I have been reading in Leviticus this week. It is so fun when you read a book that you know you have read before but it seems as if you have never read it. I love that scripture is alive and it is fresh and new every time you read it.
Basically Leviticus is a book of laws. It is funny that while reading it I say, "that's right, uh huh, no kidding, well is that really true now?" I am questioning one law that is in the midst of others that I agree with. I am a person like the apostle Thomas. I like to know the reason. I like to see the proof. (I can't wait to meet Thomas. I think he has gotten a bad rap. Today, we would call him practical.)
For example, in Leviticus 18: You must never have sexual relations with a close relative, do not have sex with your mother or your sister or your granddaughter, do not have sex with your stepsister or your father's sister, do not have sex with your daughter-in-law or your brother's wife, do not have sex with both a woman and her daughter, do not have sex with a woman during her period. I see a long list of things I agree with and one I wonder about the why not. For the others I understand the reason, but for this one I don't understand the reason why?
Another example, in Leviticus 19: Honor your father and mother, do not steal, observe my sabbath days of rest, do not spread slanderous gossip, do not practice witchcraft, do not trim off the hair on your temples or trim your beards, do not cut your bodies, do not mark your bodies with tattoos. In my head I am saying, "of course, yes, okay I will go to church but I still need to do some laundry, this is hurtful, never, why can't a person shave, I would never cut my body--okay once I became blood brothers with my neighbor, I would never get a tattoo.
You see, I am picking and choosing the ones to follow, just as all of us do. We somehow think that we are better than God. That we can interpret the good from the bad, the evil from the holy. The problem is that we can't. We start by justifying one of the laws written and soon we are compromising far more that we ever thought possible.
Let's consider the command to do no work on the Sabbath. (I know that Jesus said that we could do good on the Sabbath--Luke 14:5 Which of you doesn't work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don't you rush to get him out?) It starts out that we do some laundry, then we let our son go to his soccer game, and then our daughter has a ballet recital, soon we don't have time to go to church today because it is Grandma's birthday party, or we don't have time to go during football season, next we are only going to church on Easter and Christmas, and since we no longer pray at home we think that it is okay for us not to have prayer in school, and finally we take God out of our government and out of our lives.
God knows people. He knows that once we slide down the slippery slope that we will never be able to climb out of the pit we are in.
Lord, help me not to compromise. Help me to obey all your commands. Jesus said in John 14:21, "Those who accept My commandments and obey them are the ones who love Me." Lord Jesus, I love you! I will obey you. Help me in my obedience.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Thankfulness
What is thankfulness? Can a person be thankful in their own heart without out showing an outward manifestation? Is it possible to be thankful without expressing who you are thankful to?
A person gives you a gift and you accept it. The gift was thoughtful; encouraging; or generous; and you really like the gift. But you never tell the person. What is the benefit to you?
Thankfulness lets the person know. It blesses them that they have blessed you. Why would you want to take away the blessing from them by never telling them how much their gift meant to you? By telling them you are not only blessing them, but blessing yourself. You are giving the gift of blessing back.
God wants us to be thankful to him. We can be thankful in our hearts, but we not only bless God but we bless ourselves when we express our thankfulness to Him. Expressing our thankfulness to God gives us great joy.
How can we express our thankfulness to God? Start the simplest way...just tell Him. A quiet conversation, a letter, a song, a dance, a shout. There are so many things in life that we should be thankful for, but do we ever tell God?
I am thankful for... the wonderful, God-fearing man that I married; my two fabulous kids who make my life complete; our pets, who give us great joy and laughter; my extended family, our parents--who taught us to be good people and to love God, our brothers--who are always there for us, their wives--who have made our brothers better, and my nieces and nephews--who were my first babies and my children's friends; my church family and the relationships that we have with them; for great friendships, especially the ones that I can talk to about my walk with God; my job, which I acknowledge is a place where I love to spend my time; my coworkers, who teach me how to be a better stylist and how to be a family; my clients, who I love and who get to share life stories with; my country, which is founded in the gospel of Jesus Christ; my life, which was given back to me after birth through the prayers of my parents; my home, which is beautiful and full of love; my car that lets me take passengers to church, to parks, and to friends; and much, much more that I will continue to share.
But mostly, I am thankful to God. He is the source of my everything. He is my love, my savior, my father, my friend, my companion, my champion, my hero, my encourager, my deliverer, my refuge, and my hope. I commit all I am to You, Lord, because I cannot live this life without you. Thank you for making me your child.
A person gives you a gift and you accept it. The gift was thoughtful; encouraging; or generous; and you really like the gift. But you never tell the person. What is the benefit to you?
Thankfulness lets the person know. It blesses them that they have blessed you. Why would you want to take away the blessing from them by never telling them how much their gift meant to you? By telling them you are not only blessing them, but blessing yourself. You are giving the gift of blessing back.
God wants us to be thankful to him. We can be thankful in our hearts, but we not only bless God but we bless ourselves when we express our thankfulness to Him. Expressing our thankfulness to God gives us great joy.
How can we express our thankfulness to God? Start the simplest way...just tell Him. A quiet conversation, a letter, a song, a dance, a shout. There are so many things in life that we should be thankful for, but do we ever tell God?
