Jesus paid it all. 

Lev 17:11 -- Blood sacrifice is needed.

Separation in the garden.

All the Old Testament Sacrifices were temporary. They were never enough. Like Bailing out a boat. 

Concept of continual sacrifice. 

You'll never catch up. 

How much unfinished busienss do you have?

Legacy

Unpaid bills. 

Relationships

Do you have regrets?
 
Unfinished business, greatest worry often.

Always something to do. When Jesus died on the Cross it was finished (as He said). 

Accomplished....finished as in the end of a race.  It's a not a survival thing. It's a completion. 

There's no longer a need for temporary atonement. 

"Jesus paid it all.
All to Him I Owe.
Sin has left a crimson strain
He washed me white as snow."

1. Everything was thrown at Him -- Satan and sin threw it all and Him and He was victorious over all.

2. Suffering was finished.

3. Prophecies fulfilled.

4. Law fulfilled.  Romans 10:4

5. Price of Sin Paid in Full.
Hebrews 10:11-14
He paid it all.

The fountain of grace always flows.

Foundation of peace and relationship has been laid. That didn't exist prior to Jesus's sacrifice.  He opened a door that had never been opened before. HE actually made a door and then opened it. 

Who said you're supposed to do that? 

Turn your guilt into gratefulness. 

Just accept His forgiveness. 

Give up the self-loathing.

Love one another.

Just accept it. We can't add to it. We can't say it is finished without Jesus.  The only thing that completes us in Him. 

It is a gift. Grace is a gift. You aren't qualified. Anything we do to diminish it is on us. 

God doesn't look at us and see our imperfections. He looks at us through Jesus and sees perfection and completion. 

Romans 12:1-2

​Get behind me Satan!!

Malachi 3:1-4a:  “Behold, I am going to send My [a]messenger, and he will [b]clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; [c]and the [d]messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. 2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like [e]fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord [f]offerings in righteousness.4 Then the [g]offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lordas in the days of old and as in former years.

We normally don't think of fire as a blessing. 

Yet, fire can be used as a tool.

Every time you heat silver it gets a little more pure. Just a tiny bit of heat makes the silver turn black -- does nothing good for it. And too much heat will ruin the silver. God knows how to apply just enough heat to us to refine us. 

Matthew 3:11-12:“As for me, I baptize you [a]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you [b]with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Weeds need to be thrown into the fire and burned up -- in real life and in us. 

A holy fire. God mentions fire in the Bible 368 times.

God spoke to Moses in a burning bush.

A column of fire led the Israelites at night.

Fire consumes but is also refines.

Acts 2:1-3:  When the day of Pentecost [a]had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire [b]distributing themselves, and [c]they [d]rested on each one of them.

Refining in us continues every day. More and more getting rid of the old and becoming the new.  God knows we can't fix ourselves by ourselves. We need Him to do lasting changes. 

God refines for a purpose.

1 Peter 1:6-7:  In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various [a]trials, 7 so that the [b]proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which [c]is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Rejoice in the process.

Correction, discipline, Don't we discipline them out of love? God does the same thing. 

God has to relight our fire sometimes. He's got to kick the coals, restart the flame if He must. We do best when we work with HIm.

"It hurts me more than it hurts you."

Jesus sees the pure silver in the raw material in us. He knows the good that's in there. 

It's work to get something shaped out of what you see. It's work to hammer and shape. God is with us all the time. it's a whole lot easier if you work with Him.

Hebrews 12:29, "our God is a consuming fire."

All to develop a deeper relationship with God. We want our children to move in the right direction. God wants the same for us.

It's pure when the craftsman can see his reflection in the precious metal. God wants to see His reflection in us.

(Sermon notes take by Jane):

Spring is hopeful.

In winter we get short of Vitamin D. We need sun to replenish it. 

Genesis 8:22. The constant rhythm of seasons is a promise from God.

Renewal of life.

Song of Songs 2:11-13.

Plowing and planting and expectation time.

Plant in hope.

Are we plowing our own hearts? Turning over fresh soil? Getting rid of the fallow ground?

