Shadow versus substance

I had always doubted the purpose of offerings to "God" of other faith. Never really grasp the true purpose of those offerings as well. Always wanted to question the real purpose of these offerings when I was very young but never had the courage to ask for fear of been reprimanded. However, I had always found the whole process meaningless.

Praise be to God that many of my doubts were cleared when I know more about Jesus. Before Christ came, children of Israel had to offer sacrifices to atone for their sins. This was done at the tabernacle of Moses. At the outer court, there was lots of blood shed from the killing of the sacrificial animals. At the holy place, there were three items: the altar of incense, the table of showbread and the candlesticks.

Till today, many religions are still practicing the ritual of sacrificing animals to have a prosperous year. Isn't it strange to see all these rituals so similar with the animal sacrifice during the old covenant days. Probably someone just copied the process but didn't get the true meaning of these rituals.

At the cross, Jesus, the true Lamb of God had completed the animal sacrifice to God, once and for all. The Lion of Judah had finished a finished work at the cross. It is completed complete! The true substance had come! All those sacrificial rituals are just a shadow, they are just representation of the true substance.

So, today, we just need to behold Jesus and His finished work and proclaim our blessings in Him. For Jesus is the true substance.

Do not fear

What do we do when we had received a bad report about our health? How do we response when something bad just happened to us? What is our immediate response when we heard a loved one is injured?

How often do we think of the worst case scenario straight away when we received these news? We don't usually think that things will work out well in spite of what had happened. We were so quick to always expect the worst when something bad had happened that we forgot that sometimes things weren't as bad as the initial report presented to be.

Maybe that's why there are 365 verses in the bible that tell us do not fear or do not be afraid. One verse for each day of our lives. If something bad happens, for Christians, we can expect that it will work out for our good. Perhaps some of us had lost our jobs and we are thinking naturally how we are going to get a job , especially, if some of us are advanced in age. Perhaps a loved one is suffering from terminal cancer and we think there is no nope.

Do not be afraid when bad things happen. For we can look to Jesus for deliverance out of that bad happening. Jesus can turn things around for our good. Just remains at rest and God will take care of all our cares.

Guard your heart!

Guard your heart above all guardings for out of it springs the issues of life. Jesus tells us in His word not to take thought for tomorrow or be worrisome or anxious over issues, for His grace is sufficient for the day.

The word also tells us not to fear the treats of the devil, for Jesus had taken the power of the world from him and had given this power to us to reign in this world. The more we are able to guard our hearts against the evil thoughts, the more we will see God's manifestation outwardly in our lives.

The areas that we can let go and let God are the areas that God's grace can flow through easily. The areas which we worry or be in a state of fear, are the areas which we restrict the flow of God's grace, even though God is blessing us all the time.

Perfect peace

In the midst of a perfect storm, there can be perfect peace.

This was best demonstrated when Jesus was crossing the sea of Galilee with His disciples. Some of His disciples were seasoned fishermen. To fear the storm the way they did must have been quite a storm. Yet, Jesus was not disturbed at all at what the devil was throwing at Him. He only woke up at the cry of His disciples. Immediately, He would calm the sea down.

This is the love of our Lord Jesus. He will come to our rescue the moment we look to Him for help. He is always with us as His word says He will never leave nor forsake us. He is aware of the difficult situations some of us are going through. He already has a plan to deliver us from those difficult situations.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all knowledge and understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

Jesus had left His peace with us while He was ascending into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of our Abba Father. This peace is not of the world but a knowing that our Lord is loving towards us and His love was demonstrated at the cross.