February 28 - Numbers 4:1-5:31

Good morning everyone,

I just have to say chapter four excites me a little. Why? Because I love to-do lists and being able to check things off. I love knowing exactly what the task at hand is and how it is expected to be done. I love order. Now, I know some people who would not bode well in this type of environment, but as for me and my quirky ways it would have been great.

The jobs described were to be done by the 30 to 50 years old Levites and they were expected to carry out their duties as described in every detail. Every detail! They did not get to change the way the task was to be done just because they may have felt like they had a better idea or they were just feeling a bit lazy that day. Nope! They had procedures and they were to be followed because failure to do so would be death. 

While reading about the tabernacle I have a tendency to forget just how big a structure it was and how extensive the work involved when it was time to pack up and move. The metal alone for the tabernacle weighed more than ten tons. That’s over 20,000 lbs. The total number of 30-50 year olds assigned to carefully and methodically pack it up and transport it, were 8,580 men. To put things in perspective, I live in a town that in the 2012 census counted a little over 17,000 people with 9,700 of them, men and women being between the ages of 35-55. Granted I live in one of the smaller areas in the U.S. but perhaps it can help you see just what would be involved in just the everyday life of the Levites. A people  who had huge jobs to do without the benefit of modern day technology. I imaging the women home baking bread taking care of their small areas while the kids are kicking about a primitive form of hacky sack or playing tag in the dusty streets, as they were, while the men went off to tend to the needs of the tabernacle whether setting up, tearing down or just maintenance. Just living their lives like you and me, as best as we can unto the Lord. Right?

Chapter five reiterates the need to keep the camp clean, restitution and then touches on jealousy. The test for adultery served to remove a jealous husbands suspicion, it would also serve as a deterrent for any promiscuous behavior. The intervention by the priest that is being talked about was not a “gee where were you today? Get down to the priest” type of thing. All trust between the man and woman had to be completely eroded for the man to take his wife before the priest for that type of test. Today we go for counseling when marriages are faltering, but friends …. if we would not give our spouse reason to suspect, then none of that would be necessary. It is not okay to flirt with, be alone with, text with, have confidential conversations with or any other kind of “with” with the opposite sex. The enemy will do his very best to set you up and let your hormones and testosterone do the rest. Don’t let that happen. I will say it again, don’t let that happen. We should all always try to be considerate, thoughtful and selfLESS towards our spouse. We married that person, for better for worse, because we loved them; so let’s do just that, love them and let God take care of the rest. Trust Him, He loves you, He loves me, so trust Him.

I pray you all have a super good day. To Abba be the glory.

God bless you.

February 27 - Numbers 2:1-3:51

Good morning everyone,

Well, today in our reading you are going to find a lot of repetition of the leaders and census of the tribes. Honestly, I myself had a little bit of a hard time staying with it. The impatient side of me wanted to fast forward. The “get to the good stuff” and “how does that relate to today” kept popping up before me. My mind kept trying to go into scan mode, you know what I am talking about?, wanting to say “Okay, got it” and skip to the end; but I absolutely know that all scripture is God breathed and is useful, so I slowed my reading way down to be sure I got all that I should from the text today, and it was still repetitious … haha, but I was reminded, by it all, of what a God of order our God is. 

Personally I love organization and order. I like things to be put away where they are suppose to go and ready to use the next time you need them; so much more efficient than not. Organizing the nation of Israel would have been useful in governing the large group and keeping track of everyone. In their culture they were not known by their last names but by the clan they came from.  Each of these clans were going to get a different part of the “promised Land” so having them divided into their own mini-cities then would make the division process later easier.

In looking at the diagram of how the tribes were arranged there is a big rectangle in the center going side to side, where the tabernacle was located. Then like the face of a clock the clans were positioned on each hour all the way around. What I found interesting is with each of the four groups mentioned, the first tribe would be in the center with the remaining two in the group positioned first lower than higher. For example Judah at 3 o’clock , Issachar 2, then Zebulun 4. Reuben 6 o’clock, Simeon 5 then Gad 7, and so on. It is worth noting that the order in which they were called out to camp is the same order in which they would be traveling. 

The Levites were not on the clock dial, they were a special tribe set apart for service to God and the people. While all the priests came from the Levite tribe not all Levites were priests, they did however, have specific jobs to perform.

The book of Numbers is going to be one to give us character. It is going to help us learn how to get through the drier times in our life, the not so interesting, the harder times. It will teach us to hang in there, to persevere. God loves us very much, He has a plan, and His plan is perfect. So I would encourage you to look for the gold nuggets in the book of Numbers. They are there, they just take a bit more digging than in other books. 

I pray you all have a super good day. To God be the glory.

God bless you all …

February 26 - Leviticus 27:1-34, Numbers 1:1-54

Good morning everyone,

Today we come to the final chapter in the book of Leviticus which deals with how to get back gifts that had been promised to God. The Israelites were required to dedicate certain things to the Lord; portions of their first born animals, crops, and even their first born sons, along with a tithe for any increase they may have had. Some, in their generosity, would give more than the required, gifting additional property, animals, or perhaps even themselves other family members to God.  On occasion someone would get caught up in the moment and make a vow, a promise, that they just couldn’t keep and need to make arrangements to buy it back. To discourage this there was a penalty fee to buy back their gift, chapter 27 lays out the provisions for all of that.

Also today we will begin the book of Numbers. The Israelites have spent just over a year at the base of Mount Sinai receiving instructions on how they were to live their lives in the new land God was giving to them but before they could leave they needed to take a census to determine the size of their armies.

The book of Numbers is divided into three parts. Chapters 1-12 will deal with the old generation. The people who actually left Egypt and camped a little over a year at the base of Mount Sinai which, fyi, is but a mere 11 day journey to the land of milk and honey promised to them by God. However for reasons we will get into later on, they will wander in circles about the wilderness for near 40 years. 

The second part is chapters 13-20, the transition. We’ll see how the old generation will fail to believe in God’s promise. They will become grumblers and whiners and while still children of God they will never receive the full glory of God because of their doubt and disbelief.

The third part, chapters 21-36 will speak to the new generation. All those who were just little rug rats and curtain climbers or some not even born yet, when they left Egypt. They will be the ones to enter the land of milk and honey. 

