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Hymn Study: Agnes Dei

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We sang this song in church this morning and I loved it.  Didn’t sing all of it, mouthed the words as I have a sore throat (Courtesy of my son)… and I was reminded of how much I love this praise song of worship to our living Lord God.
This one was put together by Michael W. Smith, he has long been a favourite of mine for the music that he puts together.   So many songs of worship to God. 
Figured you’d like to see Michael W. Smith rendition of this beautiful praise and worship song.
Lyrics
Alleluia
Alleluia
For the Lord God Almighty reigns
Alleluia
Alleluia
For the Lord God Almighty reigns
Alleluia
Holy
Holy are You Lord God Almighty
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb
You are holy
Holy are you Lord God Almighty
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb
Amen

Can’t you just see it?
The Lord rejoicing in the praise and worship of his people?
Of his people pouring out their hearts before him?
Seeing God for who he is?
Yes I know, It’s easy to get caught up on the music, but seriously, don’t you just see God’s people loving up on the Lord God who created them?   Who leads them every single day?
I do.
And it fills my heart with wonder.
Makes me see how much smaller I am than God.
And thankful for his love, protection and guidance throughout my life.

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©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

The Prince’s Portion

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 Ezekiel 45:7-25 is our lesson for today.  Last time we learned about designating part of what we have as for the Lord.  It’s a reminder you know?

7 “And to the
prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the
property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of
the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of
the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern
boundary 8 of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

 As
I read this passage there seems to be more than one prince talked about
here.   There is “THE PRINCE” and then there are the princes.    THE PRINCE shall belong to the land surrounding the holy district and the city property.  This land shall be his.

BUT then there are the princes who are being called to no longer oppress the people of God.   It is to these princes that God directs his comments.

They are to put away violence and oppression.
They are to execute justice and righteousness. 
They are no longer to evict the people.
They will have just balances.  The ephah and the bath, they will be of the same measure – one tenth of a homer.    With money being measured the same as well.

But I’m not sure if these princes are different or not.  

9 “Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.
10 “You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

The princes are to receive offerings that are of the standard, measured weight.  This offering is to be given by all the people of the land.
 
13 “This
is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each
homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14 and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor, like the homer, contains ten baths). 15 And
one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of
Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. 

16 All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. 17 It
shall be the prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain
offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the
Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall
provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace
offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

But do you see as you read?  Not only do the people have offerings to make, but the prince has offerings he needs to make as well.  The burnt, grain and drink offerings at the festivals etc, as well as the sin, grain, burnt and peace offerings in order to make atonement for the people.

18 “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. 19 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20 You
shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has
sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the
temple.
21 “In
the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall
celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread
shall be eaten. 22 On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. 23 And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. 24 And he shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah. 25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.

And yet more sacrifices.
Do you see that they have be without any kind of blemish?
Perfect animals.
Meant to make the people right with God.
But so many were needed.  Grain, birds, cattle, sheep and more.’
I am left sitting here thinking, Jesus put an end to all that.
He was what the sacrifices pointed us toward.
Then he ended the need for them. 

That’s a true prince in action.

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©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

The Greatest Should

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I should get to bed I said.
I should get to bed on time.

But..there’s this post to write.
This laundry to fold.
Some critters to care for.

And so I went to bed (after I had that all done).  🙂  Leaving this particular post to wait until Friday sometime.

GO……

I sit here after a long busy day of being with my lad, of hardly seeing my hubby and finally being able to enjoy his quiet presence as we sit together, of thinking how he did a funeral for a former church member whose family didn’t know the Lord and saw her faith as insignificant, and think of the word should.

Should contains so much you know?

Makes me think of all the things I “SHOULD” do and don’t.  And of all the things I choose to do that leave those other shoulds unanswered.

It makes me think of how that’s how life is you know? If you heed one should, you leave another should unfulfilled.  It is simply impossible to meet all the shoulds you have in life.   You just can’t do it all you know?

