The Feast of Unleavened Bread: Newness of Life

The Feast of Unleavened Bread:  Walking in Newness of Life Free From the Leavening of Sin

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

God’s appointed Feast of Unleavened Bread begins at sunset on March 26^th and is celebrated for seven days.

To learn more about this appointed time read Lev 23:6-8, Deut 16:1-8

The feast is picture of all believers in Christ being cleansed from sin and empowered to walk in newness of life.  As we are empowered to walk in newness of life, let’s make seven declarations (one for each day of the feast) from the Word of God to seal and confirm our commitment.

1.   "Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples." 1 Chronicles 16:24 and Psalm 96:3 (NKJV)

2.     “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.” Psalm 22:22 (NKJV)  

3.      “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, "Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens." Psalm 89:1-2 (NKJV)

4.     “O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.” Psalm 51:15 (NKJV)  

5.     “O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.” Psalm 71:17 (NKJV)  

6.     ”For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!” Psalm 84:10-12 (NKJV)  

7.      Like Jesus, I love righteousness and I hate iniquity; therefore God anoints me with the oil of gladness - Hebrews 1:9. 

    During this Holy Season, let's join together to meditate on the goodness of God.

Our Passover: Jesus, the Lamb of God

Our Passover:  Jesus, the Lamb of God
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

John 1:29 (NKJV)

²⁹  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

God has appointed particular times of worship.  These times are proclaimed in Leviticus 23:  ¹  And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²  "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. (NKJV).

The first of the appointed days is Passover.  Passover was one of the three pilgrim festivals when all Israelite men were required to come to the tabernacle and, later, to the temple in Jerusalem to bring an offering and to worship.  To the ancient men of God, the day commemorated their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and looked forward the sacrifice of the coming Messiah as the complete atonement for sin.  

For us, Passover is a time to look back to the finished work of the Cross.  It commemorates our deliverance from the bondage of sin.  It is a time for us to come before the throne of God, to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) and to worship in spirit and in truth. 

Let’s look at Jesus’ journey on the Passover that culminated on Calvary.

A few days before Passover, Jesus fulfilled prophecy by entering triumphantly into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey.  People lined the roadsides shouting, “Hosanna”, meaning, “Lord, save!”  The throngs longed for deliverance from the oppression of the Roman government. 

Little did they know that Jesus came to bring a greater deliverance, freedom from the bondage and consequences of sin.

One of the requirements of Passover is that all leavening (yeast) be cleansed from the homes.  Leavening symbolizes sin. On the day after He entered the city, Jesus went to His house, the temple.  He cleansed the leavening by chasing out the moneychangers and declaring His Father’s house as a House of Prayer and not a den of thieves.

In like manner, Passover is a time to cleanse our temples (our bodies) of sin through confession and repentance and to offer ourselves once again as a living sacrifice to our Lord.

Remember that the Biblical day begins at sunset.  Therefore, the time that Jesus served the Passover meal to His disciples was in the evening, the beginning of the Passover day.  The day when the ancient Israelites and modern Jews eat the Passover meal is at sunset after Passover.  It is really the first meal of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

In His serving of the unleavened bread and the wine, Jesus explained the symbolism of the Passover meal.  The communion service is a continual reminder of the sacrifice of the Cross.  In it we remember:

Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV)
⁴  Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

After dinner, Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.  That prayer is known today as The High Priestly Prayer and is recorded in John 17.  Jesus prayed for all believers through the ages.  As I have stood on the Mount of Olives among the olive trees that were alive on that Passover, my heart has been overwhelmed with the realization that it was in that area that Jesus sweat drops blood as He prayed for me.

It was in the Garden as He was praying that Jesus was betrayed and arrested.  As the night turned into day, He was tried, beaten, crowned with thorns, taken to Golgotha, nailed the Cross, and forsaken by His Father because He carried on Himself the sin of the world. 

Then, at the moment when the sacrificial Passover lambs were slain, He declared, “It is finished” and gave up the ghost.  As that happened, the earth shook, and the veil in the temple that separated the people from the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom, and believers from that moment on have had access to the Throne of God.

Hallelujah! 

Baruch HaShem Hamashiach Yeshua.  Barach HaShem Adonai.  Blessing in the name of Jesus the Messiah.  Blessing in the name of God. 

This year, Passover begins at sunset on Monday, March 25. 

The Lord's Appointed Times in the Spring of the Year

The Lord's Appointed Times in the Spring of the Year

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)
^“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

Ecclesiastes 3:14  
¹⁴ I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should be in awe before Him.

God has appointed special times for His people to worship Him.  When we come to Him to celebrate His special occasions, we draw closer to Him and learn from Him. The invitation has been extended in Leviticus 23:4 "These are the feasts (celebrations) of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times."

This passage in Leviticus continues with descriptions of the Lord's appointed times:  Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Tabernacles.  Many times we refer to these sacred times as Jewish holidays.  However, because each feast pictures some aspect of the ministry of Yeshua HaMashaich (Jesus, our Messiah), acknowledging them will enable Christians to understand more fully our relationship with our Redeemer. 

The spring feasts, Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits depict the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. 

Because the temple in Jerusalem no longer exists, the celebration of the Feast Days cannot be the same as in the days of the Bible.  Jewish people now celebrate the Feasts using traditions handed down in the Talmud.  Today, more and more Christians are remembering the Feasts.  Some celebrate with adaptations of Jewish traditions.  Some have designed their own celebrations.  Some simply remember the days in their hearts. 

