Easter 2015 April 27, 2015

Hello dear ones! I’m finally catching up on posts. It turns out that taking care of a newborn is hard work ;). It’s been a lil over three weeks and I think I’m finally getting into a decent routine. So Leeland was born April 2nd on Maundy Thursday. We got home from the hospital that Saturday and the next day was Easter Sunday. It was a looong day Saturday. We were busy adjusting to having a newborn at home. It was super late when Michael and I dyed eggs.

I saw a neat idea on Pinterest and gave it a try. I painted a few rocks with chalkboard paint. Then Michael wrote his sins/struggles on the rocks and put them in his Easter basket. I exchanged the rocks for goodies on Easter. I shared with Michael about God’s grace in taking our sins.

So after Michael went to bed I set out the boys’ Easter baskets. Leeland was too young to care of course, but I did get him some stuffed bunnies.

Here’s an Easter picture that Michael drew for his nana.

Leeland developed a love hate relationship for the Easter bunny, early on ;).

Chris and Michael went to church. The baby and I stayed home but we did get dressed up. My parents met up with us after church and came over for supper. My mom developed a cold right after Leeland was born, so she couldn’t hold him :(. We had a lovely dinner of KFC. Leeland took a long nap in his swing.He was so easy.

Then we went outside for a photo shoot. I put a blanket in a basket with plastic eggs and used that for Leeland’s pictures. Here he is choking the Easter Bunny. Caption should read “Come here bunny! We gotta talk!”

Then there’s the punch to the face. Poor bunny. Okay…my humor is a bit sadistic. I can’t help myself.

Here’s a beautiful picture of my two babies. Nine years apart. It’s wild!

Easter pic with my parents.

My stepdad holding the baby.

My parents. I love the wysteria growing in our back yard.

Tessa all dressed up.

Look! We found a baby!

My lovely family: Chris, Michael, and Leeland. What blessings! Praise Jesus for His goodness!

Then it was time for the Easter egg hunt, which I missed because I was feeding the baby. Chris got a few pictures though.

Well, I hope you enjoyed these pics. I hope to catch up even more soon. You’ve been on my mind I’ve just been super busy in baby world.
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Easter 2014

Easter Sunday

Easter crafts from 2015

Ash Wednesday 2015

I AM craft, The Lord’s Prayer chapel, and band-aid prayers cross~

Lent Crafts Part One 2015

Egg study & Resurrection egg diorama~

Lent Crafts part 2: Egg Study

Palm Sunday & Easter lily crafts

Lent Crafts Part Three 2015

Lent Crafts Part One 2015 March 9, 2015

In this post: Band-aid prayers cross, Jesus’ I am statements craft, and the Lord’s Prayer chapel craft.

Hello dear ones! I’m playing catch up again. We did these crafts a couple of weeks ago for the second week of Lent. Enjoy!

• Band-aid Prayers cross~ I saw this idea on Pinterest except they used a wooden cross with a ton of band-aids. Ours is a bit simpler. We just used cardboard, band-aids, and tissue paper. Each week Michael is supposed to write someone to pray for, on a band-aid.

• Jesus’ “I AM” statments craft~ I saw this lovely artwork with the words “I am” but it was about self esteem. I changed ours to Jesus’ statements about Himself. I figured it’d be great for Lent.

Link for inspiration:http://mewithmyheadintheclouds.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-few-things.html

 

Here’s how we did ours:
Michael painted seven different color wedges on his paper using water colors.

Michael pasted a circle in the middle of the wedges. Then he cut out 7 smaller wedges of different types of scrapbook paper and pasted it on top of the water color wedges. I printed out Jesus’ 7 “I AM” statements in different fonts and he cut and pasted them on top of the scrapbook wedges.

I liked it so much that I made something similar, in my prayer journal.

 

• The Lord’s Prayer chapel craft~  I was inspired by a pic on pinterest but when I went to look for the chapel template I couldn’t find it. So I drew out my own. I printed the Lord’s prayer in a nice font and Michael pasted it in the middle. Then he used torn tissue paper for the stained glass.

Well, God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Happy Easter! April 20, 2014

Dear ones, enjoy this vid of Beth Moore called The Moment of the Resurrection. Remember email sub. to come to my blog to see the vid. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday and that you all know how much Jesus loves you. He conquered death to set you free! God bless & remember THE HIGH KING LIVES!

~Amber Dover

Beth Moore vid

The Importance of Easter April 19, 2014

In this post: Our Easter decor, another blogger’s post on the importance of Easter, and an article on the origin of Easter.