But there is one should you need to pay heed to.
The should of knowing the Lord God.  The one who created you.  The one who didn’t need to make things right between himself and us.   He didn’t need to but he also knew what he SHOULD do.   He created a way for us to know him personally.

God loves us.  Making the should of his sacrifice of his lad for us.  It’s what he did.

In response we need listen to that quiet call upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit.   That call that bids us answer the greatest should of all.  The “should” of having a personal relationship with the Lord God, through his son Jesus Christ the Lord. 

——–

This is a five minute Friday post. the word prompt is brought to us by Miss Kate.  What is Five Minute Friday?  Well it’s a party of a group of like
minded folks who gather on Friday to do a five minute free write around a
singular word.  AND THEN (and this is the most important part) we take the time to offer up encouragement to
each other on this writing journey.  It’s fun, though it’s not always
easy, but it is always good.   Come join us won’t you?  You are always
welcome.

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

I saw the word more

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 I saw the word More

I saw the word More 
and I just said NO.

No, I don’t want more.
I have enough.

I don’t need more to 
fill my plate.  To give me
less time for me and mine.

No .. late night blogging
No.. looking for work
No.. Can you do this?
No.. mowing the lawn 
No.. pulling the weeds.

I’m done, I don’t want more.

So NO I don’t want MORE.
I DON’T

I yelled this loud inside my head.
I DON’T WANT MORE.

But then my reason took hold.
Reason that said..

I do want more.
I want more walks with a talkative young man.
I want more weekends away with my beloved.
I want more depth to my relationship with God.
I want more flowers to bloom in the spring.
I want more people to not have to use the foodbank.
I want more churches filled with people deeply in love with the Lord.

So my NO, became a more quiet.. Yes.

Yes I do want more.
I want more of the right things.
And less. oh… I want less of the things.
That weigh me down.

I want more sermons preached from my hubby.
I want more grins of delight.
I want more conversations that fill me with hope.

So oh yes… I do indeed WANT MORE!
This want becomes a yell within.

I WANT MORE!!!
Indeed.
Gracious Heavenly Father GIVE ME MORE!

Copyright, Annette V, April 28, 2017

——–

This is a five minute Friday post. the word prompt is brought to us by Miss Kate.  What is Five Minute Friday?  Well it’s a party of a group of like
minded folks who gather on Friday to do a five minute free write around a
singular word.  AND THEN we take the time to offer up encouragement to
each other on this writing journey.  It’s fun, though it’s not always
easy, but it is always good.   Come join us won’t you?  You are always
welcome.
This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Hymn Study: Rise Up O Men of God

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We sang this hymn this morning in a wee little church about an hour from home.   Hubby was guest preaching there.   When I say wee tiny.. I mean like FIVE members!!!  It amazes me that this church is able to keep going eh?    No organist… so I think when we go back in a month that I’ll start each hymn off just so we know what we’re singing a bit better.  🙂   I’m not a great pianist…but I can get us started off.  🙂

Rise up o men of God was written by William Pierson Merrill. An American pastor, originally from New Jersey, he served in Chicago and New York.  Merrill became the first president of the “Church Peace Union”, a pacifist organization. His 1914 sermon titled “The Making of Peace” was hailed by Andrew
Carnegie as “…one of the greatest sermons on peace that he had ever
heard.”

He was not a prolific hymn writer (he’s known for four hymns) and had written a few articles as well.   You can find them listed here.   There’s really not a whole lot known about him, but I do like this hymn that he wrote.  Comes with two different tunes, we sing it to St.Thomas, but I really liked this one below, even if they didn’t sing the whole song.

Lyrics

1. Rise up, O men of God!

Have done with lesser things.

Give heart and mind and soul and strength

to serve the King of kings.

2. Rise up, O men of God!

The kingdom tarries long.

Bring in the day of brotherhood

and end the night of wrong.

