March 21, 2020: PREPARING THIS PASSOVER
Yes, we are most certainly living in VERY DIFFERENT TIMES right now!
And as most everyone is doing their part to stay home in order to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus, this has now presented an OPPORTUNITY for us to FOCUS on WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
To bring ORDER to our lives...GODLY PRIORITIES that so many have neglected with the naturally busy lives we all were leading!
It's no coincidence that this should all be happening at this season in which we are to be PREPARING to celebrate the PASSOVER.
Passover is the oldest and most important festival in the TANACH (Old Testament), a COMMAND given by ADONAI for ALL of HIS CHILDREN to celebrate and OBSERVE.
It's about commemorating GOD'S DELIVERANCE of God's people FROM SLAVERY in Egypt and HIS CREATION of the JEWISH people.
“OBSERVE the month of Aviv and KEEP the PASSOVER to ADONAI YOUR GOD, for in the month of Aviv ADONAI YOUR GOD brought you out from Egypt by night." (Deuteronomy 16:1 TLV)
So how does one PREPARE for PASSOVER?
"Let NO YEAST be found in ANY HOUSE throughout your land for those SEVEN DAYS..." (Deuteronomy 16:4 NLT)
Did you know that this is where North America got its idea of SPRING CLEANING from?? That's right! This is the season in which people go through their whole house REMOVING and THROWING OUT ALL OF THE CLUTTER, JUNK and things that they have accumulated throughout the year that they no longer use! And it all originated from this very command by the LORD to REMOVE THE YEAST found in homes, in PREPARATION for PASSOVER!! WHY? Because the Bible is very clear in associating YEAST (or "HAMETZ" in Hebrew), with SIN, as it states in the New Covenant; 1 Corinthians 5:8: "Let us therefore CELEBRATE the FESTIVAL, NOT with the OLD LEAVEN, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the UNLEAVENED BREAD of SINCERITY and TRUTH."
Just as the children of Israel had to take the time to clean their homes and remove the HAMETZ (Yeast) from their homes, we TODAY are being AWAKEND to the CALL of DECLUTTERING not only our physical homes, but our SPIRITUAL HOMES as well. "Or don’t you know that YOUR BODY is a TEMPLE of the RUACH HA-KODESH (HOLY SPIRIT) WHO is IN YOU, Whom you have FROM GOD, and that YOU are NOT YOUR OWN? For YOU were BOUGHT WITH A PRICE. Therefore GLORIFY GOD in your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 TLV)
How do we GLORIFY GOD with our bodies? By coming before ADONAI, approaching His throne of GRACE, in HUMILITY, asking HIM to CLEANSE AND PURIFY every area of our lives - INSIDE AND OUT, with the precious BLOOD of MESSIAH YESHUA!! It is only through the SACRIFICE of HIS SON, on the CROSS that provides us with the FORGIVENESS and REMOVAL of SIN in our lives. YESHUA IS THE PASSOVER LAMB that was SACRIFICED for us, and we APPLY HIS BLOOD over our hearts and EVERY AREA of our LIVES! And so, as we have been DIVINELY given this TIME at home with our families, let's make it a MEMORABLE and MEANINGFUL time to PREPARE OUR HEARTS and our homes for Passover, which is coming up in just a few weeks, on the 8th of April, 2020!
"GO, My people, ENTER your ROOMS and SHUT the DOORS behind you; HIDE yourselves for a little while UNTIL HIS WRATH has PASSED by." (Isaiah 26:20 NIV)
Take INVENTORY of your SPIRITUAL LIFE! Examine your life and ask yourself the HARD QUESTIONS:
• HOW am I REALLY doing, spiritually?
•Am I spending QUALITY TIME READING the WORD OF GOD and SEEKING HIM in PRAYER?
•WHAT am I DOING to GROW spiritually?
OBEY the WORD by following ADONAI'S instructions:
"TEST YOURSELVES, to see whether you are in the FAITH. EXAMINE YOURSELVES! Or don’t you know yourselves—that MESSIAH YESHUA is IN YOU? Unless of course you failed the test." (2 Corinthians 13:5 TLV)
DON'T MISS THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO DO BUSINESS WITH GOD!!!
As King David wrote this Psalm, let this be our prayer, at this unique season we are living in now: "SEARCH me, O GOD, and KNOW my HEART. EXAMINE me, and know my anxious thoughts, and SEE if there be ANY OFFENSIVE WAY WITHIN ME, and LEAD me in the WAY EVERLASTING." (Psalms 139:23-24 TLV)
AMEN AND AMEN! 🙏 🙏 🙏