Hello dear ones! Please stick around after the picture for a great article and post. I just wanted to share pictures of our Easter decor. I wrote a post last year about why we used to not celebrate “Easter” per say with eggs and rabbits and such. I called Easter, Resurrection Sunday but we spent more time on Passover and the crucifixion than on the Resurrection. Here’s the link that explains: https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/inspirational-wednesday-part-one-why-im-okay-with-easter-eggs-etc/

Now we celebrate Lent too. We’re not Catholic and we’ve never fasted during that time but we like to countdown to Easter. We have a Resurrection Egg tree with symbols of the gospel story. We have a poster for actual Holy Week where we count down. If you look closely you can see last year’s Easter crafts: The Last Supper diorama, tp Resurrection set, and the carton chapel. We’ve got a couple of new decorations though. We set up an Easter village for the first time. I found the bunny village at Goodwill. My first Easter tree fit well with it. I found a bunny basket I had as a kid. I also bought Easter magnets. I made an Easter wreathe for our door. I hung “D” for “Dover” from it.

It’s fun taking a whole month to focus on the Resurrection. Sure, bunnies and chicks have to do with Spring but they also remind us of new life. Spring itself reminds me that I am a new creation in Christ. Winter can feel like death and then all of a sudden, life pops up everywhere. The Resurrection is just as important as Christ’ birth. We should remember both all year long. Still, holidays have a way of cementing truths in our minds. We remember Queen Esther’s story because we celebrate Purim every year. Well, we get the gospel cemented in our hearts every spring as we experience it in a hands on way. The fun helps too. It brings out the joy of childhood and at the same time points to Christ. Now that’s hitting two birds with one stone! 🙂

Check out the article & posts below the pic.

Is the name “Easter” pagan? Where does Easter come from? Great article:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2011/04/19/name-easter-pagan

 Mustard Seeds talks about Lent and Easter on her blog:

http://mustardseeds.typepad.com/my_weblog/2014/03/can-you-explain-lent.html

http://mustardseeds.typepad.com/my_weblog/2014/02/why-easter-is-a-big-deal.html

I really love Janna’s passion for Easter. She inspired me to start my own Lent/Easter journey. The last three years (including this Lent) have been great as we’ve truly dove into Easter. I think it’s more intense than Christmas at times. This year was wonderful because I got to share my Easter/Passover play with our homeschool group. I won’t be sharing that today but in the near future ;). We also took off this whole week leading up to Easter. It was nice :).

Past Easter Posts:

Crafty Monday: Passover, The Lord’s Supper, and The Resurrection

Crafty Monday: Charlotte’s Web Party & Gearing Up for Easter

My Family Rocks! Sunday: Chinese Date Night & Easter & Passover Celebrations

A Late Crafty Monday: Resurrection Garden, coffee filter Easter eggs, & mini pies

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Happy Easter (Resurrection Sunday)! March 31, 2013

Hello dear ones! Christ is risen! May our lives show Christ Jesus’ resurrection power daily! Enjoy this video from the Skit Guys about Peter and John going to the empty tomb. Remember email subscribers to come to my blog to see the link.

God bless & remember the High King Lives! ~Amber Dover

Skit Guys- Peter & John (Ps: sorry this is late. It’s been a busy Easter.)

Inspirational Wednesday Part Two: The Power of the Cross March 28, 2013

In this Post: What Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. Learn the meanings of some big but power packed words like justification and propitiation.

Hello dear ones, I wanted to share with you what I’ve been studying the past couple of weeks. We should always keep in our hearts  and share the power of Jesus’ death & resurrection. Still, it is a special time of the year where Christians are a bit more focused on what the Lord has done. Just as we focus on his birth more so in December or some in Fall (both for us). I’m excited :). This is our second year of celebrating Easter for a month. Before we focused on mainly Passover and  Christ’ resurrection was a quick celebration on Easter Sunday. Lent  (a 40 day countdown to Easter) has really helped us center in on the Resurrection AND the cross.

Here is the link to our trip to Antiquity last year and all we learned about the history of the cross etc:

My Family Rocks! Sunday: Archaeology and Our trip back to Bible Days (Green Smoothie recipe too!)

Passover/ Lord’s Supper post from last year:

Maundy Thursday (Passover & The Lord’s Supper)

A post about Jesus’ death:

Inspirational Wednesday: The Day Hope Died

Before we start I want to share with you some important words. They are big but packed with truth. They express word pictures that need to be seen.

• Propitiation~ the act of appeasing or pacifying someone’s anger.
• Redemption~ the act of buying back as a purchase or ransom.
• Justification~ the opposite of condemnation, being declared legally righteous (like in a court of law).
• Reconciliation~ the act of restoring a relationship or renewing a friendship.

I have heard most of these words. My Dad was a preacher who loved the King James Version. But honestly I never understood propitiation. I want to simply share with you what I’ve been learning about these words and how they relate to what Jesus did on the cross. I’ll be quoting from scripture the KJV and “The Cross of Christ” by John Stott.

May these word pictures increase your love for and awe of Jesus.  🙂

Propitiation seems foreign to Christian belief at first. Pagans propitiate (appease) false gods. One may try to appease the wrath of Zeus with a cow or something. Does the God of the Bible really have wrath that needs to be appeased?  Let’s find out but you will be pleasantly surprised how God’s wrath and propitiation differs from that of pagan deities (false gods).

