Category Archives: Righteousness / Serving God

Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Holy, Holy / Set Apart, Seeking God

A Holy Calling

The Levitical priests are examples of people set apart by design for God’s service. This is literally a holy calling. To be holy is to be set apart for Jehovah’s purposes. Leviticus 22 covers a lot of ground regarding guidelines and instructions for the Levitical priesthood.

With the death of Christ on our behalf and the veil being torn, now all followers of Christ are invited to come before the King of Kings and serve Him. We are all called to personal holiness and relationship with God.

At a high level, Leviticus 22 reminds us that those who wish to be holy are called to be different than the general population around them. We are to do things in obedience to God rather than the same way as the world around us. God no longer requires us to make animal sacrifices, which foreshadowed the sacrifice of Christ. We now can give thanks and embrace the actual sacrificial death of Christ on our behalf… for our sins. Through Christ we are justified (reconciled to God; forgiven of our sin) and sanctified (made holy). However, it does depend on our wholehearted and undivided submission to Christ rather than living in rebellion to Him and praising Him only with our lips.

Leviticus 22

Sundry Rules for Priests

      1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am the LORD. 3“Say to them, ‘If any man among all your descendants throughout your generations approaches the holy gifts which the sons of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from before Me; I am the LORD. 4‘No man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a leper or who has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. And if one touches anything made unclean by a corpse or if a man has a seminal emission, 5or if a man touches any teeming things by which he is made unclean, or any man by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness; 6a person who touches any such shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his body in water. 7‘But when the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he shall eat of the holy gifts, for it is his food. 8‘He shall not eat an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it; I am the LORD. 9‘They shall therefore keep My charge, so that they will not bear sin because of it and die thereby because they profane it; I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

      10‘No layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a sojourner with the priest or a hired man shall not eat of the holy gift. 11‘But if a priest buys a slave as his property with his money, that one may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his food. 12‘If a priest’s daughter is married to a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the gifts. 13‘But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no child and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s food; but no layman shall eat of it. 14‘But if a man eats a holy gift unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy gift to the priest. 15‘They shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel which they offer to the LORD, 16and so cause them to bear punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

Flawless Animals for Sacrifice

     17Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or of the aliens in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they present to the LORD for a burnt offering— 19for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. 20‘Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. 21‘When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 22‘Those that are blind or fractured or maimed or having a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the LORD. 23‘In respect to an ox or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member, you may present it for a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24‘Also anything with its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the LORD, or sacrifice in your land, 25nor shall you accept any such from the hand of a foreigner for offering as the food of your God; for their corruption is in them, they have a defect, they shall not be accepted for you.’”

      26Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27“When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be accepted as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to the LORD. 28“But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not kill both it and its young in one day. 29“When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30“It shall be eaten on the same day, you shall leave none of it until morning; I am the LORD. 31“So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am the LORD.

      32“You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the LORD who sanctifies you, 33who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the LORD.”

Praise God! He is great indeed. He is holy by nature. He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him and made holy so that we can approach Him and have relationship with Him! Praise God for sending a Helper in the Spirit to dwell inside us and strengthen us in our faith and observance of God’s instructions.

Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Holy, Holy / Set Apart, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Seeking God

Pursue Holiness As You Draw Near to the Father

Leviticus 21 can be difficult chapter to fully digest in our culture today. We can study and debate how much of the specific instruction is still literally applicable since now the veil has been torn (with the death of Jesus). Now all followers of Christ are welcome to approach God, made holy through Christ Jesus rather than our own actions.

What seems a bit more clear, however, is that our Father expects those who come before Him to be holy and set apart for His service.  They should not just blend in with everyone else around them. We can not, for example, claim to be made holy by accepting Christ as Lord while yet actively and willingly rebelling against God and His instructions in our life. If we rebel against Him openly, than surely we have not submitted to Him fully. This does not mean we need to be perfect. There is a difference between seeking Him truly and making mistakes and claiming His name and openly dismissing or rejecting Him by how we live our lives.

Leviticus 21

Regulations concerning Priests

     1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:
‘No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, 2except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother, 3also for his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. 4‘He shall not defile himself as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. 5‘They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh. 6‘They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire to the LORD, the food of their God; so they shall be holy. 7‘They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. 8‘You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy. 9‘Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

      10‘The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes; 11nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; 12nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the LORD. 13‘He shall take a wife in her virginity. 14‘A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to marry a virgin of his own people, 15so that he will not profane his offspring among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.’”

      16Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17“Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer the food of his God. 18‘For no one who has a defect shall approach: a blind man, or a lame man, or he who has a disfigured face, or any deformed limb, 19or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles. 21‘No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the LORD’S offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the food of his God. 22‘He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, 23only he shall not go in to the veil or come near the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’” 24So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.

Submit to Christ and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Through Christ we can be justified and sanctified (forgiven and made holy). The Spirit can fill us and provide the power for us to live increasingly holy 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.

