Category Archives: Father / Yahweh

Compassionate, Father / Yahweh, Praise / Worship / Glorify God, Thankfulness

A Beginning And An Ending For Service

Today I highlight a short couple of verses that actually point to retirement for the Levites. The Levites were set aside to serve God. I have oft overlooked this couple verses, but I suppose it makes sense with even our current cultural norms. There was an age of maturity which had to be reached before they started the work of the Lord and then an age of retirement at which they were to no longer do the work themselves.

I fully understand the minimum age to reach a certain preparation and maturity. I am less clear on why He sets the retirement age at 50. I do not know the expected life spans at that time or what would be the physical expectations for the men over 50 years old in that culture. However, clearly today there are many who can remain quite active well past 50 and have much to add. They were still able to help and guide or give advice to remain active in contributing. However they were not required to continue doing the harder work as they got older. This would certainly seem another example of how a gracious and compassionate Father cares for His people.

Numbers 8:23-26

Retirement

     23Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24“This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting. 25“But at the age of fifty years they shall retire from service in the work and not work any more. 26“They may, however, assist their brothers in the tent of meeting, to keep an obligation, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their obligations.”

Let us remember that our Lord, though He is the Creator of all, is very aware of our limitations and is compassionate towards us. He truly is a loving Father. Let us praise His holy name and give Him thanks!

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Discipline / Correction, Father / Yahweh, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Holy, Holy / Set Apart, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Justice / Judgment, Obeying God, Repenting from Sin, Study the Word, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Your Body Is The Temple for the Holy Spirit

It is amazing to reflect on how much care God demands for things which are holy, set apart for His purpose. The items of the temple were set apart to glorify Jehovah and communicate very specific elements of how he wanted His people to relate to Him. It was a place for worship of our Holy God. Numbers 4 (included at bottom of article) outlines just a handful of duties and instructions that were to be carried out with utmost respect and obedience. Violation could result in death.

With the tabernacle and temple now no longer in place, and with gift of the Holy Spirit to come dwell inside followers of Christ, our bodies have actually become temples for the Holy Spirit. We should take seriously how we care for and respect the bodies He has provided us.

1 Corinthians 6:13-20

13Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them.Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. 14Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.” 17But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Let us not be reckless or careless but rather good and attentive stewards. That includes spiritual discipline to study the word and prayer and praise to draw us closer to God. It means we should  eat well and exercise appropriately.  Let us not wreck our bodies with toxic substances such as drugs and excessive alcohol. Remain free from sin without exception… adultery, lust, anger, foul speech, etc.  Let us treat our bodies as if they are holy and set apart for God’s purpose dwelling inside us as believers.

Numbers 4

Duties of the Kohathites

     1Then the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2“Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households, 3from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4“This is the work of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things.

      5“When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and they shall take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it; 6and they shall lay a covering of porpoise skin on it, and shall spread over it a cloth of pure blue, and shall insert its poles. 7“Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall also spread a cloth of blue and put on it the dishes and the pans and the sacrificial bowls and the jars for the drink offering, and the continual bread shall be on it. 8“They shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material, and cover the same with a covering of porpoise skin, and they shall insert its poles. 9“Then they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, along with its lamps and its snuffers, and its trays and all its oil vessels, by which they serve it; 10and they shall put it and all its utensils in a covering of porpoise skin, and shall put it on the carrying bars. 11“Over the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth and cover it with a covering of porpoise skin, and shall insert its poles; 12and they shall take all the utensils of service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth and cover them with a covering of porpoise skin, and put them on the carrying bars. 13“Then they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. 14“They shall also put on it all its utensils by which they serve in connection with it: the firepans, the forks and shovels and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a cover of porpoise skin over it and insert its poles. 15“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

      16“The responsibility of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is the oil for the light and the fragrant incense and the continual grain offering and the anointing oil—the responsibility of all the tabernacle and of all that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

      17Then the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 18“Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites. 19“But do this to them that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load; 20but they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”

Duties of the Gershonites

     21Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 22“Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ households, by their families; 23from thirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall number them; all who enter to perform the service to do the work in the tent of meeting. 24“This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying: 25they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of porpoise skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting, 26and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the doorway of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service; and all that is to be done, they shall perform. 27“All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their loads and in all their work, shall be performed at the command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a duty all their loads. 28“This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Merarites

     29“As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers’ households; 30from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the tent of meeting. 31“Now this is the duty of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its sockets, 32and the pillars around the court and their sockets and their pegs and their cords, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign each man by name the items he is to carry. 33“This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

      34So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ households, 35from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting. 36Their numbered men by their families were 2,750. 37These are the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD through Moses.