(PS: I’m sharing snippets of scripture to keep this from being longer than it is. Please take the time in your own studies to read the context of these verses. You can even read online at: http://bibleresources.org/ )

Romans 1:18

^“18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”

Romans 2:8

^“8But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,”

So we know God hates sin and it stirs his anger. Is God one to fly off the handle like gods of  Greek mythology? Are we to constantly make offerings to propitiate for our sin? NO. This is how  the God of the Bible’s propitiation is different.

Psalm 145:8

^“8The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.”

• God’s anger is always right and just. It is provoked by evil alone. What arouses God’s anger is different from  what arouses man’s anger. He is completely righteous in his anger. We are often not.
• God himself makes the propitiation. Get this: He made a way to appease His own anger for our sakes. That’s where the cross comes in. In other religions it is the human that tries to appease the god.  The Bible on the other hand is clear that humans can not do anything to compensate for our sins.  God initiates. He himself became the sacrifice when Jesus died on the cross. Even Old Testament offerings were a gift from God.
• God loved us before his wrath was appeased not just after. God’s love is the source of the atonement (payment for our sins).

1 John 4:9-11

^“9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.¹⁰Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”

Redemption

“The Greek words lytroo (usually translated “redeem”) and apolytrosis  (“redemption”) are derived from lytron (“a ransom” or “price of release”), which was almost a technical term in the ancient world for the purchase or manumission of a slave. We have been “ransomed” by Christ, not merely “redeemed” or “delivered” by Him.”

~ The Cross of Christ by John Stott

Mark 10:45

^“45For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

We are helpless to redeem ourselves. Christ became our ransom and redeems us from:

• Sin

Ephesians 1:7

^“7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”

Colossians 1:14

^“12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

¹³Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

¹⁴In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:“

• The Curse of the Law

Galatians 3: 13

^“13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:¹⁴That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Galatians 4 :5

^“3Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:⁴But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,⁵To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.⁶And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.⁷Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

• Vain Conversation/ an empty way of life

^“18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; ¹⁹But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: ²⁰Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,”

But Wait! There’s more to this redemption than what we see on earth. We are freed from guilt and judgement but we await the “day of redemption”  when we shall be made perfect.  Now we are still sinners though we are seen as righteous because God sees the blood of Jesus covering our sins. Jesus Christ himself is our righteousness. One day we will never sin and we will have glorified bodies not tainted by the curse on this world. No more death! Hallelujah!

“Meanwhile, the indwelling Holy Spirit is Himself the seal, the guarantee, and the first fruits of our final redemption. (See Luke 21:28; Eph. 1:14; 4:30; Rom. 8:18-23)”

~The Cross of Christ  by John Stott

I had told you why we have to be redeemed and what from. But what is the price of our redemption?

• The Precious Blood of Jesus Christ

Scroll back up to 1 Peter 1:19 and read those lovely words, breathed (inspired) by God.

John Stott asks “If the church was worth His blood, is it not worth our labor?”

Justification

Order in the court! The human race is on trial. We are all found guilty of sin and none of us are righteous. Wait, why are some being declared “not guilty”? Their works no matter how good can not justify them? How can this be? They have trusted in Jesus and God himself justifies them. Jesus stood in the great court room on your behalf and took your death sentence.

Dear Christian, God has put His righteous standing on you. Jesus himself is your righteous standing before God! Praise Jesus!

We can not justify ourselves…neither before or after repentance. You can never be good enough to make yourself “not guilty” before God. The cross of Christ (meaning what Christ did) does this for you. Do you accept? I pray you won’t reject this great gift of God’s love.

Romans 3:20-24

^“20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.²¹But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;²²Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:²³For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;²⁴Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”

Romans 8:30-34

^“30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.³¹What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?³²He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?³³Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.³⁴Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”

Oh that’s like sweet music. I love those verses. By the way, I believe free will and predestination are both true in light of God’s omniscience. But that is a topic for another day when I have the motivation to explain something I can’t fully explain (kind of like the Trinity. It is called Faith isn’t it ) ;).

“When God justifies sinners, He is not declaring bad people to be good, or saying that they are not sinners after all; He is pronouncing them legally righteous, free from any liability to the broken law, because He Himself in His Son has borne the penalty of their law-breaking.”

~The Cross of Christ by John Stott

Romans 5:8-9

^“8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

So we read Paul say that we are justified by Faith (Rom 5:1) but see we are also justified by Christ’ blood. How do these go together. John Stott says it well and my mind is blown a bit.

“Grace and faith belong indissolubly to one another, since faith’s only function is to receive what grace freely offers…we are justified by God’s grace and by Christ’ blood. Faith is the means by which we are united to Christ.”

~The Cross of Christ by John Stott

Whewhy! I feel my inner redneck coming out. Seriously, I’m posting all of this in one post. It took me a week to go through this study. It’s some heavy stuff!

