Emancipation Day and Easter

Today I find it fitting that it is both Emancipation Day and Easter Day. Both holidays are significant for their freedom.

Emancipation Day is in honor of President Abraham Lincoln signing the Compensation Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862, freeing slaves in the District of Columbia from their physical bonds of slavery and paving the way toward the Emancipation Proclamation which would end slavery once and for all in the U.S.

Easter (or Resurrection Day, as is more fitting) is in honor of our Savior Jesus Christ, who guaranteed our spiritual freedom, both of the bonds of sin in this world and of eternal damnation in the next.

John 8:34-36 says "Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Romans 6:20-23 also declares "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Once we were enemies of God because of our sin. But through this freedom in Christ, once accepted, we can not only obtain (1) forgiveness and purification, as we are no longer slaves to sin, and (2) adoption into the family of God as sons of God (John 1:12; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:7) and heirs and joint heirs with Christ in His glory forevermore (Romans 8:17)

Of Palms and Paradise

Today is the day where we remember Christ's entry into Jerusalem, which we call Palm Sunday. Many times in Scripture, there are instances of foreshadowing. Jesus was honored as King of Israel in Jerusalem just days before he offered himself on the cross and ultimately rose again. When we see Jesus in heaven, we will ultimately honor Him as King of Kings, and there will also be a "Palm Sunday" every day with the praises of his people, specifically those who will be martyred during the Tribulation.

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with PALM BRANCHES in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”"

Revelation 7:9-17

What Is Faith

Faith = Knowing (head) + Being (heart) + Doing (hands)

Hallelujah to the Lamb

This song has been running through my head all day.  I hope you enjoy!

Hallelujah to the Lamb

Written by Conrad Cook

(Verse 1)

It was told that He would come
And the race He would run 
It would end on an old rugged cross
But when they laid Him in the tomb
The power of the Lord went in the room
Now He reigns forever and ever more

(Chorus)

Hallelujah to the Lamb
Hallelujah to the Lamb
That was slain upon a tree
By his stripes we are healed
By his blood we are sealed
Hallelujah to the Lamb of God

(Verse 2)

Church He's coming back someday
He'll take us home with Him to stay
Where His Glory forever we will share
And when that first trumpet sounds
We will all be glory bound
Up there we'll live forever and ever more

Listen to the track on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egmD5itgDh8