April 3, 2013

Wednesday: April 2, 2013

READ:  Leviticus 5-6

THINK Good work getting through these two chapters. Let’s be honest, although Leviticus has deep theological meaning and paints a picture of why Jesus came, it isn’t the easiest book of the Bible to get through. Keep reading though, you’ll be blessed for digging into God’s word.

Before Easter I prayed that the people who walked through the doors of my church would have a new awe of Jesus’ death and resurrection. That it wouldn’t just be the same old story, but would in a new way, grab our hearts and lead us to worship. God answered this prayer, and as I stood there crying at the end of each service, I thanked God for sending Jesus to take my punishment.

Leviticus is a record of all the specific things that needed to be done in order to account for peoples’ sin. Certain things needed to be sacrificed in place of a person’s punishment. The sacrifices they had to present needed to be perfect. They could have no flaws, and even the method of sacrificing needed to be right. This fire needs to stay burning, the priests can eat this part, but not that, make sure that you bring the right animal for this sin, or the right grain for this one. Phew…it was a lot to remember and God was asking for perfection.

Then Jesus came. Starting to see the connection? He was perfect. Blameless. And we were unclean sinners, undeserving of his grace. Jesus was the only sacrifice that truly took our punishment and rid us of our sin. No bull or lamb or oil could ever measure up to Jesus. He is the new sacrifice, once and for all!

Not only that, but his perfection allowed him to interact with unclean people, and make them holy! Chapter 5 gives detailed instructions about what is unclean and how touching something unclean makes you unclean. Jesus trumped this too. His cleanness, his holiness, is so great, that touching something unclean does not make him unclean, it makes that unclean thing holy.

On our own we are dead and empty. We’re nothing without Jesus’ sacrifice. But here’s the good news! Jesus took death so we no longer have to be dead in doubt and discouragement and loneliness. His empty grave fills up our empty and longing hearts! Jesus overcame and became the perfect sacrifice, forever and for every one!

PRAY: Thank Jesus for his sacrifice! And ask God for the chance this week – and the boldness to take advantage of it – to share the awesome message of hope we have with someone else!

By: KVH

Posted by on April 3, 2013 in Law.

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April 2, 2013

Tuesday: April 2, 2013

READ: Ezekiel 28-30

THINK: As a young man in the late 1600s, Edward Teach joined the crew of a British ship that was headed to the Caribbean. Much later in his nautical career, he managed to capture a merchant vessel and turn it into a 40-gun warship. Teach soon became known as Blackbeard—the most feared pirate in the hemisphere.

Blackbeard had some success as a pirate, but his “career” abruptly ended when he encountered a contingent of the British Royal Navy. In a desperate battle, he and his fellow pirates were killed, putting an end to their terrorizing exploits.

Long ago in the heavenly places, an angel fell into spiritual piracy. Lucifer was a cherub who stood in the radiant glory of God (Ezekiel 28:11-15). But his own self-love replaced love for his Creator. Desiring to be like the Most High, he led a rebellion and was cast out of heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15). Today he and his henchmen are doing whatever they can to commandeer the lives of human beings (Luke 8:12; 2 Corinthians 4:4), tempting them to believe that they deserve to be greater than their Creator.

Even so, we don’t need to be afraid. Satan is a dangerous enemy, but Jesus sealed his ultimate fate when He rose from the dead. And He has given us everything we need to withstand the devil’s attacks (Ephesians 6:10-18).

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. – 1 John 4:4

Adapted from Dennis Fischer in Our Daily Bread

PRAY: Ask God to help you resist temptation today – specifically the temptation to put yourself in his rightful position and captain your own life. Thank him for giving you the strength to stand up to temptation.

Posted by on April 2, 2013 in Uncategorized.

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April 1, 2013

Monday: April 1, 2013

READ: Leviticus 3-4

BACKGROUND: The Peace Offering was also known as the Fellowship Offering. The offering was an unblemished bull or unblemished female sheep or goat. Its purpose was an expression of gratitude and desire for fellowship with God. The Sin Offering was an unblemished bull or unblemished female goat. Its purpose was to make an atonement for unintentional sins of weakness or carelessness.

