Month: February 2021

Posted on

There are no x, y, z’s about it: Be Holy!

Lev 19-21 “The Sacred vs the Profane”

One thing we must remember as we study this marvelous book of “you must not and you must” is that these are the very words of God. They were written that we might be instructed in not what we think is right but what God thinks is right. As Ken Boa said “God only has to say “no” once for something to be wrong.”  God’s purpose is that His people who are set apart for him are to be holy because he is holy.

In addition, they were written so that we remember that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” [2Tim 3:16]

God was preparing to send the Israelites into a polluted nation. He did not want them polluted with what he considered abominable and thus why he spent an entire book explaining the “must not’s and the musts.” It is because He loved them and He loves us that these are written “for our instruction.”

Today read these chapters with those thoughts in mind.

Posted on

Jesus Paid It All…

Jesus paid it all

Lev 5 “It is all about holiness before a holy God.”

One phrase is repeated in this chapter about sin: “even if he did not realize it…” This is not talking about intentional rebellion, but those sins that we unintentionally commit and then realize. When sin brings guilt we have a choice: we can ignore it OR confess it to God seeking His forgiveness and cleansing.

These Leviticus chapters were written to the Israelites to demonstrate the love and mercy of God upon these unintentional sins and how men were able to seek God’s forgiveness. Then people had to do it over and over and over. Jesus paid it all on the cross once and for all. Both then and now all must seek God’s mercy gift. God wanted us to realize that sin is not just against a fellow citizen, but God Himself. God is right to condemn our sin because He is holy, and He calls us to be holy. Without the sacrifice we stand guilty before God in need of atonement.

Today we have the indwelling Holy Spirit to speak to our heart. We must confess our sin; seek God’s forgiveness; trust that He is faithful and righteous and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [1John 1:9 paraphrase]

Do you need this today? Do not delay but listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Posted on

“Holiness to the Lord”

How to be holy

Leviticus 1 to 4 Genesis and Exodus are books of the historical record of the Israelites and the three pictures of His presence:

  • The hovering cloud by day
  • The pillar of fire by night
  • The Tabernacle’s placement in the middle of the camp

Now in Leviticus, we find God calling the people and how to have a personal access to Him through the sacrificial system. Also, it will teach us how to be spiritually acceptable to God with clear instructions on how to be holy and reverent. For the Israelites to be a holy people, they must stop worshiping dead idols, a.k.a. the golden calf, and turn to the abiding, living true God, [1Thess 1:9] Have we also taken this step?

The sacrifices reminded the sinner of the costliness of sin and the needed atonement for forgiveness. The sacrificial system used an animal who became the sinner’s substitute, but now Jesus is our sinless substitute. The animal’s blood paid the price for the sinful person, but the perfect unblemished Lamb of God’s blood cleanses the sinner from all unrighteousness. Sinners transferred their sin to the animal, but now, we transfer our sin to Jesus. We are reminded that we were once dead in our trespasses but now are alive from the dead. Now, as cleansed sinners saved by grace, we are to present our bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is our reasonable service–not in payment for sin but as instruments to be used for righteousness. [Rom 6:13].

Posted on

“As the Lord Commanded, so he did.”

Do all that He commands

Exodus 39-40 Over and over, we read the words: As the Lord commanded. Moses’s obedience to the words of the Lord is significant. In the NT, we read, “if you love me, you will obey my commandments.” [Jn 14:15] Do we realize that just as the Israelites were in bondage to Egypt; we were in bondage to Satan’s ways before He chose us and called us out to be His people? No longer in bondage, now we are to obey what Jesus has commanded, for this is the way “everyone will know … that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.” [Jn13:35]

How relevant these words are: “Moses did all that the Lord commanded.” We are to do the same for our Lord Jesus Christ. These three titles of Jesus are used by Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians eleven times.

Lord – Jesus is God in the flesh. When the word “Lord” is added to Jesus Christ it means, you are declaring that He is Lord; He is God.

 Jesus – Jehovah is Salvation, the Son of God;

Christ– the Anointed One.   

Will you hear these words: Well done thou good and faithful servant when you leave this earth and meet He who is Lord; the author and finisher of your faith because you have done all that He commanded?

Posted on

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

God gifts men/women to do the work of the ministry

Exodus 36 to 38 That phrase was coined in the early ’20s to sell Victor Radios, but, in reality, chapter 36 shows us the gift that keeps on giving. God is the one who gifts each person. He gifted the artisans to build the Tabernacle, but He also gifted the people with a willing heart to give to the work. No matter where God has placed you, you have been equipped to do the work of the ministry.

Thinking through all that the supervisor Bezalel had on his plate, he must have learned quite a bit in Egypt. We wonder what his “job” was there. In Exodus 5, we read “The Israelite foremen.” Was Bezalel one of those who learned how to direct a crew that would be under him to build? Where did he learn the working in gold? Did he learn it back in Egypt and now wondered how God was going to use him? That’s how I think. God and I have a conversation: I tell God, “don’t waste this,” use me in your work with the skills you have given to me. What do you say to God?

My father-in-law, was one who could “see” how something was made. If something broke, he would always say, if someone built it, then someone can fix it. He could study a broken piece and could see beneath the outer to the inner and then repair it or rebuild it into a new piece. He passed that on to DA, and he is always saying to me: if someone designed it, then someone can fix it. Both my father-in-law and my husband were/are amazing.

My own Dad didn’t live long enough for me to really understand his gifts, or for me to appreciate them, but he had an inner gift of tenderness that he passed on to me. He could see where a heart was hurting, and he could reach out to fix that broken heart. Unfortunately, his gift was short-lived, and the one person he needed to reach most, he was not able to. I can’t wait to get to heaven and talk to Bezalel and Oholiab and rekindle that relationship with “Grandpa Floyd.”