The result of Justification is a beautiful relationship with Jesus full of benefits that we enjoy by faith!

Reconciliation

Remember what this word means? To restore a relationship. God and man were not always enemies. Once God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. Before the curse and the fall of man, God and Man were close and man knew God. Sin wrecked that relationship. Jesus came to reconcile us to God…to restore our relationship. So the cross is about more than appeasing God’s wrath and setting us free from sin….it is to bring us to God. We must remember all of these things are important and a part of Jesus’ work on the cross.

“Justification  is our legal standing before our judge in the court; reconciliation is our personal relationship with our Father in the home.”

~The Cross of Christ by John Stott

Romans 5:10

^“10For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Blessings of reconciliation

• Reconciliation which comes after justification, brings peace.

• Adoption

John 1: 12-13

^“12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Romans 8:14-17

^“14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.¹⁵For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.¹⁶The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:¹⁷And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

• Access to God

Ephesians 2:17-18

^“17And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.¹⁸For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

Hebrews 10:16-22

^“16This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;¹⁷And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.¹⁸Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.¹⁹Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,²⁰By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;²¹And having an high priest over the house of God;²²Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

We see through these four words that Christ became our substitute. Everyone struggles with sin…even Christians. We see this in Paul (apostle and writer of much of the New Testament).

Romans 7:18-25

^“18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.¹⁹For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.²⁰Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.²¹I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.²²For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:²³But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.²⁴O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?²⁵I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

We also see this in many other Men of God like Moses, Abraham, the disciple Peter, and David. They were clearly sinners and sinned during their relationship with God. Still God justified them. This only makes sense in light of what we’ve learned. We know that God justifies us. He makes us “not guilty” not because we are perfect but because Christ took our punishment & his blood covers us always if we’ve accepted Him.

Here is a saying that I have found true: The cross of Christ is not held by time. It is fixed in eternity. Christ’ work on the cross covers the sin of those who looked forward to the coming of messiah in faith, those who lived at the time of crucifixion, and all those after Jesus died and rose.  We in 2013 look back to the cross. We must remember that God is eternal and knows all things. He and his work is not constrained by time. The power of the cross was planned before the world was made!

Revelation 13:8 (The context is end times and people worshiping the beasts but we also see that it mentions the Lamb which is Jesus, being slain before the foundation of the world)

^“8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

1 Peter 1:19-20

^“19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:²⁰Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,”

If God saw as a sinners then we would be toast. By the blood of Jesus we are “legally” not sinners. Just as we are “legally” adopted into God’s family and seen as sons, though we are not originally sons of God but rather of the world.  So we are no longer seen as “Sinners” though we sin. We are considered Saints not because we are good enough but because we are righteous through Jesus.  Without this view, our status before God would be off and on again based on our works….covered by the blood, then not covered by the blood. I tell you, you would not stay under the blood at all by your own works. God puts you there. You receive.

Does that mean that we should freely sin? Not at all. True faith is a living faith and our love for Jesus will bring about good fruit. Though some go into prodigal states, I truly believe Jesus always brings back His own whether on their knees or sadly in a box. I have seen people sin away their testimony and we see this with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts. Their “light” was physically put out. They dropped dead before they could do more damage to the body of Christ. God knew their hearts were wicked and who knows, maybe they would’ve gotten worse if left alive.

Romans 6: 14-18

¹⁴For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.¹⁵What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.¹⁶Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?¹⁷But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.¹⁸Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness”

Scroll back up to Romans 7:25. We see that Christ is also the one who helps us daily overcome sin. This is not something we can try to do on our own. It is only possible by abiding in Jesus.

John 15: 5

^“5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.“

So can we say a rote prayer and be saved? Are there certain words that will do the trick?

• We see in John 6: 44 that God must draw us.

^“44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

• We have learned that God himself propitiates his wrath, redeems us from sin and the curse of the law, justifies us by His blood, and reconciles us to Himself.

• We also know that once he does all this we can only live right if we are abiding in Him. Further study shows abiding means spending time with Jesus (by reading His word, prayer, & worship).

So it seems God does everything. So are we just walking along one day as a sinner and bam we’re hit by God and forcibly made into Christians? I don’t see that in scripture at all. I see that He chooses us his foreknowledge of our willing hearts. Scripture says we must receive by Faith.

God has done all the hard work for us. We just have to receive the gift. It’s simple.

Only a true and working faith will receive all that Jesus offers. We see that the work on the cross is about more than escaping God’s judgement (that’s plenty believe me!). It is also about restoring a relationship with God. You don’t just say “Thanks Jesus for getting me out of Hell. I’ll see you in Heaven. Bye now.” When you have truly been drawn and received God’s grace your life will be flipped upside down. The Holy Spirit will come to dwell with you as proof of salvation and to seal you to God. Jesus will be with you forever and that’s going to change some things. But oh what an abundant life! Eternity is worth dying to self in this life. Think of forever and the life that awaits. Life with Jesus is beautiful in this world and the next. It can be hard for sure on this curse ridden planet but still, life with Jesus is better than life without him.