THINK: Re-read Leviticus 4:32-25, focusing intently on the imagery as you read.

We might be tempted to believe that Leviticus is a confusing and irrelevant book, but it has some direct implications for our lives. In Leviticus we find specific rules and regulations from Yahweh, given to distinguish his people, the nation of Israel, from every other culture. God commanded the offering of many different types of sacrifices: burnt, grain, fellowship, sin, & Guilt. Each of these served a specific purpose for interaction with God. For example, a sin offering was given for confession, forgiveness, and cleansing.

Why do you think God prescribed offerings to be done in such a unique way? Why do you think that blood was required as a payment for human sin? Why do you think God takes sin so incredibly seriously?

Now think about your own sin, the sins you know about and that incredible number of unintentional or careless sins – for which the Sin Offering in chapter 4 was set up. Think about the weight of that sin in God’s eyes. Now think about the system we go by now – the one where Jesus accomplished everything by the shedding of his blood. Can you even imagine the weight that he bore on the cross?

Adapted from Eugene Peterson in Solo

PRAY: Thank God for the cross. Praise him for providing a way for us to be reconciled to him though, in our sin, we deserved death and separation. Thank him for the shedding of his blood. Thank him, again today, for the cross!

Posted by on April 1, 2013 in Law.

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March 31, 2013

EASTER SUNDAY!!!! March 31, 2013

READ: John 20

THINK: Just imagine, as you read, that you are one of the disciples. Put yourself in their place. Think about the range of emotions you would have experienced, terrified as you gathered with your friends believing Jesus to be dead. Then seeing him! Take some time to insert yourself into the passage and imagine what it was like to be there. And above all, today, let the joy wash over you!

PRAY: Let your heart rejoice today. Praise God. Sin is beaten. Death is defeated. Victory is won. He is risen!

Posted by on March 31, 2013 in Gospels.

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March 30, 2013

Saturday: March 30, 2013

READ: 1 Kings 12-13

THINK: Jeroboam acted on expediency. It did seem reasonable to argue that the constant going up to Jerusalem to worship might alienate the people from his throne, and awaken a desire for the old national unity; and without doubt a mere worldly wisdom extolled his setting-up of idol-gods at Bethel and Dan; but his policy in this respect led to the downfall of his kingdom. Had he trusted God’s promise, made through the prophet Ahijah, the Divine purpose would have ensured the continuance of his rule; but the prompting of expediency resulted in ultimate disaster.

How prone we all are to devise out of our own hearts! We take counsel with ourselves, and do what seems prudent and farseeing, with the inevitable result of being betrayed into courses of action that God cannot approve, and of which we have reason to repent bitterly. It is infinitely better to wait on God till He develop His plan, as He most certainly will, when the predestined hour strikes. He who trusts in his own heart, and takes his own way, is a fool. To run before God is to sink knee-deep into the swamp. We must make all things after the pattern shown us on the Mount, and take our time from God’s almanac. What a contrast to the course of Jeroboam was that of the Son of Man! He would do nothing of Himself. His eye was always on His Father’s dial-plate, and thus He knew when His time was not yet fulfilled. He was always consulting the movement of His Father’s will, and did only those things which He saw His Father doing. Similarly make God’s will and way thy Pole-star. Oh to be able to say with our blessed Lord, “I seek not mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me!”

Adapted from F.B. Meyer

PRAY: Just as we celebrate and remember Christ’s obedience even unto death on this Easter weekend, commit yourself to obeying God. Confess the times when you’ve ignored his will to pursue your own desires and ask for his forgiveness.

Posted by on March 30, 2013 in History.

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March 29, 2013

Friday: March 29, 2013

PRAY: Before you read today, ask God to powerfully reveal himself through John’s heartbreaking gospel account of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.

READ: John 18 and 19

THINK: In our bible reading journey, we have arrived at the pivotal moment: Jesus, our suffering Savior, is about to be subjected to false arrest, sneering ridicule, scorn, monstrous cruelty, and worst of all, bear the punishment for the sins of all humanity. Every book, every chapter, and every verse of God’s word point either forward to the cross or backward to the cross. And for each of us, our destiny depends on what we decide about that cross.

