Leviticus 1-3; Psalm 27; Hebrews 2

I like looking at the Old Testament sacrifices – they symbolise thanksgiving, loyal fulfillment of covenant engagements to God, and that loving trust which will call on Him in the day of trouble. This is what God looks for from me. God is love and desires my love and delights in seeing expressions of self -forgetting and self-sacrificing service in which love reveals itself. This is to God even as food is to me. Love cannot be satisfied except with love returned.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any of you brings an offering to the Lord from the livestock, you^[a] may bring your offering from the herd or the flock.

“If his gift is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring an unblemished male. He must bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting so that he^[b] may be accepted by the Lord. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. – Leviticus 1:2-4 HCSB

My need for the infinitie love of God cannot be met by me alone. The sacrificial offering illustrated that I am a sinful person who has fallen away from perfect love. The self offering of love of Jesus, from the Father, on behalf of sinners like me, became a reality. It was a Divine love because it was the supreme expression of the perfect love of Jesus to His Father in total obiedience to die on the cross.

I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking Him in His temple. – Psalm 27:4 HCSB

And so the law is full of love and the duties of the law is love and love fulfills the law. Sin is now designed and employed for the maintenance of love and therefore obedience to the law and the reign of love in my life are different but the same. One of the most sublime lessons of the law is the fact that God is love.

But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace He might taste death for everyone—crowned with glory and honor because of His suffering in death.

For in bringing many sons to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God—all things exist for Him and through Him—should make the source^[d] of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.^[e] That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. – Hebrews 2:9-11 HSCB

The love and grace of God – the supreme proof of those are furnished at the cross. Love is not me loving God but rather God loving me and sending His Son to take my punishment for turning my back on God.

Father, thank You for loving me. Help me reveal Your love to others by loving them. Amen

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

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Leviticus 26; Psalm 33; Ecclesiastes 9; Titus 1

I will be with you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. I, the Lord your God, brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves. I broke the power that held you down and I let you walk with your head held high. – Leviticus 26:12-13 GNT

May I know that You are an intimate God who wants to walk with me and be my God.

I will remember my covenant with Jacob and with Isaac and with Abraham, and I will renew my promise to give my people the land.  But even then, when they are still in the land of their enemies, I will not completely abandon them or destroy them. That would put an end to my covenant with them, and I am the Lord their God. – Leviticus 26: 42, 44 GNT

Lord, may I know that You remember Your covenants and promises. 

All you that are righteous,
    shout for joy for what the Lord has done;
    praise him, all you that obey him. – Psalm 33:1 GNT

I praise Your holy name for all Your goodness to me. Thank You for adopting me into Your family and for making me righteous. I will not forget what You have done for me and my praise for You will be forever on my lips, for You alone are worthy. 

It is better to listen to the quiet words of someone wise than to the shouts of a ruler at a council of fools. – Ecclesiastes 9:17 GNT

May I find myself not only listening but heeding the quiet words of the wise.

From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I was chosen and sent to help the faith of God’s chosen people and to lead them to the truth taught by our religion. – Titus 1:1 GNT

Father, thank You for Your Word and for calling me into Your family. Help me to take heed to all that You are teaching me and use me to point many to Christ. Thank You for revealing the truth of the gospel and of faith and grace to me so that I can chose to walk in godliness before You. AMEN

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

Leviticus 25; Psalms 32; Ecclesiastics 8; 2 Timothy 4

“While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord said to him, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.  When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year.  For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest.  It is the Lord’s Sabbath.  Do not plant your fields of prune your vineyards during that year.”  Leviticus 25:1-4 NLT

In times of rest and Sabbath, sometimes I can feel stuck.  I forget that God is working in the waiting.  I wonder how the Israelties felt.  Did they look out on the empty fields and see God’s provision or lack?