      38The numbered men of the sons of Gershon by their families and by their fathers’ households, 39from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting. 40Their numbered men by their families, by their fathers’ households, were 2,630. 41These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD.

      42The numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari by their families, by their fathers’ households, 43from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting. 44Their numbered men by their families were 3,200. 45These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD through Moses.

      46All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ households, 47from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting. 48Their numbered men were 8,580. 49According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses, they were numbered, everyone by his serving or carrying; thus these were his numbered men, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Take seriously God’s call for us to take care of those things that are holy and set apart. Keep in mind that above all else we, as followers of Christ, are called to be holy. We should take great care in how we live our lives and actively study and pray to understand and obey the instructions of God in all aspects of our lives.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Father / Yahweh, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Hope, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Joy / Happiness / Rejoicing, Protector / Deliverer

The Source of Our Inexpressible Joy

As believers, we truly have a glorious hope which can provide joy within us, even through difficult times. In day to day living, I find it easy to lose sight of that hope and that joy which comes from it. Of course we all need the Spirit to live fully in the joy of the Lord through this life.

1 Peter 1:3-9

     3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

I am asking the Lord to fill me with this joy and to help me remember this glorious hope as I go throughout my day to day living… so that even the hard times would not smother the joy within. I encourage you to pray for the same in your life.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Abortion, Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Consequences of Sin, Discerning / Judging, Discipline / Correction, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Father / Yahweh, Forgive Others / Seek Forgiveness, Fortune Telling, Grace / Forgiveness, Heaven and Hell, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Holy, Holy / Set Apart, Homosexual Behavior, Hope, Idols / False Gods, Is the Old Testament Relevant Today?, Justice / Judgment, Obeying God, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Repenting from Sin, Self Control, Selfishness, Sorcery, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Immoral Behavior Is Offensive To God and It Is Wrong For Everyone

Jehovah could not make it much more clear… He wants us to follow His statutes and not those of the pagans who reject Him. We are not to blend in in this world. He takes sin very seriously. There is absolute right and wrong and many in this world are doing wrong. He does not promise us His blessing regardless of our behavior. He does lay out clear consequences and accountability for those who choose to sin, to live outside of His statutes and guidance. Jehovah has not changed His mind on what He approves of since Leviticus. He is unchanging in His character.

Leviticus 20

On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities

     1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“You shall also say to the sons of Israel:
‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3‘I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary and to profane My holy name. 4‘If the people of the land, however, should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his offspring to Molech, so as not to put him to death, 5then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the harlot after him, by playing the harlot after Molech.

      6‘As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7‘You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8‘You shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

      9‘If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother, his bloodguiltiness is upon him.

      10‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11‘If there is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltiness is upon them. 12‘If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed incest, their bloodguiltiness is upon them. 13‘If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. 14‘If there is a man who marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no immorality in your midst. 15‘If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. 16‘If there is a woman who approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

      17‘If there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt. 18‘If there is a man who lies with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has exposed the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19‘You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has made naked his blood relative; they will bear their guilt. 20‘If there is a man who lies with his uncle’s wife he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. 21‘If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is abhorrent; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

      22‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not spew you out. 23‘Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them. 24‘Hence I have said to you, “You are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25‘You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. 26‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.

      27‘Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.’”

There is quite a list of immorality and rebellion identified in this scripture. Our Father is trying to be very clear about these sins. They are unacceptable. No excuses. No rationalizing. He has not changed His mind about these things being wrong. Take care in reflecting on these. Just because it is no longer common that someone may be sacrificing their child to Molech does not mean this is an obsolete passage. People today sacrifice their unborn children through abortion essentially to the god of self. For their own selfish desires they kill their unborn children rather than care for the children and raise them, taking accountability for past mistakes and showing respect for life. Globally there are over 40 million abortions a year. By the numbers, it is a much greater horror than any singular event in history, even the Hollocaust which was gruesome and killed 6 million. God is not pleased with sacrificing children through abortion any more than He was in killing them before Molech.