Consider the following:

John 18: 5 – 6: Where would we be standing? Among the accusers, like Judas? Or falling on our faces before Jesus?

John 18:11: Throughout his entire trial and crucifixion, Jesus remains in total control.

John 18: 12 – 15: Pilate had a choice. Over and over, he declares, “I find no guilt in him” but this monster bows to the Jews demands and orders flogging for the man he declared innocent.  We cannot satisfy both GOD and people!

John 18: 38: “What is truth?” Ironically, Pilate asks the one person in all of history who knew the answer to his question….but Pilate doesn’t even want an answer. If Pilate had even a hint of sincerity in his question, Jesus would have responded, “I AM THE TRUTH.” Pilate looked at Jesus and walked away. Have you looked into Jesus’ eyes? What truth have you seen? If we aren’t interested in God’s truth we won’t be told it.

John 19:15 – “We have no king….” These Pharisees had sworn to have no king but God, yet now they don’t even claim God as their king. While Pilate wants to avoid responsibility, he and these Pharisees walk into the pit of hell for all eternity….and so will everyone else who fails to bow before Jesus.

John 19:19 – Pilate once again is part of God’s sovereign plan: The truth is declared in the three great languages of the ancient world:  (Hebrew – the language of the Jews and the Old Testament, Latin, and Greek) that all may know this is KING JESUS!

John 19: 38 – 42: Joseph a member of the Sanhedrin (powerful Jewish group) had kept silent about his beliefs. Now, however, Joseph puts his life on the line and courageously asks for Jesus’ body. And then along comes Nicodemus, the coward who would only go to Jesus during the cover of night. Together, these two who had been so afraid of what others might think, decide to stop playing it safe! Dear friends, are we hiding, cowering in fear?

Today is Good Friday! Will you join me and step out boldly for KING JESUS today? Let’s declare him our KING OF KINGS! Praise GOD!

By: D. Howard

 

 

Posted by on March 29, 2013 in Gospels.

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March 28, 2013

READ: Colossians 3
THINK: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body we’re called to peace.”

Peace, it’s what the world seems to be striving for an never achieving. It’s always on the to do list and never gets accomplished. Peace may never come in the form of political sides getting along, and countries never going to war again…until Jesus returns. But God calls us, in Colossians 3:15 to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. One of the commands of God is that we have Christ’s peace in our hearts. What a good God! I don’t know any other ruler, or authority who would care much about how much peace we have, but God does.

What does this peace look like? What does it look like for the family who had to celebrate their daughter’s 16th birthday without her, because a brain tumor took her life in December? Kelsey was a bright, incredible young lady and is deeply missed, but her family is called to have peace.

Or consider Jen. Her family life is full of lies and depression and a serious lack of Christ- likeness, yet as a follower of Jesus she is called to peace? It doesn’t seem to add up for us. Sure we can have peace when we are sitting in the sun on a Saturday, listening to Bethel Worship’s “Without Words” album, but what about in the tough times. The times where school is overwhelming and friends are fighting. The times when the bank account is running low and life’s next step is as clear as mud… even those times Jesus?

Paul, the author of Colossians, tells us that the peace of Christ is beyond our understanding. We can’t muster it up on our own, we can’t make it magically appear. However, there are a few clues for us in the following verses about how to attract God’s peace to our lives.

#1 Be Thankful. God loves a thankful heart! Many righteous characters in the Bible are known for their thankfulness toward God. Take David for example, half of his recorded words are praising and thanking God. Tell God what you are thankful for, and why. This habit will increase peace in your life in a way you can’t imagine. You will begin to realize just how incredible life is when you have Jesus!

#2. Read the Word. Props for you following throughin2. Keep it up. God reveals mysteries through scripture. It seems crazy that a book written thousands of years ago by a ton of different authors can speak truth to us today, but it can and it will! Make it a priority.

