14c:T5e9,

As I have said before, the term perfect often frightens people. To make this word less frightening, I would like to use a simple example from mathematics.

Let’s take the use of the word round. There is only one standard for round. Something is either round or not round. If something is round, it is a circle. There is just one kind of circle; there are not three or four different kinds of circles. However, there are many different sizes of circles.

God the Father is the great circle, the measureless round ring that encompasses the whole universe. Jesus does not expect us to have the same magnitude as God, but He does expect us to have the same character as God. You and I may be very tiny circles—operating in some small areas where God has placed us with apparently trivial, humdrum duties. But, for each of us in our own little area, God wants us to be a perfect circle. Perfectly round. Just as round as that “great circle,” God the Father, who encompasses the whole universe.

So, when you read Jesus’ command to “be perfect” (Matthew 5:48), think of it in terms of being “round.” Don’t be lopsided, having little bulges. Don’t have deficiencies. You may not be very big, but you can be a perfect circle.

14d:T5b7,

In looking at this confession, we can see that we have to know what the blood of Jesus does for us. Then, we have to take it from the “blood bank” and get it into our lives. There is a parallel for this application in the Passover ceremony, which was God’s provision of deliverance and salvation for Israel (see Exodus 12:21–27). The father of each family had to kill a lamb (the sacrifice) and catch its blood in a basin. This act demonstrates the tremendous responsibility of fathers to be priests of their families.

The blood in the basin, however, did not protect any Israelite family; it had to be transferred from the basin to where the family lived. Only one means was provided, and that was hyssop. This plant is common in the Middle East; it grows everywhere there. So they had to pick a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood, and strike it on the lintel and two doorposts of their dwelling, but never on the threshold.

You are never to walk over the blood.

With that done, the destroying angel could not enter the dwelling. But only those Israelites who were in their homes, safe behind the blood, were protected. That was the only place of safety in Egypt that night.

14e:T722,

Jesus is the “High Priest of our confession” (Hebrews 3:1). Our confession enlists Jesus as our High Priest, but the opposite, unfortunately, is also true. If we make no confession, we have no High Priest. It’s not that Jesus has ceased to be our High Priest, but that we give Him no opportunity to minister as our High Priest.

He is the High Priest of our confession. If we say the right things with our mouths in faith, according to Scripture, then Jesus has eternally obligated Himself to see that we will never be put to shame—that we will always experience what we confess. But if we do not say the right things, then, alas, we silence the lips of our High Priest. He has nothing to say in heaven on our behalf.

Jesus is also called our “Advocate” (1 John 2:1). The word advocate is similar to the modern word attorney. Jesus is the legal expert who is there to plead

Declaring God's Word

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