The people gave willingly and had to be restrained finally. Do I give voluntarily, or do I hold back and wait? God has blessed us. Are we giving willingly and without thinking about the amount or the gift but only that it is being used for God’s kingdom work?

Perhaps you don’t see yourself as a Bezalel or a Oholiab, but only see yourself as a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord.[Ps 84:10] God can use your talents wherever He has chosen.  All He asks is for a willing heart.

Posted on

Jesus’ Ultimate Sacrifice

Jesus sacrifice

Exodus 33 to 35 Prayer is the believer’s entrance into the Most Holy Place of God. The Tabernacle building held the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, which held the Ark of the Covenant. The High Priest passed through the Veil to the Most Holy Place only once a year – the Day of Atonement. The cry of Jesus, ‘it is finished’ tore that Veil from top to bottom so that all may enter. “He entered once for all into the Most Holy Place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption.” [Heb 9:12] The prayers of God’s people are now heard, not through an intermediary, but all are welcome into the most sacred place.

In this most sacred place, we are confronted with the character of God: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” [Ex 34:5-7] In our time of praise to the Most Holy Father, we are comforted and reminded that we are, as He said, “a stiff-necked people” in need of His sovereign grace.  

Spend time in prayer today thanking Him for the sacrifice of Jesus so that we may enter His presence, as a people who have been rescued from the coming wrath. [1Thess 1:10]

Posted on

“Spiritual Gifts”

What is your spiritual gift?

Exodus 31 The Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity who gifts men for the purpose of ministry. He gifted Bezalel with four gifts: in skill, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship. However, the Spirit did not leave Bezalel to do this work alone. He also gifted Oholiab from the tribe of Dan to work under Bezalel. Paul expands this idea in Romans 12 where he explains that each member of the church community has a gift specifically apportioned for the work of the ministry in the church. To the Ephesian church, he told them that we are “equipped for the work of the ministry of God that is to build up the body of Christ.”[Eph 4:12]

It is often heard people say one of two things: (1) I don’t know what my spiritual gift is OR (2) I don’t have a spiritual gift. To say either is to deny the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. This nothing more than a false idea; instead stop and consider yourself blessed to be given your gift so you can serve the ministry.  

Where are you serving using your spiritual gift?

Posted on

The Priesthood Then & Now

No longer do we need an Aaron as priest for we are a priest because of Jesus

Exodus 28 and 29 The Priesthood of the Believer

When you go to God in prayer do you see yourself as a holy, sanctified priest? We are to “put on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation.” [1Thess 5:8]  Aaron was to be clothed in garments including the breastplate holding the Urim and Thummin over his heart. He was to “bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of decision over his heart when he “went” into the most Holy Place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.” [Ex 28:29] Do we bear the believers in our community over our heart?

Aaron and his sons were “chosen” from the nation to be holy priests to bring the iniquities of the people before God. We are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that [we] may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”  [1Pet 2:9] Aaron was the conduit to speak to God for the people but now, in Christ, who tore down the veil, we are free to come before the Lord just as Aaron did. Aaron was to seek God’s forgiveness for his sin and the sins of the community. Because of what Jesus did we are now a holy, sanctified people and we can pray for the forgiveness of our own sins. Therefore, we are to be a holy sanctified people as we come before the Lord for ourselves and others.

May we take this to our heart today as we pray for others in the believer’s community.

Posted on

Out of His Abundance…

What gifts do you have to give to God?

Exodus 25-27 Beautiful to Behold

Today, you can turn on the TV and watch a home’s renovations, all with glitz and glamour. God didn’t want to renovate but build His dwelling place from the ground up with all of the beauty, gold, silver, and precious ornaments. As the master architect, God gave Moses the plans and set aside skilled men to do the work. He gifted each one with the skills and knowledge needed for each part.  He had prepared the Egyptians’ hearts to provide the people with gold and silver and other precious jewels as their wages for 400+ yrs. of slavery the night they were to leave. What has God provided for you to give to His work?

God wanted to dwell amongst a people He had called for His own. He wanted his “house” to be built and centered so that all may see and come near.  Although shiny and gold and holy inside, its outer covering protected it from the elements.  Jesus warned the Pharisees that they were hypocrites and like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside, but inside they were full of dead men’s bones. As children of God, we are beautiful to behold because of the work of Christ in our hearts.

Just as the tabernacle was beautiful so that the people could gaze at the splendor of its beauty, the redeemed of the Lord are to be beautiful because of the blessing of God upon their hearts.

God has given us abundantly out of His treasury that we may give back to the ministry. Will you give willingly for His work?

Posted on

How do you feel about rules?

Rules are given for a purpose

Exodus 22 to 24 God has set down the laws for a perfect society, and He starts with laws that men are to keep and the consequences for breaking those laws. The people had just said they would obey all that God has said, but that will be short-lived, and so this is why God wrote these. His attention to detail is so that they people have a benchmark to follow. Next, God institutes the three feasts that are to be held with directions for all males to be in attendance.

Two chapters entailed these directions that men may know how God will determine their integrity. Now God moves from the social justice theme to the promise of the angelic messenger to go before them in their travels. “Take heed and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my Names is in him.” [Exodus 23:20] Why is this important? It is because they had lived ‘under’ slave masters who determined all their rules and regulations. Now God will show them the difference between what is holy and unholy, what is sanctified, and what is impure. The purpose is to set them apart from the nations around them and be the guiding light of the gospel to the pagans they will encounter.

God has given us His “rule” book that ensures we will be blessed if we obey. How do you feel about God’s Rules and will you obey them?

Optimized by Optimole