John 3:16-17

^“16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Acts 10:42-43 (Peter speaking of Jesus)

“42And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. ⁴³To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”

John 1:12-13

“12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Some get caught up on whether they are truly believers and how can they truly know if God has drawn them.

It’s not that hard. First off, you know. There is a change and you meet a real person. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you and you have a relationship. This relationship is proven over and over again as you grow in God’s word and get to know Christ better. At first it may be a bit awkward and you’re not always going to feel His presence. But the more you abide with Jesus the more you discern His Spirit.

• You meet the Holy Spirit (part of the three in one, Trinity that is our God). So you actually meet God (spiritually).

Romans 8:16

^“16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”

• You start to bear fruit. You’re not going to pop up with a full bloom apple tree over night. It’ll take time and lots of pruning but you’re on your way.

What is that fruit?

Galatians 5:22-25

^“22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,²³Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.²⁴And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.²⁵If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Matthew 7:20-23 In this verse we see that our fruit is evidence we are saved but it is not what saves us. Knowing Jesus saves us.

^“20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.²¹Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

So to put this practically. The Lord introduces Himself to us and show us we’ve got a death sentence for being sinners. We’ve broken His law. We’re also slaves to sin and orphans. We have no relationship with God but He wants one with us.

2 Peter 3:9

^“9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Jesus through the Holy Spirit shows us that He has paid the penalty and has made us free of all charges. He has bought us back from the devil and we don’t have to be slaves. God, the Father has chosen to adopt us into His family. Do we accept? Do we believe all He has said and will we acknowledge it before the world (confess it)?

If our faith in Him is true then we are sealed by the Spirit and we are born again (changed from the inside out). We have a new master but also friend. We are led by the Spirit. He is a gentleman that leads us (doesn’t force us) and He can be grieved when we choose sin over Him. Jesus has done all this for you. Do you accept Him? Do you Love him?

I hope so. You don’t have to be a slave to sin any longer. If the Spirit is drawing you and convicting you please don’t reject Him. My prayers are with you dear ones.

1 John 2:1-2

^“1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:²And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

2 Thessalonians 2:13

^“13But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:”

And I end with another big word: Sanctification.

To be made Holy. Dear Christian, you are now a Saint because Christ has sanctified you. You are Holy before God because you are in Christ. And we are continually being sanctified because we are still in the flesh, this cursed physical body. One day we will meet Jesus in the air and even these fleshly bodies will be sanctified as they are completely changed. I can’t wait to see you there!

Well, what a night….it’s almost 5 am. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write all this. It’s a lot to chew. I hope you haven’t choked. If so go back later and take it in slow bites ;).

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Inspirational Wednesday part one: Why I’m Okay With Easter Eggs etc

Hello dear ones, some of you may not care and others of you may truly want to know why my opinion of Easter changed. How I went from thinking it was pagan to being fine with egg hunts etc. I was going to include this with my message today (oops yesterday. Sorry I write best after midnight lol!) but I don’t want to take away the focus from the message of the cross. So this post will be separate and I’ll eventually add it to my “about me” page with my beliefs and such (yeah working on that too). This post may also help my relatives who wondered why I snarled at them for trying to give Michael an Easter basket…tehehehe I wasn’t that bad and why the last two years I’ve been okay with Easter.

You may know (if not well it’s out now lol) that I was once a part of the Hebraic Roots Movement. I still love Hebraic music and dances. I still have a deep love for Israel and always will. I still enjoy celebrating Biblical feasts but not because I feel I must and I no longer celebrate Hanukkah or have a Seder. They are fun celebrations but now I enjoy Advent and Lent. I was once vehemently (whew big word) against Easter celebrations like egg hunts and even the word “Easter” itself. I believed it was pagan and came from the name of a pagan goddess. PS: I believed some of these things before the HR movement because of Chic tracts but my belief was deepened when I was in the HR Movement. After research and coming out of the Hebrew Roots Movement I have completely changed my view and believe these things are harmless unless we idolize them.  Anything we idolize can be harmful…even our family. We don’t celebrate the Easter bunny. You know we often play pretend (like on our Leprechaun hunt) but Michael knows the difference between reality & fantasy. A majority of what we do in our household centers around the Bible (except like our Wizard of Oz party…yep it’s pagan 😉 Just kidding..being snarky…sorry).

After leaving the movement I found this blogger and she had tons of research in one place. She is much better at apologetics than me. So if you have questions please ask her. I spend most of my day wandering around trying to remember what I’ve forgotten. I am not the one to argue with ;).  Here are her two posts on the history of Easter:

EASTER

She puts where she gets her info in this post:

Part 1 – Is Easter a Pagan Celebration or is it the Fulfillment of Passover/Pesach?