#3. Get in Community. I hope you are a part of a church. If you aren’t… get plugged in. Leave a comment if you need help finding one. Then plug into a small group. We can’t grow very well on our own, we need the support of people around us to make sure we are heading in the right direction and challenge us when we become apathetic. Relationships with other believers will increase your peace.

#4. Sing. Yep, God loves singing! There probably won’t need to be any Bible reading plans in heaven, helping you understand God’s word better (because we will be with Jesus!) but you better believe we will still be singing to God our creator and King. Sing in the shower, sing at church, sing in your car. God is glorified with our voices, and will bless you with peace if singing his praises is a typical part of your life. When we sing, we open up our imagination to understand how big God is compared to us! That is a peaceful thought.

Seek peace; pursue it! Next time you want to grumble, complain or worry, check yourself. Are you seeking peace through these four things? God commands it, and it is the greatest gift you can have as you walk through this life.

PRAY: Thank God, praise him, maybe even sing…then leave all your worries with him, and take his peace with you.

By: KVH

Posted by on March 28, 2013 in Epistles.

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March 27, 2013

Wednesday: March 27, 2013

READ: Ezekiel 25-27

THINK: Reread the prophecy against Tyre in Ezekiel 26:1-7.

There is a phrase in these prophetic verses that God uses over and over again: “Then they will know that I am the Lord.” His prophetic judgments and his justice metered out as he followed through on those judgments are intended as a clear sign of his sovereignty and his lordship over all creation. Now, we have faith that the Bible is true in all that it teaches. And if you asked many Christians, they’d say that they believe that every Biblical prophecy that God gave to his prophets has come true or will come true in the future. But sometimes we’re at a disadvantage when reading the Bible in our context because we are separated from the recorded prophecies by multiple millennia and by culture, among other things so we don’t have the historical, contextual knowledge of how these prophecies actually were fulfilled. We assume they probably were, but we’re not properly amazed by the definitive knowledge that they definitely were!

Today I want to do something a little bit different. And my intention is very simple. I want to give you a little bit of history about how just 1 of the 1200+ prophecies in the Old Testament was fulfilled. It is especially fitting and exciting that this passage happens upon us during Holy Week as we approach Easter, because Jesus – in his life, death, & resurrection – fulfilled over 300 of those prophecies. For what it’s worth, one man fulfilling each and every single one of the 300+ prophecies about the Messiah is mathematically impossible. Scholars have calculated that the odds of Jesus fulfilling even 9 of the major Messianic prophecies are somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. That’s not a typo!

What’s the point of all this? So that you will KNOW that HE IS LORD!

So, Ezekiel lays out a pretty awesome and powerful condemnation prophecy against Tyre – a once-great coastal city which could be found in modern-day Lebanon just north of Israel. In this prophecy Ezekiel guarantees no less than 7 definite things will happen to Tyre. Secular & Christian statisticians agree that the probability of all seven happening is conservatively 1 in 400 million, likely greater. The 7 things are these:
1. Nebuchadnezzer would conquer the city.
2. Other nations would help fulfill the prophecy.
3. Tyre would be flattened like the top of a rock.
4. It would become a place where fishermen would spread their nets.
5. Tyre’s stones and wood would be thrown into the sea.
6. Other cities would have great fear because of Tyre’s fall.
7. The old city of Tyre would never be rebuilt.

All 7 happened! in 585 BC Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Tyre for over a decade. In 537 he broke down the gates only to find that the people had moved everything in the city to a fortified island a half-mile offshore. So, he laid waste to the mainland city and flattened it. But the island city remained and flourished for 250 years until a young 22 year-old Macedonian general named Alexander drove his army east. He was marching toward Egypt, and as he arrived in Phonecia he demanded that all cities open up their gates to him. The citizens of Tyre, feeling secure on their island, refused. Alexander the Great didn’t have a naval fleet with him that could match Tyre’s fleet so he ordered that the ruins of the city – the stones and the wood – be thrown into the sea to create a land-bridge to the island. His army leveled the bridge as they went along, throwing the rubble into the water until it piled high. To cover his army in the attack, he sent messengers to other nations he’d conquered and required them to send ships and fight the naval forces of Tyre. Within 7 months Alexander’s army was over the walls and the people of Tyre were slaughtered. The bridge he built can still be seen today. On land, the city has never been rebuilt, but the flat rock surface where it once stood still provides a great place for Mediterranean fishermen to lay out their nets to dry.