Right off the bat in chapter one we read that God spoke to Moses in the wilderness in the tent of meeting (NIV). Years ago I did a women’s Bible study by Jeannie McCullough who would often encourage us to go to our “tent of meeting”, pointing out it could be anywhere; your favorite chair in the den, a table on the back porch, the kitchen counter, anywhere that you could sit and be still and meet with God to praise Him, read His Word, talk to Him, and listen to what He has to say to you. 

Please don’t get discouraged with all the repetition and, if you’re like me, trying to get your mind to say the names your eyes are seeing; oh boy but that slowed me down a bit today. It makes me chuckle a little because I liken it to whenever I am at the grocery store, the cashier will always say “Thank you Mrs. Severns” though it may come our Seeeverns, or Sevreeens or any number of ways because they are not familiar with it, but their hearts are in the right place and they always try. God doesn’t care how we botch the names, He just loves that we try. Right on?!
I am really looking forward to this book and what God has to show me, to show us through it, I hope you are too. 

I don’t usually do this, but the Lord has pressed it upon my heart to make a special request. So it is in obedience that I ask if you would please stop what your doing right now and take a moment to pray for a woman named Naya, that the Lord would heal her and free her from the enemy's clutches. And as the Lord brings her to your mind today and the tomorrows will you continue to pray for her? To God be the glory!

I pray you have a really good day.
God bless you all …

February 25 - Leviticus 25:24-26:46

Good morning everyone,

This morning in our reading we will first finish up the laws God set down concerning land in reference to Jubilee and then get right into “Reward for Obedience” and “Punishment for Disobedience”. 

While I, always in the past, have found Leviticus to be one of those long, drawn out, hard to read books, I am finding it not to be the case with this year’s readings. It is all so perfectly clear on what God has planned and how He has it all worked out for the way we are to live our lives. With the New Testament came an end to the many blood sacrifices we had to provide for ourselves to make atonement for our sin, thank you Jesus, but by and large, the fundamental guidelines for the way in which we conduct ourselves are basically the same today as they were for the pilgrims Moses led through the desert. God declares that if you will walk in His law, you will be beautifully blessed, however if you wander from His law, you will be unbelievably burdened. The choice is ours to make.

As individuals, for the most part, we have control over how we choose to live our own lives. We can accept God’s love, use the Bible as our standard of living and we can do that with the blessed assurance of a better life. Oh sure, life won’t always be sunshine and lollipops, we will have heartbreak as well as joy; hard times as well as good. God will take us through the valleys  in order to strengthen our faith and/or prepare us for Him to use somewhere down the road to minister to others. Having said that, we are allowed a privilege to lay all of our worries at the foot of the cross and with that know peace that surpasses all understanding. That is a beautiful life!

However, as a nation we lose a lot of that control and will inevitably suffer the “consequence of choice” of others. Many have turned their back on God, shunned Him. We have allowed people from other nations, people who worship other gods and idols, to reside in our country and not held them responsible to the ways of our land. It is not news to anyone that promiscuity, idol worshiping (anything that you revere more than God), and blatant disregard for our heavenly Father and His ways is at an all time high. We are told here in 26:14-36 that if we reject His decrees and abhor His laws and fail to carry out His commands THEN this is what He will do to us: sudden terror, wasting disease, hearts full of fear, the list goes on; all this to say, He will be hostile toward us as a nation. The laws of God are absolute and when violated the consequences are inevitable and severe. But, and here is the really good news, even if we are living in the land of the enemy, controlled by “politically correct” God still cares for us. Personal victory can still be ours. It is yours and it is mine for the taking. All we have to do is remember who we are in Christ, and act accordingly. It won’t always be an easy or popular road to travel but Isaiah 41:13 encourages us with “ For I hold you by your right hand - I the Lord your God and say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am here to help you’”. Is that awesome or what?! God loves you, He loves me. He loved us first!

I pray you have a great day. To God be the glory.

God bless you all …

February 24 - Leviticus 23:1-25:23

Good morning everyone,

Today we will read where God commands Moses to speak to the Israelites about the feasts of the Lord. He begins it all by reiterating that they are to work only six days, worshiping God and resting on the seventh. He then proceeds to go over each feast and when they were to be held; Four of the feasts taking place in the springtime and early summer, the remaining three in the fall.

The feasts had dual purpose. First; one of commemoration, that is to celebrate what God had done for them as a people; and then secondly; one of expectation, believing in what God had promised them. 

Chapter 24 will deal with the the responsibility the people had to keep pure pressed olive oil supplied to Aaron so he could keep the tabernacle lamps burning continually, and bread so Aaron and his sons could eat on the Sabbath day in the sanctuary. We will also read of the responsibility the people had to protect God’s holy name; a blasphemer was to be stoned by the congregation.

In today’s world it is certainly not politically correct to go around stoning anyone who blasphemies, but we do have the responsibility to stick up for our God with reason in conversation, making it perfectly clear that “around here” we love God and do not disrespect Him. Before having dialog with any blasphemer or in fact anyone who is not a believer in Jesus,  it is always a good idea to seek God’s guidance in how He would have you handle the situation, what He would have you say. Then be a light that shines for God, a positive picture of what a Christian looks like.

I pray you have a great day. To God be the glory.
God bless you all …

February 23 - Leviticus 20:1-22:33

Good morning everyone,

As we begin reading this morning we see just how serious God is about the worshiping of other gods. Can you imagine sacrificing another human being, much less your own child in some lame attempt to make your life better? There is nothing, not one thing right about that. We saw yesterday that God was real clear on what was acceptable behavior and what was not, today we read what the consequence of a poor choice, a choice to disobey God in those specific areas, would be. 

Also today we will also read what the rules for the priests were; what and who was acceptable to go before God; what clean and holy looked like and also what unacceptable sacrifices looked like. So much of what we are reading in Leviticus is repeated over and over again and with such detail that there is no question what it means. God did not want the Israelites, His chosen people, to fail. He wanted to bless them but first they needed to be cleaned up, rid of their sinful learned behavior, their lifetime routine which was familiar and comfortable.

