Passover

Recently I have heard two teachings on Passover and the wine taken during the celebration. What caught my attention was not the wine but that there are 4 cups of wine involved in the ceremony.  That made me sit up and take notice. I never knew that. So of course that meant I needed to do some research and find out about the 4 cups of wine thing.

The 4 cups follow the "I will's" of Exodus 6:6-7 which states, ⁶ “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. ⁷ I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians." How cool is this! When I read this I felt such hope!

So back to the cups.  During the Passover mean the 4 cups are taken and there is meaning and importance that goes with each cup.

Cup one is the cup of Sanctification/Thanksgiving.  This is the time the people give thanks and praise God for His promise of bringing them out of such a cruel environment that Egypt was for them.  How many of us have ever been in a "cruel environment" and have been brought out of that?  Gods promise is for us as well today He promised and He WILL make good on His promise. We have to trust and wait on Him.

Cup two is the cup of Judgment/Deliverance.  Here it is remembered that the people were freed! They were delivered from slavery and bondage. And the Egyptians were judged.  Like today we are freed we are no longer held in slavery to our sin (our Egypt). We can celebrate this.

Cup three is the cup of Redemption/Blessing. I like the word "redeem" so much so that I am going to add the definition here.  Redeem: to buy or pay off; clear by payment, to buy back, to recover. Synonyms: repurchase. Redeem, ransom (www.dictionary.com). How cool is this. Exodus 6:6 promises that the people would be bought back, ransomed, repurchased etc. What is even better that promise goes for US today!   It is with this cup that the people were reminded there was a cost to being redeemed. Blood had to be involved, sacrifice had to be involved. During Exodus from Egypt it was the blood of a year old lamb. For us it is the blood of Jesus.  Hebrews 9:22 says ²² according to the Law, one may ^(A)almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and ^(B)without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. The Israelites knew that without the blood of the lamb they would have died. It is the same with us today without the blood of Jesus  having been shed we would have died.

Cup four is the cup of restoration. The relationship between God and the Israelites was restored. They were celebrating this. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and confess it we are brought back to a right relationship. You could say we are restored. There is a lot of praise that goes with this cup and during Passover Psalm 136:1-16 is read. I would encourage you to read it too. (kind of long to put here).


 This for me was so cool and just continued to show how things in the Old Testament were telling about Jesus. The wine of Passover from "then" is still valid and applicable "NOW". 

Patience - Practice makes it easier

Have you ever asked God for patience and then was involved in a situation where you needed patience and God did not answer your prayer for patience? At least not the way you wanted Him to answer you. I know when I have said this prayer I was hoping for the magic wand of God to come out, hit me on the head and POOF I had patience. Unfortunately it does not work that way. Patience really is a choice and God gives us the opportunity to make that choice.

The other day I had the opportunity to “practice” patience.  I had a meeting to attend and my husband drove me.  While I was in the meeting my husband went to the store to pick up a few things. Only problem with this situation, my cell phone was at home. So if my meeting ended early I could not call him and let him know.  But then again just how long could it take to run to the store for a few items? 

Guess what? Meeting was done in about 20 minutes, not the hour I thought, and hubby was not back from the store.  So there I stood outside where of course it was cold and windy.  I began to get frustrated because he knew what he was going for at the store how long could it take. My thinking was beginning to go down hill and I could feel frustration and some anger beginning to start. It was at this point I stopped myself and made a decision. I was not going to go down that road, you now the frustrated and impatient road, but was going to stop that thinking and made the choice to be patient.

Now the battle begins! It was cold and windy and getting windier by the nanosecond (of course) and my thinking still takes the turn: WHERE IS HE!!!  Then I remember no I am practicing patience I am NOT going to let these thoughts take over.  I had made the choice to be patient. 

He eventually arrived to pick me up and when I got in the car I did not feel frustrated or angry because his errand took longer than I thought it should have. I felt, well peaceful. Why, because I had made the choice to be patient and stop those thoughts that would lead to frustration and more than likely anger.

One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Notice the word TAKE.  That is a verb which means we have to do an action. We have to take those thoughts that lead to destruction and stop them.  That is a choice. 

Once those thoughts have been stopped we have to think on something.  We are humans with active minds. Not too many of us can actually think nothing. So what do we do?  We can change what we think about.  My second favorite verse is Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  Find something right and worthy to think about. When I talk to people and tell them this I encourage them to have a “go to verse”. One they can pull out and repeat to keep their mind focused on what is right and not what is destructive.

That is what I did while waiting for my husband. I made the choice to stop the destructive thinking, change my thoughts to what was right.

Many might think: “yeah right easier said than done.” You are so right that is why it is called a battle. No battle is easy but battles can and are won! This is also why we have to practice patience. It is not something that comes naturally or easily but things practiced soon get easier and soon become second nature.  In the end practicing patience and working through the battle is worth it. For me my car ride home was pleasant not angry. I felt victorious not defeated.  Will I struggle the next time a patience situation comes up, YES. Will I always remember make the choice for patience: NO. Will I keep practicing: YES.   And I encourage you to do the same thing.