Celebrating the Feast Days is not required, but a powerful blessing can come to us when we more fully understand what has been accomplished in our lives and in the Kingdom of Heaven because of the atoning, redemptive ministry of Jesus, our Messiah.

Whether our celebration is elaborate or simple, our remembrance should include thanksgiving, worship and joy. 

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Let’s come together and exult in our redemption by celebrating the Lord’s appointed times in during this season of new life.

A Royal Priesthood

A Royal Priesthood

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV) ^“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  

            We are a royal priesthood ordained tell the world of the excellence of Jesus Christ who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.  As a priesthood of believers, we have access to the Holy Place in His Temple where we stand in His light, feed on His word and worship Him in prayer.  Because Jesus Christ is our High Priest, we have access to the Holy of Holies--the throne of God the Father. 

            How are we to approach the throne of God?  Certainly with reverence and awe, but also with confidence.  Hebrews 10:19 assures us, "We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus."  Think of it.  We can enter into the throne room of God with the confidence that Jesus Christ paid the debt of sin in our lives and through His blood, we are welcome at the mercy seat of El-Shaddai, the Lord God Almighty.

            God, Who created the heavens and the earth, Who placed the stars in their orbits, Who causes the seedling to grow and to bear fruit, Who is the power that raises the dead, has cleansed us and made us priests that we may worship Him, fellowship with Him and tell others of His excellence. 

            Almighty God, we enter into Your presence through the blood of Jesus Christ, Your Son.  Through His death and resurrection, You welcome us and call us Your own.  In confidence, we come before You to offer up our worship and our sacrifice of praise.  We praise You, O Lord, our God.  Amen.

Our Destiny: To Stand with Hope in the Freedom of Christ

Our Destiny:   To Stand with Hope in the Freedom of Christ
by Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Galatians 5:1 For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.
    Freedom is autonomy, independence and the power and authority to make wise choices that will lead us into an abundant life in Jesus Christ.  Many times current situations may cause us to fear the future and to long for the past which we often romanticize through the process of selective memory.  Christ has set us free to leave our past behind, to walk peacefully in the present and to look forward in hope.
    Because of the promises of God, we need not fear the future.  In Jeremiah 29:11, God said,”For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” At that time, God was speaking to the captives in Babylon.  He was speaking to a people whose sin had blinded them to their destiny.  Though they had forgotten the destiny that God had designed for them, God had not forgotten their destiny.  God does not change, and He is no respecter of persons.  What He had in mind for the Babylonian captives, He has in mind for each of us.  God has designed a peaceful future and a  hope for us as well.  In Christ, we have the freedom and the authority to live in the destiny that God has designed for us.
    The Message Bible translates Ephesians 1:4-6, 11-12, “4Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love. 5Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) 6He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.. . 11It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, 12part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone.”
    Because God desires to bestow His lavish love upon us, we must not allow either our past or our present to prevent us from looking forward with hope and expectancy. In Living Your Destiny, Graham Cooke states, “All of the tests you presently face are there to develop you into the person you need to be to live your destiny. Everything you are going through has been aligned by God to forge you into the person He has called you to be. Your destiny is unfolding before your very eyes.
    “When we embrace the idea that God has a plan for us, no issue should be able to stop us. The statement, “This situation will be the death of me,” is completely incorrect. The truth is that this situation will make you into who you are destined to be. God partners with our present situation to prepare us for the future He has designed. He uses every test, every challenge, every hurdle, every issue to sharpen us for what is to come.”
    God’s lavish love transcends the chaotic world around us.  He desires to bless us in our circumstances, through our circumstances and in spite of our circumstances. We are free to rejoice in the Lord because He has good thoughts toward us to give us peace and a future and a hope. God has destined us for Himself.

Gifts of the Spirit

Gifts of the Spirit 
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Ephesians 4:12 reminds us that God has given Christians spiritual gifts to be used for building up the body of Christ.  1 Corinthians 12: 7 confirms this truth: “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  If we misuse our spiritual gifts, we cannot fulfill the destiny God has ordained for each of His children.
Judges 16:23-31 relates the story of Samson after he had been captured and blinded by the Philistines.   Samson had misused the gifts that God had given him and had fallen into sexual sin that led him, blinded and humiliated, into slavery. 
         The Holy Spirit had come upon Samson while he was still in his mother’s womb and had endowed him with the gift of leadership to judge (to lead in wisdom)  the nation of Israel.  Samson's gift was to be used for the common good of God's people.   Even though Samson judged Israel well for many years, he became involved in the worldly pursuits of fame and pleasure and betrayed his gift.  The consequence of Samson's betrayal is a warning to all believers.  
         Yet, in spite of the sin in Samson's life, in spite of his broken vows, God answered when Samson, in desperation, called on the name of the Lord.  Because His mercy is greater than our sin, Our Lord strengthened Samson for his final battle against the Philistines.  Samson not only avenged the loss of his sight, he glorified the Lord God in his fight to the death.  
We each have gifts to use for the common good and for the glory of God.  Our gifts enable us to serve one another while we are serving the Lord.  Because each gift is necessary in bringing the Christ’s message to the world, we must be willing to use our gifts and to allow others to use theirs. Ephesians 4:15-16a: “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Heavenly Father, You are the giver of every good and perfect gift.  You have blessed us that we might serve.  We confess that we have often misused and ignored Your gifts not only in ourselves but also in our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We thank You for the mercy of Your forgiveness.   Amen.

I will be teaching a study of "The Harbinger" starting February 28 at Rhema Fellowship, 206 6th Ave. in Torrington,WY at 7:00 p.m. It will be a 13 week study. Purchase a copy of the book and the Companion study guide and join us.)