I do not believe that we are still commanded to execute those specific punishments, in light of Christ’s death and resurrection for our sins. But we are called to rebuke wrong behavior and call evil what it is and good what it is. We should not call what is evil good and what is good evil, as so many do today in our society. We should have laws against most of these behaviors, though some should need no laws, because our laws should reflect our Christian values. There should be punishments for these crimes to help discourage others from embracing sin and harming themselves and others.  Some should be laws, some should be active engagement from the Christian society to rebuke offenders (in love) so that they should repent. We should not cheerfully embrace offenders of these laws as if what they do is acceptable before God.

We can also bring forth the good news of forgiveness that is offered through Christ to those in sin. Jesus Christ died for our sins. We need to admit we are sinners who can not save themselves and accept His offer of forgiveness through grace by faith. Turn from our sinful behavior. Ask forgiveness from the Father. Turn toward the Father’s ways and ask for His help through the Spirit.

Take time to read the list thoroughly. Some of the sin covered here are rejected widely by society for now, but others have already been deemed acceptable and “good” by the world. Given a chance, the world will continue to redefine all of these sinful behaviors to caste them as “good” and caste those who rightly denounce them as “intolerant” and “cruel”.  We must repent personally, pray for God’s help for our nation and local government and the people, and stand against what is evil boldly by confronting it in our communities, churches, and influencing our legal system by actively engaging as a voters or in public office as followers of Christ.  We should never separate church and state. That is just an excuse to open the door for evil to prosper and it was never the intent of our founding fathers of the USA and is certainly not Jehovah’s desire. The founding fathers embraced Christian values and principles and teaching and integrated it into all aspects of the government they created (but that is a topic for another day).

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Father / Yahweh, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Loneliness, Peace / Rest

We Need Not Be Alone. His Invitation Is Open.

We may all feel alone at times, but we do not need to be alone. Life is hard, it is harder yet if we go it alone. Yeshua (Hebrew for Jesus) invites us to come to Him. If we do, and we take on His yoke rather than our own, than we will find rest for our souls.

Matthew 11:28-30

      28“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Let us consider what a yoke is in terms of the metaphor being used. A yoke connects two oxen so that they pull together to share a load. This does not mean that we take a burden for Jesus and pull it because “it is the right thing to do”. We already have a burden in dealing with the struggles and trials of this life and if we put on His yoke, Jesus will help us with our burden. He is the “big ox” pulling the load. We are clearly the weaker ox sharing the load.  As long as we pull in the same direction as He does, rather than fight Him to pull in our own direction, we find rest for our souls.

Notice, this is not about physical rest. Life is difficult. This is about soul rest. We find peace and rest knowing that God’s ways are best and choosing to follow them. God will help us. We can cease striving to please everyone who has an opinion regarding our lives and focus on pleasing and obeying God in our lives. With God, we need never be alone.

Choose to seek and submit to Jehovah. Jesus shows us the way to the Father. The Spirit helps us in our daily lives as believers and followers of Christ. I pray daily to the Father to help me in this regard and encourage each of you to do the same.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Father / Yahweh, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Loneliness, Loving / Kind, Peace / Rest, Persecution / Glorifying God

Peace Through Adversity

The storms of life will come. Trials and difficulties abound even for followers of Christ. We get no free pass. In fact, often the world will seek to persecute us for our decision to publically and boldly follow Christ rather than conforming to paganism and ungodliness of the world.

From where then do we find peace? It will not be from the absence of conflict and adversity in this world. Indeed not. Let us look to how Jesus chose to comfort and prepare His disciples before He was crucified so that they would find peace even through a very difficult time.

  1. Jesus manages expectations for the disciples. He prepares them by warning them that they will be outcasts even from the established religious institution of the day. Even people who think they are following God will persecute them.
  2. Jesus tells them to anticipate a Helper in the Holy Spirit to come to them after Jesus is gone.
  3. He warns them that He will die, but that He will then come back again. He foretells even the joy they will have when they see Him again.
  4. He reassures them that the Father will answer their righteous prayers.