When we first give our lives to Christ, accept Jesus as our Savior, we too are full of bad habits we have spent a life time forming. Automatic behavior. There is a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and the reaction to that is habit. It could be cussing, drinking, cheating on your spouse, stealing, any number of ungodly behavior patterns that have become a way of life, making them difficult to walk away from.

Many, many years ago I use to smoke cigarettes. I would have one first thing in the morning, when I got into the car, when I was cooking dinner, and especially right after some deliciously sweet dessert. I had created a pattern in my head, it is what I knew. Then I decided to quit smoking, leave that nasty habit behind, however my mind was already conditioned to pick up a cigarette and light it at key times of the day. Long after the withdrawals from nicotine left me I still found myself unconsciously going to get that “smoke” that my head told me it was time for and when that need wasn’t met,often I would get that “now what?” feeling come over me. Does that make sense?

Anyway, that’s exactly what the Israelites were facing only on a much grander scale. They had learned horrific bad habits and so they had to constantly be reminded it was not okay to do them anymore and that if the did the consequence of choice was harsh. God was deadly serious about living a pure and godly life.

God wants that for us too. He knows and understands the difficulties of putting bat habits behind us, the temptations to stay with the comfortable. Hard? Yes! Impossible? NO! Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” These are not just casual words thrown down on a page to fill space. They are the words of a promise from God to me, and to you, to absolutely know and believe. Whatever the demon you face, or how difficult and impossible the challenge before you seems to be, I would strongly encourage you to know and believe with all your heart that you CAN do all things through Christ Jesus who will strengthen you. God loves you and is always there for you.

I pray your day is awesome. To God be the glory.

God bless you all …

February 22 - Leviticus 17:1-19:37

Good morning everyone,

After reading the scripture for today, I sat back and thought to myself, “It does NOT get any clearer than that on who we should be worshiping, what we should not be eating, who it is not okay to have relations with, and how we should be behaving. 

Seriously people, what part of “Do Not” leaves any room for question? How, even in the world of non-believers, can that read any differently? How can anyone who claims to be a Christian presume to pick and choose from the laws God has directly stated, pointedly laid for us to follow? I am not seeing any wiggle room here, no loop holes, no yeah buts, no grey areas, it is all very clear.

When the Israelites were slaves in the land of Egypt their thinking and behavior had fallen prey to the way of the land. Worshiping idols, promiscuity, thievery, disrespect for the elderly and poor, led to a total lack of morals. This is not the behavior God wanted to see in His chosen people. He wanted them to be …  He wants me to be, He wants you to be, He wants ALL of us to be a disciplined people. He wants us to be kind to and respect one another and worship God alone. He wants us to live in accordance to His way of thinking, telling us very clearly, exactly what that looks like, what’s expected. These and not mere guidelines or suggestions. No, no. God said 19:18 says “Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord.” 

I pray you have a great day. To God, be all glory, honor and praise.

God bless you …

February 21 - Leviticus 14:33-16:34

Good morning everyone,

Today as I was reading the scripture, to be honest, I found myself cringing at the talk of discharges. It is no secret I have become a bit of a germaphobe, not to the point of scrubbing everything and having a “white glove” clean house, anyone who lives on a farm realizes the dirt involved and knows that that is next to impossible and off my radar. With that in mind, I am a few years outside of my 20’s , few dozen that is, and I am finding that when I get a cold, the flu or any sort of illness it hits me harder and takes a whole lot longer to go away than it use to. I volunteer at the elementary school a couple days a week reading with the fourth graders and there is always someone who has a runny noses and watery eyes, germs just oozing from them; while probably not on the same level as the discharge being spoke about today, Purell is my very best friend when I am there.  

Obviously chronic discharge was a problem for that community. We need to keep in mind that they lived in a very uninformed time. They did not have the benefit of microscopes to look at the squiggly little germs or the benefit of prescription medication so it was especially important that  the symptoms and everything it touched be washed, be kept clean. Because why? Otherwise the disease would spread, sound familiar? Our sin that is outward, seen by others, also needs to be cleaned up; bathed in a continual flow of scripture until whatever area we are struggling in is gone and we are no longer in danger of spreading the disease of sin. Make sense?

In chapter 16 we read about the scapegoat which is one of those words that has been used since, well …  almost the beginning of time. In today’s world we will use it to refer to someone or a group of someones singled out for undeserved, negative treatment or blame, basically a fall guy. In Old Testament time, two goats were brought to Aaron, the Priest, one goat was sacrificed because the wages of sin is death but the second goat, the scape goat,  Aaron would verbally transfer the sins of the nation to and then it would be let go in the wilderness, symbolically taking the sins away, not to be thought of again. Their sins were, as far as they were concerned gone. Psalm 103 tells us, as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. and in Jeremiah 31 God tells us that He will forgive our wickedness and remember our sins no more … no more. Ever!!  Most of us hang on to, continue to remember the sins of our youth or even yesterday, but God does not. The very second we can more than just know that in our head and actually believe it in our hearts, believe God has chosen to forget the sins we confess to Him, the chains that bind you, that bind us all, begin to fall, setting us free. It is very liberating. It is most amazing. It is God.

I would like to tell you it's easy, but the enemy does not want you to be feeling liberated or amazing. I have found that there are some things I have done, sins I committed long ago that I do, in fact, take to the cross. I dump them off like dirty cans to the recycle, knowing that God does not remember them, therefore I should not beat myself up over them either; they're outta here! Then the next thing you know, the enemy has picked them up, and in sly dog style, shoved them back in one of the drawers of my mind. Typically it takes me a bit to realize what’s going on but as soon as I do, back they go. Never give up taking whatever it is you do not forgive yourself for back, to the cross. Some things take longer to get rid of than others, but at some point in time when you keep praying, keep seeking God you will find yourself thinking “ I haven’t thought of that sin in a long time, thank you Jesus!” God loves you, He loves me and God keeps His promises. Amen?!

I pray you have a great day. To God be the glory.