“In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burden’s here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night.  I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun.  Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.” Ecclesiastes 8:16&17 NLT

Do I trust that God is in control? Am I worrying about the future so much that I am missing the joy of today?  I can become impatient in the waiting.  I forget all that God has done in the past.  But, maybe God is using those times to reflect on His goodness.  To build my faith.

Paul’s faith was evident in his life.  He was always looking forward. Paul spoke courage and bravery into Timothy, to continue the work that he started.  I think about the words that I am speaking out loud and to myself.  What kind of legacy am I leaving?

“But you should keep a clear mind in every situation.  Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord.  Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.  As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God.  The time of my death is near.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race and I have remained faithful.  But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear.  And he rescued me from certain death.  Yes, the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom.  All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.”  2 Timothy 4:5-7,17&18 NLT

Dear Father, Thank you for your faithfulness. Help me to step out in faith even when I don’t understand.  Thank you for always meeting me where I am. Amen.

“For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble.  You surround me with songs of victory.  The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you.” Psams 32:7-8 NLT

Amy(amyctanner)

 

Leviticus 20; Psalm 25; Ecclesiastes 3; 1 Timothy 5

The subheading in Leviticus 20 is “Punishments for Disobedience.” There’s a long list of disobedient acts, and the punishment in many cases is death, rejection, or loss. The punishment for sin has always been death, rejection, and loss.

The things he warns against–a defilement of life, of spirit, of body and of mind. He values life, spirit, body, and mind; and he wants (us) to value them too.

⁷ So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord who makes you holy.

²⁴ But I have promised you, ‘You will possess their land because I will give it to you as your possession—a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from all other people.

²⁶ You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. (Leviticus 20:7-8, 24, 26, NLT)

David’s psalm is worship, a declaration of trust. The whole of it, an acknowledgment of God’s goodness.

¹ O Lord, I give my life to you.
²     I trust in you, my God! (Psalm 25:1-2, NLT)

David worships God for his mercy, compassion, righteousness, leadership, and unfailing love. God is good. God is trustworthy.

Ecclesiastes tells of time. When read with a lens of God’s goodness and trustworthiness, I can see his hand in all things. He is in control.

¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. ¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ¹² So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. ¹³ And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

¹⁴ And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. ¹⁵ What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again. (Ecclesiastes 3:10-15, NLT)

No one who trusts in you, Lord, will ever be disgraced.

Thank you, Lord, for loving me enough to choose me, for loving me so much to guide me and teach me and show me the way. You did not put me in this world to figure it out on my own. I put my hope in you.

Courtney (66books365)

Leviticus 11-12; Psalm 13-14; Proverbs 26; 1 Thessalonians 5

In summarizing the reading from Leviticus 11, I came away realizing I may not be as diligent in my walk with God when it comes to defiling my character. There is a lesson in mortality as the penalty of sin that is illustrated here. The law demanded constant watchfulness. In the same spirit I believe I need to watch and pray.

I would also like to give you my general thoughts on Psalm 13.  I have had times when God seemed distant. Not really sure why even though I could come up with a few thoughts that we may all agree on. There are other times when everything is right and yet God is far away, does not speak, I seek Him but He seems to be hiding.

This is David in Psalm 13. Out of the depths of his heart he repeats five times the haunting cry, “How long?” and “How much longer?” Psalm 13 tells me what to do when God seems distant.

Enough with the summaries, here are three short and to the point orders.

Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 GNT

I spent some time with the second point – “pray at all times.” This is about maintaining an attitude of prayer, being aware of God’s presence and staying in constant communion and close relationship with the giver of joy.

It is my posture of unceasing dependence on God. I am abiding in, trusting in, depending on and acknowledging His presence in my life at all times.

 Father, You are my joy. When I spend time with You my life is filled with joy. “I rely on your constant love; I will be glad, because you will rescue me. I will sing to you, O Lord, because you have been good to me.” How many times has something not supposed to go right and yet You stepped in and made sure I was safe, cared for and protected. For all those times I missed You doing what You do best, I thank you. You are the difference in my life and You matter most. I love You.

Erwin (evanlaar1922)