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Put On A New Self… With the Help of the Holy Spirit

Want a quick, objective check on your personal relationship with Jehovah? Read through Colossians 3 with me. Let the Spirit guide you toward the areas in your life where you fall short and encourage you in the areas where God is transforming your life.

First, if you are made new through Christ, keep seeking the things of God. Set your mind on the His ways rather than the world’s.

Colossians 3:1-17

Put On the New Self

     1Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

      5Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— 11a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

      12So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

This scripture serves as a great summary of some key character traits we should demonstrate as new creations in Christ and a list of traits we should not be demonstrating anymore. Pray for the Spirit to help you in areas where you are struggling. Praise Him and thank Him where He is helping you. What a wonderful Lord we serve that He is mindful of us! He sends His helper to dwell with us to transform us. Let us live in the world but apart from the world so as to glorify the Father.

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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.

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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.

Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Greed, Heaven and Hell, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Joy / Happiness / Rejoicing, Loving / Kind, Righteousness / Serving God, Seeking God, Thankfulness, Wickedness / Evil, Wise, Worldliness

Imitate God Rather Than The World

Ephesians 5 speaks for itself. It is a timeless warning to avoid worldliness and a call to righteousness.

Ephesians 5

Be Imitators of God

     1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

      3But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

      6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9(for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.

14For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”

      15Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Let us take a challenging look at ourselves and our lives and test to see if we are living as imitators of God, or of the world. In most cases, we struggle at some level in that we still are reflections of the sin culture of the world. Let us call upon God to help purify us further and help us to change our attitudes and actions to reflect better and better the righteousness of God rather than the values of 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.

Fortune Telling, Greed, Guide, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Is the Old Testament Relevant Today?, Lying / Deceiving, Money / Finances / Wealth, Obeying God, Seeking God, Selfishness, Sin, Sorcery, Study the Word, Tongue / Gossip / Slander, Wickedness / Evil

Exploring (and Obeying) God’s Instructions

For most of us it can be a challenge to focus and read through the detailed sections of the Old Testament like Leviticus where it covers many of the laws and instructions that God set forth for His people. They seem different and strange at times. We have not been taught this material as a serious part of our church life in the modern Christian church. Some of the ceremonial laws and instructions relating to animal sacrifices no longer apply.

However, there is rich insight into what our Father values and wants from His people embedded in the text. We have to treat it like a gold mine and go mining. Take as an example, Leviticus 19. It instructs us about reaping the harvest of our land and not reaping every corner or gathering fallen fruit. It may be easy to say, “I am not a farmer, so I will skip ahead”, but that is missing the point. Farming is just a context common to the people of that time. The principle is that we should not be so greedy to claim every last nickel of what is “ours” such that we leave nothing to help others who are in need. Surely this principle can be applied to all of us today, regardless of our trade or skill. Notice, the government has nothing to do with taking the extra that is left and giving it to the poor… it is direct from the person to those in need and freely given.

Not stealing… not dealing falsely… not lieing… not swearing falsely by His name… that is certainly still applicable and quite straightforward.

Notice in verse 13, we are not only to avoid robbing our neighbor, but we are not to oppress him either. We are to pay to others what is due them as hired workers without delay and stalling. Do not treat the blind and deaf badly just because the deaf man can’t hear what you did to him or the blind man can’t see what you did to him. To do these things is to not revere and respect God Himself.

I encourage you to fully explore the scripture and challenge yourself to ask “How might this apply to my life?”

Just because God talks about how to treat slaves does not mean he is endorsing slavery as we know it. That topic requires more study to understand the cultural context of slavery at the time, which was quite different than what we in the US think about slavery as we know it from earlier in our history as a nation. Further, God speaks up to protect the slaves and provide laws for how they should be treated.

Leviticus 19:9-37

Sundry Laws

     9‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10‘Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.

      11‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. 12‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.

      13‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. 14‘You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.

      15‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16‘You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD.

      17‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. 18‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.

      19‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.

      20‘Now if a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave acquired for another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death, because she was not free. 21‘He shall bring his guilt offering to the LORD to the doorway of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. 22‘The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.

      23‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. 24‘But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD. 25‘In the fifth year you are to eat of its fruit, that its yield may increase for you; I am the LORD your God.

      26‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination or soothsaying. 27‘You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard. 28‘You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.

      29‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness. 30‘You shall keep My sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the LORD.

      31‘Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

      32‘You shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.

      33‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34‘The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.

      35‘You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity. 36‘You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin; I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 37‘You shall thus observe all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am the LORD.’”

Much of this text is obvious and straightforward. Some requires additional study of the context of the culture and nearby neighboring cultures to fully understand what God is instructing. Some instructions are intended to show love to other people and some show love and honor to God. We are to seek to understand and obey if we are to truly live a life that shows love to our Father.

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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.