She’s blunt and I believe probably frustrated with what she was put through in the HR movement. I know I spent lots of time hearing how other Christians were so evil for dying eggs and attending church on Sundays. I hated that cause the body of Christ shouldn’t be about making ourselves elite above others. I don’t agree with the HR movement but I still have friends that I love dearly in it. We may end up agreeing to disagree but this is my journey with Easter and I wanted to share it with you.

Also I heard constantly in the HR movement that the name “Jesus” is pagan. For the Love of Truth has a long and detailed post on the etymology of the name “Jesus”. At the beginning she quotes what is being said in the HR movement (what I heard often) and then she gets into where we get “Jesus” from.

Who Is Yahshua?

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

PS: part two that’s centered on the cross is in the works. I think my cookie dough (eggless) dessert is distracting me…

Inspirational Wednesday: Easter Changed My Day March 20, 2013

Hello dear ones! Enjoy these videos about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember email subscribers to come to my blog to see the links. God bless & remember the High King lives!~Amber Dover

Easter Changed my Day: One Time Blind video

I’m Alive: Onetime Blind video

Inspirational Wednesday: Ash Wednesday & Valentine’s Message February 13, 2013

Hello dear ones, I have a couple awesome videos posted but please check out the message too. I know it will encourage you in your Christian walk! Remember email subscribers to come to my actual blog site to see videos and links.

This is my first time celebrating Ash Wednesday and I’m excited to dig into God’s word about Jesus’ time in the wilderness. I found this neat decoration idea here:

http://thedickensonfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/ash-wednesday.html

I’m not sure how I feel about the whole ashes on the forehead. Since I’m not sure we may just do it on our arm. Sounds trivial I know but that’s just me. I celebrate many things including Biblical feasts. This year everything is running together. While I’m prepping for Valentine’s I’m also gearing up for Purim & Lent. Then comes St. Patrick’s Day, Passover, and Easter.  Wheww!

I love the fun of all the holiday traditions, food, and games but mainly I love learning about the Bible through these holidays. I’m not one to do things just for tradition sake. In fact, for many years I didn’t celebrate certain holidays because I thought they were pagan. Since digging deeper into the true history (not propaganda) I’ve changed my mind and have really began to enjoy the rich Biblical heritage of many holidays. I pray whether this is your first time celebrating Lent or you’re millionth time that the message of God’s word will fall fresh on you. There is nothing wrong with tradition as long as we don’t worship the tradition. Even devotion time and prayer can become rote and meaningless without the power of the Holy Spirit.  Holidays whether Biblical or secular can not save you or put you on a different level with God. Only God’s grace through Jesus Christ can do that. May we abide in Jesus today, dear ones.

First…..

Ash Wednesday:

Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent (40 days leading up to Easter). Why 40 days? Well, it goes along with Jesus’ time of prayer and fasting in the wilderness when He was also tempted by Satan. In Biblical times, people would heap ashes on their heads as a sign of mourning and repentance before God. Thus, the ash cross on the forehead. Some people choose to give something up for Lent or to take on something new. I have friends who give up chocolate the whole month. It is also a time of focusing on service and giving.

I believe fasting (giving up food) and sabbaticals (giving up things or activities) should be a personal matter between you and God. Our church is having a Valentine’s banquet so I won’t be fasting. I’m anemic anyways. I do like the idea of giving up things because I’m doing this Bible study by Kelly Minter called “No Other Gods”. I’ve realized that I have many functional idols….a day away from my laptop may be as excruciating as not eating lol. Again….traditions will not make you holy before God. Jesus Christ is our righteousness…not our works.  I believe just as the Sabbath was made for man’s benefit that these traditions should benefit us.

God’s Word….

You can read the story of Jesus’ temptation here: http://bibleresources.org/bible/KJV/Matthew-4

This is my brief summary:

Jesus fasts for 40 days and 40 nights.

Verse 2 says afterwards he was hungry. Sorry I just have to stop and say what an understatement lol. Yes, I think I would be hungry too after that long ;).

The devil tempts Jesus three times and each time Jesus uses scripture to take Satan down. The Bible says God’s word is like a sword. I could so see a Star Wars thing happening but way better. Anywho, that’s just my overactive imagination.

I’ve always been taught how to use God’s word to make Satan flee but today while reading I noticed something. I want to talk to you about how Satan tempted Jesus. He used three methods and he still uses these today.

First off, the last time Satan tempts Jesus, the Lord tells Satan to go then uses scripture. I believe it is very possible that had Jesus told Satan to go the first time then he would have. but everything the Lord did was for our benefit. He knew we needed an example. So I want to put forward that the word of God is our greatest weapon in each of these temptations.

^3″And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

⁴But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:3-4

• Satan tempted Jesus during a time of weakness. Whenever we are hungry, tired, or even mentally drained we are open for attack. Lions attack their prey in times of weakness. A shark is drawn to a bleeding animal/fish. Satan  known as the roaring lion, (1 Peter 5:8) is no different. So dear ones, you must be especially on guard during times of weakness. Do not give the enemy the upper hand. Avoid even the appearance of evil.

