37 - "The Invincible, Immutable, Incomprehensible God" Leviticus 14-15

                                                        

Old Testament laws. Rules! You all didn't like all the silly rules we had in our family back in the day. Like you have to wear a collared shirt to church. And at school, you couldn't dance. Sounds so weird today.

We are no longer under the law.  They were looking forward and we no longer look backwards.  We are partakers of the Divine Nature.  Francis Chan said:  "We have obtained equal standing with everyone---like Peter."  Given all things that pertain to life and godliness. II Peter 1:3.  For that very reason.  Give it all up.  Make every effort.  Knowledge.  Self Control.  Steadfast.  Godliness.  Love.  "Don't be so nearsighted that you are blind."  We have Him here.  When Chan spoke tonight about looking at things Unseen.  What are we really looking at every day?  The warp or the woof?  Or the Invincible, Immutable, Incomprehensible God?

Father, it is incomprehensible that we can partake of your Divine Nature.  The Israelites looked forward and thought they'd give anything to be at that place.  You are Here.  Invade my day, this moment, with your Holy Presence.

God spoke to Moses & Aaron. He talked to them! 

And He did to me today in the midst.

When you enter the land

I am giving you to possess, put this in your house . . .

Leviticus 14:34

First Thought:  get rid of it!  God is the one engineering ordaining all things. 

"Instead of Giving Thanks, one is tempted toward and nurtured in 

accomplishments, achievements, and possessions. 

It is a world in which no wonders are enacted, no transformations noticed." 

John Wesley

If God has ordained for you to possess the good, the bad, the ugly ,,,, 

God will enable you to persevere in your possessions.

The priests couldn't heal. All these regulations. How could they remember. But, Henry says: If we apply this to the spiritual leprosy of sin, it intimates that when we withdraw from those who walk disorderly, we must not count them as enemies, but admonish them as brethren. And I just love that thought.  The leprosy of sin---I've been made to feel that way.  Like a leper.  May I never count them as my enemy but treat them as a friend---and a friend gives admonishments, too.  

PHOTO:  Taken at Passion Conference as Francis Chan spoke about 2 Corinthians 4:18.  Fix our eyes on what is Unseen, not on this earth.

36 - "Name Your Sin" Leviticus 11-13

                                               

"You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean." Leviticus 11:47.  Name the sin that separates us from God.  

"The toughest part of My plan, the part that is costliest to God, is to make me holy." 66 LL. All these regulations!  

They couldn't enter the Presence of God "as is."  

This theme of offerings is all about how Jesus is the only Way.  The core message of Leviticus is to make us  holy.  May we distinguish between all the things we deal with.  May we long for holiness as much as our next breath.  May I desire to be holy in my current situation more than I want to figure out what to do to improve it, change it, eradicate it.  

Help us, O God, to distinguish between good and evil.  Make us a holy people. 

PHOTO: Church of the Martyrs. A holy moment standing here knowing the stories of holy people. 

35 - "Hold Your Peace" Leviticus 9-10

#35 Fire came out from the presence of the Lord. Aaron remained silent. Aaron held his peace. Lost boy of his boys in that fire. 

                                                               

 Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown. Lev 9:24. Fire. That visible token of God being present for them. And their visible humble response of falling face down. May we all fall face forward. ‘

This is the same Aaron who held his words in front of the idolatrous Israelites.  
This time, Aaron holds his words for his God.  Submission.  Trust.  Love.

“‘Among those who approach me
I will be proved holy;
in the sight of all the people
I will be honored.’” Leviticus 10:3

And. Aaron remained silent. 
And. Aaron held his peace.
Both of his boys.  Lost.

I surely don't ever want to see someone I love lost forever.  May I be more concerned for my own relationship before You; submission to Your Holy Will.  More than what I think should happen.  More than demands that things turn out right.  You long for redemption for all.  May we continue to give grace and peace and prayers and love to all we meet this day, all days.  "For the sake of our prayers," change us all.

PHOTO: The desert.  Places where they decided to sin in their hearts and build sand castles to other gods.  Even castles crumble. 

34 - "Found Waiting in Wonder" Leviticus 7-8

                       

#34 Look before us at your very steps. May we be found waiting and watching.

The Lord said to Moses, Bring Aaron and his sons and gather the entire assembly to commission Aaron as a priest.  Lev 8:2. Wash and dress them: Tunics. Sashes. Robed. Ephods. Breastpieces. Turbans. Gold Plated. Anointing Oil.  What a sight to see!  Spellbound by the ceremonial honor.  Should be that way but it's not what we've seen here on earth. All we can do is deal with our own stuff.  May you be found waiting in wonder, and leading your families for the favor of our God. 