God bless you all …

February 20 - Leviticus 12:1-14:32

Good morning everyone,

Today we begin our reading with the purification after child birth. Now, some of you may be thinking, TMI, right? Too much information? Or if you’re like me and grew up in an atmosphere where “this” was just not talked about, you might feel a little bit uncomfortable, however this short chapter 12 with its 8 verses are so critical to us and the way we think. This chapter helps us to see that babies, as cute and as lovable as they can be, are every bit sinners just like you and me. Babies are not born, we were not born, with a “clean slate” so to speak. Man is not a sinner because he sins, but rather he sins because he is a sinner. With that in mind you can see why the woman would have to take a sin offering to the priest who would then make atonement for her sins. ~ Why was the woman and baby unclean twice as long if she gave birth to a girl? The reason for that is the baby boy’s sin was addressed through circumcision but obviously the girl baby could not go that route.

Chapters 13 and 14 talk about leprosy; identifying it and dealing with it. What is leprosy? Awful! That’s what. It is a skin disease, in today’s world we call it Hansen’s disease, it slowly deteriorates the body, most cases are fatal and it is highly contagious. Fun stuff, right? The Bible often likens leprosy to sin; it begins beneath the surface of the skin as something small that one wouldn’t give a whole lot of thought to, but then it would develop and begin to grow, spreading throughout the body. The bones would begin to soften, fingernails would be no more, and the nose would fall off. Not a pretty picture. 

Leprosy destroyed senses, that is to say they would no longer feel pain. Just the same as sin, a person could be blinded for a very long time to the fact that they even had leprosy until one day they accidentally stepped in burning embers or got poked by a needle and they didn’t feel a thing. In Ephesians 4:18-19 it says “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.” So you see, the enemy with all his glitter and enticing offers, telling you “you deserve better”, and will do all he can to woo you away from what you love, what you know to be right. Things that use to repulse you, things you said you would “never” do, will begin to look not quite so bad, exciting even. Sin will have dulled your senses.

People who got leprosy, because it was so contagious, had to be isolated from the population,  separated from friends and family, the ones they loved. Again, sin is just like that; it is exactly like that! It causes distance in families and friends, it causes life changes that are not asked for or welcomed, leaving in its wake the broken hearts of those who were once so dear to you and some who still are. 

Leprosy had no known cure so in most cases it was fatal. Sin too, if you let it infest you, and blind you is also fatal. I need to, you need to, we ALL need to continually be checking our hearts and asking God to reveal to us any rousing sin that the enemy could be taunting us with, always be on guard with armor on, ready to do battle for what is good and righteous, always keeping our eyes on the prize. 

I pray you have a good day. To God the Father be all the glory.

God bless you all …

February 19 - Leviticus 9:1-11:47

Good morning everyone,

This morning in our reading we are going to learn a bit about “holy” and what that means. Aaron and his sons having been selected and then consecrated to priesthood, are now ready to go to work offering sacrifices on behalf of the people, in obedience, to God. After the first celebration of sacrifices Moses and Aaron bless the people and then, get this, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. How awesome is that!? Then, we’re told, fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the alter. The people fell to the ground in awe. One of those moments when you question your mind “what did I just see?” That would just be cRaZy amazing! Wouldn’t you agree?

Sometimes people will wonder and ask the question, “why God doesn’t use these huge displays of His wonder in our world of today?” To that I would say, “Oh but He does!” However, today it is more evident in the work He is doing through His people, His church. When you start to look with eyes of love and faith you will begin see the many miracles and life changing intercessions God makes on our behalf. It is all around us to see but to experience that kind of miracle requires total dependence on and faith in God. 

In chapter ten we are told about the death of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu. You may be thinking, “Wow, that was kind of harsh. What kind of a God would do that? I mean after all, they were there worshiping God, right?!.” and that is true, they were. However we’re told in 10:1 that “Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command.” Key words, “unauthorized” and “contrary to command.” Maybe they got caught up in the moment and let that momentum carry them to a bad choice. They were young, maybe they were up there saying to the crowd of some 600,000 people, “Yo, dude. Look what I can do?” okay, maybe not, but the point is our God is a Holy God and demands to be treated as such, He demands and deserves to be honored. That day God sent a very clear message to all of the people, being, “If you are going to go before the Lord you will be respectful, honor Him and treat Him Holy.” These sons of Aaron, priests of God did not do that, the price being their life.

I would suggest to you that it is not all that different for us today. We may not be priests to God but we certainly have a responsibility to live our lives in a way that is respectful and honoring to God. We have the Bible that God provided for us, which pretty much lays out how we are to live our lives. It addition to it helping us know how we are to conduct ourselves and how we are to worship God, it gives us clear instructions on what is “unauthorized” and “contrary to command.”  So, if you are choosing to live in total rebellion to what you know to be God’s will, I would recommend NOT going on any type of a walk outside while a thunder and lightening storm is happening in your area. You know what I mean? :-)

While we may not always understand God’s discipline or why He does what He does there is one thing you can know for sure; God loves you, He loves me, He loves every single one of us and all that He does is to make us a better person and to get us to a better place, a place called heaven where we will spend eternity with Him. Amen?

I pray you have a great day. To Abba be the glory.

February 18 - Leviticus 7:1-8:36

Good morning everyone,

Today we will read about more instructions on sacrificial offerings to be made to the Lord, also about the forbidden blood and fat, all of what the priests were to receive and the consecration, that is, the preparation the Priests needed to go through. Although I have read this portion of scripture a number of times, while reading it today parts of it stood out to me as if it was the first time I have laid eyes on it. I love that, it is so super cool. Just thought I’d share :-)

In 7:11-21 we are told about the peace offerings, that they were divided into three kinds depending on their purpose; thanksgiving offering, vow offering and voluntary offering. - The thanksgiving offering was just what it sounds like, an offering they would give when they were grateful for deliverance from sickness, trouble, death or from a blessing they had received. - The vow offering, again, pretty straight forward, was given in fulfillment of a vow. - The voluntary offering needed no special occasion or reason, it was just given as the Lord led them to give.

In 7:30, talking about their peace offerings, God told them, “Present it to the Lord with your own hands as a special gift to the Lord.” They were to take time and effort to express thanks to God. - God asks that we give thanks to Him for whatever blessings we receive from Him. I am and you are the best person to express our own individual gratitudes and the thankfulness we feel towards God and towards others. It is way too easy for us to become mechanical in our prayers of gratitude, often repeating the same words but without the intent to give our thanks as a gift of the heart, one more time … without the intent to give our thanks as a gift of the heart, to God. Does that make sense?