Example: When my Hubby was deployed to Iraq I was very lonely. I knew that I missed his affection. I knew I was vulnerable. For my own sake, I decided not to hug people of the opposite sex..even pastors etc…unless they were family. I also did not allow myself to be alone with a man if possible. I’m still very careful about avoiding even the appearance of evil. But I was super careful during my time of weakness.

^6″And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

⁷Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”   Matthew 4:6-7

• Satan twisted scripture to tempt Jesus. We learn a lot about how to use God’s word to fight Satan but we often forget that Satan also knows God’s word. Sadly, he knows the word better than us because he’s lived through it. Satan is a master at twisting the Bible and bringing confusion. We must not only know scripture, we must also know it’s context.

Here is a great principle for protecting yourself against false teaching. Never build your theology on just one verse. If it is mean’t to be a foundational belief then it will be supported by several verses in both the old and new testaments. A lot of people (and I’ve been one of them) get into spiritual deception because they take one verse out of context. A close study of the culture, the original language, and the context (in the book/ letter and also the Bible as a whole) will often remedy any confusion.

I’ll admit that this is the hardest temptation for me. Too often I am unprepared when a person takes a verse out of context and shoots it my way. Sometimes this happens with believers and sometimes with unbelievers. Verses out of context can be used for all kinds of crazy beliefs. We must be ready and we must know our Bible. Another thing to note is that Jesus didn’t argue with Satan. He simply stated the truth in context.

^9″And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

¹⁰Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”   Matthew 4:9-10

• Satan tempted Jesus with worldly possessions. Now this is different for everyone. That’s why each believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling inside them. In the past, the Holy Spirit chose to dwell with only certain people so the majority had to rely on a prophet to speak God’s words. Now we have the immense privilege of going before the Father ourselves because Jesus is our High Priest. We have this beautiful personal relationship with Father God. The Holy Spirit himself teaches us God’s word and he brings conviction. The Holy Spirit knows us best and He helps us with those grey areas.

Maybe you can’t drink alcohol because you have a prior addiction. Or maybe you feel it’s permissible to drink because you don’t have a prior addiction and you never get drunk. In these last days we are to rely on Jesus for every area in our lives. If we rely on man instead of God, to tell us how to live then we are worshiping idols. We are to surrender to Jesus and to follow His words alone. So please don’t let anyone (even/ especially me) try to be your Holy Spirit. Wise counsel is good but Jesus gets the final say.

We are all tempted by different lusts whether it be candy bar or clothes. You know the area you struggle in. May God’s word bring conviction and remember the Word will give you the strength to overcome.  Who is the Word? Jesus himself is the embodiment of God’s word! How awesome!

So dear ones I hope you’ve learned how to counter Satan’s attacks with God’s word.

Valentines…

remember to go to my blog to see vids that don’t show up in email 😉

• Loving our spouse

Marriage Promise Video by Onetime Blind

• loving others

Help by Onetime Blind vid

sometimes God answers our prayers in ways we don’t expect & with people we may not accept

• God’s love for us

Little Things- Onetime Blind vid

seeing God work in the little things

Trash- Onetime Blind

Let God carry your trash. He does it because he loves you. Let it go 🙂

• Loving God

Wash my Feet- Onetime Blind vid

ever try to one up people on your service? A humbling reminder about humility 😉

Lord Lord- Onetime Blind vid

Do you call him Lord but not treat Him as Lord?

A great sermon by Francis Chan on recognizing false teaching

Love to you all! God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Inspirational Wednesday: The Day Hope Died April 4, 2012

The Jews were an oppressed people. They had endured years of captivity and war. They were slaughtered for their faith. It had been over 400 years since a true prophet had spoken in the land. It seemed God was silent. Had He turned away from His people? Now the Jews were being persecuted by Rome. When would their suffering end? The prophets had spoke of a messiah….a King that would bring Peace. God had promised to restore the promised land to His people. Where was this messiah? Whispers are in the marketplace…….the stars mark the birth of a King…..years pass…there’s talk of a prophet baptizing in the river Jordan. And then the Messiah appears…..there is a man healing the sick & feeding the hungry. This man Jesus speaks as if He’s from another world. People are moved by His words. They flock by the thousands to hear Jesus speak. Has the Messiah really come?

The disciples laid down their lives to follow Christ. They left their nets to follow this teacher…this prophet. Jesus’ miracles stirred the crowd. Did Moses perform greater miracles than these? Did King David raise the dead? Surely this man Jesus was the awaited messiah? He was the answer to all their problems. Surely Jesus would deliver them from Rome? Surely Jesus would be the Jew’s king?