Jeremiah 5:23-24.

Two reasons to plow:

#1 To plant.

#2 To get soil more fertile.

Do I have fallow ground in my heart?

Seeds God wants to plant in my heart can't be planted in fallow ground.

Do I have any fallow places in me?

Ground has to be soft to accept seeds. It has to be soft down deep so roots can grow.

Right now is the time to soften up. 

Spring was the season of war and preparation in biblical times.

We prepare our hearts for the seed.

Be ready for war (spiritual war). If we let the weeds go they will take over.

Jesus Christ isn't our honey-do list.

Our faith can't be an unfinished project. It has to be our #1 priiority.

John 11:23-24.

John 11:25.

Notes from today (3/5/2017):

Reasons for our faith:

God hasn't changed.

We are who we are.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

Humanity got first exposure to perfection -- human perfection (Jesus is 100% Human, 100% God) in Christ. 

Jesus came to be our Sacrifice.

Problem of OT sacrifices -- constant blood shed for sin. 

They were like paying interest on the principal that could never be touched with an animal sacrifice (or any sacrifice apart from Christ). 

Romans 4:10.

He sacrificed His Son.
He paid the debt for us.

Jesus came as a mediator.  Hebrews 4.

Jesus came to fulfill the Law.

He is the Bridge to God.

Psalm 19:7 -- The Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul

With maturity comes better eyesight (spiritual eyesight)

I've gotta go so the Helper can come (John 16).

Understand what a gift the Spirit is!

God says, "Come to Me now."

You can be free from sin.

It's not a one time event. It's a lifetime event.

​

Well folks, we heard that some people prefer the notes to the podcast. So, we will furnish both on this blog (or should it be a plog or a Blogplog). Below I will type out my notes and then share the video from this 11/6/2016. I recommend you look up the scriptures too. I'll put  a link to Biblegateway so you can read them right online. Thanks for visiting:

God's creation is perfect in that God created it exactly as He intended to. Think about this -- all the things we create (we humans that is) have purpose. Even art that hangs on a wall has purpose.

Genesis 1:1-2

Genesis 1:26  
​​
God created us for a purpose. He created us to be good stewards (managers) of His creation. God created us to be His vessels. We carry the Spirit of God within us. We can have compassion for everything (no other animal can do this). He created us to be stewards like He is in regard to us.

Romans 1:20

No one is immune to seeing God's handiwork. DNA -- God's signature! We are surrounded by God's creation, His very fingerprints. God doesn't have a reject pile. 

Randall Factory story -- if the knives aren't perfect the Randall staff don't allow them out of the factory. 

Again, God doesn't have a reject pile!

Psalm 139:13-14 -- I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God made me the way He wanted me to be. I ought to respect this. God's fingerprints are on me. On everything I've done, experienced, seen; my gifts -- they are all over me (His fingerprints). We will see the whole picture of our lives when we get to heaven. We will see that God was always there. God never let's go of us. We should acknowledge God's handiwork in us.

Romans 8:19-21

God created us for life. The whole earth fell when the stewards fell (If a rancher would suddenly leave his ranch and cattle unattended for months on end, that ranch and the cattle would suffer. If a business manager/owner left the business and didn't take care of it, it would suffer or be closed up).

The creation waits to be reborn​. We have a glimpse of that. We got a special peek of life -- God showed us eternity through His Son. 

2 Corinthians 5:17

Part of the reason I accept where I am is because I know where I am going.

James 1:18  We have a new job. We were created spotless through Christ as God's first fruits!

We are all that special. We are each a custom creation. We are intended for great things. God made you specifically for a specific job. 

Ephesians 2:10: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

God created the work when He created the tool.

When we are reborn we have a job to do. We are meant to be doing something in our lives. When we accept that salvation we have a job to do. We won't be truly happy until we are doing the work God has called us to do. You will be most content when you are God's instrument. We have to be about our Father's business.

Pastor Shannon speaks about the Mystery of God Sunday September 18, 2016 at the Dupree Baptist Church. I think maybe this post could be called a plog? Like a podcast/blog? Thoughts? Thanks for listening. J.H.