Wednesday, February 28, 2007

The Next Gen

Joshua is a really exciting book where we see God move in miraculous ways and make city walls fall down and armies crumble at the mere mention of Yahweh. But as I was reading the first five chapters something struck me about a very personal application.

In Chapter 5 we see the Israelites having just come across a Jordan at flood stage - a mighty miracle of God that will pave the way for victory over Jericho. The Jordan crossing is very similar to the Red Sea crossing when Israel came up out of Egypt.

All that generation died out because they refused to follow God into the Promised Land. Now a new generation stands ready to receive that victory and that land.

I find it interesting what they do, though, prior to their first battle, right after they actually set foot on the land. They get circumcised. That's right. Apparently that practice, which set them apart as belonging to God, had been abandoned.

There are a lot of ways we could apply this, but here's my take for today. Circumcision can represent the cutting away of the flesh spiritually. Today we would call it baptism - dieing to the world and the flesh and coming to life in Jesus Christ.

But as it relates to a cutting away of the flesh in general, I think that every generation needs to make that stand for God; to not rely on the faith and repentance of their parents, but devote themselves wholly to God who will make us holy.

Have you made that declaration to God? Your whole life? Let Him take it all and mark you as one of His.

Pastor Tom

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Remembering Our Roots

Deuteronomy 26:1 "When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground which you harvest from you land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord you God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, 'I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.'"

This section of Deuteronomy goes on to say that the person is to recite the history of Israel beginning this way: "A wandering
Aramean was my father ..."

I like this for two reasons. One: when God does good things for us we need to stop and give thanks. How often do we pray for things, God grants our prayers, then we just go on as if we should have gotten that answer all along. We forget that it is by God's grace and mercy that He brings these to us.

Giving a first fruit to the Lord might be spending some time in prayer or worship, or literally giving of the first of what benefit the Lord has given you and giving it back to him by donating to the Lord's work.

But then I also like the recitation of the story starting with "a wandering
Aaramean." That was Abram, of course. Instead of "a great and mighty man of God," Abram is described as a "wandering Aaramean." That's us too. We should remember that we are nothing without the Lord working on our behalf.

We should never forget our humble beginnings, sinners in need of forgiveness wandering around lost in the world. And we should never forget to give God the first of all He gives us out of his grace.

Pastor Tom

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Making God's Law Your Own

I really like this little tidbit in Deuteronomy 17. God has told the people that when they enter the Promised Land that they may have a king over them. There were a couple of provisos but I really think this one in particular is great:

17:18 "And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law."

I can just picture the high and lofty king of the land bent over a desk copying letter by letter the law into his notebook like a school boy practicing his cursive writing. It would have been somewhat demeaning, but then, I suppose that is the idea.

When we get into places of authority it is easy for us to let the office go to our heads. Then more than ever we need to be reminded that there is a much higher authority than ourselves, and a standard to which we must hold.

Pastor Tom

Friday, February 16, 2007

Who's The Boss?

You may be familiar with the story of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram - the three stooges who rebelled against Moses' authority in Numbers 16. But do you know the whole story?

Korah decided that Moses had "gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?" (16:3-4)

This sounds very reasonable on the surface. They accused Moses and Aaron of having a power trip. They were wrong in that God really did call Moses to lead the people, and that though God was with them all, Moses was the leader - end of story.

But what I wanted to point out is that it really wasn't about Moses and power. It was really about Korah and the Lord. Look at verse 30.

"But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord."

See, it wasn't their relationship with Moses that was the problem, it was their relationship with the Lord. They "despised" the Lord and so they despised the Lord's servant.

So sometimes when we have problems with God we take it out on those around us, especially those that God is using to help us grow, like pastors and elders and others in the body of Christ that we should respect.

So the next time someone attacks you, pray for their relationship with the Lord (as well as seeing what God wants to change in you).

Pastor Tom

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Our Peril and our False Needs

Numbers 11 and 12 contain a couple of interesting stories that bear some application to the Christian. In them we see man's lack of awareness of the peril he is in outside of God and how what we think we need can harm us.

The Children of Israel have just received the instructions for the Tabernacle and their marching orders (literally) from God. But as they travel through the desert on their way to the Promised Land they begin to complain to Moses.

Numbers 11:1 "And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned some of them and consumed some of the outlying parts of the camp."

It reminds me that as we go about our merry way and take potshots at the Lord for allowing us to go through difficulty that we don't realize what happens outside the grace of God. It's hot; it burns; it destroys.

We are not righteous on our own. If we are not part of the camp of God the family of God, then we are in mortal danger because no one can exist in God's presence unless he is perfect. And it is only in Jesus that we can be perfect.