For example: In my family it is our practice to always say a prayer of thanks for our food before eating our meals. Whether at home, a restaurant or anywhere, we take a moment to tell God we appreciate what He has allowed us. Now, I will be honest here, too often, the words that come from our mouths, to thank God, are simply recited. Words that have been heard so many times over the years, that in our haste to eat we quickly throw them out there with little thought to what we are saying. It is on these occasions when we are on “auto” mode, when we have become desensitized, that the words we are speaking to God are not expressing a true gratitude from our hearts. Is anyone else out there like that? You see, it is not that I am, that we are, not thankful, it’s that I, we get so rushed, so anxious to go about our business that we do not speak from our hearts. This is just one example of the many different ways we rush through life, with habitual rather than thoughtful words of thanks to God and the people in our lives. It takes time to commit a random act of kindness, a gift, a card or any action really designed to be loving or helpful, God asks us to not only be thankful but be thankful with a genuine and sincere heart, then let God or that person know you truly appreciate them.

I love the book of Psalms, I love how poetically David and others cried out to God; how they expressed their true feelings from their heart of fear, anger, and yes, love and gratitude towards their Abba, like in Psalm 8 - “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”; and Psalm 118 where it says "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” or Psalm 121 - “I lift up my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” I could go on and on with these, they are all so amazing. The point I am trying to make here with them is that we need to be crying out from our hearts, taking time to sincerely be one with our Father God, our Abba. The difference it will make in your life will be something so beautiful, but don’t take my word for it. Try it for yourself and see just how much God will richly bless you.

I pray you all have a great day. To God be all the glory,
God bless you all …

February 17 - Leviticus 4:1-6:30

Good morning everyone,

Well, there is a lot to take in and glean from in this morning’s scripture. One of the things that got my attention is, and it is repeated over and over, “ If _____ sins, bring to the Lord a sin offering.” It begs the question; who does not sin? Especially when, and this brings me to another  one of many verses that really caught my attention, 5:1 “If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about”. This is the sin of omission, that is to say that just because you are not the one who took the candy from the candy store, you may not even share in the bounty from the candy store but if you know who did and withhold that information, you are just as guilty as they are. 

Today we read of unintentional sins, unfaithful to God sins, many different kinds of sins rewiring many sacrifices; how does that translate into today’s world? Well, the ways are countless especially with the media offering up so many mind stimulants. Sometimes I will find myself jumping on someone’s bandwagon against something, anything that I really don’t feel as strongly as they do about or in some cases have no feelings about at all. Shaking my mental fist, yelling my mental “that’s right!! Get em!!” and will be just a breath away from pushing that “thumbs up like button” when I realize I don’t even know the facts, or, despite how I personally feel about the leaders we have elected, they are in fact our leaders and the Bible calls us to support them. The point is sometimes I do, you do, we all have allowed the enemy to let us “think” things that are not appropriate. Sinful things. Sin isn’t always necessarily a visible act, it can and probably most often is, in the mind either my actual, your actual thought or one of omission. Romans 3:23 “we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Now, having said that, I can only imagine the line of people with their bulls, rams or bird cages in hands, headed down the road to make sacrifices for their sins. 

The act of taking another life, even if just a sacrificial animal, for me, and for most of us I would imagine, is not an easy thing to do. We have a small cattle ranch and every year we call the butcher to come out to “take down”, that is to kill, our two year old bulls or steers to put in someone’s freezer. It is our food, they are raised with this in mind, but I am here to tell you that many years ago, the very first time I witnessed this, and I have not watched one since, that I do believe my heart stopped for just a moment. As I write this I am brought to tears at how insane it felt to me that, in one moment I had my eyes on a healthy, innocent, breathing creation of God who had no idea that in a few short moments he would draw his last breath. In the blink if an eye and the sound of a shot he laid limp on the ground, his heart no longer beating a rhythmic sound, his life was snatched away. I audibly gasped, and had to turn my head. It was in that moment I realized just how quickly and easily anyone of us could, by car accident, a falling object, or really by anything and everything unpredictable, suddenly as loose our lives too, we have no time guarantees here.

I had been exposed to death before by illness or old age but never intentional death. The is what the Israelites were doing day after day, year after year and then … then there was Jesus. People, how enormous, how huge, how special, the sacrifice Christ made for us can not be adequately put into words. We will never, ever be able to thoroughly comprehend or grasp the pain, the suffering, the humiliation the Son of God went through on our behalf; and for what? Because He had to? No! Because He loves us so much He willingly gave up His life so that we could have a relationship with God, so that we can spend eternity in heaven. You guys, we all need to really get this! If the price to get into heaven is the blood of the Lamb, the life of the Son of God, and you need to know that it is, then heaven has got to be a super awesome place! Yes?! You can count me in, for sure. He wants you there too. 

Do you know Jesus to be your personal Savior? Or, if you do, have you talked to Him lately? Revelation 3:20 says “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me”, like friends. He loves you and He wants to be your friend.

There is a song that echoes my thoughts, “Oh, how I love Jesus! Oh, how I love Jesus! Oh how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.” Amen …

I pray you have a great day. To God be the glory.

God bless you all …

February 16 - Numbers 8:1-9:14 ~ Leviticus 1:1-3:17

Good morning everyone,

Well, as we begin reading you’ll remember from yesterday that the Tabernacle has been completed and blessed, right? With that done the Lord will now have to go to work on teaching the Israelites a new way of life with clear instructions on how sinful people can relate to a holy God. They will remain camped out at the foot of Mount Sinai for quite awhile while the Lord works with them on just that.

Today we will be introduced to the book of Leviticus, the third of five books of the Torah written by Moses, the main theme of the book being holiness. While reading this book it would be real easy to file it away in the recesses of your mind as a record of crazy rituals of a different time, believing it has no relevance to our life today. To that I would say, “Don’t let the enemy fool you with that lie!” The rituals in Leviticus made sense to them. God used the form of sacrifice to teach His people about faith. When the people saw the animals being sacrificed, put to death, and there were quite a lot of animals put to death, it helped them to understand the importance of quilt and sin. They also served to reveal a high and holy God who should be obeyed and worshiped and to bring true devotion of the heart. The rituals helped them to keep their lives focused on God. Make sense? 