I am thankful for... the wonderful, God-fearing man that I married; my two fabulous kids who make my life complete; our pets, who give us great joy and laughter; my extended family, our parents--who taught us to be good people and to love God, our brothers--who are always there for us, their wives--who have made our brothers better, and my nieces and nephews--who were my first babies and my children's friends; my church family and the relationships that we have with them; for great friendships, especially the ones that I can talk to about my walk with God; my job, which I acknowledge is a place where I love to spend my time; my coworkers, who teach me how to be a better stylist and how to be a family; my clients, who I love and who get to share life stories with; my country, which is founded in the gospel of Jesus Christ; my life, which was given back to me after birth through the prayers of my parents; my home, which is beautiful and full of love; my car that lets me take passengers to church, to parks, and to friends; and much, much more that I will continue to share.
But mostly, I am thankful to God. He is the source of my everything. He is my love, my savior, my father, my friend, my companion, my champion, my hero, my encourager, my deliverer, my refuge, and my hope. I commit all I am to You, Lord, because I cannot live this life without you. Thank you for making me your child.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Thanks Be to God: It is not up to me
What This World Needs by Casting Crowns
Songwriters: Cervantes, Hector; Hall, Mark;
People aren't confused by the gospel
They're confused by us
Jesus is the only way to God
But we are not the only way to Jesus
But we can't strap ourselves to the gospel
'Cause we're slowing it down
Jesus is going to save the world
But maybe the best thing we can do
Is just get out of the way
I invited guests to church. I know where they normally attend. I make assumptions about their walk with Christ. I think I know who they are; after all, they are my guests. The service proceeds and I find myself talking to God, or anyone else who is listening: No, don't say that. My guests are not going to understand that. Please, don't go there. And then I catch myself and I realize what I am doing. I am trying to manipulate God and control how he ministers to my guests. I immediately repent. I am ashamed.
God, I am so sorry.
I am sorry for thinking that I know these guests more than you. You, Lord, know everything about them. Ps 119:168 "For all my ways are known to you."
I am sorry for thinking that I love these guests more than you. You, Lord, love them enough that you would send your perfect son to die for them. 1 Jn 4:9 "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."
I am sorry for thinking that I can lead them to salvation. You, Lord, you draw them to yourself. Jn 6:44 "No one can come to me (Jesus) unless the Father who sent me draws him." Lord, you don't need me. I am a vessel. You, Lord, give me the privilege of praying and witnessing to my guests; to God be the Glory.
I have to remind myself that even though I love people, and even though I strongly want them to except the truth of the Gospel of Christ, that my love for others comes from God. 1Jn 4:7 "Let us love one another, for love is of God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." God loves us more than we can possibly imagine. We cannot comprehend the greatness of his love. Paul prayed, in Eph 3:17-19, that "we would know in our hearts through faith, being rooted and grounded in love, that we would be able to comprehend how wide, and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. And more than that: that we would be filled with the fullness of God."
I am so grateful to God for giving me this love for other people. I am grateful to God for giving me a burden for souls. I am so grateful to God that I am not doing this on my own. It is God in me who gives me this love, this burden, and above all this hope for what is to come.
Songwriters: Cervantes, Hector; Hall, Mark;
People aren't confused by the gospel
They're confused by us
Jesus is the only way to God
But we are not the only way to Jesus
But we can't strap ourselves to the gospel
'Cause we're slowing it down
Jesus is going to save the world
But maybe the best thing we can do
Is just get out of the way
I invited guests to church. I know where they normally attend. I make assumptions about their walk with Christ. I think I know who they are; after all, they are my guests. The service proceeds and I find myself talking to God, or anyone else who is listening: No, don't say that. My guests are not going to understand that. Please, don't go there. And then I catch myself and I realize what I am doing. I am trying to manipulate God and control how he ministers to my guests. I immediately repent. I am ashamed.
God, I am so sorry.
I am sorry for thinking that I know these guests more than you. You, Lord, know everything about them. Ps 119:168 "For all my ways are known to you."
I am sorry for thinking that I love these guests more than you. You, Lord, love them enough that you would send your perfect son to die for them. 1 Jn 4:9 "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."
I am sorry for thinking that I can lead them to salvation. You, Lord, you draw them to yourself. Jn 6:44 "No one can come to me (Jesus) unless the Father who sent me draws him." Lord, you don't need me. I am a vessel. You, Lord, give me the privilege of praying and witnessing to my guests; to God be the Glory.
I have to remind myself that even though I love people, and even though I strongly want them to except the truth of the Gospel of Christ, that my love for others comes from God. 1Jn 4:7 "Let us love one another, for love is of God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." God loves us more than we can possibly imagine. We cannot comprehend the greatness of his love. Paul prayed, in Eph 3:17-19, that "we would know in our hearts through faith, being rooted and grounded in love, that we would be able to comprehend how wide, and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. And more than that: that we would be filled with the fullness of God."
I am so grateful to God for giving me this love for other people. I am grateful to God for giving me a burden for souls. I am so grateful to God that I am not doing this on my own. It is God in me who gives me this love, this burden, and above all this hope for what is to come.
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