Service with a capital "P".

Feb 21 [Lev 24-25] Throughout the book of Leviticus we have been confronted with these words “thou shall be holy as I am holy”. Holiness should be our ongoing view towards our destiny Heb 12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, for without it no one will see the Lord.
As Aaron and his sons worked inside the Tabernacle they were brought face to face with the visual reminder of their need for purity and holiness in the private areas where they tended the lampstand, the incense altar, and the table of shewbread as well as themselves. Outside, the people, who never saw this area, knew that by providing the pure beaten olive oil and the loaves of unleavened bread, they were demonstrating their understanding of the pre-eminence of the Holiness of God and the position of Aaron and his sons. They were charged with these tasks that they may participate in the purity and holiness surrounding the Tabernacle where the Presence of the Lord God dwelled.
Centuries later Malachi, as God’s prophet, called the people to account for forgetting not only their act of service but also their disdain of the sacrificial system. Thus they had lost sight of their destiny! They questioned its purpose, its plan, and its provision. They did not understand their position as a people holy to the Lord God, chosen to be his people, prized above all others on the face of the earth. (Deut 14) Instead, Malachi charged them for their faithlessness by treating the table of the Lord as if it is of no importance.
How quickly we lose sight of our part in the service for the King of Kings and as Malachi notes we are saying: ‘How tiresome it is.’ or, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements?”
OR are you of the group that recognizes this error, those who respect the Lord---these are the ones that the Lord notices and records their service in His scroll of remembrances.
How do you see the service you offer to your church, your pastor, your Sunday School teacher? Do you see it as an offering of beauty and purity or do you see it as a tiresome task? Do you see it as a sign that you are chosen by Him as His peculiar people? Can you recognize with Paul: that your labor is not in vain in the Lord?
Application: Today see your gift of beaten oil or your unleavened bread as your offering to the Lord to assist those in leadership that they may equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, (Eph 4). See yourself as God’s chosen generation to carry forth His word. (Ps 78)

What part of "NO" do we not understand?

We hear today, “what part of NO do you not understand”. Jehovah asks “what part of defilement do you not understand?” In Lev 18 “You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; it is a detestable act”. In other words, homosexuality is not only wrong but it is detestable in the eyes of Jehovah. What we read in Lev 18 is spoken about in Romans “For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men...” Jehovah is reasoning, no He is commanding!!! His people and us in the 21st century. Lev 18:24-25 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations which I am about to drive out before you have been defiled with all these things. Therefore, the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants.” Did you grab that? It is not only a detestable act but it defiles the person AND the land. In the NY Times there was an article titled “Gay Marriage, Passed, Awaits Veto by Christie” with a picture showing those in the Assembly rejoicing over the passage of the same sex marriage law. Excuse me! Paul wrote Eph 5:11-12 “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention” and yet here we see that our governmental leaders who should be examples of godliness revealing that even though “they fully know God’s righteous decree …they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.” In essence they are thumbing their noses at God and openly and flagrantly disobeying Him. End result? We are beginning to see the effects of this defilement in the people and now in the land. How much longer will God’s mercy be upon us? We need strong leaders around the world to stand against this mockery and defilement. We need to protect our next generation (Ps 78) or we will stand accountable because we refused to stand and proclaim His truth. Principle: We are to love the sinner but hate the sin. May we be bold today! Pray for our leaders! Pray for our nation! Pray for those who are blind to the truth!
A good article on the truth; http://bible.org/article/homosexuality-christian-perspective

Is instant gratification biblical?

Is instant gratification biblical? Lev 15 In this section God gives the prohibitions, the instructions for cleansing and the once again “separate but not equal rule” for those whose bodies have had a discharge. In the middle of this chapter we come across the discharge from a woman in particular with all of its drama of adding the “unclean, unclean” status. But, let’s put our focus on the woman in particular because Jesus meets such a woman in the gospels. This is a woman who, like the Samaritan woman at the well, is clearly revealed as one who faced the rejection and maybe even persecution from the physical and spiritual community.

She has each day to choose where she goes, with whom she interacts, the times she goes to the well to gather water for the washing, which has for twelve long years, not achieved the intended purpose. She feels their stares, their whispered words behind her back, and her feelings of abandonment. She has seen the Dr.’s now for 12 yrs who have sapped not only her energy but her bank account. She is perhaps homeless, family-less, friendless, and without hope. Her priest has declared her unfit for worship and this is the longing of her heart. She, like the Jews of WWII, wears a Yellow Star defining her as “unclean”, rejected, contaminated. She hears, like them, “Unclean Jew”. She is not only personally unclean, but all that she touches is considered unclean, and whoever comes in contact with her is contaminated.