It is by the grace of God and His Son Jesus that we do not have to practice those blood bath rituals however we too should have rituals in place to help us keep the main thing the main thing. We should be going to church, fellowshipping, having quiet time with God, praying, reading our Bible, etc., however I prefer not to think of them as rituals, because that sounds like something I “have” to do. Rather, I think of them as things I get to do. To me they are times I look forward to. Times to draw closer to God, to be with like minded people, times to have conversation to my Abba who loves me, who loves you. 

I pray you have a super good day. To God be the glory.

God bless you all …

February 15 - Numbers 7:1-89

Good morning everyone,

This morning we begin our reading with the second longest chapter in the Bible, the first longest is Psalm 119 which talks about the scripture and the blessings that come from the Word of God while Numbers 7 deals with giving.

After Moses anointed and consecrated the altar and all its utensils, the leaders of Israel, brought as their gifts before the Lord six covered carts and twelve oxen—an ox from each leader and a cart from every two leaders.The Lord instructed Moses to accept them for the Levites to use when carrying the tabernacle.

While you are reading, take note of how God wisely and graciously ordered more carts to those that had the most work. The Gershonites, having a pretty light load got two carts for the curtains and hangings.The Merarites, having a larger load got four wagons because they had to transport the boards, pillars, sockets, and such. With both groups, if they were not able to get all they were to carry into the carts then they were expected to carry the rest on their backs. I rather imagine there was some very strategic packing going on there. All of us have moved at one time or another; do you remember packing the U-Haul or what ever vehicle you used to move your possessions? I do! I did not want to make more trips than necessary, so it was with great planning that we would puzzle in every box and piece of furniture we had until there was not one foot of wasted space in the truck. I am thinking this was there plan too.

Then there was the Kohathites, they would get no wagons because they were to carry ark upon their shoulders with particular care and honor. Later, when we get to 1 Chronicles we will see just how serious God is about the care of the ark and the price a man named Uzza had to pay.

Most of the rest of the chapter is an accounting of the offerings the leaders were to bring on successive days. To emphasize the importance of each tribe’s individual participation, the description is repeated twelve times with the only difference being the name of the tribe.

The chapter finishes up with God speaking to Moses. We’re not told that Moses went into the Most Holy Place, only that he went into the tabernacle, and that God spoke from the Most Holy Place. Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful that would have been for Moses. I can only imagine the warmth, the peace, the awe of the moment and how humbled Moses must have been bathed in it all.

While we may not know the same experience as some in the Old Testament; God speaking directly to His people to tell them the proper way to live, He is always there for us to talk to and receive direction from. God will answer us through His written Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The amount of guidance you receive will be determined by how diligently, how earnestly you seek His face. Right?! He loves you, He loves me and He totally wants to bless us abundantly. I would encourage you to just let go, and let God.

I pray you have a super good day. To God be the glory.
God bless you all …

February 14 - Exodus 39:32-40:38, Numbers 9:15-23

Good morning everyone,

This morning we begin our reading with the Israelites, presenting the completed Tabernacle to Moses for inspection. In less than six months they have finished all of the intricate specifications God laid out for them to follow. Moses checked it all out and found the work to be well done and blessed them. 

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and told him to go ahead and set the Tabernacle up, God gave him a precise order in which He wanted it done. Moses was careful to obey God’s instructions down to the smallest detail. 40:33 “Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.” It was finally all done and the glory of the lord filled the tabernacle.

Obviously, God was pleased with the obedience of Israel; pleased because it showed that they really did love Him, that they were willing to give of themselves for Him; that they desired to do what would be good and right in His eyes. 

After that, Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud by day, fire by night, God’s glory, had settled down over it. Whenever the cloud lifted the people of Israel would continue on their journey, if the cloud did not lift they would stay put. Remember back in chapter 33:14 God promised Moses by saying “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest - everything will be fine for you” This is beautiful evidence that God did answer Moses' prayer. God's presence was with Israel, despite their back slide with golden calf.

So the Israelites who were once slaves to the Egyptians, making bricks without straw are now following the Lord God in quest of a better life.The Book of Exodus ends with great hope and trust in God. Though these backpacking people of many personalities, moods, ages, desires, and goals were in the middle of a desolate desert, had fierce enemies in the Promised Land, and were weak and liable to sin and rebellion, God was with them. This gave them great cause for faith and confidence. May I suggest that they are no different than me or you. We are just following God’s plan, doing the best we can on this weigh station called earth, but if you know nothing else it is imperative, most important, that you know God loves you and God is with you, He is with me He is with us! Always!! And if God is with us, is for us, then who could ever be against us! Romans 8:31 Amen?!

Well, we made it through another book, good job you guys!! I am excited to see what Numbers and Leviticus have for us. I love that you are taking this journey with me.

I pray you have a great day. To God be every bit of glory!

God bless you all … 

February 13 - Exodus 37:1-39:31

Good morning everyone,

This morning while you are reading you may wonder “haven’t I already read all of this detailed description for the construction of the ark, the table, the lampstand, the alter of incense, the alter of burn offering and so on?” 

To which I would reply, “why, yes you have.” 

Then you may wonder, “well, why is it in there again” 

To which I would reply, that 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” There are no empty or useless words in scripture, God has them there for a reason, we just need to read them and pray God will help us glean from them what He would have us glean. 

We also need to remember where and when these words were written. Moses wrote primarily to the Israelites, while transients, living in tents in a wilderness. They did not have the privilege of having a Bible all beautifully bound in any of several translations to read daily or refer to any time they wanted, so it would have been very beneficial for them to hear the same encouraging instructions over again. In addition to that, the Israelites had willfully given, not counting the fabric, jewels and other misc. items, 29 talents and 730 shekels of gold, a Hebrew equivalent of approximately 1,918 lbs. plus 100 talents and 1775 shekels of silver, a Hebrew equivalent of approximately 6,613 lbs., relating to a lot of monetary value. They probably did not see a whole lot happening with their money for many weeks. Think about all the work that was in need of being accomplished, it would have been a long process; People like to know how what they have donated is being used, so perhaps the reiterating of instructions was to encourage them in that the work is still in progress, that what they had given was being put to good use. Make sense?