The disciples didn’t understand. What could Jesus mean? He was going to die? He was going where they couldn’t go? Why did Jesus say such strange things? The Jewish people praised Jesus as their king but many turned away when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God….when Jesus said He is the bread of life. His teachings were hard to understand. What did seeds and the harvest have to do with defeating Rome? Why did Jesus spend His time with tax collectors & prostitutes?

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The disciples didn’t understand…but still they followed. A few began to see the light. It became clear that Jesus was & is the son of God….but who could grasp that? They walked with Him daily……Why would God take on flesh? Despite their confusion the disciples knew Jesus would save them. But all the talk of death & persecution made them nervous.

Then it happened…..one of their own betrayed Jesus. The awaited Messiah….the King who would save the Jews was taken to be killed! This man who claimed to be God…..this man who healed people and raised the dead allowed Roman soldiers to take Him….to beat Him. This Godman told Peter to put away his sword….to stop fighting…to LET the soldiers take Him. He said He was giving his life freely. Why would he say that? Why didn’t Jesus fight?

The night was terrifying. Everyone was running. The disciples were afraid for their lives. They scattered like sheep without a shepherd. A few followed the soldiers and they watched as Jesus was beaten and the next day nailed to a tree. Their messiah…..their King was a mess of bloody flesh. He was naked for the whole world to see. Jesus was marred beyond recognition. He bore the mark of shame………to die the death of a criminal. What had Jesus done to deserve this? The people who shouted Jesus’ praises were now shouting “crucify!” Hadn’t the Lord healed these people……He had fed them as well…and now they rejoiced in His death.

This was not what should happen to the Messiah. As Jesus began to die, so did every hope the disciples had. There would be no deliverance from Rome. Evil had won again. It seemed God had abandoned them. Even Jesus cried “Why have you forsaken me?!” “It is Finished.” Jesus died. Those words stung….hope was finished. The dream the disciples had pursued was shattered. Everything died when Jesus died. What was left for His followers? They were nothing special. Most of them had denied Jesus somehow. They were scared. They went into hiding. Would the soldiers come for them next?

It seemed death had won…..even the Messiah was bound by the curse. Two days is a long time to live in complete depression and fear. When hope has died there is no reason to live.  But…….

Early Sunday morning the women went to the tomb where Jesus was buried…and HE WAS NOT THERE! The angel said the Lord had risen! The disciples could not believe their ears. Surely the women were delusional…..they had seen Jesus’ flesh torn to pieces…….they saw the nails pierce his wrists. But some spark of hope filled Peter and John. They ran to the tomb. It was empty! The grave clothes were sitting there but no Jesus. Had someone stolen the body?

Thomas couldn’t believe it. It sounded too good to be true. The others claimed to have seen Jesus…..alive. Thomas remembered how the Lord had died. No…he could not believe it. He would have to touch the nail prints….put his hand in Jesus’ pierced side to believe it. Who could believe in Resurrection? Surely it was vain hope……blind faith.

And then Christ appeared and Thomas believed. Not only did Jesus Christ appear to His disciples, He also appeared before 500 witnesses. They watched as He rose into the sky and the angels foretold his second coming. Not only did Christ rise…He also remained on the earth for forty days. He even ate with people. Jesus was not a ghost. He was and is fully alive. It was during this time Jesus again made it clear why He had come. Jesus had come to save people from the inside out. It wasn’t about setting up an earthly kingdom but rather setting up a Kingdom within the hearts of men.

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Jesus came to break the curse. He took the punishment for sin. He bridged the gap between Holy God and sinful people. He offered forgiveness to those who would accept it. He came to save us eternally. Had Christ destroyed Rome, sin and death would still rule the world. Christ came to crush death….to defeat sin……to offer eternal life and freedom from sin. It made sense now. Jesus came to be King over all…..He came to save Gentiles as well as Jews. He came to save the world. The disciples were forever changed. Once they had denied Christ……they had been cowards. Now the disciples were bearers of light and truth. Now the disciples would proclaim Jesus all over the known world even though most of them would be killed for it. They were no longer afraid. The resurrection changed everything.

HOPE DIED……BUT THREE DAYS LATER IT ROSE AGAIN.

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May you remember in this world of darkness that there is ONE true light……ONE hope for the world…..and that is Jesus Christ. You will find lasting hope only in Him. The resurrection changed EVERYTHING. Let it Change YOU 🙂

God bless and remember THE HIGH KING LIVES! ~Amber Dover

PS: May these videos inspire you as you remember Christ’ death and resurrection:

The Skit Guys (Passover)

“This Blood” by Carman (video from The Passion)

WARNING: not for children. I can’t watch the Passion because it is way too gory and traumatic. I believe we can feel the impact of the cross without seeing what happened in detail. I think if we watch it too much we become desensitized. But I could not find any other quality videos for this song….they all had clips from The Passion. So you may have to turn your head a few times or just listen to the song and not watch the video. This song gives me chills but I couldn’t watch the video. I thought I was going to have a panic attack after the whip struck Jesus.

Carman “Sunday’s on the Way” ( I love this song)