We too know that we will face trials and tribulations in this world. We too can look to the Holy Spirit as a Helper. We can look forward knowing that we will see Jesus again, once we leave this world. The Father is with us and will answer prayers. All of these key elements are still available to us today to help us through difficult times!

John 16

Jesus’ Warning

     1“These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. 2“They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. 3“These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. 4“But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

The Holy Spirit Promised

     5“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6“But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

      12“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14“He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15“All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Foretold

     16“A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.” 17Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” 18So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” 19Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20“Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. 21“Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. 22“Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

Prayer Promises

     23“In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24“Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

      25“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. 26“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; 27for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. 28“I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.”

      29His disciples said, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech. 30“Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.” 31Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32“Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Reflect on the promises of God to His people. What a gracious and loving God! He provides more than we deserve! Though we have tribulation in the world, we may celebrate and find peace in knowing that He has already overcome the world.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Father / Yahweh, Holy / Set Apart, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Obeying God, Repenting from Sin, Worldliness

Walk in the Light Rather Than the Darkness

When we walk in light we see things as they really are. Light also represents truth and goodness, even God Himself, whereas darkness represents evil and sin.  Let us not fool ourselves by convincing ourselves we are free of sin on our own achievement. Only through Christ can we be deemed righteous as we are cleansed by His blood shed for us.  We can not walk in sin and darkness and yet claim fellowship with Him.

John 3:16

19“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21“But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

1 John 1:5-10

God Is Light

     5This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

Let us see clearly. We have a sin problem… yes all of us. We can not overcome it on our own. We can not live in close fellowship with the Father while living in disobedience and rebellion… in sin. We must turn from our sinful ways, ask forgiveness, and accept Jesus as Lord knowing that He died for our sins and rose again. If we claim that we are in fellowship with the Father, and yet our actions and attitudes reflect sin and disobedience from His word… the truth is not in us.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Father / Yahweh, Forgive Others / Seek Forgiveness, Grace / Forgiveness, Holy / Set Apart, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Repenting from Sin, Seeking God

Coming Clean Before Approaching Jehovah

There is quite a bit of detail in scripture regarding ceremonial cleanness or uncleanness. Jehovah wanted man to separate what is holy from what is not and to be ceremonial clean when approaching Him. I am still studying and praying for understanding on how some of this material applies to us today. I am not convinced we are still to follow the literal application of ceremonial law in terms of coming clean before approaching our Father. I believe instead that we should focus on coming clean from sin, which defiles us and separates us from our Father.  There is strong parallel between the uncleanness laid out in Leviticus and how sin defiles us and also parallels in the need to come clean from sin as we wish to approach our Father.

Fortunately, we don’t need to be perfect, in absence of all sin, to approach our Father. Rather, we need to submit to Him, ask forgiveness, turn from our sin and accept the grace of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Jesus’s death on the cross was sufficient to cover our sins.

Leviticus 15

Cleansing Unhealthiness

     1The LORD also spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. 3‘This, moreover, shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: it is his uncleanness whether his body allows its discharge to flow or whether his body obstructs its discharge. 4‘Every bed on which the person with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. 5‘Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening; 6and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 7‘Also whoever touches the person with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 8‘Or if the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, he too shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 9‘Every saddle on which the person with the discharge rides becomes unclean. 10‘Whoever then touches any of the things which were under him shall be unclean until evening, and he who carries them shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 11‘Likewise, whomever the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 12‘However, an earthenware vessel which the person with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden vessel shall be rinsed in water.

      13‘Now when the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, then he shall count off for himself seven days for his cleansing; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean. 14‘Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD to the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest; 15and the priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD because of his discharge.

      16‘Now if a man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening. 17‘As for any garment or any leather on which there is seminal emission, it shall be washed with water and be unclean until evening. 18‘If a man lies with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be unclean until evening.

