3/29/26 – New Beginning

The prophetic New Year has arrived. The Spring Feasts, Appointed Times/Moedim, are just around the corner. In Leviticus/Vayikra, we are entering into the grand holiness/kedusha discourse that will take six weeks to navigate and discover the standard of holiness from our Bridegroom King that still exists today (1 Pet. 1:15-16). The Ultimate Bridal Makeover is in full swing, and His instructions are available for the great exchange—exchanging our flesh-indulgent minds and lukewarm, self-centered hearts for the passion-filled heart of our divine lover.

"Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame."
(Song of Solomon 8:6)

Speaking of flames and fire, you'll want to finish our daily altar studies from last week by listening to a fairly comprehensive study on "keeping the fire burning on the altar." Enjoy, and let the Word set your heart on fire (Jer. 20:9).
Listen here.

Our Bridegroom King will lay out in detail the essential elements of holiness and consecration that He expects from His Bride-to-be. He will tell us plainly exactly what kind of lifestyle changes it will take for the people He has desired, redeemed from bondage, and set aside for Himself to become a Bride without spot, clothed in white linen, pure and bright. Within this week's Torah portion, Shemini/eight, we find the initial and non-negotiable commands given to the new Gentile believers in Acts 15:19-21, 28-29 (Lev. 11-19).

"Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day."
(Acts 15:19-21)

"For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well."
(Acts 15:28-29)

Hang onto your hats, or maybe I should say, "let go of your flesh," because by the time He's done with us over these next six weeks, those who are willing to walk the flesh gauntlet will find pieces of flesh all over the ground. :-) It's all necessary if we are going to match the beauty of our Bridegroom King (Dan. 7:5-10; Rev. 19:7-8).

During this Spring Feast season, He calls us higher. He counsels us to remember the former things, but He does not stop there. He offers us the privilege of co-laboring with Him in the great redemptive works He has in mind for our generation. It is in this season that we are called to testify joyfully of how He has delivered us from oppression, liberated us from forced labor, redeemed us from every vestige of bondage, and gloriously freed our souls from all the evil taskmasters of the world (Ex. 12; 1 Cor. 5:7-8); welcome to Passover.

This is our appointed time to declare exuberantly that we are His People—and that we consider ourselves blessed above all men because He has consented to be considered our God and has offered us the privilege of being His people. We remind ourselves that the freedom our Beloved has wrought for us with a mighty Hand and an outstretched Arm is definitely not just small talk! We have learned over the past years that the freedom our divine lover has made possible for us is profoundly substantive. It changes everything about us, starting with our understanding of who we are and why we are here. Armed with this new, higher perspective and overflowing with passion for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, let’s re-engage with the Torah... and its Divine Author, on the issue of what kind of lifestyle we as free people should live. Our Great Journey to Freedom has, you see, only just begun. The eighth day/Shemini of new beginnings is upon us!

As Stephen Curtis Chapman sang, "...come on, get ready for the ride of your lives...this is the great adventure!"
Listen here.

Happy Passover season!
Shalom,
Alan

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