–10, ESV)
Passover 2013
The Passover meal is Monday March 25th. Tuesday the 26th and Monday April 1st are Sabbaths. From Monday night through Monday we will be eating unleavened bread with our meals. Before Passover we will remove all the food products with leaven in them from our home.
The Passover meal is a family time with a lamb barbecue. The lamb we roast with a marinade discovered by Susan and some allspice. We have walking sticks (staffs) and coats close by, and we don’t dally over the meal. We also eat some cheroseth (apples and cinnamon) and we use horseradish for the lamb (bitter herbs). There is some prayer and bread from His Word (Bible reading) to remember what Jesus did for us with His death and resurrection. He is the one who makes Passover and all it means possible. That’s why we burn up all our leftovers, and return a small part of His love by abiding in His commands.
If you’ve been celebrating the godless whitewashed pagan fertility feast of Easter, nowhere to be found in Scripture, consider abiding in His whole Word instead. Let the pagans have their day back, and worship with us in the God-anointed festival of Passover instead. Touch God and be touched through the new covenant of love from a heart of flesh for every Word from His mouth.
The New Covenant
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31–34, ESV. See also Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 5:10; Ezekiel 11:19-21)