While I was reading the description of the lampstand today, I couldn’t help but think about just how long and tedious the process for making it must have been with very little room for error. It was to be pounded, molded out of one piece of gold. It would not, at all, be like working with modeling clay which is easily bent into any position you want it to be. If you make a mistake with the clay you can very easily squish it back into a ball and begin all over again or remove the part that is not right and add more clay to correct the error. Gold on the other hand would have to go through a heating process, with the fire being 2000 degrees, just to refine it; then after it cools any molding or pounding could be done.

All that to say we are God’s gold, often we have to go through some heat, the refiners fire, to have our faith tested and to burn off the impurities of the world we pick up along the way, so God can mold us, sometimes pound us into all that He has in mind for us to be. Like Job said in 23:10 “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” I want you want, we should all want to claim that as well. I love that we have a God who does not take shortcuts, I love that we have a God that loves us so very much that He will take a life time working with us, helping us to be a shining reflection of God for all the world to see. Amen?

I pray you have a great day. To God be every bit of the glory.

God bless you all …

February 12 - Exodus 35:1-36:38

Good morning everyone,

Today as we begin our reading, Moses has assembled the Israelites to deliver to them the instructions God has sent down from the mountain concerning the Sabbath, free-will gifts of gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, scarlet thread, fine linen, goat hair for cloth, along with all the other items needed for the construction of the tabernacle. The people, if so moved, were to cheerfully bring their ornaments as offerings to the Lord. 

God qualified and appointed Bezaleel and Aholiab to manage all the work of the tabernacle, however, let’s not underestimate the size of this job.The ten curtains for the tabernacle alone, we’re told in 26:1-2, were to be twenty-eight cubits long, and four cubits wide; that’s 42 ft. x 6 ft., with cherubim woven into them. Now just for reference, your average school bus is 36 ft. long so we are talking a very big curtain. Imagine how heavy it must have been, how awkward it was to work with. Several years ago I made a quilted bedspread for my queen size bed and found that job to be more than a little bit daunting; and they were to weave these curtains with an intricate design ten times the same way? Good grief! Huge job!, and that was just one aspect. It is no wonder that God was very insistent upon them resting on the Sabbath.

About resting on the Sabbath … there are some who would argue, “I don’t really need to, or have time to, or want to rest on the Sabbath, on Sunday, but you go right ahead if you want to, I’m good with that.” It doesn’t work that way, I’ll tell you why. If I am, if you are, sitting in the house or out on the patio and a spouse or a friend is out in the yard struggling with work, are you going to be able to just sit there, put all that they are doing out of your mind and relax? I wouldn’t be able to and I am guessing that most of you would not be able to either. Feeling somewhat guilty, most of us would change our clothes, go get our gloves and lend a helping hand. There are others that would argue, “well my job demands I be there on Sunday, I just can’t not work”, and I get what you’re saying however, let us not forget it is a command to have a day of rest. To take some time to refresh. Take some time to refuel, be with God. So to that I would say talk to God about it, get quiet and listen to Him because where God guides, God provides. God does not give us commands and then make it impossible to follow through with them, make sense?

I know I have said it before (and I will probably say it again) but the truth of the matter is, God’s plan is perfect, His ways are always just, in out best interest and have been throughout all time. You can not go wrong when you put your hand in His and walk the way He leads you.

I love the words of this old hymn (sorry, I don’t know who penned it) it goes : Thy hand, O God, has guided thy flock, from age to age; their wondrous tale is written, full clear, on every page; thy people owned thy goodness,
and we their deeds record; and both of this bear witness; one Church, one Faith, one Lord.

I pray you have a great day. To God be the glory.

God bless you all …

February 11 - Exodus 32:1-34:35

Good morning everyone, 

Yesterday when we left off reading, Moses had just headed down from Mount Sinai carrying two stone tablets; inscribed on them the terms of the covenant etched into the stone by the finger of God himself. 

Now, Moses had been gone a long time, at least it seemed that way to the Israelites and they became restless and bored. The Lord told Moses 32:6-7 ““Quick! Go on down, for your people that you brought from Egypt have defiled themselves, and have quickly abandoned all my laws”. It hadn’t taken long for the Israelites to violate their commitment to God. They went to Aaron and told him to make some gods who could lead them, and Aaron did just that. He collected all the gold earrings, melted them down and molded them into a gold calf.

For a moment, let’s take a look at Aaron. Here we have a man who has gone before Pharaoh, albeit as a team with his brother Moses, but still several times they stood boldly before the leader of Egypt and made demands on behalf of God. Now all he has to do is maintain order while Moses goes up and talks with God and he fails. I’ll be honest, I was a little surprised that he did not stand up for God, that he wasn’t more solid in his faith, at how easily he gave into the Israelites and made them a golden calf; and then …. which floored me even more, he lied about it when Moses got back, saying he threw the gold into the fire and out popped a gold calf. Really!? Did he seriously think that would fly?

The lesson I got from this is that no matter how close I believe, you believe, we believe we are to God, we are only one poor choice away from turning our back on the God who loves us and worshiping false gods. The enemy delights in tempting us, backing us into a corner, using our peers to pressure us into poor decisions until he achieves victory in getting us to compromise our beliefs. Beware!! His traps, his snares are everywhere just waiting to trip you up.

When Moses and Joshua got back to the camp he was so angry with the behavior of the Israelites that he threw the tablets to the ground smashing them, but still he will plead with God for the lives of the Israelites. God relents and will even drive their enemies out of the land He has promised them however the families would suffer for their sin for generations. It is much the same as growing up with an alcoholic, or abusive parent. You learn what you see, what you live, you may even think it is normal behavior; but it is not, it is sin and it can sometimes take generations for the sinful pattern to be broke. 