The second story is only a few verses later when the people have a "strong craving" for the meat they had in Egypt. Egypt is a type of the world. Sometimes we Christians think back longingly to the way it was before we belonged to God. We think of the things we did that were sinful but seemingly pleasurable and we want that again.

In this case God gave them what they wanted: meat in the form of quail. They ate it until their tummies burst and then they experienced a plague because of it (starting in 11:31).

What they rebelled against was the Manna. Jesus said that He was the bread that fell from heaven. When we try to satisfy ourselves with the "meat" from the world and not the character of God in Jesus Christ, we may feel satisfied for a while, but it will only bring heartache in the end.

Pastor Tom

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The Movable Cloud

In Numbers 9 we read that the after the dedication of the Tabernacle, that a cloud from God would hover over the tent. As long as the cloud was there, the children of Israel would remain. Once the cloud lifted, they would set off. So what does that mean to us?


Here's my thought: how flexible are you for God? I noticed that in some cases the cloud remained over the Tent many days, but sometimes it was only for from evening till morning. That would mean that the Israelites needed to be ready to go at all times. It meant they couldn't put down deep roots where they were; plant gardens or build houses or buy property.

For us, we need to be ready to go when God calls us. The Bible tells us that we are simply "sojourning" here on earth (1 Peter 2:11). In fact, Peter tell us to:

"1 Peter 2:11-12 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

We need to have shallow roots in the world system. Don't get so caught up in the values that are at odds with God's character that you have to rip up vast stretches of your life and value system when God says to move on. Yes, we can own property and things, but let God have real ownership of them, including your hopes and desires and goals.

Be ready to move on when the cloud moves on, both literally, and also spiritually, being aware of when the Holy Spirit wants to move you to another point in your walk with Him.

Don't put your tent stakes too deeply into the soil of the world.

Pastor Tom

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Servicing the Tabernacle

As I was reading through Numbers I noticed something that had no caught my eye before. In Chapter 4 there is a lengthy discussion giving specific instructions to individuals in how they go about doing their daily duties in the Tabernacle. It made me wonder about how we go about tending to our own daily duties with God.

Numbers 4:16 "And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole Tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels."

What I got to wondering is, when we get up each day, wouldn't it be great if we thought of ourselves like priests at the Tabernacle? If we thought carefully about asking for God's Holy Spirit to be a light in and through us, that we took time to actively lift up worship to God like a fragrant incense, and thanked Him in a purposeful way for all He has done, like a grain offering, and asked for Him to anoint us for service in doing His will that day.

It might be a good idea - after all, we are priests of our God (Revelation 1:6).

Pastor Tom

Friday, February 09, 2007

Giving God The Leftovers

There is a really strange passage in Leviticus 21 having to do with the holiness of the priests and then in chapter 22 about the type of sacrifices that were acceptable to God.

Essentially, a person who has any physical defect was not allowed to enter the Holy of Holies and offer sacrifices, though they could eat the holy things set aside for the priests and their families.

The same held true to sacrifices. If an animal was blind, blemished, or otherwise marred physically, it could not be offered.

Surely this was not solely to paint a picture of God's holiness, though I suppose this could picture that Jesus, our High Priest, was completely without sin when He entered the heavenly Holy of Holies to offer a sacrifice for our sins.

But if that was the sole reason for the picture the why not also rule out the mentally ill? What about someone with cancer or some other internal disease?

Without doing an entire exposition on the matter I just wanted to make one point. Especially with the sacrifices, the Israelites could have been tempted to pick out the "less than marketable" animals and said "here, this one I can't sell for much so let's give it to God."

God won't have that. He wants the best; He wants the first; He wants the thing that is most precious to us, not the leftovers. It's about our dedication to Him, our honor for Him, and our reliance on Him. If we give God those things of our life that we don't care much about, then it means we hold back those areas that mean a lot to us.

For instance: maybe you are an expert electrician. You make a lot of money doing that work. Then a poor widow down the street has an electrical problem. You have no trouble praying for the need, but when it comes time to fixing it you want to charge because, after all, you are a "professional."

Instead, give God the things that you do well or that you consider "good" about you and let Him govern and control you. It doesn't mean you won't ever get paid for what you do, but let God have it all and then provide what you need.

Pastor Tom

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Do What's Right

Sounds pretty simple, huh? Perhaps too simple. But that's what I noticed reading Leviticus 19. Sure, there are some strange things in there about not rounding the hair on the your head or marring your beard, but by and large the message is clear - do the right thing (sorry, Dr. Laura).

If you read this blog before you know that I believe we are incapable to doing the right thing apart from the blood of Jesus washing away our sins then filling us with the Holy Spirit who transforms us into His image.

Given that, then, I think we should approach each situation in life with the principals God has outlined here, and ask the Holy Spirit to write them on our hearts.