That’s pretty much how God rolls. He is in total control, and he keeps his word. Know that he is Lord!

PRAY: Worship God today for his sovereignty. And for his outrageous grace in sending his Son to fulfill all of the amazing Messianic prophecies so that we could be forgiven and restored.

Posted by on March 27, 2013 in Prophecy.

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March 26, 2013

Tuesday: March 26, 2013

READ: 1 Kings 10-11

THINK: Every person is vulnerable at one point of their character. Strong everywhere else, and armor-plated, there is a weakness there; and our great enemy knows just where to strike home. It would have been useless to argue with Solomon for the claims of idols. He could at once, by his wisdom, have annihilated all infidel arguments, and have established the existence and unity of God. But, step by step, he was led by silken cords, a captive, to the worship of other gods. It is a solemn warning; and Nehemiah was perfectly justified when, in his contention with the Jews who had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab, he said, “Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him who was beloved of his God.”

Beware where you let your heart go forth in love. Whom we love we resemble; and in the marriage tie it is almost inevitable that seductions to the lower will overcome the drawings to the higher. When a Christian disobeys God’s distinct command against intermarriage with the ungodly, he or she begins to sink to the level of the ungodly partner instead of raising them to his own religious standing.

Our friends and those whom we love determine the drift and current of our life. It is so easy to launch upon the current that flows past our feet; it seems impossible that the laughing, enticing water should ever carry us against sharp, splintering rocks, or over-breaking cataracts. When we are compelled to associate with the ungodly, let us maintain a strict self-watch, and pray that the breath of the heavenward gale may more than counteract the tendency of the earthward current.

Adapted from: F.B. Meyer

PRAY: Ask that God would give you wisdom in your relationships with unbelievers. Pray that you would be able to be in the world and form relationships with those who don’t know Christ but that you wouldn’t be dragged away from him in the process. Ask God to guard your heart.

 

Posted by on March 26, 2013 in Uncategorized.

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March 25, 2013

Monday: March 25, 2013

READ: John 17

THINK AND PRAY: It’s pretty incredible to consider that Jesus Himself prayed specifically for you some 2,000 years ago just days before he would give His life as a sacrifice for you. Jesus’ prayer in verses 20-24 is for all those who would choose to love and follow Him (vs 20). During this Passion week, reflect on the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the miracle of His life, and the impact that His love has on our lives and world today and forever.

Re-read these verses and pray this incredible prayer of Jesus for yourself and for your fellow believers –

–          – Ask God to make us one with each other, pursuing peace and unity with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ so that the world may see a picture of the perfect unity of God the Father and His Son Jesus.

–          – Praise God for giving us the glory that He gave to Jesus (vs 22)! (We by no means have the deity of Christ, but we have been given His Spirit to indwell us and allow us to demonstrate God’s glory through our humility and suffering just as Jesus did.)

–          – Rejoice in the unity that God designed us to have with Him and that Jesus prays for us when he says “I in them and you in Me” (vs 23.) Beg God for His presence to be made real to you and your oneness with Him to be seen, felt, and known by you and those around you.

–          – Ask God to use your oneness with Him and with other believers to reveal to a watching world the indescribable love of the one true God (vs 23).

–          – Express your gratitude for the hope of one day being united with Christ in Heaven (vs 24). Then rest in the affirmation and most beautiful, mind-boggling, gracious truth that Jesus Christ Himself went before the throne of God and asked that you might be with Him someday soon.

Rejoice, fellow believer! You are deeply loved by the Savior of the Universe. He longs for you to experience the fullness of God’s love. His plan for saving this world includes your demonstration of His glory. And he eagerly awaits your arrival at His side in eternity.

Written By: Cari Widdel

Posted by on March 25, 2013 in Gospels.

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