The occasion of sin is great in all our lives. Therefore, all these offerings. But today, it's our very lives. "Fear always, and pray always, that we may be kept from sin. Also we should look before us at every step. The true Christian daily pleads guilty before God." M. Henry. No more burnt offerings. We are alive in him and He dwells within. 

This is all about the servants that God brought out of Egypt.  Leviticus 25:55.  The law of Moses honored the Sabbath Day---a day designed for worship and reading and hearing the Law.  A day and a way to know God deeper.  Now, they institute a sabbatical year, every seven.  Now, they institute a jubilee year, after seven sabbatical years.  Return to your possessions, your bargains, your lands, your loves.  Free and with no encumbrance around your neck, around your soul.  And Who restores us to this kind of freedom?  The Redeemer Who lives.  Who ever lives for you and for me.  So what will I do with this Sabbath Day?  Consider it holy as unto the Lord. Adore Him!

PHOTO:  The little ones at church. May we all treat the Sabbath as holy. Rest. #adore #read #listen #study #worship

33 “Redeeming Grace” Leviticus 5-6

  #46 Think about redeeming grace for the secret sins and the sins against humanity. Nothing can snatch us out of his redeeming grace. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

Sitting on this tiny island today thinking about my sins and Redeeming Grace that sets me free of what grabs me. No one, Nothing can snatch me out of His Hand. 

We will sin in this day.

And we have an Advocate. 

Here. They offer sacrifices for their sins. 

For secret sins. 

For sins against humanity. 

"If a soul sins ..." Leviticus 5:1

DEAR GOD, Change us in one of our 10,000 Moments today and always. That we may find you in our weaknesses, in our sins. 

PHOTO: Quarries Lake, ATX

32 - "Unintentional Sin Needs 'a Savior Too" Leviticus 1-3

#32 Our daily offerings—-is it fulfilling to just check off the box? Our validation in life is that we answer God’s invitation. Leviticus 1:17. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

                                                              

Dear Ones, I open the book of Leviticus 4:27 and it's about all these sin offerings and I struggle through the words.  But I don't struggle through the truth.  If we sin unintentionally, it still does not clear us of the sin.  We can plead ignorance all we want.  Unintentional sins need a Savior, too.  We must own up to our own.  We must learn to hate sin whether we are surprised by it or full-faced embrace the evil.  May we all value knowing Christ more than knowing comfort in what we want to do.  We can sin with our Bible wide open.  May the Word find a place in all our hearts today.

                                            

The Israelites are stuck at the base of Mount Sinai through this entire book.  What offering do they bring to Christ in the completed tabernacle?  Blessing.  Obedience.  Sacrifice.  Fast Forward to today.  What offering do we bring?  Our very selves.   

God called Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting: Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them. Whole burnt offerings. "The general design of these laws is plain. The sacrifices typified Christ; they also shadowed out the believer's duty, character, privilege, and communion with God. There is scarcely any thing spoken of the Lord Jesus in Scripture which has not also a reference to his people."   

Leviticus…These offerings.

Our daily privilege. 

Pleasing to whom?

Fulfilling that we checked off the box? No. 

Validating that we answered God's invite? 

"An aroma pleasing to the Lord."   Leviticus 1:17. 

Is it enough for me that I do in obscurity what my God has called me to do? Called me to be?  Faithful servants. Offering sacrifices of a broken-heart.  

PHOTO:  We are all born with sin in our hearts. We are all wayward. We all need a Savior. And this little fella is going to walk uprightly and deal uprightly and live uprightly.  He is on such a good path on his Mom and Dad's knee.  

31 - "Dazzling & Dreadful" Exodus 40

They have done it. In a wilderness! Six months. White-hot.

And the cloud covered the tent. No ordinary cloud that a sun could peek through. No ordinary happening that a day would start when the cloud went up. No ordinary obedience that a million men would freeze under that cloud. Dazzling Light by day. Dreadful fire by night. 

And we know the end of this story. These Israelites did not make it into the land of Canaan. They did not take care of their souls. I wonder why. This cloud, this fire---tokens of God's Very Presence among them so that they need not ask: Is God among us? But wait, I must ask the same telling question of myself: Am I really taking care of my soul---allowing God to be My Provider, My Glory, the Lifter of my head? 

And God possessed the Tabernacle.  He moved in.  He lives there.  Forever now.
That Shichaneh glory is here forever.  
"Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted.l"  Exodus 40:36-37

I find no better words to express the beautiful invitation to be led in "the midst of the paths of judgment." May our souls not wander. May we not lose our way, lose the way.