3. Rise up, O men of God!

The church for you doth wait,

her strength unequal to her task;

rise up, and make her great!

4. Lift high the cross of Christ!

Tread where his feet have trod.

As brothers of the Son of Man,

rise up, O men of God!

 
This tune below is the one that I know the hymn too.
 
 
this one also caught my eye (well my ear actually). 🙂
I hope you like it!

 

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Easter Is Here

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The Homeschool Review Crew does word prompts for Instagram fun, I think it’s great to have these words prompts for doing quick posts. 🙂 I find them fun as sometimes it surprises me where my brain goes. 🙂

The word for today is Easter. Let’s follow my thoughts along the way eh?

 Easter
Sadness Reigns
The Saviour is gone
Fear
Depression
A hunt perhaps
Danger lurks?
Mourning progresses
Women attend
Shock
Surprise
Fear
Horror
What could have happened?
Conversation
Hope
Telling
Wonder
Disbelief
Truth to be found?
Touching
Feeling
Hearing
Knowing
Learning
Awareness blossoms?
Jesus talks
Jesus walks
He can be felt.
Rejoice
Listen
Learn
See God moving through history
Celebrate
Speak the good news 
Shout it aloud
Jesus is Risen
He is Risen indeed.
Death is conquered
Jesus is Alive!
  

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Don’t Forget the Sacrifices

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Today’s bible passage is Ezekiel 44:15-31.   Yesterday I had this thought that more rules were to follow, and today I discover that is correct. 

The sons of Zadok, part of the Levitical priesthood, stayed true to God.   As a result, they get to minister TO God.  In the holy part of the temple, bringing the choices bits of the sacrifices before the Lord. 

  “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. 16 They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.
 Ezekiel is given a list of what they are to wear (or not wear) when in the sanctuary and without, how to cut their hair, who to marry (virgins only or the widow of a priest),
  17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They
shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around
their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes
sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. 21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 They
shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the
offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a
priest. 
Their responsibilities are to teach the people the difference between the holy and common, the clean from the unclean, Act as judges, Keep God’s laws, statutes, feasts, and keep the Sabbath holy.
 23 They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 In
a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according
to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my
appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.
Unless it is for family, they are not to go near a dead person for fear of defilement.  For family they can be defiled but it’s a seven day waiting period to become clean again. On the day of his return to duty the priest must bring a sin offering.   
  25 They
shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However,
for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried
sister they may defile themselves. 26 After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. 27 And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

Normally families have an inheritance, but those in the priesthood do not have an earthly inheritance.  God is clear.  HE is their inheritance.  They have no possessions. Their food is the sin, grain, and guilt offering. They are to be brought the first fruits.  The food they eat is all the offerings from the people.  It’s how God is going to take care of them. 
28 “This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And
the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of
all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

You know I’m amazed by this.  Really.
As a Pastor’s wife I can hardly imagine being sustained on the food the people bring.   Not having to go out to the grocery store to buy my food.   And here, whole families, lived in the temple, and all their food came from what people brought in as sacrifices to the Lord.

I know we live in a different time now.  I get that.
People don’t bring sacrifices to the Lord.
They bring in money.

Oh…hold on…..I suppose it’s no different eh?
Pastor’s continue to be sustained by the people they care for.  Instead of food coming in, it’s actual money.  Money people sacrifice to give to the church. 

At least they should be. It’s the model that God set up isn’t it.

So when I hear of pastor’s having to take second jobs just so they can support their families WHILE ministering to a full time congregation… that would be wrong.   It’s not God’s model for his people.

The minister SHOULD BE cared for by his flock.  Not as a job, but like one ministering to the Lord and his people.  Teaching them, showing them, making the way clear to how to obey the Lord. Taking care of your pastor and his family is not like paying someone to do a job, there should be a different emotion involved there.

And for me.. ME.. I need to remember the sacrifices people make so that I do have food on my table and a place to live.   This is important.  May I never forget this.  NEVER.

You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

 


This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/