In the midst of this she hears the rumor that that Jesus the healer has come to town. She hears the whispering women speaking of how just a touch will bring about an instant cure. Really? And so a plan is set into motion with covert actions, a plan to disguise her as a person, the hiding of the Yellow Star, a scarf to conceal her anonymity from the crowd and the Master. She quickly and with some effort, melds into the crowd searching for Him, pushing to gain a position by where she can just touch the hem of his garment. And then it all happens…and the world stands still. She touches and instantly like the speed of light, a snap of a finger, a blink of an eye the rushing fire of His power moves through her being and she knows without a shadow of doubt that she is healed! Healed! As her mind gathers momentum to what this will mean she is brought back to reality with the words of the Master: “Who touched my garment”. But, Master, look at the crowd, they are all pushing against you! NO, one has touched me, Who is it? In a moment as all eyes move about the crowd silence is deafening. She discreetly with fear and trembling breaks free of the crowd, who now recognize her as the “unclean woman”, and a hush and whispers follow her. But, as she falls at his feet and bears her heart she hears not condemnation but "My daughter, your faith has healed you…go in peace”. Eight days later, following the rules and instructions of Lev 15, we see this same woman now clothed in new garments as she walks into the same priest who declared her unclean. She brings two offerings; a turtledove and a pigeon and offers to have her status of “unclean” revoked. The Yellow Star is torn from her old garments and it is tossed upon the brazen altar…Priest listen to my testimony! I met the Master and I am clean!

As this woman was unclean and in need of cleansing, so are we unclean in our state of sin. It is only the Master’s touch that will instantly cleanse us. We have sought counselors, Dr’s, sage friends, but it is only Jesus that can cure us! How desperate are you? Are you bold to seek instant healing? Come to Jesus!

Honoring of Parents gone astray....

Jan 25 [Gen 38-40] Jacob’s Sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah; Joseph.
Even though the Law has not been given at this point in history we know that the principle of which Paul spoke is also true: Rom 2: these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. That means that even apart from the Law we know what God requires and that is why Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God stands as our standard. One of the Ten Commandments is to honor your father and mother. In these chapters we see both the positive and negatives of that commandment in the lives of these sons.
Moses does not give us much detail about the first three sons. We know that Reuben dishonored Jacob by laying with Bilhah. We also know that Simeon and Levi were ruthless and murdered the Shechemites. But other than those brief accounts we have no other details. But now the fourth son, Judah has an entire chapter devoted to him. Why? God has a plan which must be completed for Judah as it will be through his line that Jesus will come. Judah’s greatest need is, as we said about Jacob, forgiveness and reconciliation. But, first we must understand for what he needs those precious gifts and so the Holy Spirit gives us a detailed account of his life.
Judah: Although not willing to stoop to murder, he callously orchestrates the sale of his brother Joseph to the Ishmaelites and also provides the plan to deceive Jacob. When his plan to become the new heir apparent fails and Jacob is inconsolable, Judah, unable to cope, runs away. Like Lot, Judah looks, sees, chooses, and settles away from his father and brothers. He thus dishonors his parent in his choices. Gen 38:1 At that time Judah left his brothers. Truth: We can run away from our sin but as Num 32:23 tells us “know that your sin will find you out.” As the story unfolds we find the consequences of sin continue to escalate. Judah intermarries with a Canaanite, raises three sons, two of whom are so evil God removes them, makes a promise knowing he will not keep it, and finally impregnates his daughter in law unknowingly. When confronted with his sin, he condemns himself with these words: Gen 38:26 ““She is more upright than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” Stay tuned to see how God will break Judah’s spirit.

Now the Holy Spirit turns our attention to the first one that Judah offended: Joseph. Sold into slavery, he rises to prominence only to be unjustly accused and thrown into prison. Joseph, unlike his brothers, has a God-ward focus. Listen to his words when tempted by sin: Gen 39:9 “how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” In prison Gen 39:23 “the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful”. Enter two new prisoners who have dreams that Joseph interprets rightly. To the cupbearer Joseph pleads to be remembered to Pharaoh that he might be released. Gen 40:14 But remember me when it goes well for you, and show me kindness. Make mention of me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison, for I really was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews and I have done nothing wrong here for which they should put me in a dungeon.” But…..the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph – he forgot him.

What is our “take away” from today’s reading?
1. You may be like Judah, running away from your sin. You are in need of forgiveness and reconciliation. God continues to chip away at the hardness of your heart. Will you allow the Holy Spirit to pierce your heart and to release you from that bondage? Or you may know someone like Judah…will you be ready to forgive and reconcile when God is finished His work of the heart?
2. Joseph paints a picture for us of how to resist temptation: resist and flee which is what he did. If you are confronted with sin today, what will you do?