Children, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Holy, Holy / Set Apart, Parenting, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

To Be Holy Is A Good Thing

I think it is sad that our society has made an insult out of the concept of someone being “holy”. Ever heard someone who is sinning and does not want to face it get angry with someone who is not and just rationalize it by saying that person is acting “holier than thou”? I have. In the right context, I understand the comment. Some people are not genuinely trying to be holy, but rather put on a show. But truth be told, if we understand what being holy means, then we should consider it a powerful virtue. To be holy is to be set apart for God’s use and purposes. We should strive to be holy and God tells us so. He is holy and we should be holy.

In Leviticus 19, He then continues to give examples of being holy. They are examples of simply obeying the commands He already provided… honor your mother and father, honor the sabbath as a holy day of rest set aside for God,  to not make idols to worship for there is only one true God. He then continues to give another example related to a peace offering which most of us are less familiar with today. It is a reasonable conclusion, and could be verified of course with some additional study, that it is another example for His people to simply obey what He has told them to do already as means of being set apart for His purposes… being holy.

Leviticus 19:1-8

     1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

      2“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. 3‘Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the LORD your God. 4‘Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God.

      5‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6‘It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. 7‘So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted. 8‘Everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

I want to be holy and I want my family to be holy. I pray for God’s help to fill us with the Spirit so that we may be holy in our daily lives in order to serve and honor the Father. It requires seeking His ways and changing our behaviors and attitudes when they are different than His instructions. It can seem hard as you have to turn away from things and boldly be different from your extended family or friends and certainly different from most of those you encounter in daily life. Many will mock you. Few will understand.  But it is hard for us to be a light for God to show others the way to Him, if we just blend into society like a dim bulb in a dark room. Better for us to be a bright light that God can use to lead the way for others.

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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.

Arrogance, Bitterness / Resentment, Grace / Patience, Hypocrisy, Kindness / Gentleness, Lying / Deceiving, Mercy, Peace / Rest, Selfishness, Strife, Wickedness / Evil, Wise, Worldliness, Worry/Anxiety

Worldliness vs. Godliness

Understanding from God is very different from understanding that is of the world. Let us judge carefully which we follow in our lives. Our actions will reveal our motivations.

James 3:14-16

     13Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. 18And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are of the world. Arrogance as well. It brings disorder and evil and never peace. Godly wisdom is pure, gentle, peaceable, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruit and without hypocrisy. It brings peace.

Which will you choose?

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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.

Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Guide, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Homosexual Behavior, Marriage, Self Control

Laws on Immoral Relations – It Matters

Our all knowing Father and Creator knows well the depths of depravity the human mind may rationalize and accept inherent in our sin nature. He created sexual intercourse as a gift and a blessing properly enjoyed as part of a marriage relationship between a man and a woman. He knew that He would also need to specify some things that should not be done. As much as this list seems obvious to me even before reading it, to some in today’s world it is less clear. They have rationalized and accepted much immorality, turning from God’s ways and embracing sin.

Let us be reminded of some of what God says is inappropriate. We are not to just mimic what the ungodly people around us do. We are to submit to God and His statutes and His judgments… and His alone.

For those that believe that homosexuality is somehow now ok because the world says so or judges in black robes say so… God has not changed His position. He places it in verse 22, right next to bestiality in verse 23.

Leviticus 18

Laws on Immoral Relations

     1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the LORD your God. 3‘You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. 4‘You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. 5‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.

      6‘None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness; I am the LORD. 7‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness. 8‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. 9‘The nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover. 10‘The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for their nakedness is yours. 11‘The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, she is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 12‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative. 13‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative. 14‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife, she is your aunt. 15‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is lewdness. 18‘You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

      19‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity. 20‘You shall not have intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. 21‘You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD. 22‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. 23‘Also you shall not have intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

      24‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. 25‘For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. 26‘But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you 27(for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled); 28so that the land will not spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you. 29‘For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. 30‘Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the LORD your God.’”

Note that God brought punishment on the nations who defiled themselves in this way. We should expect He will do the same to any nation that embraces the same immorality. He tells His people as much in this scripture. Many claim it does no harm to anyone. Clearly it harms those who participate is such acts. It separates them from God and turns them over to behavior that even animals have sense enough to avoid. It does matter what others around us do! Once we begin to accept immoral behavior as acceptable, the culture around us accepts that and starts accepting and rationalizing additional immorality. (sex outside marriage is normalized, then divorce is normalized, then homosexuality is normalized… next will be pedophilia or bestiality.) Wrong behavior must be labeled clearly as wrong and not tolerated. God is not tolerant of sin. “Tolerance” of sin is not a virtue or godly quality. Rather than tolerate sin, let us help our neighbors to understand what is acceptable to God and what is sin. Let us rebuke them in an appropriate way and never endorse sin. Let us not corrupt our laws to embrace sin, but rather continue to strive so that sin is clearly identified and understood so that sinners can be reconciled with God rather than remain in their sin. Ultimately a society that accepts this behavior gets to live with the destructive consequences of it and then face judgment before God as a nation and as individuals.

Pray for our nation. Get involved in politics to represent God’s principles in our government whether local, state, or national. Get involved. Do not just ignore evil for that is all that is required for evil to expand and ultimately transform a society.

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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.