      19‘When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. 20‘Everything also on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean. 21‘Anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 22‘Whoever touches any thing on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 23‘Whether it be on the bed or on the thing on which she is sitting, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. 24‘If a man actually lies with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

      25‘Now if a woman has a discharge of her blood many days, not at the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, all the days of her impure discharge she shall continue as though in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean. 26‘Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like her bed at menstruation; and every thing on which she sits shall be unclean, like her uncleanness at that time. 27‘Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. 28‘When she becomes clean from her discharge, she shall count off for herself seven days; and afterward she will be clean. 29‘Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them in to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 30‘The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the LORD because of her impure discharge.’

      31“Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.” 32This is the law for the one with a discharge, and for the man who has a seminal emission so that he is unclean by it, 33and for the woman who is ill because of menstrual impurity, and for the one who has a discharge, whether a male or a female, or a man who lies with an unclean woman.

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Have you allowed Him to cleanse your sin so you may approach the Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Father / Yahweh, Loving / Kind, Peace / Rest, Praise / Worship / Glorify God, Prayer, Protector / Deliverer, Provider, Thankfulness, Wickedness / Evil, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Praise For Jehovah’s Mighty Deeds and Answer to Prayer

How often do you take time to stop from your busy life and sing praises to the Father? to shout joyfully to tell others what He has done for His people, and more specifically, for you personally? to thank Him?

Take some time today and praise Him for His mighty deeds. Thank Him for what He does in your life and the lives of other brothers and sisters in Christ. He truly defines “awesome”. We do well to reflect on that more often.

Psalms 66

     1Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;

      2Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious.

      3Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You.

      4“All the earth will worship You,
And will sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name.”

Selah.

      5Come and see the works of God,
Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men.

      6He turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through the river on foot;
There let us rejoice in Him!

      7He rules by His might forever;
His eyes keep watch on the nations;
Let not the rebellious exalt themselves.

Selah.

      8Bless our God, O peoples,
And sound His praise abroad,

      9Who keeps us in life
And does not allow our feet to slip.

      10For You have tried us, O God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.

      11You brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins.

      12You made men ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water,
Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.

      13I shall come into Your house with burnt offerings;
I shall pay You my vows,

      14Which my lips uttered
And my mouth spoke when I was in distress.

      15I shall offer to You burnt offerings of fat beasts,
With the smoke of rams;
I shall make an offering of bulls with male goats.

Selah.

      16Come and hear, all who fear God,
And I will tell of what He has done for my soul.

      17I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was extolled with my tongue.

      18If I regard wickedness in my heart,
The Lord will not hear;

      19But certainly God has heard;
He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.

      20Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer
Nor His lovingkindness from me.

Let us take care not to skip over some key verses toward the end. We should indeed fear God. If we regard wickedness in our heart, He will not hear. Let us celebrate His lovingkindness.

Praise the Lord for all His works! Praise Him for the love He shows each of us as His children!

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Discipline / Correction, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Father / Yahweh, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Holy, Justice / Judgment, Miracles, Obeying God, Seeking God, Through Prophets, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

His Way… Not Our Own

Imagine the scene at hand. God has just manifested Himself to the congregation of Israelites. The holy ceremony to launch the priesthood was just completed. People were still celebrating. All had been carefully done how the Lord commanded.

Then two of the priests just seem to completely disregard all that God said about how to approach Him and serve Him. Nadab and Abihu take their own utensils instead of those set aside to be holy and used at the temple. They offered incense together where God said only one at a time should do so. They encroached on the function of the high priest, who alone was to offer burnt incense. They offered incense at the wrong time, neither part of the morning or evening sacrifice. They seemed unable to even honor God for a little while but rather immediately launched into disobedience after having been invited to serve in high honor as priest.

This was more than a simple mistake, they disregarded almost all that had just been instructed. They insisted on doing their own thing. Disobedience has serious consequences with the Lord, especially for those who have been set aside to be holy and know better.

Leviticus 10:1-7

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

      1Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

3Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying,
‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy,
And before all the people I will be honored.’”
So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

      4Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp.” 5So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said. 6Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the LORD has brought about. 7“You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for the LORD’S anointing oil is upon you.” So they did according to the word of Moses.

Disobedience is serious business once God has made clear to us what we ought to do and how we ought to do it. More so for those who have been selected to be set aside for His purposes and have seen His very presence in the camp among them.

Seek genuinely to learn the ways of the Lord and obey. Let go of doing things your own way and pursue His way and you will do well in the presence of the Lord.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.