originally posted on https://www.facebook.com/bible.org

Jan 23: [Gen 32-34] Encounters with God should not only change us but be reflected in our lifestyle but “old ways die hard” and so it is seen in our reading today. The unequal yoke of Jacob and Laban has been severed and the journey back to Canaan has resumed. As we journey with Jacob we note something significant. God spoke to Jacob back in Paddam-Aram and now comes directly to Jacob. Why does God do that? Because Jacob has the greatest need in his life of forgiveness. In hearing of the advancing arrival of Esau Jacob, full of fear, reaches out to God and in turn God responds. Notice the parts of Jacob’s prayer:
1. Adoration: “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac,
2. Confession: I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant.
3. Thanksgiving: With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
4. Supplication: Rescue me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children.
5. Reminding God of our step of obedience and Claiming of His promises: you said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives - I am doing this .’ And you said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count—I am claiming this!
In God’s response we see two things; 1. it is God that comes to Jacob, 2. God wrestles with Jacob. It is not until God struck the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated that Jacob yielded to God and sought His blessing.
Why is this recorded for us? Our greatest need is to meet God and to recognize our need of His forgiveness. God could have responded by just blessing Jacob but instead He provided a reminder of this encounter lest Jacob forget. It was not until Jacob relented that God reminded him: “you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.” In this Jacob was then set free of the unequal yoke of he and Laban, freed to complete his journey back to Canaan and freed to lead his family in the ways of the Lord. That is the gift God gives to us when we prevail and God forgives and releases us of the past.
There is a now a new responsibility given to Jacob: to lead his family in the ways of the Lord, but old ways die hard. Look at the next chapters and see a man who has the spirit of fear, (I am afraid of Esau) a man of weak faith, (Jacob divides his family and sends gifts to appease Esau) a man who still deceives (tells Esau that he will meet him in Seir but instead goes to Shechem) and a father who does not lead righteously, (daughter Dinah is not supervised, is captured and raped---but Jacob waits on his sons rather than being Dinah’s protector.) Thus in this account we see “like father like son” in that they too deceive the men of Shechem and later murder and pillage. At the end we see Jacob lamenting his loss of prestige instead http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifof seeing how his sons are a picture of his failed leadership.
What are we to learn from this? God expects fathers to lead, live righteous lives and to model righteous living. Perhaps you had a dishonorable father and you can resonate with this story. Seek to forgive that father so that God can bless you. Perhaps you are a father and want to raise godly children. Here are few suggestions: 1. immerse yourself in God’s word, study Proverbs and learn how to raise a wise child, 2. study the lives of godly fathers; Joshua: be strong and courageous, Hosea: a father who lives to restore and reconcile, Boaz; a man of character and integrity. Perhaps you are a man who is not yet a father either by choice or design: live a model life and disciple other young men who are in need of a role model.


originally posted on Facebook for bible.org

Challenges that Grow Us

As I am being stretched to write more and more I find that my mind is being challenged to find new words and new ideas to bridge that gap between what I know and what I need to know. And then as an online missionary with GMO I am finding that those new words that I am practicing to add to my vocabulary are not viable. These are people with limited vocabularies and are just beginning the walk of a Christian. They are the "newbies" ...the babies and they must be fed milk. Two in particular today came across my desk with this request: teach me how to pray. Seems like I remember the disciples asking that very question of Jesus. He taught them the model "disciples prayer"...which we refer to as the Lord's Prayer.So today as I was answering these emails in the quiet of the morning hour God spoke to me and said use the "KISS" method..."Keep It Simple Sweetie"...and so I did. Here's what I wrote to them:
This is a method I have used often using the word ACTS

A= Adore God for who He is. Honor Him by speaking to Him of His love and His provision for you already. Tell God how you love Him. Just as you honor others by speaking their name first in a conversation, use God’s Name first as well. Holy Father, Lord God Almighty and other names.
C = Confession 1 John 1:9 tells us that if we have sinned we can come to Him and He will hear our prayer of confession. You must be clean in your heart and in your mind.
T = Thanksgiving. Thank God for the blessings He has already given to you. Thank Him for this day, thank Him for this new faith you now have.
S = Supplication. Ask Him to provide for your needs and the needs of others. Ask Him to lead you to the church where you can worship.

And so the KISS method is off, now to wait to hear if they will respond back to me.
Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday. Go feed the babies of the Christian community. Ask God to lead you to a "newbie/baby" today. Or come and join me and become an online missionary.

And to my friend Linda...praying for you....

Did you ever have “one of those days”? Today is that. It is “one of those days”. Let me explain what I mean. It is a day in which you cannot focus no matter how hard you try. You sit and stew thinking, what is the next thing I ought to be doing only to draw a blank. It is a day in which no matter what you eat, you want more not because you are hungry but because you are unsatisfied. It is a day in which you just want to be outside because it is sunny and inside it is gray and your desk beckons to be cleansed of its clutter. You can think of a million things to do only to realize that none of them is really what you “want to do”. But, what do you want to do? That is the 64 dollar question with no apparent answer. And so it becomes “one of those” days. You aren’t happy nor unhappy. You are just “here”. You feel like a boxer in a ring bouncing off the ropes seeking a relief from whatever it is and you can’t seem to find the words to explain what “it” is. It just “is”. So what does one do on those days? Get away? Not possible. Go and shop? Not reasonable when the closet is already bulging. Call a friend…now that is a distinct possibility. Write a blog…another distinct possibility. Take a break and just read…another distinct possibility. Sometimes just a different focus for a time will change one’s viewpoint…and sometimes that is just “what the Dr. ordered”.

To all of that…. “see ya later” sounds like a great way to end this blog…