Love God before anything else
Love your family and live your life so that it honors them
Treat the people around you fairly - pay them what you owe
When someone comes along that for some reason is at a disadvantage, don't use that for your gain - treat them fairly too.

God gives us a conscience - use it - and let His Word guide you when your conscience doesn't. Most of the time we really do know what the right, just, and fair thing is; our problem is doing it because it fights against our fleshly desire to get more for us.

Pastor Tom

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Silly Laws or Symbols for a Savior?

Leviticus 11-15 contain some of the most interesting laws God gave. We have what animals are clean and unclean (fish with fins and scales are okay, cormorants are not). We also have the laws regarding how long a woman must remain unclean after childbirth (41 for a male child, 81 for a female). Following that are laws about leprosy and for cleansing houses ("if the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it ... he shall break down the house...")

So what gives with these laws?

Some argue that they have more to do with public and personal health and safety than anything else. They argue that shellfish might have bad stuff in them but fish with fins and scales don't, and that the population was especially susceptible to outbreaks of disease and so the house rules were in place, etc.

I'm not here to argue for or against that position. It may or may not be true. Know this, that all the Law was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But I want to simply point out that the reason for the laws doesn't really matter. What matters is that God told them to follow these rules and it was up to them to decide whether or not to obey.

The truth of the matter is that no matter how much we try, we cannot obey God's Law perfectly. We cannot be like God. That is the real purpose of the Law, to show us how weak we really are, and how sinful we really are.

Paul the Apostle told us that the Law was designed then as a tutor, showing us our need for a Savior to fulfill the Law for us.

Galatians 3:23-25 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

So don't sweat the details and the whys and wherefores. They are great for studying the symbolism of the Law and how Jesus fulfilled it, but what we should really focus on is letting Jesus Christ fulfill God's Law in our hearts as we become more like Him.

Pastor Tom

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

When Power Goes To Our Heads

I'm reading along in Leviticus all about the incredibly beautiful and symbolic clothing worn by Aaron and his sons, and about the ceremonies that accompanied their introduction into service as the priests of Israel. It's all very symbolic and stately, until I get to chapter 10.

It says that Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron's sons, right after this incredible ceremony commissioning them as priests "each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD."

Needless to say, they got a rather "heated" reaction from the Lord, who killed them with fire that came out from His presence. I don't want to focus on just what the thing was that they did wrong in this space. Suffice to say that the operative word here is "unauthorized." Somehow they thought that their office as priests made them more important than the One who ordained them as priests.

That can happen to us as well. As we "step out for God" and see Him do amazing things through us. sometimes we start getting the mistaken idea that it was because of us that these things happen. It is very subtle and happens over a period of time, but it is pride and focuses on self, not on God. You could call this unauthorized fire.

Now I'm not saying that fire will come out from the Lord and consume us, but I am saying that we should always watch the spirit with which we offer service to the Lord. And we must always keep in mind that He is the One calling the shots and doing the work, and getting the glory. We are simply along for the ride.

Pastor Tom

Monday, February 05, 2007

Guilty Even When We Don't Know It

Leviticus 4:27 " 'If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands, he is guilty. 28 When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed a female goat without defect. 29 He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering."

I remember reading this verse before, but it struck me anew today. Even if someone does something against God's Law and doesn't know that its wrong, they are still guilty. It means we can't make up our own rules and morality. It means there is a standard of holiness that if violated means it is violated whether we know it or not.

I know this isn't very vogue. We like to think that as society changes so do the morals of that society and so must the god of that society. The problem is that is simply not true. God is God and He is so pure that whether we know it or not, if we are not like Him we cannot be with Him and will be judged by and separated from Him for all of eternity.

Pretty depressing, huh? Well, here's the good news. Jesus Christ paid for those sins of yours, even the ones you don't know about.

Romans 5:8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Notice that - not "when we got our act together" but while we were still sinners Jesus died for our sins - all our sins. So don't be worried that a sin you are unaware of will keep you from heaven. God Himself died to pay for those sins. The key is whether you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Pastor Tom

Thursday, February 01, 2007

How Long Should I Wait?

In Exodus 32 it says: "When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, 'Up, make us gods who shall go before us.'"

Most of us know the story of what happened, they made a golden calf and worshipped it. But I want to focus on something else.

The people were waiting to hear from God. That was what Moses went up on the mountain to do - bring word back from God. The people grew impatient and when Moses "delayed" they turned to other gods.

It made me wonder about when I ask God for something. How long before I grow impatient and turn to other things besides God for my answer? Isn't it very much like what the Israelies did?

God doesn't give us what we want when we want it so we figure out a way to do it for ourselves. God doesn't give us wisdom when we want so we just use our brains only.

How long should you wait on God? Till He answers.

Pastor Tom