Well, Moses would go back up the mountain and God would give him a second set of tablets to carry with them through the desert. ~ In doing this reading today the Lord reminded me that as Christians we are representatives of God. That is to say, when people who are not Christians are looking at us and the way we behave, they are going to think “so that is how a Christian would handle that situation?” Now, no one is perfect but having said that, it is critically important that we do not do or say anything that would not only stumble a new child in Christ but also we do not want to give a non-believer any reason to think “hypocrite”, right. I was encouraged to check my behavior always, I would encourage you to do the same. 

I pray you have a great day. To God be the glory!

God bless you all

February 10 - Exodus 29:1-31:18

Good morning everyone,

This morning we will be reading all about the particular instructions God gives to Moses concerning the consecration, the dedication, of the priests and the sanctification, the process to cleanse or make holy, of the alter. Now all this begs the question, “Why did God feel the need to set up a priesthood?” The answer being this; Our sin prevents us from dealing directly with our almighty and perfect God, so he made a way for the Israelites, through the priests from the tribe of Levi, to give blood sacrifices to make atonement for their sins. When while reading these pages, I encourage you to stop for a moment and think about all that would be involved in taking down a bull, a goat or any animal for that matter; catching the blood to pour out over the alters, removing the specific parts of their insides to burn, touching the priests with this blood, ALL that is involved. What did this look like? What did this smell like? Let you mind place you there amongst the bustling noises of men while they walk their animals that are perhaps mooing, or neighing, a tugging at the leashes while shuffling through the dusty streets toward the tabernacle in route to an alter already stained with the blood of many beasts that have lost their lives before them. Can you hear the cries or see the fear in their eyes as they approach their death? 

It is through this Old Testament ritual, or system if you will, that we can better understand the significance of what Jesus did for us. There is no way we could ever be sinless, there is also no way we would have been able to keep up with the blood atonement required for us to be one with God, so God sent His Son, Christ Jesus, to be that sacrifice. Jesus left his heavenly home to dwell amongst us on this worldly place called earth. He was patient and loving while trying to teach the gentiles as well as the Jews of His father’s, our God’s, agape love for us. However we rejected Him and sent Him to be beat so severely that it would have killed you or me. He was nailed on a cross for a crime He did not commit; He shed His blood, the blood sacrifice required to be clean enough to go before God, once and for all, for anyone and everyone who will repent from their sins, who would ask Him into their heart to be their personal Savior, to receive that free gift of grace. I am humbled by the enormity of love and and sacrifice my Abba Father has showered upon me, upon you. Praise be to God.

I pray you have a wonderful day. To God be the glory.

God bless you all …

February 9 - Exodus 25:1-28:43

Good morning everyone,

This morning’s reading begins with a specific set of instructions God gave Moses on the mountain for the construction and furnishing of the tabernacle, however, before any work can get done supplies were required and so it is through Moses that God asks the people to give the materials needed from their own possessions to build. Please note, though, that this was not a command, the Lord wanted the people to give willingly and from their hearts. Now, I so totally love what that means and how it is applied to our lives today. How many people toss money in the offering because they feel pressured? Or, how many others hand it over because they feel obligated? When you, when I, when we love God we want to give and give freely from our hearts. It is the same type of giving you shower those you love with on say Christmas or birthdays or just because days. My brother, who is not a wealthy man, is the single most selfless person I know when it comes to giving to others. It is with no hesitation he will willingly offer up the money to bring a loved one half way across the United States to share in a family vacation, give them housing, feed them pay for their way into various adventures or amusement parks, and this is not just a one time thing. It is not uncommon to hear him say “just let me know how much it is and we will make that happen”. It is his “way” to selflessly give, not for his satisfaction but for no other reason but to bring joy to/for someone else. This is what God wanted from the Israelites for His sanctuary, this is what He wants from us today. He longs for us to love Him so much that we want to, again, hear this … we “want” to “willingly” shower him with our tithes and gifts. As we continue to read we will see through all of the plans there must have been quite a few willing hearts.

I am absolutely blown away by all the detail and the specific plans God gave to Moses for the construction of the tabernacle, the table, the lamp stand the ark and its cover, (just to name a few) along with God adding at 25:9 “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” EXACTLY?! No pressure!!! My first thought was, “Oh my gosh, I would have probably forgotten something, like using only one piece of gold to pound out the mercy seat with the cherubim on each end or something else.” When I am sewing or cooking I refer to a new recipe or pattern several times to be confident there are no mistakes. I’m sure I would have gotten whiplash looking back and forth from blueprint to project, not to mention worn my feet out running from seamstress to goldsmith to embroider to be certain all was exactly as planned … ha ha, and as I am writing this God is reminding me that all I would need to do is trust in Him, let Him be my guide because it is by His strength not mine that I, and that you can do all things. Ahhh … Amen!

With all these amazing plans there is one I would like to bring attention to, and that is the High Priest’s clothing, paying specific attention to the breast plate and even more specifically the beautiful twelve stones found on it. The jewels, there’s twelve so please hang in there with me as I again ask you to see these in your head, are the; carnelian, a brownish-red gemstone; chrysolite, a yellow-green gemstone; beryl, a crystal which can be of green or coral or yellow: turquoise, a blue-green mineral; lapis lazuli, another mineral royal blue in color with what appear to be threads of yellow or gold color laced through it; emerald, brilliant green gemstone; jacinth, a dark reddish-blue gemstone; agate, a white to grey, light blue, orange to red, black, banded quartz; amethyst, a violet to purple mineral; topaz, a brownish gemstone; onyx, a gemstone often black in color; and jasper, a gemstone commonly red. Many of these stones can vary in color from region to region depending on what else may be in the soil surrounding them (a whole other topic of conversation in itself), but what caught my attention is how very similar they are to the description we find in Revelation 21:16-21 of what heaven is going to look like, go check it out. the beauty is going to exceed anything we could ever imagine. The colors we have just looked at in our mind’s eye will be as a faded, washed out photos from the 1960’s compared to the lively, vivid beyond belief, jaw dropping beauty of heaven. Our God is such an awesome God and it is with exact, precise personal detail that He is preparing your special spot, my special spot in heaven right now, wanting nothing but the best for us. 

Well, that’s the “wonder of it all” God gave me today. I hope it made some sense to you. 
I pray you have an amazing day. To God be the glory!
God bless you all …