PHOTO:  A Colorado Cloud.  Thinking about the tokens in our lives of God's Very Presence.  Longing to allow my God to take care of my soul.  

30 - "You Have A Forerunner" Exodus 38-39

The sacred sanctuary...Moses breathes a sign of relief that all the work of all the designers is done just perfectly. Exodus 39:43. 

Dear Ones and Bristol, The ways in which they went about their work, just marvelous.  We are not hidden people living behind walls, stiff-arming the world.  We are known by God, known in our communities, known for our good.  May we work generously like they did in Exodus:  "Cherubims of cunning work."  Work hard kids! Follow the example of your grandfather---Pops. One of the hardest working men I know. Just don't make it your identity. Make it your goal. 

Used to be they would follow the pillar of light and fire by night.  Now, the shechinah glory entered through and passed into the most holy place, the presence-chamber.  God made Himself visible through light and fire.  Well, we know.  Dazzling light and dreadful fire.  And, we now know what Moses could not do.  Through Jesus, the forerunner, we have been invited to draw near and approach, even boldly, the mercy seat.  This place was made with hands.  Our place is no longer made with hands for God Himself is the true tabernacle and in Him dwells all the fulness of the godhead.  It is truly amazing.  We are invited to come boldly today and always and forever.  Amen. 

PHOTO:  Your Grandmother with a whispered prayer tonight for all of you that you find the Forerunner and do His work. 

29 - "One Thing We Need In A Wilderness is Hope" Exodus 35-37

Do we approach our tasks this way, knowing it is for God?  Wonder why.  They brought so much to build the temple that Moses had to restrain them to stop. Exodus 36:6.  Moses could have kept the profits in his back pocket, his back neighborhood. Could have stored it up, in a wilderness, for the next job. No, The Lord put in their hearts to work, and it stirred them up.  Exodus 35:34 - God put in their hearts to teach how to perform like this.  I mean, who had ever built a tabernacle before?  And the wilderness is not exactly where the best supplies could be found.  Never the mind, they set about to do their exact work.  Whatever God has stirred in our hearts, may we run to do the work out of a debt of love not labor.  Here it is.  The visible testimony of their love of God.  And one day that Love walked this earth, the Living Word.  Word made flesh, and He still tabernacles among us.  

One quote keeps stirring in my heart.  As these craftsmen worked their labor of love, as I work out my labor this very day, may we all hear together that One Thing that a man in a wilderness longs for----"not relief from the misery, although that would be nice, but Hope---Hope of intimacy and Meaning, and Joy forever, in relationship with God." Larry Crabb.  It's a man-made tabernacle but God lives there.  And He tabernacles today inviting us into a deeper relationship with Him than we had yesterday.  May we never stay the same but move on in this wilderness.

The building of the sanctuary begins. The work of called ministers embraced. Do the work God called you to. Exodus 36:1. Used up, laid up not. Their hearts were stirred by God and they answered with their talents. Do the work from your heart!.  

PHOTO:  It's modern day.  The work is the same.  Hard work.  Do the work. zeal!  What work ethic!  What thoroughness! 

28 - "God's Thoughts Are Fixed; God's Dispensations of His Providence are Alterable" Exodus 32-34

But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. And he reminded God of how He brought the troubled people out of Egypt with His Great Power and a Mighty Hand. Didn't God already know that? And Moses told God what the people would threaten and say: "It was plain wrong, just evil, that God brought them out to kill them in the mountains and now wipe them off the face of the earth. Why is he doing this to us?" So, Moses pleads: Turn your back on this, God. Don't let it happen. Remember your good servants. And then there it is in Exodus 32:14, the answer: "Then, the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened."  

Hey Kids, Are God's thoughts or the determinations of His Mind alterable?  "He can change the outward dispensations of His Providence, or His methods of acting with men" according to Henry's Commentary.  But the thoughts of His Heart are fixed and firm to all generations. Matthew Henry. We understand from our perspective what it means to change our minds.  God dispenses Grace here---no fickle change but He relents His Hand.  May He do so on us this very day.

"My Presence shall go with you; and I will give you rest." Exodus 33:14.  The original Hebrew left off "with you."  Moses, along with each of us, needs confirmation if this is a promise for the person or the people.  God assures.  He will give rest in the midst of pressing perplexities and he will give rest to the present people, then and today.  I could live with this verse tucked in the pillow of my heart every night.  Sweet dreams.  Sleep in peace knowing His Presence comes; His Rest is real.  Am I really finding rest from the demands of my day as the sun closes Sunday.  What does it look like in my life to be at rest?

PHOTO: Circa 2023. Brooke and her family.