Then & Now

"Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God." Exodus 29:45

Hello Friends,

When I was reading chapter 29 and got to the end, the "then" in verse 45 really stood out to me. Chapters 28 and 29 of Exodus list all the things the priests had to do- what they had to wear, how they had to be consecrated, the offerings they had to make- all these things, very specific things done exactly the way God commanded. Why did they have to do all this? So that they could serve in the Tabernacle and be in God's presence. That's why the "then" stood out to me. After they did all these specific things, THEN God would dwell with them. If they missed a step or didn't do exactly as God said, the consequence could have been death. Pretty heavy stuff. But our God is holy and sinful people cannot be in His presence which is why He told the Israelites to do all this.

But, there's good news! Jesus ended the need for all these steps when He died for us. He was the ultimate sacrifice. And if we believe in Him as our Lord and Savior, we are cleansed. Through Him, we can boldly come into God's presence at any time. All believers are indwelt by His Spirit! Ephesians 2:18 says, "For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." We don't have to wear certain clothes like the priests did. We don't have to make animal sacrifices. We don't have to be consecrated with oil. All we have to do is accept Jesus as our Savior. There is no more "then". We have access to God the Father NOW through Jesus Christ, and are indwelt by His Spirit. Can I get an "amen"?!

This page gives you a sneak peek of two NEW sets- Chunky Alpha and My Friend! These sets will be released tomorrow in the Sweet 'n Sassy Store! I also used His Name.

If you don't want to cover the Scripture, here's a tip. Use a plastic transparency cut to the size you need and adhere the letters or image on that. Then create a tip-in by taping it to the Bible page with washi. Then you can lift it up to read the Scripture! 

One last tip- add a little pizzazz to your letters with a black pen (or a white pen if your letters are black).

Have a blessed week! Andrea